Politics: No on Prop 93

This ballot measure tinkers with the current term limit system in place for the California legislature.

Send it back to them with a "no vote" and say "try again."

The LA Times is for it:

Like many political reform initiatives, Proposition 93 presents voters with a quandary. It would improve California's political system by rationally reforming the legislative term-limits law. But it also would confer a temporary, unearned and undeserved benefit on a handful of elected officials who broke faith with Californians. Now the question before voters is whether it's better to punish those politicians, and in so doing punish ourselves, by squandering a rare chance to improve the system, or to begin repairing the broken process without worrying that a few elected officials may, for a short time, enjoy an unexpected political afterlife.

The Times urges voters to reject the childish world of politics and to engage instead in the grown-up business of governing. Vote yes on Proposition 93.

Under the term-limits law voters adopted 18 years ago, legislators can serve a maximum of three two-year terms in the Assembly and two four-year terms in the Senate, for a total of 14 years. Under Proposition 93, they would be able to serve 12 years, in either or both houses, in any combination of terms they could work out. If the measure passes, it's widely expected that most would serve the full 12 in a single house.

The SF Chronicle is against it. They share the LAT's view that term limits need a fix but they aren't as forgiving as the LAT about the sweetheart deals that benefits many existing office holders. Excerpt:

We have long argued that the term limits passed by voters in 1990 were unduly restrictive. While term limits have opened the Capitol doors to some bright newcomers - and increased the ethnic and gender diversity of the Legislature - they also have forced incumbents to spend far too much time raising money and not enough time delving into long-term problems that don't generate press releases. This measure might be worth considering if it were not so transparently skewed by the people in power to benefit themselves.

I'm going to vote no on proposition 93. I don't want to reward politicians who feather their own nests! I just don't think the people in Sacramento realize just how angry the people of California are about what they are doing up there.