Catching up on a number of items at week’s end …
The Field Poll indicates a close election on Proposition 8, the gay marriage elimination amendment. The poll says as of now 51% oppose the amendment and 42% favor it. Surprisingly, the highest percentage of opposition to this measure was the baby-boomer generation, although by only a close 2% over the 18-29 year olds. Fox & Hounds blogger Joe Mathews has opined that gay marriage will eventually be accepted because of the strong support for the issue by the younger generation, yet here are the baby-boomers leading the way.
There will probably be a number of ballot proposition issues that will go down to the wire in November. Given that the Field Poll says at this point Sen. Obama is ahead of Sen. McCain by 24% in the presidential race, wouldn’t it be ironic if what drove voters to the polls in California this historic election year was not the presidential election but ballot issues?
The Public Policy Institute of California has released a study supporting a peripheral canal to help solve California’s water woes. The peripheral canal plan, around since the 1960s, would deal with the erosion of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta while delivering water to Southern California. The SacBee’s Dan Walters says
this study is probably the most important study PPIC has ever done and gives a good recap of the history behind the peripheral canal. An attempt to bring about the peripheral canal was defeated 63% to 37% in 1982. That plan called for the canal to be built and paid off in 20 years. If it had only passed then, it would be operational and completely paid for by now.
And to bring things full circle, Field in another recently released poll indicated voters were showing more interest in drilling for oil off the California coast than they have been in previous polls on the subject. Part of the plan to fund the peripheral canal in the defeated 1982 measure – in fact, part of the funding for Governor Pat Brown’s initial water project – came from off-shore oil revenues. Will a new peripheral canal look to new off-shore oil revenues as a funding source? Probably not … but one has to wonder.
The Mylar balloon controversy has been put on hold by Sen. Jack Scott’s proposal that the issue be studied before any action is taken. Scott’s bill would have limited the use of those ubiquitous helium-filled, metallic balloons that pop up at birthday parties and other celebrations, because there have been incidents of the balloons floating into power lines causing power outages.
The study on the issue goes to the prestigious University of California. Playing with balloons … no wonder the UCs are so popular with potential students.
And finally, I see our governor is being very clever but I’m not sure what he’s up to. He compared the legislature to a horse in an analogy about the delayed budget when he said: "I can only get the horse to the water, but I can’t make it drink." And then he appoints actress Bo Derek to the California Horse Racing Board. Can Bo make the horses drink?