Without Consent of the Governed

A recent poll shows that a near-majority of Californians approve of the job of their legislature. According to Public Policy Institute of California, forty-nine percent of those polled approve of the job the state legislature is doing. I won't dig into poll methodology to justify a suspicion of bias at PPIC. Instead, I will make the following inference. A plurality of Californians have their heads up their ass.

The legislature has a veto-proof Democratic supermajority, and a seeming plurality of members under indictment or heading to prison. Leland Yee is facing racketeering charges and is awaiting trial. Ron Calderon is facing trial on corruption charges. Last year, Rod Wright was convicted of perjury and voter fraud. And lest we forget that last year party boy Ben Hueso was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.

I would imagine voters would be more aware of these lawmakers if they were Republicans.

Jerry Brown polled at sixty-one percent approval. Apparently three-week-old Ellorah Warner was not asked for her opinion. Warner was the nineteen day old baby murdered by her father, Matthew Warner, who was released early from prison under AB 109, California's prisoner "realignment" program. Governor Brown signed Ellorah's death warrant with this bill.

The grievances range from the petty to the profound. The evidence leads one to discern that the legislative impetus is flowing in only one direction: limiting the personal liberties of the citizens.

Last year, Brown signed SB 270 into law, banning supermarkets from using plastic bags. Nobody in Sacramento bothered asking the voters. Thanks to the state initiative process, soon they will hear from us. A referendum to overturn SB 270 gathered enough signatures to be placed on the November 2016 ballot.

State Senator Ed Hernandez has introduced Senate Bill 151, which would make California the first state in the country to raise the minimum smoking age to 21. There is also a growing tsunami of support for restrictions on vaping and e-cigarettes.

The age of majority is eighteen. This is how old a person must be to accept responsibility for their actions. They should be considering lowering the drinking age to eighteen, not raising the minimum smoking age. Just one more example of our government betters legislating morality.

And please don't tell me it's a public health issue. Long-term smokers get lung cancer and die very quickly. They generally don't linger and consume lots of long-term care.

The red star is for Socialist Utopia!