Thursday, February 17, 2011

Representative vs. Direct Democracy in California (Post #12)

To continue our theme from eariler this week, the topic of balancing the budget, many students failed to do so successfully without some raising of taxes.  Governor Brown promised in his campaign that he would not raise taxes without the voters approval.  The California legislature must pass all taxes with a two-thirds majority.  The Governor currently is proposing to have the state legislature vote to put a measure on the ballot this June that would extend taxes increased under Arnold Schwarzenegger that would otherwise expire in July.  The Governor has a plan to cut spending even further (mainly in education) to balance the budget should these taxes not be extended.  Click here to see what the results to budget would look like.  Recently, a state senator was quoted as saying that Republicans will not vote to put the tax measure on the June ballot.  Since Democrats are a majority of the legislature, they need only two or three Republican votes (depending on an upcoming special election) to pass the measure with two-thirds in the State Senate.
Since we are a representative democracy, our legislature is elected to vote on budgets, taxes, laws, etc. But we also have the inititative and referendum which allow California voters to directly pass laws, taxes, and other concerns affecting the state.

So here are the questions:
Should lawmakers directly vote on the taxes for us? (meaning have them vote yes or no) or is this a topic that citizens should get to decide? (whether or not you would vote for it) explain why

What influence do constituents have on their local state senators and assemblypersons that might impact the budget and/or this measure being placed on the ballot? (what could someone do, if anything)

If the measures are placed on the ballot in June, seeing what the consequences are (linked above), what are your thoughts?  You may discuss how you might vote, but if that is private to you, then discuss the consequence of either the tax increase or the cut in spending or both.

99 comments:

  1. omar delgado sloan per 4February 17, 2011 at 8:24 PM

    i beleive law makers should not vote for us. theyl be fixing our problems by the way they feel comfortable giving up. so like how it as explaind in class someone who had no connection in what is being cut may choose to highly tax that or completely remove it.i think the people should speak up and help balance the budget with their individual votes. i mean whats the cost of just placing one more thing to vote on in the ballots in june. im all for less days in school i mean who wouldnt, well except for maybe teachers because they get paid but what i dissagree on is raising the college tuition cost. imagine how many people may not be able to pay for college.

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  2. I rhink that the cuts will help, but it will make a lot of people unhappy in the process. Community college fees from $26/unit to $66/unit, that is completely ridiculous!!! As much as I would love to have a say in the taxes I pay, I think that letting law makers make the decisions is the best way to help the economy. If we as taxpayers have to sacrifice some money to do that, so be it, if it gets us out of this rut. Law makers have to pay taxes too, so it's not like they're being a bunch of tyrants trying to get all of our money. A big problem with this would be the unhappy people who would then hold a grudge against the politicians and not vote them back into office. Bauer/Sloan

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  3. I think the legislatures should vote on our behalf, because they are known to have more knowledge than most of California's population. I wouldn't vote because I'd be scared of making the wrong decision, since I don't fully understand how the cut spending will affect us in the long run. Constituents could write letters to the legislature of go and voice their opinion to influence their choices.

    Melody Morphis
    Mr. Sloan
    per. 1

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  4. I don't believe that the common people should be allowed to vote for taxes because these days no one understands how many benefits come from paying taxes. I believe that only assembly and senate members should vote on taxes because if citizens vote they will almost always shoot down the proposal. Truthfully I do not believe that constituents have any say when it comes to certain represenatives, but with other ones they could persuade them to vote a certain way. The bottom line is that the assembly and senate members will vote yes if they believe it is a "good" bill for the state, and no if it is not regardless of whether or not the constituents like it. As for whether or not I would vote for it, I would because I know that this is the only way that we can solve our budget deficit.
    Bauer per. 1
    Sloan per. 3

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  5. I don't believe that the lawmakers should vote for us, this should be up for the people to vote, lawmakers should be able to pass the bundget, laws, taxes etc. or not, but then it should come to the citizens. Many legslative officials can choose what would help their state which would be unfair. I would not vote to cut funding for anything, because doing that would lead to cuts in other things, and so on. It is not worth cutting anything to gain something else, unless it is desperately needed.

