"We have enough wealth to provide quality housing, health care and education to everyone in California. Most of us care about each other and want to protect our environment. But we are governed by people who want tax breaks and maximum profits for big business." Marsha Feinland, Peace and Freedom Party Candidate for Senate
Liberation News Voter Recommendations
By Steven Argue
California Propositions
Proposition 19 VOTE YES
This proposition legalizes marijuana for people who are 21 or older who do not possess it in a school yard or consume it in public or in front of minors. The war on drugs ruins far more lives than marijuana. Vote yes on Proposition 19 and legalize it!
Proposition 20 VOTE NO
Moves redistricting from the legislature to an even less democratic appointed commission that contains five Republicans, five Democrats, and four people from neither party. This would not be a step forward. What would be a step forward that would help bring some democracy to America would be moving a way from winner takes all elections in districts and instead instituting proportional representation where parties are represented according to the percentage of votes they receive. No on Proposition 20.
Proposition 21 VOTE YES
Would put an additional fee on vehicle licensing raising an estimated 0 million annually for California’s state parks. A good chunk of that money will be available to keep the parks open and to fund additional wildlife conservation programs while an estimated million will go into offsetting the Proposition’s elimination of park entrance fees. California’s state parks need the money, and although it would be far better if the rich were taxed instead, this , the cost of half a tank of gas, will help save California’s state parks. Liberation News joins with the Nature Conservancy in saying “yes” on Proposition 21.
Proposition 22 VOTE NO
Would prohibit the state from using local “redevelopment” funds for state projects. Those “redevelopment” projects consist of subsidies, at tax-payer expense, for private developers building things like hotels, stadiums, and auto-malls. It would make this fund that is already currently used for welfare to the rich a sacred cow that can’t be touched for other projects. This proposition would prevent the state from reshuffling those funds for needed and unneeded programs alike, including schools, cops, welfare to the poor, and firefighting. There is no good reason to make these funds the sacred cow of wealthy developers that can’t be used for the general welfare of the rest of us. No on proposition 22.
Proposition 23 VOTE NO
This proposition, funded by the Texas oil capitalists of Velero and Tesoro, would suspend important clean air and greenhouse gas regulations in California. No on Proposition 23! Boycott Velero and Tesoro! Nationalize the oil industry!
Proposition 24 VOTE YES
Would repeal recent corporate tax loopholes on corporations raising .3 billion in needed revenues. This is what is needed, taxing the rich to pay for the wages and benefits of workers and to pay for education and other needed social programs. Vote yes on 24.
Proposition 25 VOTE YES
Would allow a simple majority vote to determine the state budget. California is the only state where a 2/3rds super-majority is required to pass a state budget. This undemocratic status-quo gives the most rightwing representatives of the ruling class in Sacramento far too much power when negotiating the state budget. Yes on Proposition 25.
Proposition 26 VOTE NO
Would require a 2/3rds vote for state and local fee approval. Vote no on 26 for the same reasons as voting yes on Prop 25.
Proposition 27 VOTE YES
Would move all redistricting back to the legislature from an appointed commission that contains five Republicans, five Democrats, and four people from neither party. This would be a step forward in that it would remove power from an appointed commission that undemocratically enshrines control to the Democrats and Republicans for redistricting and undemocratically gives those two parties equal power, no matter who the voters have chosen. While passing Proposition 27 is slightly better than having no Prop 27, a real step that would help bring some democracy to America would be getting rid of districts altogether and eliminating winner takes all elections, replacing it with a system of proportional representation where parties win their number of seats in elections according to the percentage of votes they get.
VOTE Marsha Feinland, California Candidate for U.S. Senate
By Steven Argue
Liberation News is giving critical support to Marsha Feinland's Peace and Freedom Party campaign for U.S. Senate.
Running for Senate for the Democrats is Barbara Boxer, a Democrat incumbent who votes for the funding of U.S. imperialist war appropriations by voting for the so-called “defense” budget. Likewise, she votes for repression at home by voting to fund Department of Homeland Security appropriations. And, making her backing of U.S. imperialism crystal clear, she votes for the massive U.S. military aid sent to Israel and has defended the murderous Israeli attacks carried out against the people of Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank, and defended the Israeli military’s murderous attack of an international aid flotilla. Members of that flotilla were murdered execution style by the Israeli military for simply trying to bring needed humanitarian supplies to the people of Gaza.
Fed-up by the pro-war pro-imperialist Democrats, some antiwar activists have considered turning to supporting the Libertarian movement and even looking to the Tea Party for allies. Yet the Tea Party is nothing more than the racist lunatic fringe of the Republican right with candidates like Ilario Pantano who, in Iraq, shot two unarmed Iraqis down in cold blood after taking them prisoner. Pantano is also a supporter of the racist and xenophobic movement against the right of Muslims to build a mosque in New York and he took time out of his campaign schedule to speak at a Tea Party organized rally in New York trying to prevent Muslims from exercising their First Amendment religious rights. Joining this war criminal on the stage was the Dutch anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders who, among other things, calls for banning the Koran.
Yet this is the kind of movement that inspires California Libertarian Senate candidate Gail Lightfoot, with the Libertarian Party stating on their web site, “Lightfoot kicked off her campaign with a letter to LP activists around the state saying that 2010 could well be the Year of the Libertarians because of the 9-12 Project and the Tea Party movement.” The so-called “9-12” movement is led by, of all people, Glenn Beck, the guy who out of one side of his mouth claims that Obama’s use of the word “compassion” is an evil thing that associates him with Adolph Hitler and in the same ignorant rant can claim that Obama is a communist. For those of us who actually look at Obama’s policies, Obama is obviously neither a fascist nor a communist, but instead a mainstream capitalist politician. Glen Beck, on the other hand, is another question completely.
