The Armstrong & Getty 2020 CA Voter's Guide: Featuring Gary Dietrich

gonna tell you how to vote on the props. It's A and G extra large because four hours simply isn't enough. This is armstrong and getty extra large. Just this kind of California specific. We have this weird system in California

where the too much democracy is the problem. Voters get to be misled by lying ads and go out and change laws with just a majority rule, change dang old constitution, and you end up with things like the freaking multi gazillion dollar bullet train that will never happen anybody's lifetime. So I hope this is interesting. It maybe as a warning to your state to never do this. Yeah, Gary, Dietrich joins as scary as nonpartisan political analysts. Follow them

on the Twitter at Gary Dietrich. Uh if if you are are on the Twitter, Hello Gary, how are you? Sir? Hey, good guys, And you know what it is. I can't believe how many times we've done this, but there are some real big measures on this year's California November. Here's two things I think for people to keep in mind from a national perspective, which I know you guys will appreciate.

One is so many times and Prop thirteen is probably the most famous in this than legendary tax limitation measure, which now we're gonna find one on this ballot, trying to modify that. But those measures in California often often have major skill over effects in other states down the road who look at adopting knows as well. And then one caveat to you know what, people pertibiously screwed up

California proposition process. There have been times when you know, the taxpayers and citizenry at large have used the proposition process to rein in no actions by their own legislature or the governor that they Yeah, that's true. Gary, Although the Great Joe getty unifying theory, which I'll write in a book someday, but I won't because I'm an underachiever.

Um is that in any open democratic process, those who would gain the system get better and better at doing it, to the point that they pervert the system almost beyond usefulness. And while absolutely there are actually a couple of props, I'm in favor of just a couple. Um. Mostly it's big money, powerful interests get the get all the signatures. They they have rosy sounding names for these props and great sounding descriptions, and then the descriptions and the voter

guides are often distorted. And wisely spend money on radio advertising. Right that that part is very smart, But then the Secretary of State often prints misleading descriptions of them, and it's just gotten perverted. To Jack's plank. Though they helped keep angy on, youre but exactly amen to that, and anything beyond that is really, you know, trivial. Alright, So this is a real quick back into that. I think

it's important people to know. You guys really make out to any points in a variety ways, and I do think it's important for people to know and they probably get this intuitively this year in California loan on this one election cycle, hundreds hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent ping against our propositions. It really is a big deal. Yeah, okay, So here's what I have in mind, because there are a couple to three that we probably ought to discuss so people understand what

they are. But the vast majority folks have emailed us, tweeted at us, etcetera. They just want to know how to vote. So we're gonna have Gary do a little analysis for us on the line. Partisan analysis. You don't mean how to get to the poll or how to fill out their form, how to vote, No, no, how they ought to vote on the propositions what they're should be. So we'll have Gary do a little nonpartisan stuff and then we'll get rid of him and I will just

freaking tell you how to vote. We'll tell you what's clearly the right decision, the bone headed decision exactly exactly. Are you a good American or a communist? Yes? Yeah, there you go. Well, I'm sure I'm sure that they will know that everything that comes out of your mouth, Joe,

We absolutely, in the veracity will be on question. Hey, I have two sources that I think are really going to be helpful to people, and given the beginning of the end uh, they don't want them involved with directly, but they are nonpartisan, nonprofit sources that I think will be valuable for people who want to drill down further beyond their you know, ballot measure pamphlet they get from the stage. So whenever you want to show those, well,

why don't you go ahead? People can jump them round and down right now, although you're wasting your time just I'm going to tell them how to vote, but go ahead, Okay, well, you know if any way you know question Joe's you know, authority, integrety. Here's what you want to do. This is this is a good one cal matters dot org. I love cal matters dot org. And here's the one I like about

this one, guys. It doesn't just have stuff on the property positions, but it also has really good background ers on the California House and legislative races, which is tough to find in a lot of places. There's one for you. The other onn is e A Choices dot organ. You know it's both of these. Your daughter, so they're not for profit enterities. See a choices dot org. And I really like this one because it also includes two other

really important things. One for all the larger counties in California, it's got your county ballot measures, which can be very significant, as you know, in their own rights. There in all kinds of other things. The other things got which is really outstanding, and it said the most extensive one of these lists I've ever seen is the folks who are

for and against. So they'll take a whole list of nonprofits, a whole list of other energies, unions, et cetera, and they will go through each one of these and you'll see a massive grid of how each entity is stands on each proposition. And that can be very very valuable. You know, if you're for against you really don't like the perspective on a certain group organization, this tell you where they stand on every ballot measure. Yeah, I will also tell you. I was on ballot pedia dot com.

