Disrespect for Californians
Action this week by California Democrats shows just how far the disdain for voters has gone. An effort to recall a state Democratic lawmaker who supported the huge gas tax increase prompted lawmakers to try and change the rules which govern how recalls are handled.
The effort is as obvious as the sun coming up, but with Democrats in complete control of this state, trying to save a colleague from the wrath of voters is just plain wrong.
Voters in the district of state Sen. Josh Newman are attempting to bring to a vote a recall of him from office. Backers of the effort cite his vote to pass the gas tax hike which will add 12 cents to the price of a gallon of fuel beginning Nov. 1, as a reason to remove him from office.
By current law, those pushing the recall must gather 60,000 valid signatures to force an election. What the Democrats have done is propose that a person who signs a recall petition be given 30 days to rescind their signature, something like how politicians rescind their promises. The bill also proposes to give lawmakers 30 days to show how much a recall vote may cost, an obvious effort to sway signees to drop their signature from the petition.
Plain and simple, if Sen. Newman is recalled and his replacement is a Republican, then Democrats will lose their supermajority in the Legislature which gives them a blank check to run this state. How do you think the gas tax was passed in the first place?
Fiddling with a long-standing law governing recall elections is a slap to the face of all voters, not just Republicans. Recalls have been used over and over, including the successful recall of Gov. Gray Davis. They are messy and often controversial. Also, the process is not easy and more recalls fail than succeed. Voters have to be really upset — as they were with Davis — before they recall a person from office. That is why the process should not be made tougher.
This attempt, and the fact the bill was attached to a budget bill, is nothing more than Democrats trying to protect one of their own by changing the rules. Will they change it back if a Republican is up for recall? Based on what we see, probably yes.
Editorials in The Porterville Recorder are the opinion of the editorial board which consists of Publisher Rick Elkins and the managing editor. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily of The Recorder.