More Debt? You’ve Got to be Kidding!
Even in the best of times, the three major bond proposals on the
November ballot would merit a thumbs down. Propositions 1A, 3, and
10 would put taxpayers another $16 billion in debt to fund some
dubious projects.
Proposition 1A spends $10 billion as a down payment on a massive
bullet train project. Promoters, which includes the company
responsible for Boston’s infamous "Big Dig" disaster, claim the
project can be completed for about $50 billion. However, a just
released study by transportations experts, which includes a former
president of the High Speed Rail Association and a former member of
the Amtrak Reform Council, show that actual costs could easily
exceed $80 billion.
Pie In The Sky
California voters are going to face dozens of statewide and local ballot propositions in November. Without question the strangest and most implausible of all the measures is a local initiative in San Diego – Proposition B. If enacted, this fantasy island in the sky would allow for the construction of a 100 acre deck suspended over a marine terminal.
The deck would supposedly support the construction of a football stadium and hotel facility on top of a working marine terminal. Underneath the hundred thousand people attending football games would be ships unloading cargo, trucks, fork lifts moving back and forth along with a jet fuel storage facility (barbeques at tailgating parties would be strongly discouraged).
Sound too incredible to be true? Unfortunately not. Interestingly, the proponents of Proposition B have managed to unify just about everyone in San Diego against this measure. Labor unions, the entire local Congressional delegation, environmental groups, chambers of commerce, mayors, city council members, the San Diego Union-Tribune, taxpayer associations, international trade organizations, retired military leaders, the California State Lands Commission and academics are all opposed to this measure.
The Germans on the Bus
Germans seeking to expand direct democracy face a steep, historical obstacle: the Nazi use of plebiscites has widely discredited direct legislation. But a group of mostly young Germans (many of them with ties to the environmental movement) think the country should have the initiative and referendum all all levels of government.
So, for the last 8 years, they’ve been driving a bus around Germany. They take turns living on the bus, often for months at a time. They visit towns and talk with people about the virtues of direct democracy. They’ve been having success. Use of the direct democracy is now common in German localities. There have been thousands of measures, many of them on the same local development controversies that appear on American ballots. And more and more Gemran states are adopting direct democracy. But no such luck yet at the federal level.