Democracy bites

I was watching the California gubernatorial debate last Wednesday. Right about the time Schwarzenegger was saying, '"When I'm done I will no longer be known as the Terminator but the Collectinator,'" it struck me like a bolt of lightening: direct democracy sucks!\nWhat the hell were those Progressives thinking when they suggested that initiatives (and, in this case, recalls) would '"liberate representative government from (the) corrupt forces so that it might become an effective instrument for social reform,'" (Cain and Miller, The Populist Legacy)?\nNow, I understand that at the time, (the late 19th century), politics were primarily controlled by large interests and political machines. But, if we look at the initiative process, which can be financially costly and logistically complicated, we see that the bulk of these '"instruments for social reform'" are used by corporations and conglomerates of wealthy citizens … a lot like the guys who dominated the political scene in the Progressives' day.\nWhat direct democracy does is rather another thing than what these Progre-ssive idealists foresaw. If they saw a device for liberating the process of legislating, they were as wrong as a soup sandwich. They had no idea what was going to happen.\nThis is what did happen. This is exactly what direct democracy has done for the state of California.\nIt all started in 1978. OK, so California has actually had direct democracy provisions in its constitution since 1911; but, for argument's sake let's say it really started in 1978. We're going to say that because that is when Proposition 13 passed.\nProposition 13 is an initiative that was passed into law. What it did was roll back property taxes and place caps on how much it could increase (2 percent). It also froze property assessments except in the event of property ownership transferal (a law many landowners in Indiana would love to have). \nNow, that dramatically cut the revenue generated through property taxes. That was its intent. However, what the citizens of California failed to consider was that their schools are paid for by property taxes.\nIn 1978 when the proposition passed, California was a national leader in education, being ranked 5th among all states in per pupil spending. Since the revenues were cut, and the rate of its growth was capped, California has plummeted to 41st in the same ranking.\nWell, needless to say, the citizens were not pleased about this development. So, to bolster their public schools, these citizens of California passed another initiative. This one mandated that 40 percent of all state revenues were to be spent on education.\nNow, granted, it is true that this has begun to rebound the schools. But, it has also bound the hands of the legislature in their ability to appropriate funds to areas in critical need of them (when there is say, a power crisis).\nNow, it is true that California would be in economic troubles now just like many other states if they did not have direct democracy. But, if the state government is powerless to do anything because the people through initiatives have '"liberated it from the corrupt forces,'" how could you expect Davis to bail the state out of a crisis like this?\nThe answer: you can't.\nSo, what do the people do instead? Well, since they are unable to see that it's their own damn fault that things have gone sour, they do what comes natural to them. They run to the polls and have a recall.\nSome people just never learn.\nUnless California stops this direct democracy business, their problems can say, '"I'll be back."