Last November Gov. Gray Davis ran for re-election, and Californians voted him in as “the lesser of two evils.” But American citizens have the right to choose who runs their state, and many are fighting for a recall to remove him from office.
Because of the terrible condition California has been in under his watch, Californians should take a stand against the governor and help in the recall campaign.
The notice for recall was filed on Feb. 5, and supporters are waiting for it to be approved by the secretary of state. Once it is, proponents of the recall have just over four months to collect 897,156 valid signatures, which is 12 percent of those who voted in this past general election.
Though it is true that Bill Simon seemed as slimy as Davis, how can people ignore the fact that Davis overspent taxpayers’ money, putting California in a $34.6 billion deficit? Of course Davis’ spending spree was not the only cause of the deficit. The power crisis also played a part in the loss.
According to a recall Web site, www.recallgraydavis.com, one of the top five reasons to recall Davis is that Californians are paying the highest utility bills in the nation because of his gross mishandling of the state’s power crisis.
So now that California is millions of dollars in debt, what would be the point of spending even more money to get Davis out of office? After all, a special election may cost taxpayers an additional $20 million to $40 million. Californians cannot change the past, but they can certainly take control of the future, because it doesn’t look much brighter than the past.
The first time that Davis was elected he claimed that his top priorities were education, education and education, but look what has happened to education this year. Davis lied about his plans to raise taxes to get re-elected, and made massive cuts in education, particularly community colleges like Bakersfield College.
This election, Davis proclaimed that his top priorities are business, business and business. But Davis is currently coming up with new ways to tax families and small businesses.
According to recallgraydavis.com, he has proposed implementing a tax on Internet commerce for any company with a retail outlet in California.
Davis is only trying to restore the debt he created, but he is driving businesses out of California.
We voters have a chance to stop him.
In a rebuttal to the recall, Davis replied by stating, “In these difficult and dangerous times, let’s work together, not be diverted by partisan mischief.”
In an article by The Associated Press, Roger Salazar, a consultant for Davis, has ignored all of the complaints about Davis.
“What you have here are a bunch of sore losers who can’t stand the fact they got beat fair and square in the last election,” he said.
What Salazar said is simply untrue, because this recall isn’t about being king of the mountain (or in California’s case, being king of the dirt hill). The GOP is playing a huge part in the recall, but only a part. The Libertarian and American Independent parties support the recall, as well as some Democratic officials.
Davis is playing the game he preaches against. In his rebuttal, he bashes the Republican leader of the recall.
According to The Associated Press, there have been recall efforts against every California governor in the past 30 years. None of them, however, have collected the needed signatures. But because of Davis’ unpopularity with Democrats and Republicans alike, this effort is more likely to succeed.
“It’s not a question of whether we should recall Gray Davis, it’s an issue of how long we can afford to wait — all the while watching California slide further into the abyss,” states recallgraydavis.com
It is time to put effort into restoring California. The first step is taking Gray Davis out of office. Go to the recall Web site to find out how you can help.