2016 election hot-take (provided for context, not content)


        
            
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            First of all, I live in California, USA, so that’s what I’m focusing on here. If you don’t care about the USA or California, then this may not be for you.
President?
Hilary Clinton got 59,729,015 votes. Donald Trump got 59,509,990 votes. Trump won, while Clinton got 219,240 more votes. If you didn’t know, that’s because the US uses a system of voting called the electoral college, which means it doesn’t necessarily matter what the people vote for, it matters what a select 507 people vote for. They’re supposed to vote for what the people tell them to vote for, but they don’t always.
I’m honestly not sure what I think about this yet. Trump is a nutcase, but at least other people are smart enough his stupidity may be stopped. Clinton is evil, but competent. You have to ask yourself, which is worse? A nutcase, or evil competence. I supported her because “at least she’s not Trump” but I’m not 100% sure if that was the right decision now.
Senate / House
I don’t know much about these I have to admit. It’s unfortunate, but I do not have much to go on. All I know is that the Republication party won majority over both, and with the kinds of decisions they tend to make, this has me worried. Someone remind me to discuss why I think the Republican party makes bad decisions at another time.
Propositions!
The funny thing is, state and local level propositions and measures have the biggest direction impact on your day to day life, so if you take a selfish perspective, they’re far more important than the other stuff. Anyhow, I’m gonna start with what didn’t pass:
What didn’t pass?

53: Requires statewide voter approval for bonds over $2 billion
60: Requires condoms for porn production, along with other health requirements
61: Prohibits the state from buying prescription drugs at a higher price than the US Department of Veterans Affairs
62: Repeals the dealth penalty, replacing it with life imprisonment without parole.
65: Require plastic bag fees be directed towards environmental projects.

I have to admit I don’t know much about 53, 60, and 61. I think 61 may be a good idea, but I don’t know, and 60 would have cost the state revenue, but I don’t know how big of a problem health is in porn production.
The death penalty is immoral, and costs more than life imprisonment. Either way, if the goal is to keep violent offenders from offending again, it doesn’t matter which you choose. I like to look at it from a purely financial perspective, it’s cheaper to keep them alive. I’m disappointed by this one. 54% voted no.
The plastic bag fees going to environmental projects seems like a good idea to me. Perhaps there is more information I did not know that is why it is a bad idea, but whatever the case is, it doesn’t much matter because of one of the propositions that passed.
What passed?

51: $9 billion bond for modernizing K-12, charter, vocational schools, and community colleges
52: Extends a fee on hospitals to support Medi-Cal, uninsured patients, and children’s health
54: Stops legislature from passing a bill before it has been available online for 72 hours
55: Extends temporary increase in income tax above $250k to fund schools and healthcare
56: Increases tax on tobacco and e-cigarette products for funding of health care for low-income people
57: Allows parole for nonviolent felons and allows juvenile court judges to decide whether to prosecute juveniles as adults
58: Allows schools to establish non English-only education programs
59: Recommends California propose an amendment to overturn Citizens United decision, which removed limitations on corporate and union campaign spending
63: Requires background checks for purchasing ammunition, prohibits possession of large capacity magazines
64: Legalizes recreational marijuana use for adults aged 21 and over
66: Makes it more difficult to appeal a death sentence and limits the number of appeals that can be made
67: Bans single-use paper and plastic bags

I agree with most of these, they just make sense. Unfortunately, 66 stands out as something I dislike. It does reduce cost of death setences, but as I don’t think death sentences are moral anyhow, it’s upsetting. I stand by the people’s will on this, even though I disagree with it.
I would like to spend a little more time going over why I think each proposition is good or bad, but that’s for another time.
Originally published November 09, 2016