Posted on 10/10/2009 11:50:10 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The chief justice of the California Supreme Court is criticizing the state's reliance on the referendum process, saying it has "rendered our state government dysfunctional."
.. the widespread use of referendums to change state laws and constitutions hampers legislators, burdens the judicial branch and gives special interests too much power.
George says the system places California's lawmakers in a "fiscal straitjacket" that prevents them from effectively solving the state's financial crisis.
The speech .. entitled "The Perils of Direct Democracy: The California Experience."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
We has met the enemy and We is it.
Damn You, Hiram. Oh well.
He had good intentions. ;-)
“We the people” own the state, not legislators or courts.
The chief justice of the California Supreme Court is criticizing the state’s reliance on the referendum process, saying it has “rendered our state government dysfunctional.”
::::::
The only thing that has rendered our state DYSFUNCTIONAL is its GOVERNMENT and judges like this that sit on its courts. Thank God for the referendum process — of course, it is a liberal nightmare. Anything that holds politicians accountable is something really bad. Just look at how Washington is taking care of that nuisance factor — Obama is creating his OWN GOVERNMENT......
Aren’t judges supposed to stay away from political advocacy? A major violation of that principle is going on here.
unbelievable gibberish from this chief justice. We are not a tyranny..the people are supposed to be involved.
“And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths
Win us with honest trifles, to betray's
In deepest consequence.”
(Banquo, act 1, scene 3, William Shakespeare's Macbeth)
Exactly.
The Marxist legislature will now attempt to pass "reform" legislation to "improve" the Initiative, Referendum and Recall processes.
The result will be an iron fisted legislative insider tyranny, and police state treatment of honest citizens.
Queers and illegals need have no concerns, they're SPECIAL!
Citizen group sponsored Propositions are the only avenue ordinary “normal” folks have to challenge the Dem Party Dictatorship of Kalifornia.
Always troubling when the people think they know better than the royalty......
Absolutely true.
Most of the Propositions appearing on the ballot in California are crap. But then, so is most of the legislation issuing forth from Sacramento.
A lot of the “crap” on the ballot emanates from the legislature.
Many "California conservatives" are actually Right-populists. Its going to be great when the masses of Cali voters are of a different shade, and will pass initiative after initiative that will cause the pseudocons who love ballot initiatives to long for the days of representative government over the Mobocracy.
Excellent point.
The biggest problem with the ballot initiative process is that voters keep voting for expensive expenditures without supporting a way to fund them....
hh
That's a very good thig for the state because every one of the little lunatics belongs in a very real straitjacket.
Think of it this way. The state is in a fiscal mess. Part of the reason why is that the voters have approved so many bond funds, that the state is partially buried paying them off. Every new bond measure sounds like a new shiny bobble to the voters. And all too often they can’t do without it.
I don’t necessarily see this as a partisan matter.
The initiative process is essentially mob rule legitimized. It’s not a representative process. It’s more like a hard and fast Democracy. That’s not what our founders wanted for us, and I believe upon some thought, you’d probably agree with them at least in part.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.