re: #952 ArchangelMichael

We have had the initiative process since 1903. Things did not start to get bad in California until the 1990s. The biggest problem is not the initiatives (although they aren’t really helping any) it’s the totally gerrymandered districts, and the out of control public employee unions.

That’s part of the problem. With initiatives, we can lock in a certain amount of spending or a certain % for pet projects, but other stuff has to be paid for too and there’s no way for that to be factored in in an initiative. I really think that we need an initiative to bar spending initiatives. That’s where most of the non-discretionary spending comes from — it got voted on by the voters so the Legislature has no discretion not to fund it. That’s where the hundreds of millions, and even billions, of $ come from (and go). The unions are out of control, but it’s a bigger problem for municipalities than for the state. Yeah, the gerrymandered districts ensure that we get loons for the most part.