    Trista Dowdy
    Sloan per.5

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  6. If citizens got do decide, it is likely that they would vote against a tax increase. It is better for lawmakers to vote on taxes for us. Although people generally do not want to pay more taxes, a tax increase would help solve the budget problem so that the budget can be balanced. The cut in spending will lead to upset Californians, but the state cannot afford to keep funding everything as much as it currently does.

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  7. Dominique Jimenez 5th SloanFebruary 17, 2011 at 9:48 PM

    I believe it is completely the tax payers votes that count. Because it is their hard earned money that is being spent on taxes and they should have a say. Not the lawmakers. The consequences of this ballot passing are also higher than the pros.. So all in all around a terrible idea.

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  8. I think we should vote directly on increased taxes if we have the option. Elected officials have many lobbyists and support groups to appease and may not choose what is best for California. Voters will not have the same pressures so they should be the ones that vote and what will directly affect them.

    Sloan Per. 3
    Bauer Per. 4

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  9. law makers should vote on it, we put them into office to REPRESENT us. if a state senator or assembly person were to upset THEIR constituents, then THEY would lose their office, so by representation, we get a decent opinion on the issue. alot of the educational cuts are ridiculous, the youth are the future, if you do not give them the tools, opportunity, or incentive to learn, then the world will end up like it did in the movie "Idiocracy".

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  10. Josh Agans, Bauer P.5February 17, 2011 at 10:19 PM

    i believe lawmakers should vote for the taxes for us. the citizens would just vote for the lowest of taxes which would not help us get out of the debt we are in. the lawmakers know what the right decision is whether it's to raise or decrease taxes. i think the constituents of their local state senators do have an impact on their decisions. that is because the officials have to please their constituents or else they won't be his constituents anymore. that may not lead him/her to make the right decision. i would vote for the taxes if i could because that is the only way we are going to help our debt decrease.

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  11. I think they should vote on the laws.if it then turns to direct democracy, not everyone is going to vote or even try to help pass laws.i think constituents dont have much influence on representatives, some may change their mind because of the opinions of others but others may not.I would vote on a tax increase because it seems like it is the best solution to help out the people.
    Jose Alvarez p4 Sloan

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  12. I think the citizens should have a say in the taxes as well as the people of congress. There should be a voting for the citizens then a vote for congress and then make decisions based off that.

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  13. I do not believe that lawmakers should be the ones voting for OUR taxes. We as the voting public should make the descision. Why doesn't brown cut the budget in the billions of dollars going to people on welfare (that don't need it) or things that are not as important as education. The current education system needs to be reformed, the last thing it needs is money taken away from it.
    hayley swearingen
    sloan per 4

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  14. Kevin Krivda, bauer P1
    Voting on taxes is a tricky issue. However, I do feel that lawmakers should vote on them because they are more aware of all the technical stuff that goes on and everything than the common people. I do also feel though that people shoud get some say, after all, it is their money that is the issue.

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  15. Zachery Atkins
    Period 2
    Mr. Bauer

    We cannot be the only ones to vote for a law. It's messed up, but this is the only way we can function properly. If taxes were voted for by the people then none of them would get a majority vote because nobody wants to have less money in their pockets.

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  16. I believe the lawmakers should vote because they have the most knowledge about the consequences of any vote. I reallllly hope they don't cut any further into education because they have already cut more than is acceptable.

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  17. I believe the citizens have just as much of a say in taxes just as Congress does.

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  18. Taxes should be decided by the citizens. After all, the citizens are the ones who are paying the taxes and should decide on what to pay for or not. Cutting the budget for education is not a great idea as California education is not the greatest. Tax increase seems like it is getting out of hand. I think it is rediculous that the govt can keep taking more money from workers paychecks and get away with it. Cutting budget spending is always a negative thing, but it needs to be done to get rid of the deficit.

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  19. The citizens of California should be able to vote on the taxes since it will directly affect them. It will essentially be the citizens' money that will be taken. Although the people don't necessarily understand balancing the California budget, they can be taught. If the citizens were aware of what goes into attempting to fix the deficit, then maybe they would be more understanding when it comes to the government announcing what will be cut in the California budget.

