Schwarzenegger Cuts Billions of Dollars In Spending

“the people have spoken”

Sounds familiar? On May 19th, California held the Special Election on how the California government should mandate its budget problems. Before the election, and even right now, California is expecting 20billion dollars budget shortfall. Governor Schwarzenegger warned California that he would cut billions of dollars in public spending if California voters don't pass the budget propositions.

Now, after only one out of 6 propositions has passed, Governor Schwarzenegger began to cut California's public spending. The cuts will hit the hardest in public schools, poor children and disabled people of California, and California state workers. The total cut of spending is estimated to be around 2 billion dollars.

If all the propositions have passed, the shortfall would have been estimated to be around 15 billion dollars instead of 20billion dollars. Even though there would have been a large budget shortfall, it would have been better than nothing.

But again, the people of California has decided to not pass the propositions.
“the people have spoken”


source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/us/31calif.html?hp

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Comment By Taka Laka:

Alright, even though I am a liberal resident of California, and I personally approve Governor Schwarzenegger. Whether you are Democrats or Republicans, the budget cuts are unavoidable.

Other Californian might argue that California should raise its tax rates instead of cutting public funds. If that is an argument, why didn't people vote "yes" on every propositions during the Special Election? One of the prop specifically stated that it will extends the temporary tax hike in California for additional two years.

Only suggestion that I have for Governor Schwarzenegger is to actually look into how each program is using its money. Currently, major portion of California budget is going toward the education. The education program is definitely important; however, the government should look into how the money is spent in public schools. Only required materials for public school is books, teachers, and some administrators. Currently, our school is spending millions of dollars towards junk like LCD monitors for what god knows, digital school board display, random ugly statue, and etc. Most of these stuffs costs millions of dollars of tax payers money. For this reason, if there are 1,000 schools spending millions dollars on craps, the total will add up to billions.

California has Silicon Valley and Hollywood. This budget shortfall shouldn't be this bad.

Boies and Olson Challenge Prop 8

A day after California Supreme Court upheld Prop 8, David Boies and Theodore B. Olson, two prominent lawyers that fought against each other during Bush vs Gore 2000 General Election. Boies represented Al Gore, and Olson represented George Bush. Even though these individuals disagreed in many issues, Boies and Olson agreed that Prop 8 was unconstitutional.

Olson stated,

"[gay marriage] is not something that is a partisan issue. This is something that is a civil rights issue.” (nytimes.com)

In other words, the opposition to Prop 8 is not about being conservative or liberal. Overturning the Prop 8 is about giving equality to same-sex couples, and equality is fundamental rights for every citizen given by the American constitution.

Hence, Olson and Boies filed the lawsuit at Federal Court on behalf of this one same-sex couple. Neither Olson or Boies had personal connection to same-sex couples. However, both individuals were emotionally moved by the story of same-sex couple who are not able to get married after California has passed Prop 8. Reacting to the story, Olson stated,

“If you look into the eyes and hearts of people who are gay and talk to them about this issue, that reinforces in the most powerful way possible the fact that these individuals deserve to be treated equally,” (nytimes.com)

For this reason, Olson and Boies is planning to bring the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Many gay right activists might be thrilled by Olson and Boies intervention, but some are rather annoyed mostly because of the timing of the lawsuits. Currently, the U.S. Supreme Court is leaning toward Conservative. Therefore, there is a high chance that Supreme Court might ban same-sex marriage across the America.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/us/28marriage.html?hp

Related Posts:

• California Court Upheld Prop 8
• New Hampshire Legalizes Gay Marriage
• Cheney Reveals His View On Gay Marriage

Get Involved:

• Overturn Prop 8 Campaign
• Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance
  

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Comment By Taka Laka:
This news was totally a surprise to me. As I stated before on article about California Court upholding ban on gay marriage, the best way to overturn Prop 8 is to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. But I did not expect the movement to happen this quickly. As a supporter for a same-sex marriage, I will hope the best for Boies and Olson.

But like the campaign strategist for same-sex marriage stated, the timing of the lawsuit is concerning me too. If the issue goes all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and if Boies and Olson loses the case, it will take decades for the activists to undo all the changes.

Either way, we will probably witness the nation wide battle for the same-sex marriage earlier than we have expected.

California Supreme Court Upheld Prop 8

It's been almost half a year since the gay right activists filed a lawsuit against Proposition 8 after the proposition passed with majority votes.

Today, California Supreme Courts upheld the ban on gay marriage stating that same-sex couples still have voter approved domestic partnerships that allows them to have equal rights as heterosexual couples. But the courts allows the married couple before initiative taken in are allowed to keep their marital status since the Proposition did not state anything about repealing the married status. The decision was made with 6-1 voters in the court. However, the decision did not end the political battle.

There was immediate reactions to the court's decision. The supporters of gay marriage rallied and marched across San Francisco streets to protest the courts decision. During the rally, some protesters got arrested by police for blocking the streets. However, compare to many rallies, this protests were rather clam since many people were probably expected the court to not overturn the Proposition.

On other hand, the supporter of Prop 8 was thrilled with the courts decision because the California's marriage is now "protected".

According to many critics, this proposition will be hard to overturn, but the opposition still has a chance to overturn the proposition, even though it is going to be a long shot.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/us/27marriage.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

Related Post

• New Hampshire Legalizes Gay Marriage
• Bush vs Gore Lawyers Challenge Prop 8
• Cheney Reveals His View On Gay Marriage

Get Involved:

• Overturn Prop 8 Campaign
• Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance
  

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Taka Laka's Comment:
In the case of gay marriage, you either support or oppose it. In my case, I've been a big supporter of gay marriage. The constitution specifically states that "all man are created equal". Not all animals or aliens. In other words, everyone should be allowed to get married with a "loved one".

For the counter argument against the polygamy debates, why are we worried about polygamy when we are just broadening the definition of marriage between the loved one? "loved one", a noun, a single which means no one is allowed to have multiple partners.

However, just to be fair, the supporter of proposition has their own cases that makes sense to me. Obviously, they have their own religious belief against homosexuality and the fear of God's punishments if they allow same-sex marriage. In other word, Prop 8 was designed so the Christian community will vote "yes" on Prop 8.

If anyone should be blamed, it is probably California's legislatures for not reviewing Prop 8 thoroughly.