The SFist Guide To The Propositions
It's almost time for Super Duper Awesome Zowie Crazy Blowout Insane-O Nuts Extrav-o-Rama Tuesday primary day for California! Feb. 5! So are you going Barack or Hillary? Walnuts or Mittens? Go ahead and vote for Dennis Kucinich anyways, or go back to Nader? And what about Ron Paul?
In all the presidential primary madness, though, don't forget the other sections of the ballot, where the state and local propositions are going to get decided. What?? More propositions?? Well, never fear -- SFist comes to the rescue, with our semi-regular, oversimplified summary of the propositions, after the jump!
Click on through for Indian gaming, term limit extensions, and tearing down the Alcatraz prison. For more information on the props in general, check out the California Secretary of State, the SF Dept. of Elections, or the League of Women Voters websites too. And as always, feel free to impugn our objectivity, add your own arguments, or generally be hilarious in the comments too!
We found this video of the "Democratic Super Duper Friends" when searching "Super Duper" on YouTube for Super Duper Tuesday. That John Edwards Flash costume is hilarious.
Okay, before we get started, this message is for you folks registered as members of the Decline To State party. You can still vote in the Democratic primary (and in the American Independent party too), but you have to ask for the ballot when you get to your polling place. Otherwise, you only get to vote on the propositions.
Unfortunately, Decline to States are not allowed to vote in the Republican or Green Party primaries, and for those of you who registered as Independents, you can't vote in any primary other than the American Independent Party's. (That was kind of tricky of the Independent Party, huh? Next, they'll start a party called the None Of The Above)
We assume what'll end up happening is that Democratically-inclined Decline to Staters will get to the polls, open up their ballots, and then cry out "WHERE'S THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ON MY BALLOT???", at which point a election pollworker will let out a deep sigh, and say "Decline To State voters must specifically request a ballot to vote in the Democratic primary" before handing over page 1 -- so save your volunteer poll worker the time and energy, folks!
Okay, onto the propositions:
Prop 91: Earmarking transportation money in the budget. Pro: Actually, there is no pro argument -- No one is supporting this bill, because Prop 1A in 2006 did the same thing. Con: Just vote no.
Prop 92: Earmarking community college money in the budget. Pro: Community colleges need money. Con: ...but at the expense of the K-12 system?
Prop 93: Extending term limits. Pro: I like my current state Senator/Rep! Con: Throw the bums out!
Props 94-97: Letting four specific Indian tribes put more slot machines in their casinos. Pro: Hey, I got three cherries! Con: It's a power and money grab for the four tribes in question.
And the SF City Propositions -- thank goodness, only three this cycle.
Prop A: Bond money for parks. Pro: Our parks are awesome. Con: No one has actually come out against this one, but we'd assume folks who don't like giving money to government wouldn't want to give money to our awesome parks either.
Prop B: Deferred Retirement For Cops. Pro: Keep as many cops as we can on the street. Con: Again, no one has come out against this one, but presumably, if you think cops past the age of 50 shouldn't be working, vote no.
Prop C: Tear down the Alcatraz prison, to make it into a global center for peace. (You should definitely read the arguments pro and con on this one in the SF Voter Info Guide (.pdf), they're pretty awesome.) Pro: Peace is cool. Con: TEAR DOWN ALCATRAZ ????
Okay! Don't forget to vote, people! See you at the ballot box on Tuesday!