    Devin Smith, Mr. Bauer, P.1.

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  20. i don't think lawmakers should be the one's voting because they aren't in everyone else's shoes so they don't know exactly which would apply to us and instead more on the state. I think the citizens should vote because it effects us greatly, its our money we have to give away.

    adilene vazquez
    sloan period onee

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  21. Well, it would be extremely difficult to have everyone vote on these taxes and cuts. We have a representative government, and i think that we might as well keep it that way.

    Higher taxes, or cuts, it just changes who gets money. Do the people who earned it keep it, or should the government hand it out to others?
    Either way there is not enough money to go around.
    It will be popular with some, and not popular with others.
    Caleb Newman

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  22. We should vote. They are the ones spending the money (rather wastefully many times), so of course they will vote to raise taxes everytime. We are the ones giving up our money, so we should vote and decide based on whether we think it's worth it.

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  23. the citizens should be the ones who should decide because they are the ones who will be affected by it any it wont make things any better because things are already bad as they are if taxes change it would be harder so the people should have the choice

    Richard manzo
    sloan pr5

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  24. Maria Schmidt, Bauer, Per 5February 18, 2011 at 5:13 PM

    At this point, I am not sure what side to take on this issue. I see why people would like either side. As citizens, unfortunately not everything goes our way. I have to admit that I would probably not want taxes raised. However, that means that cuts need to be made. It seems like people have it in their minds that we can have it both ways, but we can't. I agree that since the taxes would directly affect us, we should vote. However, in the situation I explained, it might be easier to have law makers vote on our behalf because they know how it will help us.

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  25. Steven Reichmuth, Bauer, period 2February 18, 2011 at 5:16 PM

    When it comes to taxes the citizens should get to decide, they're the one's who are going to have to pay it, and from the current state of the economy it pretty obvious the majority of people will vote "no." The state needs to get their act together. Every agency spends all the money given to them in order to recieve more the next fiscal year. One state worker told me that spring time is like christmas at his workplace. This pointless spending needs to be bought to a halt. Goverment officials keeo wanting to raise taxes when what they need to be doing is shrinking the goverment agencies, the money is simply not there. Neither the goverment or its citizens can afford to expand state agancies right now.

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  26. I think that citizens should get to deiced whether or not we should rise taxes because they are the ones that are going to be paying for these taxes.I think the constituents of their local state senators, do have an impact on their decisions. I also think that education is way more importation than rising taxes. We should just pass these taxes and get it over with.
    Per. 1
    Sloan

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  27. I believe both lawmakers and citizens should directly vote on the taxes for us because the lawmakers are also citizens, so we will all be affected by this decision if I am correct. Everything now and days are seeming to increase. I never really understood the whole point of taxes, but if taxes increase, many people would be upset, including me. Tax increase just sounds like a bad thing. A cut in spending sounds better than a tax increase. The government should just stop spending so much money and put the money to use more wise than they have in the past. It is not easy, as I found out from the last blog, but with as many of them as there are, they're bound to come up with a better plan.

    Chrissy Vue
    Sloan
    Period 3

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  28. I think that the people should have the choice om whether or not to pass them because we are the one who are going to pay them . I think they should be passed though so that it done with and once it over our dept will be decreased and wont worry as much.

    ricardo villalpando
    pr5 sloan

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  29. Nathalie Trevino; A. Bauer period1February 18, 2011 at 9:57 PM

    I guess the citizens should directly vote for this since they will be the ones paying, however, I feel that many people are ignorant or not well informed and will make a bad decision. The tax increases should be extended in order to save our already bleak education situation.

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  30. I think that our voices should be heard, therefore we should vote because we are the ones who are going to be paying. Like other people have mentioned, cutting spending sounds like a much better idea than raising taxes.

