Moody Loner's Election Guide: Part I

Well, we here in California have an election coming up soon, and I know y'all have been clamoring for a Moody Loner Election Guide.

Well, here it is. Part I will cover the initiatives, my picks for them, and the reasoning behind those picks. Part II will cover the statewide elected officials, while Part III will cover more local issues.

So, on with the fun. Life on the edge.

First, let's start with the propositions.

Prop. 81: California Reading and Literacy Improvement and Public Library Construction and Renovation Bond Act of 2006. Or, as I call it, the Closed and Empty Building Construction Act.

Quick answer: I don't think so.

Long answer: A laudable goal, to renovate public libraries and build more. The hours and staff for our current libraries have been cut - so rather than restore them, we'll just build more libraries we can't stock or keep open. No, I don't think so.

Prop. 82: Preschool Education. Tax on Incomes Over $400,000 for Individuals; $800,000 for Couples. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute. Or, as I refer to it, the Put My Wife Out of Work Act.

Quick answer: Oh, no.

Long answer: Again, I can't argue with the goal - but I can sure as hell argue with the method. See, no one - the Secretary of State's office, the people pushing it on Daily Kos, the people that organized the initiative - no one is able or willing to tell me the impact on my wife's daycare. I'd have to believe that were the impact good, they'd waste no time doing so in order to secure our enthusiastic votes, but instead they tell me how children need a preschool curriculum and usually toss in a few snide remarks about home-schoolers.

Some of them, to be fair, point out that we can sign up for this program and get funding - but my wife will have to go to school again to get a degree. The little blurb about how much schooling an ECE teacher needs on the summary doesn't take into count the prerequisites, I have to point out - so my wife's already taken three years of college for a job that pays worse than flipping burgers. Now they want to improve her pay - which is great - but what do we do with our daughter while I'm working and my wife's in school?

I look over at my wife working on curriculum, while my home-schooled daughter works on her workbook, and I'll have to vote with our long-term interests. You lost me.