California Voters choose wisely...Los Angeles Voters fall for "Phony Phone Tax"

This week's Super Tuesday showed us that a majority of statewide voters saw behind the deceptive wording of Proposition 93. Unfortunately, two-thirds of voters in the City of Los Angeles showed all of us that they could be convinced that a tax preservation was actually a tax reduction simply because they can be told that police & fire departments would be affected. It is a shame that Police Chief Bratton & Fire Chief Barry, both dedicated to serving their departments, could be politically naive in serving the interests of the tax-and-spend liberals of the Los Angeles City Council.

Did they honestly feel that the Mayor & members of the city council would actually make budget cuts to the police force & the fire department before looking at their boon-doggling programs and lavish travel expenses? Because of the deceptive measure of 2007, Measure R, most of the city council members are going to run for re-election in 2009; how many of them would have been so bold as to tell voters that because Measure S failed, they had to cut police and fire departments?

Neighborhood councils throughout the City of Los Angeles tried to get the word out to voters about this deceptive measure. I found myself working side-by-side with San Pedro Democrats who understood it wasn't that we were being asked to preserve (or rescue) a tax that had been ruled unconstitutional by the courts; it was how the City Council and the Mayor wrote the measure to be something that it wasn't. We were all burned by how deceptively Measure R was written as "Lobbying Activity Resitrictions", and, oh by the way, an extension of term limits from two terms to three. (shhhh!)

So I assume that Councilwoman Janice Hahn's $30 million anti-gang tax measure will be on the November 2008 ballot for voters in Los Angeles to consider, probaly as "Measure T". I'm curious to see how it is written to ensure it plays on our heart strings and shared conservative principles to vote for it. Don't be surprised to see a "Support the Troops" clause added to it or, even more appealing to the Randon Lengths crows in San Pedro, a "Get us out of Iraq now" clause. (Should we start a pool now?)

I am extremely thankful, though, for the voters throughout the state who saw through the similar deception going on with Proposition 93, the "Nunez/Perata Preservation Proposition" (oh, I mean "term limit reduction"), and voted to end the terms of these two horrible politicians. Thanks to the leadership of these two, our state budget is far worse than it was when they were elected, nanny legislation has run rampant & our Legislature has become the laughing stock of the country. Voters in both parties saw the opportunity to get rid of them and 42 other ineffective politicians, including our own assemblymember Betty Karnette, and replace them with some fresh members who will hopefully bring fresh ideas and energy to solving problems that have lingered on as unimportant to either Nunez or Perata.

A special thank you must go out to our Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, who saw the need to step in and provide both organizational and financial leadership in defeating Proposition 93. Steve Poizner brought the same drive and vigor that he has shown in going after individuals & companies submitting fraudulent claims since being elected, and we are very blessed to have him in Sacramento.

So congratulations to the great state of California, who will have new members in both the State Senate and the Assembly in 2009! Our objective now is to ensure we work hard to get new leadership in these houses, including Gabriella Holt in our own 54th AD & Thomas Vidal in the 53rd AD. Let's take advantage of our progress to ensure we send members who will truly work for a balanced budget and a successful California.