    Melissa Quezada
    Mr. Bauer
    P.2

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  31. Danielle Bulmer--Bauer--4February 18, 2011 at 10:42 PM

    I think we, the citizens should vote rather than the lawmakers since we're the ones who have to suffer and deal with the decision made. Although I highly doubt that the Assembly members would allow education funds be cut, many of them are fighting to put money back into the schools rather than away.
    So I think taxes will be increased in my opinion, even though we loath having to pay taxes... This is not going to be a very easy bill

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  32. I think the public shouldnt vote on the taxes because they always want the lowest, which is understandable, but if the taxes all get shot down we arent able to afford niceties for public.
    Samantha White
    Mr. Sloan
    Per.5

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  33. Taxes are basically necessary for the situation that California is in, so if the Republicans refuse to extend and/or raise them, then they are out of touch with reality. Cuts do need to be made in certain areas of the government, and some of that should come from education, but to see our future pay the price of our current stubborn stupidity is ridiculous.
    Caleb Boyd
    Mr. Sloan
    Per. 2

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  34. Emily Geiszler, BauerFebruary 19, 2011 at 4:20 PM

    We the public should not be voting for things like tax extensions directly. Our representatives should be doing all of the voting for us because they know what the overall majority of us want. They also can be a much better judge of the things we truly need. Without the tax exetnsions, we will be hurting. Especially the school district, there won't be much of a budget for teachers to get supplies or new equipment. I understand that Republicans may not want to increase taxes but if they don't increase any, we will surely pay the price for it later.

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  35. I think that we should have the right to vote directly on taxes that the government wishes to propose. WE must pay the taxes however we would generally vote to not raise taxes, so i think it should be a combination of the legislation and the people voting for taxes and such. Sloan p.3

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  36. I think that the lawmakers should vote on taxes not the people. We vote for are senators and assemblypersons to be in office and we should vote for people that have the same vaults as us. They are probably more educated and trained than us to make wise decisions.
    Erica Ayala, Bauer, Per. 4

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  37. I belive that some cuts will help but cuting in education wont. There are so many stucents out there right now that want to go to school and thier cuting the bugdet on education even more? Thats not right. Maby we should not decide on the tax cuts but they should keep in consideration the needs of the citizen. the representatives are more educated in making these big desicsions and thats why they should make the desicion on the tax cuts.

    Clarisa Carrillo
    Per.4
    Sloan

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  38. I think that we should let our representatives decide because they can make more infomed decisions; politicians know whether it is truly necessary to extend the increased taxes. People will vote based on how taxes will affect them in the short run. Politicians will vote based on what will help California in the long-run. Personaly if i were to vote on extending taxes, I would vote no because it would mean less money for me. However, I see that Califronia is in a bad situation and taxes must be raised. The taxes are neccessary, unfortunately people do not understand this. Politicians will make the best decision

    Omar Hoyos

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  39. I think it would be best if the lawmakers directly voted for taxes, because no citizen will vote to pay more and have less disposable income. People elect thier representatives, so if a group wants more money to go towards education, the group could write a letter, stage a protest, have people call the representative, or even set up a meeting. Cutting spending, especially for education would be a big mistake, because that would cause larger class sizes which hurts a childs education. However raising taxes could hurt the economy because people wouldn't be able to spend as much money and help to stimulate the economy.

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  40. I think that representatives should be picked by us. People elect thier representatives so if a group wants more money to go towards education, the group could write a letter, stage a protest, have people call the representative, or even set up a meeting. The economy could be stimulated if money is spent and taxes lowered

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  41. I believe lawmakers should be the ones to vote on whether or not taxes are instituted. I doubt very many taxes would be approved if the American people were the ones voting. The constituents play a major role because if the individual we voted in makes decisions we don't appreciate all we do is vote him out in the next election. However, I believe taxes may be necessary to help solve our deficit problem and I think Brown's budget plan seems legit though he still has about 13 billion more to cut.
    Marklin Nixon
    Mr. Sloan Period. 1

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  42. I think on this topic in this economy constituents should vote on taxes. Taxes are a touchy subject to some and many have mixed opinions so voted in representative could not really represent accurately. This way, people could show if they really wanted a tax raise or if they couldn't handle it. Now for the people who don't vote? That's on them. If they don't vote they can't complain about the results because they're forfitting their vote, or they just don't care either way.

