Oh good, another political post.
Like every responsible voter, I flipped through the flyer sent to me regarding the June 3rd vote for Props 98 and 99. Both deal with eminent domain; one bad, the other worse. Let’s get the meaningless Prop 99 out of the way first, in the ballot’s own words.
Prop 99: Bars use of eminent domain to acquire an owner-occupied residence to a private person or business entity. Creates exceptions for public works, public health and safety, and crime prevention.
…which is to say every kind of government project. That’s a pretty wide exception. But it’s the better of the two in that it doesn’t actually accomplish anything. See if you can catch what Prop 98 sneaks in:
Prop 98: Bars state and local governments from taking or damaging private property for private uses. Prohibits rent control and similar measures.
What a bargain! Protection from eminent domain… and all I have to give up is rent control. Faustian propositions like this test the voters to see what existing rights they’d give up just to gain protection from earlier, equally bad laws. Is it too much to ask to have wholly unrelated changes to California law split up into two different, less conniving, propositions? I can now see how congressmen can vote against seemingly well-intentioned bills because of all the garbage that comes with them.
These are both terrible, useless laws, and I will keep voting against these Hobson’s choice propositions until the state can come up with ones that offer real choice — with no strings attached.
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