Two more ballot issues - redistricting and paycheck protection

There are two very compelling issues on the ballot - 75 - which would prohibit public employee unions from collecting political contributions without express permission and 77 which would redraw the way we draw districts for the Assembly and the Senate and Congress.

75 is a lead pipe YES. We've discussed the principal agent problem of public employee unions in other spaces. Why in the world should public employee unions be able to finance this with involuntary "contributions"? The unions argue that corporations can distribute contributions without shareholder consent - and that is true. But the argument is silly. Were the unions to ask for the same requirement for all unions and corporations - it would probably pass. If the unions really represent their member's interests they will get all the dough they need. In the corporate issue - no stockholder is required,in California, to buy a company stock (as public employees are compelled to join a union). YES YES YES

77 would set up an absurd process to select three retired justices who have never held partisan office (assuming a judge is not a partisan office) to draw district boundaries for Assembly, Senate and Congressional districts. This is the blind pig theory of drawing districts - i.e. that a blind pig could do a better job than the legislature. In this case, however, dubious the proposition in other applications, this one is true. The outrageous power grabs that happen when elected officials choose their voters (as happened in 2000 and 1980) should simply no longer be tolerated. Were there a better way to do this I would consider it - but without a change we will continue to allow the politicos to choose us - that seems backwards. YES YES YES