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  43. we should vote of course its our money, we should be able to use it where we need it and where we want.
    VERN INIGUEZ
    sloan
    P1

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  44. citizens have a role to voice their opinions and vote for their representatives. the representative absolutely must be true to their voters, and so their voters must be expressive of their opinions. in a perfect world, the rep would know exactly how to vote to appease the majority of their voters. this goes the same for the tax. whatever the majority of the people want is what they should get.

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  45. I think the citizens should decide on the taxes because lawmakers can tax the citizen with anything that may or may not be affordable or convenient for them and making it hard for them to live. Lawmakers look at what will bring money into the state, not how it will affect the citizens. Constituents have a big impact on their local senators and assembly persons because they're supposed to listen to what the constituents believe and what they have to say, if they don't they'll find someone else to represent them. I don't agree with the increased cost in California's education, because they are making it impossible to attend college and you need a college degree to be successful in life most the time.

    Sloan p.2

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  46. Janeiry Balderas, period 4, Mr.SloanFebruary 20, 2011 at 3:30 PM

    I believe that the citizens have the right to be involved in their government therefore they should be the ones that decide whether or not to pass taxes (well only on some). Also to extend the taxes in June wouldn't be so good since it affects the education. Also lets remember that if the taxes are cut for the funds of schools than why should they be payed if they wont help those that have children (a majority of the population). But there is definitely many things yet to be determined by the voters and those results we will wait for.

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  47. I think that we should vote on taxes that are imposed on us. Since it is our money we should be able to vote on it. Something needs to change since nothing seems to be getting us out of the debt we are in.

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  48. i think that the tax payers should be able to vote directly on the taxes that could possibly be placed on them. i think that we should have a say, since it is our money. i think that knowing the consequences of voting no on extending the taxes would mean cutting educational funding even more would lead to people voting yes. i know if i were voting i would vote yes on extending the taxes because education needs to keep the money it has left.

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  49. I THINK THAT THE PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE FOR ALL THE LAWS BEING PASSED,ESPECIALLY IF IT CONCERNS THE EDUCATION OF FUTURE GENERATIONS. LAWMAKERS HAVE NO RIGHT TO DECIDE FOR THE PEOPLE WHAT IS PASSES AND WHAT DOES NOT PASS. THE PEOPLE PAY THE MONEY AND ITS THEIR WORD.I THINK WE SHOULDNT RAISE MONEY ON EDUCATION INSTEAD MORE MONEY SHOULD BE GIVEN SO THAT PEOPLE CAN LEARN MORE AND BETTER. INSTEAD OF CUTTING EDUCATIONAL THINGS THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE EXTENDING MONEY FOR SCHOOLS.

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  50. I think the citizens should vote instead of a few people because it would make it the best for everyone. The citizens are the people who bus things and pay taxes anyways so it should be their choice

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  51. kayla rodriguez sloan5February 20, 2011 at 6:15 PM

    i think that the lawmakers should vote because they possess the most knowledge about the consequences of any vote. i hope they don't cut any further into education because they have already cut more than should have been. i think its unfair sometimes because citizens dont even know all the details of the laws. so theyre voting without doing any research. we should trust these people

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  52. Alexis Watson Bauer 3February 20, 2011 at 7:05 PM

    I think the public should still vote because we live with the problems daily. If the representatives voted for our laws they would cut things they don't understand. Drive through Lemoore and see what the farmers think of our senator's water plan.

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  53. I think that we the American public should decide with tax issues. Letting us decide will keep this part a democracy, not a republic like it is in some areas. If I were able to vote I would want to have the ability to dicide whether we have taxes or not.

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  54. I think that we should be allowed to vote because we are the ones going through the problems not them. And by them voting for us, its just going to be what they like and not what we like...which will upset alot of people.So i think that the people should decide because like katey said this would allow us to be a part of the democracy. I think that taxes is a main issue around the whole world.. so i would want to decide on the taxes, there alot of other thngs but this would be my first option.

    Jaskiran Kaur
    Mr. Bauer
    Government
    Period 2

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  55. I believe that citizens should be the who vote on taxes because when it comes down to it, we are the ones who will be spending money. It would make no sees for us not to vote.

