I wrote this column for The Fox Forum on why Props. 1A through 1E went down to ignominious defeat:

California voters have overwhelmingly rejected the 5 “budget reform” propositions cobbled together by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democratic legislature, rejecting them by 30-point margins. Even in leftist bastion of San Francisco, these tax-and-borrow initiatives are going down.

The focus of voter ire was Proposition 1A, a soft-spending cap that also extended a massive, two-year tax hike for an additional two years. The tax extension was a partly successful bid to buy public employee union support.

The “Yes” and 1A-1E campaign possessed all the conventional advantages of winning a statewide initiative campaign: favorable ballot descriptions written by the legislature rather than, as is customary, by the Secretary of State; the support of nearly the entire ruling class from the governor on down, with the exception of most Republican legislators; and a huge advantage over the various “No” campaigns in terms of resources. By election day, the “Yes” side had spent an estimated $25 million on Prop. 1A alone, while opponents had scraped together just $1 million – a meager sum by expensive California standards.

But no amount of money and endorsements can sell voters on an obviously bad idea crafted by politicians who have no credibility with a fed-up public.

You can read the rest of the column here.