VOTE!

GET OUT AND VOTE!!!

(especially if you are a republican!!) (just kidding... sort of)

In case you're curious, here's how I'm voting (not completely along party line, btw):

STATEWIDE:
Governor- Arnold
Lieutenant Governor- TOM McCLINTOCK!!!!
Sec. of State- Bruce McPherson
Atty General- Chuck Poochigian
Controller- Tony Strickland
Treasurer- Claude Parrish
Insur Commissioner- Steve Poizner
Board of Equalization- Bill Leonard

PROPS:
1A-1E: NO
83: NO
84: NO
85: YES
86: NO
87: NO
88: NO
89: NO
90: YES

FRESNO AREA:
Congress- Devin Nunes/George Radanovich
State Senate- Dave Cogdill
Assembly- Mike Villines/Danny Gilmore
Fresno County Sheriff- undecided
Fresno City Council District 1- Blong Xiong (yes, he's a Dem, but he knows his stuff and Scott Miller is an idiot)

Measure C: YES

WHY I'M VOTING THIS WAY (PROPS):

Props 1A-1E (Bonds/Infrastructure): NO. We must balance our budget first, not go into debt and then pass the bill to the next generation (i.e. us!). While some of the things in them are good ideas and/or things we need, we've needed them for years, and it's the legislature's job to put together a budget that allocates funds for these critical needs, not more failed government programs. Don't give the legislature a pass for not funding basic infrastructure in their budget year after year. Send them a message to get their act together.

Prop. 83 (Jessica's Law): NO. I have gone back and forth on this one, but I am voting against it because it is poorly written and makes no distinction between real sex offenders and someone who accidentally got drunk and slept with a 17 year old 25 years ago. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for locking up real sex offenders and throwing away the key, but there are some fundamental policy changes that need to be made and before we slap ankle bracelets on everyone who did something stupid in college. Until that happens, I can't justify voting for this.

Prop. 84 (Park Bond): NO! A grab bag of local pork projects (some exempt from competitive bidding requirements and conflict of interest laws) paid for by a generation of taxpayers.

Prop. 85 (Parental Notification): YES! Your 16-year-old daughter cannot use a tanning bed or get her ears pierced without your written consent, but she can undergo a surgical abortion without you even being notified. This measure restores your right to know what is happening to your own child.

Prop. 86 (Cigarette Tax): NO! Why should non-smokers care about a measure that increases the tax on a pack of cigarettes to $2.60? Because it gives smokers a huge incentive to avoid the entire tax by buying cigarettes through friends or family out of state. And who do you think the government will be coming after to make up the resulting drop in cigarette tax collections?

Prop. 87 (Oil Tax): NO! Just when you thought gasoline taxes were high enough, along comes this gem to increase them more to create an alternative energy bureaucracy that doesn't have to actually do anything. Another economics lesson: When you tax something, you get less of it and the price goes up. Plus, the fact that Al Gore and Bill Clinton have been stumping for it tells me it's definitely a bad idea.

Prop. 88 (Parcel Tax): NO! Here's yet another way to get into your pocket: add an extra $50 to your annual property tax bill for still more money for schools. What makes anyone think this money will get any closer to the classroom than the $11,000+ per student we already pump in?

Prop. 89 (Taxpayer Funding of Campaigns): NO! I love this one – force taxpayers to foot the bill for politicians' campaigns. Even if it passes (which it won't), it would never see the light of day because it's unconstitutional on so many levels. Just remember Thomas Jefferson's warning: "To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."

Prop. 90 (Protect Our Homes): YES! Begins to restore the Fifth Amendment property rights protections in the Bill of Rights that the U.S. Supreme Court shredded with its infamous Kelo decision. Prop. 90 prohibits local officials from seizing homes and businesses for the profit of politically well-connected private interests, and requires government to pay you for any damage it does to your property.