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  56. Sergio Maldonado, Sloan p.3/ Bauer p.4February 20, 2011 at 9:20 PM

    Lawmakers vote on our taxes because people are not always willing to increase their own taxes. However, politicians may just be voting a specific way to please their constituents. Even the government gets out of debt because of a tax increase, people would still probably be mad at the government for increasing taxes. If taxes stay the same then the government will probably still be in debt.

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  57. While I don't like the idea of legislators voting for us, I also know that Californians will never vote for tax increases no matter how much we might need it. Without representative democracy, we would never get done what we needed. So I guess I have no choice to tolerate the legislative middle men as they make choices that Californians can't make for themselves.

    Sasha Schotzko-Harris
    Bauer 1

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  58. claudia per5 mr.sloanFebruary 21, 2011 at 12:00 PM

    i believe that lawmakers shouldnt for for us because people have the right to vote. they may be educated but we are all equal.

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  59. I think that the citezens should vote on this issue because it is our money and we should be able to decide what were going to do with it.

    Victor Alvarez
    Sloan
    P5

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  60. If citizens got to decide we would of course vote against tax increase because that would be more money that we pay.it is better that lawmakers decide this though because there has to be someone who puts their foot down and takes a sacrifice. Although we as citizens would not want to pay higher taxes it would be the better decision because we would balance out our debt in less time.

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  61. Margarita Flores per.5 Mr.BauerFebruary 21, 2011 at 4:44 PM

    Lawmakers shouldn't directly vote on the taxes for us. I think citizens should get to decide. i would vote for it because i think the economy should go on a budget instead of spending more money and going in to a regression.
    The influence that constituents have on their local state senators and assemble laypersons that might impact the budget will effect everyone living in the us. If the measures are placed on the ballot in June, My thoughts are that this might benefit the economy money in the future. I might vote for it, the consequence of either the tax increase people will be mad of paying more money.

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  62. I believe that it should be the lawmakers who decide for us because people voted for them to represent us. If the people were to vote then they obviously wouldnt vote for a taxes increase. The lawmakers would know what's best because they have a higher education on this type of case. If they vote for higher taxes i know people would dislike the idea but the lawmakers would have to follow the decision as well not just the people so we are all in it together. It would be better if they wouldn't increase the units in college because some students who want to continue school wouldn't be able to afford it.

    Karen Villasenor
    Mr. Bauer
    per:2

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  63. California is in a financial quandary. Do we cut spending, or do we increase taxes? To resolve our state’s woes, we need to eliminate unnecessary spending and remove the unions that are bankrupting this state. Can this happen with liberals in power? Absolutely not.
    (Sloan P.3/Bauer P.4)

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  64. I believe that lawmakers should vote for us, as long as the citizens have the right to vote for the people who are representing them, its all right. Lawmakers know what's best for the state in general, and the people would choose laws that will favor them in the short run, but the lawmakers will help California in the long run.


    Stephanie Romero
    Period 3
    Bauer

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  65. Alejandro Ibarra (Mr. Sloan, P.1)February 22, 2011 at 12:40 PM

    I say that the people should have a say in it. We the people are the most hurt and know the impacts best thats why law deciding should be voted on by anyone eligible to vote. By doing so i believe we could reach a better decision in the end since a bigger variety of people will have the chance to say what they believe.

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  66. i think this is an issue for lawmakers because they have the most knoledge on the matter. They are all working for us so if we wanted our opinion in then all we need to do is tell our the politions. They will listen and do their best for what the people want.
    mr.Bauer
    period 5

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  67. Michael Freeman Sloan Per 5February 22, 2011 at 6:23 PM

    I think That we should be the ones to vote on just about everything. Things like taxes are just one of the things that we need to be voting on. I also don't believe that there is a way that we can lower taxes at this time. The way that Californian is in now just goes to show you that we can't cut taxes. Although they may say that we are, we will be picking it up in something else and then raising it. The taxes that we will get will probably be tax on things like transportation and general stuff like that

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  68. Yes i do believe that lawmakers should vote for us, because they are far more educated than the general voting public. I mean they werent elected into there positions because there just average citizens. Lawmakers see things from a different perspective than the general public and have a better idea of how things work and know whats best, I think. It all depends on how much trust you have in them but I have more trust in them, than i do in the general public for sure.
    jake beilby

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  69. Olivia Palme-Bauer p04February 22, 2011 at 7:59 PM

    I think we eed to work together in this, because whether you are in government or not, we ge effected by taxe. I think we should work it out, and find a solution together. Its the only thing that makes sense.

