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125 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
125 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
THE CITIZEN'S LINE ITEM VETO PROPOSITION
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"If voting could change anything, it would be illegal." -- Karl
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Hess
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"If a law is disliked by as many as one-third is it not likely
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that you would be better off without it?" -- The Moon is a Harsh
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Mistress, Robert A. Heinlein
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Here's a proposition that, if passed, would convince me to
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abandon two decades of abstinence from the political process,
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register to vote, and vote early and often -- too often, I think,
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for this proposition to stand any chance of being enacted, for it
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would actually place real power in the hands of the average voter
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in a way that the established Powers That Be would not permit.
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You are free to try proving me wrong by attempting to get it
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passed: I assure you it will not be enacted into law without
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being watered down so much as to be meaningless. But I offer it
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as an exercise for the politically active, to demonstrate to them
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the contempt in which the electorate is held by elected and
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appointed officials, and how any real attempt to enfranchise
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power in the hands of the people will be resisted tooth and nail.
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California has in place a method of amending the state
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constitution through voters' initiatives called propositions.
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Very well -- California is as good a place as any to test any
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whacky new idea. If successful here, it will be imitated in
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other states, and perhaps even federally. Therefore, herewith
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proposed to be placed before the voters of the State of
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California is
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*****
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THE CITIZEN'S LINE ITEM VETO PROPOSITION
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Summary: The State of California shall establish a statewide
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voicemail telephone system whereby voters may exercise a line-
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item veto over all legislation signed by the governor. A one-
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third vote in favor of vetoing a line item shall prevent it from
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becoming law, with no override available.
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The proposition:
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Within one year of the passage of this proposition:
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I. A. The State of California shall register any California voter
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who wishes to enroll for Citizen's Line Item Veto participation.
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Such enrollment shall identify these voters in a manner not
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invasive to their personal privacy, but with a level of security
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equivalent to that used by the commercial banking industry for
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telephone banking transactions.
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B. The State of California shall establish a state-wide voice-
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mail telephone system, operated by touch-tone telephones using an
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(800) area code telephone number or other free-to-caller area
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code. All California voters enrolled for Citizen's Line Item
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Veto participation shall be entitled to vote on this system.
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C. Each line item in all legislation signed by the governor the
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previous week shall be placed before the enrolled voters on this
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voice mail system. Each voter on the system shall be given one
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vote per line item of legislation signed by the governor, YES or
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NO.
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D. A count shall be made each week of all votes on each line-
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item. If a line-item gains one-third or more NO votes, it shall
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fail to have been passed into law, and no appeal to any
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legislative, executive, or judicial authority may override this
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veto.
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II. The State of California shall provide a weekly line-item
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summary of all legislation which has been signed into law by the
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governor the previous week. Such summary shall be in a form
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understandable to any resident of the State of California with a
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high school diploma issued by a California public school, and
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shall be made publicly available.
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III. To compensate voters in the Line Item Veto for the time and
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effort of reading the legislation and registering their vote, all
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voters enrolled in the Line Item Veto who vote on the system at
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least eight times per year shall be exempt at point of sale on
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all purchases from the California Sales Tax for the next year.
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IV. No line-item vetoed by the voters of the Line Item Veto may
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be reintroduced into legislation for a period of three years.
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V. No tax or other method of public funding, including all usage
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fees, shall pass into effect without being subject to the
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Citizen's Line Item Veto, nor shall any tax or other method of
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funding, including all usage fees, remain in effect two years
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from the passage of this proposition unless it is placed before
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the enrolled voters of the Citizen's Line Item Veto.
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*****
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--J. Neil Schulman
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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Another file downloaded from: NIRVANAnet(tm)
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& the Temple of the Screaming Electron Jeff Hunter 510-935-5845
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Salted Slug Systems Strange 408-454-9368
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Burn This Flag Zardoz 408-363-9766
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realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 415-567-7043
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Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 415-583-4102
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Tomorrow's 0rder of Magnitude Finger_Man 408-961-9315
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My Dog Bit Jesus Suzanne D'Fault 510-658-8078
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Specializing in conversations, obscure information, high explosives,
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arcane knowledge, political extremism, diversive sexuality,
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insane speculation, and wild rumours. ALL-TEXT BBS SYSTEMS.
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Full access for first-time callers. We don't want to know who you are,
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where you live, or what your phone number is. We are not Big Brother.
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"Raw Data for Raw Nerves"
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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