Ok, it looks like trying to host any sort of event is just doomed to failure, so I'm gonna give you all the straight dope on next week's election right now.


For starters, hit here for info on your state ballot measures and Vote-Smart to get the dirt on your candidates.

Some of you have your own ideas, some of you don't. Some people have asked me for my input, so I'm giving it here.

For President & VP, I'm going with Badnarik and Campagna, the Libertarian Party candidates.

Doing the same for US Senator (James P. Gray), Represenative (33rd district, Robert Weber), State Senator (21st District, Bob New), and State Assembly (43rd district, Sandor Woren). Now, obviously, since nobody who reads my LJ lives/votes in my districts, everything after Senator means fuck-all to you, but I seen no reason to be incomplete. It's my space, after all.

After that, we got Judges. My votes and recommendations are:

Office #18: Mildred Escobedo
Office #29: Gus Gomez
Office #52: John C. Gutierrez
Office #53: Daniel Zeke Zeidler
Office #69: Donna Groman

It's worth noting that my recommendations are the same as the LA Weekly's, except for office #52, where they recommend Laura F. Priver. Me, I say vote against prosecutors every fucking time. Why? Because prosecutors always get on the bench. Generally speaking, they're hardasses who want to throw everyone in jail for as long as possible. Last thing I need is some fuckwit who does nothing but cost us money by sending everyone and their dog to prison (forcing the state to keep building more of the fucking things) on the fucking bench.

Ok, onto the state measures. If you don't know what they are, either go look 'em the fuckup or vote the way I tell you to. :) [It should be noted that a few of my positions have changed since the last time I discussed them with certain people. These are, now, my final answers and justifications...except for 71, which I'm going to waffle on until Election Day.]

* 1A: Yes. (let local property and sales tax money stay home instead of going to the state)
* 59: Yes. (Transparent government is good.)
* 60: Yes. (Gets more people on the ballot. We like it.)
* 60A: Yes. (The LA Weekly argument against this prop is weak as fuck. I see no reason to trust the politicians on how to spend money when we've got outstanding debt. Yes, I know there's no guarantee the state will sell the surplus property it has, but that doesn't mean this is a bad measure, IMO.)
* 61: No. ($750 million in bonds. I'm sorry, the state is in a budget crisis; fuck the children.)
* 62: No. (FUCK OPEN PRIMARIES. If you're going to abolish political parties, call me. Until then, leave 'em the fuck alone.)
* 63: No. (Yes, I know the tax is on incomes over 1 million. Yes, I know it's for a "good cause." Doesn't mean the state should be paying for it with the people's money.)
* 64: NO. (The minute you fuck with class action lawsuits, the world drops further into Hell.)
65: No. (This measure is dead. Proposition 1A is better and has replaced it.)
* 66: BIG FUCKING YES. (Life imprisonment is for violent offenders, not thieves and garden-variety drug traffickers. California could save hundreds of milions of by not housing these idiots for the rest of their natural lives. As a plus, 66 goes gunning for people who commit sex crimes against children, a group we all hate.)
* 67: No. (Yes, the closing of emergency rooms sucks. That doesn't mean we should subject ourselves to a potentially infinite phone tax.)
* 68: No. (As much as I'd like to see gambling expanded in California, I'm really done fucking with the tribes. They've got gambling and that's wonderful. They're welcome to all the cash they can carry. If people want to expand casino gambling across the state, I'll vote for it, but don't give me if/or propositions. Write one law and make it do one fucking thing.)
* 69: BIG FUCKING NO. (This is police state bullshit. Under the US constitution, I'm quite sure it violates the 5th and 9th ammendments. This law is evil and whoever wrote it should be raped and murdered, 'cause that's the only way those fuckers are getting my DNA.)
* 70: No. (As I said, we're not fucking with tribal gaming anymore. I'm sure as hell not going to give them all a 99-year monopoly based on the feelings of one or two tribes. Let the fucking tribes work out their own goddamned compacts with the Governor's office. Leave it measure alone.)
* 71: I don't fucking know yet. (This is a toughie. I'm a big believer in stem cell research, but I just don't know about 6 billion dollars in bonds. On the one hand, it's the state doing R&D for companies who are too cheap to do it themselves and going deeper into debt doing so. On the other, no one's stepped up yet and if anyone patents a successful cure for something with research from the state, California should be owed royalties from that patent. *sigh* I tell ya, if human cloning wasn't already banned by the federal government and prohibited by the language of this measure, I'd definitely vote for it.)
* 72: Yes (I'm going against Libertarian principle and voting for this one specifically because I want to fuck over companies like Wal-Mart and I'm willing to gamble with the lives of those who might get fired or laid off because a company will claim they can't afford to insure so many people. Fuck 'em all.)

* Los Angeles County Measure A: No. (Fuck new taxes. If those pricks would stop mismanaging the money that's already there, they'd have what they need already.)

* Los Angeles City Measure O: Yes (I hate bonds, but I can't vote against something that will clean the beaches and pretend I'm at least a marginally sane human. I like the ocean. I swim in the ocean. I'll suck up five hundred million in city debt and shove my principles into the closet for this one. Besides, nobody's bothered to submit an argument against it. That should tell you something.)