I think that's a dot com. I found that to be very informative. All right, Gary, why don't you pick pick one or two that you you want to talk about you think people ought to understand. Yeah, well, I think the two big ones, guys, if we're really to pick out the two that have gotten the most attention and are probably have the most long range impact, Let's start with Prop fifteen the tax The Prop thirteen modification measure, though,

would significantly increase taxes on business. Now Prop thir team is the legendary kindly sticking it to the millionaires and billionaires who run the business is finally gone. Yeah, well that includes you, Jack, Okay, So you know the the important thing is for people who remember and this this

is amazing. Way back in Jerry Brown Euro one, back in the late seventies or eight, Prop their team came along that limited the ability of government to increase property taxes on an annual basis a maximum increased per year of two percent, regardless of how much the property value increased. And of course, in a place that California in most places put me every place in the state of California property value has gone up way more than two percent

on an annual life basis. So this limited for both homeowners and businesses, the annual increase in your property taxes two percent. Now they has been talking about, guys, since I came to the capitol over thirty years ago two so called go to a split roll split roll tax or hear that term a lot. It simply means that we would treat homeowners the same as they all have

been has been since popped their team. But it would move business owners off of that protected status um to increase their taxes more substantially on the value of the properties increase itself. Any size business like including a mom and pop like coffee shop or something. Any business depends if they own it the property. Yeah, that's a really great question, Jack. And this is the limit that is the one the part of it it's really debated about.

It limits the increase the change in prop their team for businesses to those business owners that hold three million dollars or more in commercial property. So the idea is that real small business owners like you're talking about, Jack, if you've got your little, you know, little tiny shot that kind, if they're doing coffee, it would not change

those people's property taxes. However, and this is really an important caveat if your business, like the one you're talking about, Jack, is a fantasy average strip mall, right, and that strip mall is valued at more than three million dollars, which many many of them lawn California. Then, of course your landlord who you rent or lease your coffee shop from, is just going to eat the increase in taxes because they're so wealthy, and they're gonna leave the rent the

same for all the tenants in the building. I understand. Yeah, there you go, and people. If he didn't get sarcasm, that was it. So here here's the deal. Um, that's really important because it does mean that, you know, most small businesses honestly are leasing or renting their their establishments. They are not buying them. And so for those who are in those kinds of entities I just talked about, you know, their rents almost assuredly as you're alluding to,

Jack would go up. Yeah, getting to the you know, getting to the because you're staying nonpartisan, getting to the US telling you how to vote. Part. That's the great lie in all this is the claiming that it's not going to have any effect on that, you know, the little mom and pop shop they're running for somebody there. It's not going No, of course, the guy who owns the man or woman who owns the giant building that's running out to the skateboard shop, the coffee shop, the

yogurt place. Their taxes went up a lot. They're gonna have to increase their rent obvious to cover their not it would be insane, insane, insane to hammer California business with a massive tax increase right now in the middle of COVID. It would be practically suicidal. Uh. Yeah, you make it a really important point there, Joe, Because the thing about propositions that are very interesting is some the timing of them is often as important as the content

of them. And so this of course was qualified for the ballot long before any of us ever knew the word COVID, and it was placed on the November ballot. And it's often the case, it is very often the case that measures that they were going to increase taxes or something like that. You know, people wait if it's

an over session, they don't. They frequently, by the way, will wait for these kind of things for general election cycles rather than are off your every two for your grouping a toial election cycles, because generally higher turnout, right, much higher turnout for general lessons, and so people will time the propositions accordingly. In any of that, here's the bottom line it's guestimated that somewhere somewhere between ten and twelve billion dollars would be the annual tax increase revenue.

