The Real Problem in California

Posted on August 13, 2003 in Gray Davis Recall

No one in the State of California is beholden to the voters for very long anymore. Which means that the professions of legislator and governor do not attract men and women who desire to make service to the people their lives.

Sacramento politics is at an impass because the legislature is populated by men and women who don’t fear the electorate.

Oregon abandoned term limits because it discovered that the institution had opened the gates to corruption. Those who sought elective office in Oregon were less concerned with pleasing the voters than they were with getting in for long enough to pass legislation that would benefit them. The last straw came when it was discovered that the Speaker of the House was taking money as a lobbyist.

Who do these legislators serve? Where will they be in four to eight years? Few of them will remain in public service. We Californians have given over our institutions to those with short views and no sense of the public weal. They want tax cuts for themselves and for their friends; they actively seek to parcel out the common property so that they may become taxing despots.

The recall of Gray Davis is not the answer. If we must retract anything, let it be term limits. Let legislators worry about what the people think about them, let them toady to the special interest of the people’s need for a government which protects them from the excesses of the wealthy. Let them worry about votes and let them feel the pressure. Let them make courageous stands, see the long view, and enter into dialogue with the people on the matters of the common property. Let it become again become a matter of shame to be seen as someone who puts her or his own private interest over that of the greater body.

A scoundrel may work much evil under term limits but a good man’s influence can only be felt by years of service. Term limits were advanced by those who wanted to destroy freedom and common property. To preserve them, we must dismantle the engine which allows corruption to thrive. Give far-sighted legislators the chance to carry through their visions so that we will no longer be blinded by car thieves and businessmen who have annointed themselves gods without any moral or tangible proof other than money that they are.

Return to the People the power to decide who will represent them, even if it is the same man or woman who has faithfully represented them in years past.