Oh, No! Too Many Asians!
Terrible news! California has a big new problem at the heart of its democracy:
There are too many Asian Americans drawing lines.
The lines in question are district lines for Assembly, Senate, Congressional and Board of Equalization seat. The Asian Americans in question are four people from around California whose names were among the first eight people selected – via lottery — to serve on the new Citizens Redistricting Commission.
This over-representation of Asians is suddenly a concern for supporters on the redistricting commission, which is the product of two ballot initiatives, Prop 11 in 2008 and Prop 20 from this November. Those initiatives were supposed to create a line-drawing body independent from politics and representative of the state.
It remains to be seen how politically independent the commission will be. But the body’s structure puts the goal of a representative body beyond reach – and show just how preposterous the commission itself is.
Special Session Must Remember Voters No Tax Message
As the legislature prepares to convene a special
session on the budget, there is an effort to cloud what was a very clear
message from voters in the November election.
Voters
came down firmly against new and higher taxes. That is the strong conclusion
when you look at how voters selected the winners among the propositions on the
ballot.
Voter
attitudes on taxes played a leading role for candidates as well. In his
successful race to return to the governor’s office, Jerry Brown had to promise
there would be no new taxes without voter approval and stated on many occasions
that California "had to live within its means."
New GOP Governors Eye CA Business
Cross-posted at CalWatchdog.
The poaching of good California jobs and businesses has just begun. The new crop of GOP governors just elected across the fruited plain is looking to grab what they can from the anti-business Pyrite State. Jim Christie of Reuters reports:
“It’s a testament to California’s voters that they had the foresight to beat back the tidal wave of corporate-controlled candidates that swept much of the rest of the country,” said California Labor Federation head Art Pulaski.
But according to Somer Hollingsworth of the Nevada Development Authority, that makes California “even more fair game.”
Texas in particular has been busy scouring California for companies tired of high taxes and unpredictable regulations, and analysts see the Lone Star State as a lodestar for new GOP-led states eager to spur business.