Of course it’s understandable that many California voters might be feeling sticker shock about the nearly $50 billion in infrastructure bonds they are expected to decide Nov. 7. But we live in a state that is adding 500,000 population yearly while pushing to stay at the forefront of the global economy. This means California simply cannot afford the risk of massive breakdowns to an outmoded infrastructure, as was seen in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.
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U.S. Rep. Tom Lantos is a somewhat rare bird for the Bay Area, a basically liberal Democrat who has always been militarily hawkish and fiscally opposed to unbalanced budgets. His early enthusiastic support for dismantling Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship brought a chorus of disapproval from the local Left, yet he won with 68 percent in 2004.
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We don’t enjoy leaving it for the state’s children to make payments tomorrow on today’s construction spending. But public facilities eventually wear out and the population of California is continuing to grow.The Examiner endorses Proposition 1D, the $10.4 billion school bond measure. It is true that in the last four years, California voters already approved two state school bonds totaling more than $25 billion, not to mention billions more in local measures. Yetthere is still no shortage of work that should be done on crumbling schools built shortly after World War II.
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Opponents of Proposition 90 are calling it a "taxpayer trap," when in fact it would protect taxpayers’ basic property rights and hold government fiscally accountable for its actions.The government shouldn’t be able to take your home or land so it can hand it over to another private party. And if the government passes a new law that substantially lowers the value of your property, it should have to compensate you for those losses. Those are the protections that Prop. 90 would bring to homeowners and small businesses.
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Ask yourself: Of all the politicians running for office in California, how many can you name who represent philosophical consistency? How many operate according to what Margaret Thatcher called "the politics of conviction"? Only one leaps to mind: Tom McClintock, who is running for lieutenant governor.
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For many parents, the last few weeks have meant the beginning of a new school year — taking kids to the bus stop, packing lunches and buying school supplies. For educators, it has meant getting back to the classroom to set them up, planning lessons and meeting a new group of students.
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It is so tempting to deride the candidacy of Edmund G. Brown Jr. Surely, contend his foes, he is a walking rerun of "That ‘70s Show." Governor Moonbeam. Buddhist economist. Public ascetic. Squire of pop stars.We could go on: Unsuccessful presidential candidate. Radio talker. Blogger. Mayor of Oakland. Candidate for attorney general.
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Ready to shudder? Listen to the likes of CNN’s Lou Dobbs, who tells us that "elites" in this country "are waging an outright war on working men, women and their families, and there is no chance the American middle class will survive this assault if the dominant forces unleashed over the past five years continue unchecked."
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It’s not that we expect much from California’s Legislature. Come to think of it, a long holiday from the intense political activity that characterized the final days of the last session might actually be welcome. Think of it: You could plan your life without looking over your shoulder.
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California’s roadways have been much neglected in the past three decades. The neglect is largely deliberate, stemming from the coercive notion that more traffic congestion will yield such frustration-induced enlightenment that motorists will cheerfully abandon their vehicles and board public transit.
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