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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (768992)	2/11/2014 2:05:55 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577931

We were the lab class for Applied Raygunomics, and looked very much like Congress does today, only more dysfunctional. California’s Failed Experiment with Minority Rule Thwarts Will of the Majority, Prevents Effective Operation of Government By David KerstenCalifornia’s 32-year failed experiment with minority rule has proven the principal of majority rule is essential to the efficient and effective functioning of the California State Legislature. Majority rule is a fundamental principal embodied by the United States Constitution, but something that has been hijacked by the initiative process in California to provide for the tyranny by 1/3 of the population to the detriment of a majority of Californians. Research undertaken by Kersten Communications has found that in left-leaning academic circles, there is a consensus that Prop. 13’s 2/3 vote requirement needs to be replaced with a majority vote or 55% vote. Political scientists on the right, on the other hand, support the 2/3 vote requirement because it restrains the size of government. (Note: right-leaning academics were contacted for this analysis but chose not to comment). In California, we allow representatives for 1/3 of the population to thwart the will of the remaining 2/3 of the population on two essential government functions—the passage of a state budget and any tax measure which increases taxes on a single taxpayer. This principal of minority rule was enshrined in the California Constitution when a majority of voters passed Proposition 13 in 1978. Majority rule was utilized by the framers of the United State Constitution to ensure that the wants of the median voter are represented in government, but the reverse is true in California where 1/3 of the population controls the wishes of the other 2/3 of the population on the two most important government functions—the budget and taxes. “Right now you can change the rules of the game as Proposition 13 did, with only 50% plus one person. Most political scientist say if you are going to change the rules of the game that should be hard, you should not make that too easy because that is going to mess things up often,” said Henry E. Brady, professor of public policy and Dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley a budget forum hosted by the university last year. “Most political scientists, including all that I know, say this is just backwards. We got it backwards,” Brady said. “The right 45% loves the 2/3 vote requirement because, they believe, it reduces the size of government,” said Roger Noll, professor of economics emeritus at Stanford University. “You are correct to note that there is a consensus among academics that the 2/3 rule is “backwards,” while conservatives (including conservative academics) oppose this change because it might lead to bigger government,” said Thad Kousser, an associate professor of political science who is spending the 2009-10 year at Stanford University working on California constitutional reform. “But I think it is important to note that us lefties don’t support shifting to a majority rule on the budget because it will lead to bigger government—in fact, most of us doubt that it will lead to much higher spending. I think the major justification is that it allows budget deals to happen more quickly, and for the final deal to represent what the median voter wants. It’s about representation and the lack of gridlock, rather than a preference for larger government,” Kousser said. Bruce Cain, Heller Professor of Political Science at the University of California Berkeley, said a consensus of conservative political scientists would likely “agree in principle that a majority vote is best but do not trust the legislature, and so are reluctant in this instance to favor the majority vote.” “If we went to a simple majority to raise taxes in all likelihood the Democrats would raise taxes to solve California’s budget problems. They would over reach. They would get thrown out of office and the Republicans would have their best chance of gaining a majority in the Legislature,” said University of California Berkeley professor of public policy John Ellwood. “Now the Democrats can propose anything because they know that with the Republican veto nothing will pass. And the Republicans know that they can get away with simply saying no,” Ellwood said, adding that “nothing gets done either way” and we are just stuck with gridlock. “The problem is, I’m not sure the voters want it,” Ellwood said, noting that Proposition 56, which proposed a 55% vote for a budget and taxes was handily defeated in the early 2000s. Given that the state is in the midst of yet another prolonged budget stalemate, the debate about the 2/3 vote requirement has flared up again as a way to reduce future budget gridlock. The existence of Proposition 25 on the November ballot, which would lower the legislative vote requirement to pass a state budget from 2/3 to a simple majority, but retain the state’s 2/3 vote requirement for increase taxes, has thrown additional fuel on the fire. A minority of Californian’s will always support the 2/3 vote requirement because it provides them with over-representation of their desires when it comes to state spending and taxes. This does not mean that they are justified in their beliefs--they have simply been spoiled over the last 32 years by being overrepresented by Prop. 13’s 2/3 legislative vote requirement. The time has come for the majority of Californians to reassert their desire for adequate political representation, uphold valid principals of majority rule, and pass Prop. 25 on the November ballot. californiaprogressreport.com