As the California Republican Party wound down its convention in Los Angeles, delegates voted to oppose two of the five bond Measures Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is pushing on the November ballot.
The party will oppose Proposition 1C, a $2.85 billion affordable housing bond, and Proposition 84, a $5.4 billion water bond. It supports Proposition 1B, a $19.9 billion transportation bond, and Proposition 1E, a $4 billion flood protection bond. And it is taking no position on Proposition 1D, a $10.4 billion education bond.
All but the water bond are part of a bipartisan package Schwarzenegger worked out with Democrats in the Legislature. That bipartisanship has some of his conservative friends upset. But that's just politics as usual in the Golden State.
What really struck me was the quote, in the Sacramento Bee story about the convention, from Jon Fleischman, former California Republican Party executive director: "By passing these bond measures, we are passing the buck to our children and grandchildren."
Viewed another way, by not passing these crucial infrastructure bonds, California voters would be bequeathing their children and grandchildren a decayed and ungovernable state. I wonder which gift the kids would appreciate more?
Want to make housing affordable? Destroy Proposition 13. Only people opposed to that would be anyone that owns a home. Course the banks might have something to say about it as well.
*wink
It would fill California up and force us to reinvest in energy and water managment. It would also fill up California's budget.