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  70. I believe in representative democracy as we are too large for a direct democracy, but our political system has grown too corrupt. Party lines need to be shaken up and redistricting needs to occur.

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  71. I believe that they should be able to vote i mean they do have more knowledge on what the consequences will look like . Its their job to do this not ours and i mean they are doing the best they can because hey hey are citizens too.
    Jordan Elzie per 2 sloan

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  72. i think it is so messed up right now it is hard to tell what they should do. The people are going to be mad if taxes are raised so either way it will be a problem. They should try to tax areas that are optional to people before they tax areas that are a life style.
    Spencer Pellandini
    Sloan P.1

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  73. Yes lawmakers should vote for us,the people know what they want but the lawmakers know what is best.The citizens should decide on this they know what they want.
    working together on this is better way to solve problems.

    tania hinojosa
    sloan 5

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  74. I think that lawmakers should vote for us. most people do not vote the on every prop or proposed law. it makes it easier when some one frome your same party votes for thesame things that you believe.
    monica salazar
    p.4
    mr.sloan

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  75. I believe that the lawmakers should vote for is because they know what is best for is even though we know what we want

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  76. asher maroot_sloan p.1February 23, 2011 at 10:27 PM

    there are a lot of people that if given the opportunity would turn down anything regarding a raise in taxes. this budget defeciet will not go away just because we choose to ignore. if raising some taxes is the best solution then raise some taxes. sometimes the government just needs to step in and say this is what needs to be done without allowing the public to vote

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  77. Katie Frogue, Sloan P1February 24, 2011 at 5:37 PM

    If citizens got to decide, it is likely that they would vote against a tax increase. It is better for lawmakers to vote on taxes for us. Although people generally do not want to pay more taxes, a tax increase would help solve the budget problem so that the budget can be balanced. The cut in spending will lead to upset everyone, but the state cannot afford to keep funding everything as much as it does.

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  78. I think the citizens should get to vote directly on it since they are the ones who are paying, but then again, a lot of citizens don't know much about it. They will probably vote for lower taxes because it sounds good.

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  79. Cristian Garcia/Bauer p 3February 24, 2011 at 8:48 PM

    I believe that we the people should vote for the budget because its our taxes we are the people that are going to get taxed we should have say. we do have representatives but if are representatives choose not to vote are way then we are voting for nothing.

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  80. kyle Maples - Bauer Period 1February 24, 2011 at 9:42 PM

    I will be voting for the tax increases. No one wants taxes but I would rather the government take some taxes and I will be secure than something terrible happening to me. I do not think that the budget is the biggest deal due to it will always be there. We need to focus on green energy/education and not allowing the debt to continue.

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  81. Maria Perez
    Sloan P.4
    I believe that the people should have the right to vote themselves about taxes, I think that lawakers should not decide on that for the people. If were to vote for this I would vote, so taxes would not go up, because the less the people pay, the better.

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  82. I believe that the lawmakers should vote on it because they are the ones actually educated on the matter. Obviously no one is going to vote for higher taxes, but if it is neccisary to solve the budget crisis I think that they can stay higher for just a little longer. The budget crisis needs to be solved, someone just needs to find a good way to do it.

    Zach Mietz

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  83. Cierra Gonsalves, Mr. Bauer, Period 2February 25, 2011 at 10:51 PM

    Although lawmakers usually do a good job when it comes to voting on taxes for the United States, I believe that the final decisions should be left up to the citizens due to the fact that they'd be able to best express their individual needs as well as what's best for everyone as a whole. Constituents are influential to local state senators and assemplypersons, impacting budgets and ballots because they're entitled to bring everyone together to form a union, making working together easier but also challenging.