The stated California because California doesn't take enough tax. Sorry, Gary, pick another prop. Alright, so let's go to Prop twenty two real quick, because this is the gig economy prop. Alright, this is Uber Lift Door Dash. This one really does alongless. This team, I believe, had very national implications. And the bottom line is this. Whenever you call an uber or lift driver, you are calling an independent contractor. They are not an employee of the entity. They run their own

car shop. I mean they contract with that employer. They get paid so much per ride or delivery, and that's how it works. There's no benefits or or you know, workers comp or things like that. Well, the state of California took it upon itself to say, no, like many men, that's not fair. He's driving your Uber and you're not

giving him health insurance is not fair man. So yes, Jack, So, So what happened is they qualified them through legislation passed by the state legisctature signed by Governor Newsom to make all these people employees. So what did Luber and Lift do. Essentially, I said, we are not going to follow the law. We're gonna file lawsuits on this, and by the way, we are going to put a major measure on the November ballot, basically a referendum on that law that would

do two things. Guys, this important. It would repeal that in wid those independent contracts would not be required to be employees. And it also puts in place some things that would protect these independent contractors and provide for them in new ways, like guarantee a certain minimum wage when they're actually driving, not just waiting for give them some subsidies for healthcare, give them workers. Are they So? How

is this how is this one worded? If I vote yes, am I voting to continue to have UBER in the state? Or yeah? What what you're continue? What you're if you're voting yes, Jack, what you can what you're doing is saying these drivers can continue to be independent contracts, you know, and you know, I think national implications for California on this one, aside from the fact that it's ridiculous from the standpoint of an individual driver getting to make that

decision with an employer and all that. Right, their adults they can make that California will be the laughing stock of the country when people start coming to California on vacation or for conferences or for business and they land at the airport and they have to take a freaking old timy yellow cab because there's no Uber. I mean everybody in the country will be aware. Oh my god, you went to California. I know. Isn't it terrible how they don't have Uber there anymore? Or door dash so

I couldn't get anything to eat at the hotel. It sucks well. Gary Dietrich is a non partisan political analysts. You can follow him on Twitter at Gary Dietrich. Gary, we appreciate the wisdom very much and thanks for turning a sound to those websites c Choices dot orgon cal Matters dot org. Thanks man, always a pleasure. Thanks. Have you seen any polling on any of these? By the way, even I know there's a pulling of like the Uber thing. The prop twenty two is it's five to one or

four to one. Uber drivers are in favor of it. They're like, oh my god, yes, I want a flexible joke. I want to drive six hours a week. That's why I'm doing it. I just I never know how informed the public is. Like Prop sixteen, the idea of bringing back racism to California, where you can determine things based on race, I don't know how that's polling, right, Yeah, i'd like to see that. So, um, we'll run through these real quickly. If you're in a hurry, I will

tell you this. There's a question mark that restores voting rights for persons on parole. That's up to you. It's what you it's your opinion. I don't have a strong opinion on that one. I don't think you ought to lose your rights forever because you you make a mistake. But they're on parole. Yeah, how about until you're off parole you don't vote. That's fine with me. Yeah, um, dur in fact, Yeah, that's that's a good point. Uh. Yeah,

it's it's once you're off parole you can vote. But there is one yes, and that's twenty two one yes. The rest are no. Most of them are f no. Would you say that in general, if you lean right, you're a no vote on props. Yeah. A couple of exceptions, obviously, but yeah, in general, absolutely true. Yeah, twenty two is the only yes because it restores freedom of employment. The rest of them are tax increases, I mean properly teen

for instances. It lets children vote if they'll turn eighteen in the next general election, lets them vote for primaries and stuff like that. Seventeen year olds idiotic And you know if that one passes, then they lower it to sixteen. Oh yeah, yeah. And there's the cash bail thing in various consumer privacy laws. But they're all extremely problematic, and they're often either wolves in sheep's clothing or they have a stated purpose and fourteen pages in in the fine

print is something truly insidious. That's another way it's a trojan horse. Is are there more more than one box to vote for yes or no? Is there a hell no and then half no? Right, I'd rather see my sister a warhouse and my brother voting for this proposition. No, there's just a yes and no no. So everything is no except twenty two. Vote in good health, my friends, extra large. When you're ready to ride Metro, we want

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