☆ Jackson: no single politician will stop massive overspending
While the SF Mayor’s popularity may carry through reforms and a parcel tax, reining in the city’s “out-of-control budget” requires a yet-to-materialize constituency. So says Frontier Republicans and Friends President Bill Jackson in an exclusive Opportunity Now comment – the latest in our ongoing series on where the state and region are headed this November:
When the fog lifts sometime after the November 3 election, I'm expecting to see three trends in the results:
More nationalization of elections. Should California require voters to show their ID or provide evidence of their identity when they mail in a ballot? A lot of Californians think so, including large numbers of Democrats. However, Proposition 39 (Voter ID) may well be decided based on voters' feelings about Trump. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, 88% of the voters who approve of Trump's job performance support Proposition 39, while 73% of those who disapprove of the president oppose the measure. Californians will probably vote down Prop 39 because they disapprove of Trump — which is a lousy way to make important decisions about how to run the state.
The Daniel Lurie effect will live on. In my hometown of San Francisco, Daniel Lurie continues to enjoy broad support and influence — on Instagram and, I predict, at the ballot box. San Franciscans will support his government reform initiatives and new transit parcel tax because they trust him. I wish he'd do more to rein in the out-of-control San Francisco budget, but there isn't yet a strong constituency for that in San Francisco. So in the meantime, we could do a lot worse than follow Daniel Lurie's lead.
More spending for transit agencies. The Regional Transit Measure (RTM) will probably pass because voters are being told that transit Armageddon will descend if they don't vote for it. The airwaves are being saturated with this message, funded by a large coalition of interests that benefit when public transit spending increases. If we had our wits about us, we'd: 1) keep the trains running for the next few years by tapping into funds reserved for large capital projects that no longer make sense; and 2) come up with a less expensive plan for regional transit that does make sense, given changing commute patterns. A man can dream...
Bill Jackson is President of Frontier Republicans & Friends, a Bay Area club building a center-right politics around freedom, character, and opportunity — not national tribalism — that welcomes Republicans, independents, and disaffected Democrats alike.
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