The Ultimate Nanny Stater

In Article 2, Section 1 of the California Constitution it states that "All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for their protection, security, and benefit, and they have the right to alter or reform it when the public good may require." That is a pretty clear statement about the role of the people in making decisions that are important to government and society. When that language was revised in the 1911 Constitution it was with the express desire to remind the political class that their jobs were subject to review.


We are a couple of days away from the self imposed deadline to allow the voters of California to vote on whether to extend taxes that were imposed a couple of years ago. There is plenty of evidence that at least a couple of GOP members in both houses have tried to think about things that could be traded in exchange for allowing the voters to exercise their Constitutional responsibility. If they negotiated in earnest they might get significant pension reform (in a state where conservative estimates suggest our public system is a couple of billion out of whack), or adjustments in programs that seem wasteful, or more accountability or even a hard spending cap.


But the man pictured at the left doesn't want the voters to express their collective opinion. Grover Norquist is the head of Americans for Tax Reform (in Washington, D.C.). He has helped to impede those discussions because many of the GOP members fear the kinds of retribution he has threatened even if they simply allow a vote on taxes. Ultimately, the goal for all Californians should be to get the budget under control, to bring some more rational decision making on how we spend dough in the state government. But Mr. Norquist thinks we are able to make good decisions and so perpetuates California as the Nanny State.