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THE CITIZEN'S LINE ITEM VETO PROPOSITION
"If voting could change anything, it would be illegal." -- Karl
Hess
"If a law is disliked by as many as one-third is it not likely
that you would be better off without it?" -- The Moon is a Harsh
Mistress, Robert A. Heinlein
Here's a proposition that, if passed, would convince me to
abandon two decades of abstinence from the political process,
register to vote, and vote early and often -- too often, I think,
for this proposition to stand any chance of being enacted, for it
would actually place real power in the hands of the average voter
in a way that the established Powers That Be would not permit.
You are free to try proving me wrong by attempting to get it
passed: I assure you it will not be enacted into law without
being watered down so much as to be meaningless. But I offer it
as an exercise for the politically active, to demonstrate to them
the contempt in which the electorate is held by elected and
appointed officials, and how any real attempt to enfranchise
power in the hands of the people will be resisted tooth and nail.
California has in place a method of amending the state
constitution through voters' initiatives called propositions.
Very well -- California is as good a place as any to test any
whacky new idea. If successful here, it will be imitated in
other states, and perhaps even federally. Therefore, herewith
proposed to be placed before the voters of the State of
California is
*****
THE CITIZEN'S LINE ITEM VETO PROPOSITION
Summary: The State of California shall establish a statewide
voicemail telephone system whereby voters may exercise a line-
item veto over all legislation signed by the governor. A one-
third vote in favor of vetoing a line item shall prevent it from
becoming law, with no override available.
The proposition:
Within one year of the passage of this proposition:
I. A. The State of California shall register any California voter
who wishes to enroll for Citizen's Line Item Veto participation.
Such enrollment shall identify these voters in a manner not
invasive to their personal privacy, but with a level of security
equivalent to that used by the commercial banking industry for
telephone banking transactions.
B. The State of California shall establish a state-wide voice-
mail telephone system, operated by touch-tone telephones using an
(800) area code telephone number or other free-to-caller area
code. All California voters enrolled for Citizen's Line Item
Veto participation shall be entitled to vote on this system.
C. Each line item in all legislation signed by the governor the
previous week shall be placed before the enrolled voters on this
voice mail system. Each voter on the system shall be given one
vote per line item of legislation signed by the governor, YES or
NO.
D. A count shall be made each week of all votes on each line-
item. If a line-item gains one-third or more NO votes, it shall
fail to have been passed into law, and no appeal to any
legislative, executive, or judicial authority may override this
veto.
II. The State of California shall provide a weekly line-item
summary of all legislation which has been signed into law by the
governor the previous week. Such summary shall be in a form
understandable to any resident of the State of California with a
high school diploma issued by a California public school, and
shall be made publicly available.
III. To compensate voters in the Line Item Veto for the time and
effort of reading the legislation and registering their vote, all
voters enrolled in the Line Item Veto who vote on the system at
least eight times per year shall be exempt at point of sale on
all purchases from the California Sales Tax for the next year.
IV. No line-item vetoed by the voters of the Line Item Veto may
be reintroduced into legislation for a period of three years.
V. No tax or other method of public funding, including all usage
fees, shall pass into effect without being subject to the
Citizen's Line Item Veto, nor shall any tax or other method of
funding, including all usage fees, remain in effect two years
from the passage of this proposition unless it is placed before
the enrolled voters of the Citizen's Line Item Veto.
*****
--J. Neil Schulman
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