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  84. Good day The Governor has a plan to cut spending even further (mainly in education) to balance the budget should these taxes not be extended. Click here to see what the results to budget would look like. Recently, a state senator was quoted as saying that Republicans will not vote to put the tax measure on the June ballot. Since Democrats are a majority of the legislature, they need only two or three Republican votes (depending on an upcoming special election) to pass the measure with two-thirds in the State Senate.
    http://www.refurbishedp4.com/

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  85. The common characteristic of these mechanisms is that they place greater power in the hands of voters, as opposed to elected representatives. Direct democracy is, therefore, frequently seen as conflicting with representative democracy, in which voters elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf. By contrast, under direct democracy, voters can themselves make decisions about specific policies or issues
    http://www.refurbishedp4.com/

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  86. I believe that we should vote on taxes that are imposed on us. Since it is our money we should be able to vote on where it goes and how it effects us. Something needs to be changed since nothing seems to be getting us out of the large debt that we are in.

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  87. i think citizens should vote on taxes but not all taxes because we would just vote no to all taxes it's our money it should be our right to send it where we want it to go.
    EJ Keller
    Per.4
    Sloan

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  88. i think we should vote for taxes or not because if we have them decide there will be tons of taxes and a lot of people will be unhappy. the tax option should be on a ballet. there should be a tax cut definitely because the people will be happy. there should not be a cut on spending because business would not do good at all.

    Mr. bauer, p.3

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  89. I think the voting system should stay the way it is. We know who we are electing and I don't think every individual is responsible enough to vote on every issue that is trying to be passed. Also as far as my opinion goes, we can't raise taxes in times like this and need to make major cuts in certain welfare programs and perhaps some green programs that hog up money.

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  90. The people should vote directly because we will not have the same pressures as elected officials. We have no one to please and will choose what we think is best for us and our state.

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  91. I do not think the public should vote on taxes simply because this would obviously lead to no taxes and therefore no budget. The amount of voters who would know anything about budget in comparison to the amount of voters who don't would be so overwhelmingly "don't-knowers" that we would get the same results every time.
    I believe the public should elect representative economists (not politicians) that would represent the public on its tax policies alone. It would be more red tape, but it would eliminate public junk votes.

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  92. i believe the government should let us decide on what to do because we are the people who are being affected by their tax cuts and the taking of money from our schools. classes are being cut that we would really enjoy and could possibly help us in our future. we could go on strikes and protests that may counter the assemblypersons thoughts and views of their choices. the spending decrease in our schools can be bad for students because they will get less education and not as big of a choice to choos a class.
    Blake Harrison
    Bauer
    Period 3

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  93. I think that the lawmakers should be the ones who vote on the laws pass because if the citizens do they will never pass a tax law because we the people hate paying taxes. The lawmakers are the ones who know why they want to pass a certain law because they want the best for their country.
    Jonathan Ramos
    Mr.Bauer
    Per.2

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  94. I believe that we the people should be able to vote not only the few people that do vote for us. They make those few people represent hundredds of thousands of civilians opinions, which seems to me like we are severly mis represented. I dont think anyone will really be able to do anything because the government will never really do what we want. They only want to do what they think is right.

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  95. Katie Frogue; Sloan P1March 10, 2011 at 5:34 PM

    I think the citizens should have a say in the taxes as well as the people of congress. There should be a voting for the citizens then a vote for congress and then make decisions based off that.

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  96. i do not think they should have tax cuts our government needs direct money. i thin the government should be able to vote on taxes for us because no one wants to pay more money but sometimes we have to deal with things we dont like

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  97. My opinion is that citizens should be able to vote on how much they should get taxed and if they should get taxed or not.

    Aniscia Silva
    Sloan
    Per 5

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  98. I think the citizens should get to vote directly on it since they are the ones who are paying, but a lot of citizens don't know much about taxes. They will probably vote for lower taxes because it sounds better for them. And cutting spending sounds like a much better idea than raising taxes.
    Stephanie A
    Mr. Sloan
    Per.4

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