And while there may be a few antiwar Libertarians in that rightwing swamp, like Ron Paul, it also shouldn’t be lost on us that Libertarians have a program of getting rid of social spending, from public education to Medicare and Social Security. In stark contrast, socialists like Marsha Feinland are not only anti-war; they call for the preservation and extension 200 years of Social progress in America with things like Social Security, public education, and Medicare and call for much bigger improvements like single payer health care.
Also to Boxer’s right, and trailing by eight points in the polls, is Republican Carly Fiorina who is anti-abortion and criticizes Barbara Boxer’s stated support for public funding of abortion in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.
Socialists, on the other hand, support public funding of all health care, including free abortion on-demand. Boxer, however, opposes single payer health care and any other socialist system of health care. In Canada, Europe, and Cuba socialized health care has been proven to increase life expectancy, decrease infant mortality, and cut the costs of health care in half by eliminating the capitalist profits of the insurance industry.
In opposition to the health insurance industry bailout (Obama care), Representative Sanders (nominally a socialist, in reality a pathetic liberal), submitted legislation in the Senate for single payer health care, but felt the pressure of the capitalist establishment and withdrew it in favor of Obama’s plan that, among other things, continues the inefficient and expensive capitalist controlled health insurance industry, does not cover every American, and keeps insurance companies in the position of deciding to kill people by denying needed care in order to make a profit. Boxer never even went as far as Sanders on this fundamental question of providing health care to the American people and simply backed Obama’s plan. In contrast, socialist candidate Marsha Feinland does support single payer health care.
On the environment Boxer, who defended Obama’s lies about “clean coal” technology saying they were needed to win in coal producing states also supports cap-and-trade. In contrast, Marsha Feinland rightly states “We need to place strict limits on all pollution now, to safeguard health and prevent climate disaster. The Senate Democrats promote a "cap and trade policy" which lets corporations buy and sell the right to pollute. Our right to breathe and the future of our planet require real regulation.”
We do need regulation. But beyond regulation, it is hopeless to expect environmentally sound solutions from a system built on profit. Only the revolutionary overturn of the capitalist profit system and the establishment of a workers’ democracy and a socialist economy, with production based on human needs instead of profit, can save the planet from its present trajectory towards massive destruction and human extinction. Likewise, socialism can easily provide everyone with a job, housing, education, and health care.
Marsha Feinland, while putting forward what seems to be a watered down version of socialism and lacking the clear revolutionary socialist program needed, still puts forward a nominally socialist program that is clearly a working class alternative to the wretched capitalist politicians on the ballot. Vote Marsha Feinland for U.S. Senatte.
Additional Candidates Given Critical Support by Liberation News:
U.S. House, 8th District: Gloria La Riva (Party for Socialism and Liberation, running on Peace and Freedom Party ticket)
U.S. House, 6th District: Eugene E. Ruyle (Peace and Freedom Party)
California Governor: Carlos Alvarez (Party for Socialism and Liberation, running on Peace and Freedom Party ticket)
Lieutenant Governor: C.T. Weber (Peace and Freedom Party)
Secretary of State: Marylou Cabral (Party for Socialism and Liberation, running on Peace and Freedom Party ticket)
Controller: Karen Martinez (Peace and Freedom Party)
Treasurer: Debra Reiger (Peace and Freedom Party)
State Attorney General: Bob Evans (Peace and Freedom Party)
Insurance Commissioner: Dina Padilla (Peace and Freedom Party)
Summary you can print-out and bring to the election booth:
California Propositions
Proposition 19 VOTE YES
Proposition 20 VOTE NO
Proposition 21 VOTE YES
Proposition 22 VOTE NO
Proposition 23 VOTE NO
Proposition 24 VOTE YES
Proposition 25 VOTE YES
Proposition 26 VOTE NO
Proposition 27 VOTE YES
Santa Cruz Candidates and Ballot Measures:
Measure H VOTE NO
Measure Z VOTE YES
San Francisco Propositions
Proposition AA VOTE NO
Proposition A VOTE NO
Proposition B VOTE NO
Proposition D VOTE YES
Proposition E VOTE YES
Proposition G VOTE NO
Proposition H VOTE NO
Proposition I: VOTE YES
Proposition J VOTE NO
Proposition K VOTE YES
Proposition L VOTE NO
Proposition M VOTE NO
Proposition N VOTE YES
Candidates:
U.S. Senate: Marsha Feinland (Peace and Freedom Party)
U.S. House, 8th District Gloria La Riva (Party for Socialism and Liberation, running on Peace and Freedom Party ticket)
U.S. House, 6th District: Eugene E. Ruyle (Peace and Freedom Party)
California Governor: Carlos Alvarez (Party for Socialism and Liberation, running on Peace and Freedom Party ticket)
Lieutenant Governor: C.T. Weber (Peace and Freedom Party)
Secretary of State: Marylou Cabral (Party for Socialism and Liberation, running on Peace and Freedom Party ticket)
Controller: Karen Martinez (Peace and Freedom Party)
Treasurer: Debra Reiger (Peace and Freedom Party)
State Attorney General: Bob Evans (Peace and Freedom Party)
Insurance Commissioner: Dina Padilla (Peace and Freedom Party)
Also see:
VOTE Marsha Feinland California Candidate for U.S. Senate
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/10/30/18662733.php
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