Our Nation’s Founders would recoil at the reasoning that is being used against Proposition 90.  I’m really disappointed by some of these people that we as Republicans have worked with to make things right in their relationship with state government.  I’ve been a long time advocate of returning power to the most local level, to work to relieve mandates, especially unfunded ones.  To keep the state from ripping off local dollars from cities, counties and special districts, because I firmly believe that locals have a better idea what local needs are than Sacramento or Washington DC. 
I was a strong supporter of the "previous" Prop 1A that made a giant move towards doing that, protecting local dollars from the state, and devolving power back to the local level.  Cities and counties don’t like it when the state sticks it to them.  

But now the shoe is on the other foot.   Local government wants to keep the power to stick it to an even more local government: you, your family, your home, your farm, your business, the individual.  It’s more convenient to use the power of eminent domain to wipe away someone thought of as in the way of the ‘vision’ of as few as 3 people on a council or board for land use in their purview.  Or to change the course of a person’s life-investment in their land because those in power like to drive by and see ‘open space’ when they look out over what you’ve toiled to form into your vision for it.   Never mind that your bank/partner still expects to be paid for the full value before the wand of government that just waved over your property has now devalued it down to perhaps useless to you and any prospective buyer.  Oh, and keep sending in those property tax dollars too!

This all plays nicely into the hands of the extreme wing of the environmental movement.  Having all these new partners from business and local government join the chorus against Prop 90 is something to behold.  Prop 90 is a long needed "correction" to swing the pendulum back towards the individual rights of property ownership, property usage, or the truly fair compensation for a justifiable taking, [even fair compensation for unjustifiable flimsy excuse for takings in the name of ‘environmental mitigation’ or someone’s idea of what open space should look like.  Without ESA reform, these instances no doubt will still occur]

The business organizations that are paying ‘protection money’ against 90 to curry favor with the government bosses that will issue the building permits, the zoning changes, the rights-of-way
usage they need, disappoint me.  They either buy The Lie or don’t care about individual rights as much as getting their next permit.  

The Colonists came here with a vision of the type of freedom to own land, a cornerstone principle of why they even bothered to fight a Revolutionary War against the Crown.  That coupled with the freedom of religion, not a state sponsored one, were key to the Founders.  

We are losing both of these cornerstones.  Unless you are a participant in a politically correct religion or politically correct usage of your land, you would likely agree.  The Colonists and later immigrants, most all come here with a similar dream to make it here, to have what their old oppressive governments won’t allow them to own, or that tax them so much they can never afford to own, a home, land, a farm, their own business.  Do we want to foster that oppressive thought here now?

The sky-is-falling rhetoric by the opposition is much the same as the arguments against Propostion 13 back in 1978.  Many of the same characters with their tales of doom for local government and services about passage of Prop 13 are the ones bleating the same old saw against 90 today.  What if 13 had been defeated?  The unchecked taxation of homes and property would make ownership of them a privilige of the elite.  The elderly and retired, young families… forget owning a home or land.  The circumstances between the 2 propositions are remarkably similar.  The Establishment will fight landmark change that benefits the individual tooth-and-nail, it always will.  That’s why Jefferson said a revolution every now and then is a good thing.  We know what happens to people that try to undercut Prop 13 publicly.  The same accountability needs to be held for those that undercut Prop 90, like Prop 13, a revolutionary change in favor of individual rights. 

Just a little update as to how much effort is being expended against 90 by these bedfellows.

GOVERNMENT ENTITIES

League of California Cities:  $3.2 Million
California State Association of Counties   $650,000
California Redevelopment Association  $540,000
Special Districts Association  $10,000
Contract Cities Association  $5000

ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS

The Nature Conservancy       $1 Million
League of Conservation Voters via:
          Californians for Neighborhood Protection  [there’s a nice honest name for ya] $205,000
          Conservationists for Taxpayer Protection  [ah yes, leading the way to protect the taxpayers from overpaying for bugs and shrubs, mitigation land and frivolous environmental lawsuits, I’m thankful as a taxpayer for their efforts to help me]  $990,000

UNIONS [involved in public works projects]

$1.058 Million

PRIVATE INTERESTS
[those that benefit from eminent domain, need permits for, or finance, building projects]

$900,000+

LAWYERS
[that represent cities, counties, districts, etc.]

$500,000+

Pretty neat coalition here.  Government entities supposedly not using taxpayer dollars nor their tax
exempt status on political activity, and are not supposed to use more than 5% of non-tax derived resources for political activity.  

Environmental organizations want to stop all the infrastructure to Rebuild California…stop the use, development or management of resources such as timber, water supply, mining of gravel, roadbase, etc. and seize land and turn it into unmanaged parks and habitat.  They succeed in stalling highway expansion and levee/flood control system upgrades for years, costing lives and driving up construction costs, cause millions of dollars to be spent on frivolous mitigation measures for unendangered species.  They are now at election time claiming to be a big friend of taxpayers.  Funny.

And we have developers that are vilified as being for Prop 90 in the opposition ads, helping finance against 90.  Which is it you anti-90 folks?  Or is it just the way of things with local government’s power to grant and deny permits, muscling up on anyone that needs things, coercing them to pay-to-play in the No On 90 Club?  9 days to go………….

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 29th, 2006 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.