Day: October 11, 2009

California And Direct Democracy Gone Amuck!

Ronald 1 Comment

The Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. Ronald George, has denounced the state’s reliance on the referendum process to deal with many state issues.

He said too much direct democracy has hampered the ability of the state to deal with tax and human rights issues. Everything is resolved by voter participation, which sounds great in theory, but has in reality created dysfunctional government, and a massive government crisis on the state level never matched in US History.

Ballot initiatives have become so common as to paralyze the ability of state government to have any stability, and “direct democracy” needs to be curbed so that state government may have more ability to deal with issues, such as the budget and gay rights.

A conference is being held to deal with constitutional reform, with one of the key changes needed being to end the two thirds requirement to raise taxes, which has placed California in a straitjacket atmosphere, which makes one wonder why anyone would want to be governor of California after Arnold Schwarzenegger leaves office at the end of 2010.

Obama’s Gay Rights Speech At “Human Rights Campaign” Dinner

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President Obama gave a rousing speech last night, calling for equal benefits for same sex couples in federal jobs, and for the eventual end, without a deadline for action, of the military ban on gays serving. His audience, the Human Rights Campaign dinner, seemed satisfied but impatient for quicker action on the military issue.

Obama also was proud to announce that gay crimes would soon be part of hate crime law as part of the defense appropriations bill going through the Senate for a final vote. He also continued to support civil unions, and for repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, but still held out against his own support for gay marriage.

A similar reaction was stated Sunday by Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow and Pennsylvania Democrat Bob Casey.

Gay Marriage is the hardest nut to crack, but the other aspects of the gay agenda seem likely to be accomplished very soon.

Medical Malpractice Limits And Health Care Reform Legislation

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Democratic Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania made a very interesting and proper statement regarding medical malpractice reform on CNN today.

He said a Republican proposal to limit medical malpractice awards to $250,000 was “insulting” to the principle of justice in cases where there is intentional or negligent conduct by doctors or other medical personnel.

I totally agree, as if someone is harmed by medical malpractice, and most likely is affected for a lifetime in his or her ability to earn income or live a productive life, then he or she should be entitled to a much higher award. Discretion should be allowed, so as not to victimize an unfortunate patient, while at the same time putting a “reasonable” limit on such awards.

So there should be reform on this issue, but with a substantially higher threshold.