Georgy Tells Why She Should Be California Gov 1346
1) Do you think the recall is fair? - by mjmalone
Do you think the california recall election is fair? I understand that a lot of Californians are unhappy with Gray Davis' performance, but he WAS elected by the people, if people dislike him then they can vote him out of office when his term is up. It seems unfair that Davis needs a majority of votes to remain in office, but a replacement candidate could be selected by a plurality. It is possible, and quite likely, that Davis will be voted out with 60% or fewer votes. That would mean 40% or more voters essentially voted for Davis, but he would not be the winner, one of the 400+ other candidates on the ballot would and in all liklihood that candidate will have received far fewer than 40% of the votes.
This whole situation seems like a gross abuse of a recall system that relies on honesty and virtuous politicians. Unfortunately California is no such utopia. By running in the election you have shown your support for it, how do you justify this support given the evident problems?
Georgy:
The aspect of this recall that I find most disgustingly unfair is the influence of money in politics. Californians should find it frightening that a wealthy Republican can buy himself another election. And if that isn't enough, we end up with an election where a series of other millionaires are taken seriously when they tell us they will govern for "the people." Perhaps worse than individuals being legitimized as candidates solely because of wealth, is a political system so heavily influenced by campaign contributions that lawmakers can no longer use their own judgment. This is at all levels of the Government, with the White House/Enron shenanigans being the perfect example. We also see it with Davis and Bustamante - who are owned by Prison Guard's Union and Indian Gaming. And if we look at less publicized issues, for example the high cost of Worker's Compensation, lobbying efforts and campaign contributions are to blame for the lack of response on behalf of the Legislature.
Requiring 50% to keep Davis seems unfair, when a replacement candidate could be elected with only 15%. However, the replacement candidate election could be fairer with instant runoff voting. Unfortunately people don't understand, and therefore don't trust, the instant runoff voting algorithm. If IRV were used, voters could be sure that the candidate *most* people wanted to win would win. It's a system where Ralph Nader could have maximized his vote without being a spoiler candidate in the 2000 election. (I encourage people to find out more about IRV at www.fairvote.org)
As for my candidacy, I am running in this election because Californians deserve a candidate who is willing to speak candidly to them about issues, such as the budget, the economy, and the death penalty, that other politicians only dance around. We need someone to show courage and take risks to promote change. This recall provides a unique opportunity for an "honest and virtuous" candidate to enter the race, and I challenge people to lend their support and make the first step in taking back the political process.
2) questions about the campaign - by garcia
I would like to know if you fear that two of your more controversial issues (legalization of marijuana and gay marriages) will be detrimental to your campaign? While I believe that as more and more "young" people run for and are elected to office, these items might come to pass, don't you think that it is a little early to be attempting to make these strides?
Georgy:
The controversial issues define this campaign. Realize that these issues are in large part controversial because they're avoided like the plague by mainstream politicians. Lacking the courage to convince people of their true beliefs, poll-abiding politicians choose the easy road. There is anecdotal evidence many politicians believe in gay marriage and ending death penalty, but are too cowardly to fight for those views. Bill Clinton came out after his presidency and so much as said he thought marijuana shouldn't be illegal! Good thing for us he found his spine a year after leaving office.
I don't see these as wacky issues. I've laid out my arguments for why death penalty is bad policy (it's costly, unfairly applied, and imperfect). I've explained why gay marriage is superior to civil union (marriage promotes fidelity and family values, and it removes unfair tax advantages for people willing to file a couple forms ). As for legalized marijuana, why is marijuana criminal when alcohol and cigarettes profit the government? I believe that when people are presented with intelligent and logical arguments, they will turn around. The problem is few politicians take the time to have intelligent discussions on these issues. Education on "controversial" issues is necessary to convince the electorate to make up or change its mind. I truly believe all of these issues will be passed someday. Politicians are wasting our time and money not passing them now.
3) Content vs. Tech - by stylee
California is considered the capitol of the content industry (RIAA, MPAA) and the technology industry (Silicon Valley). These two industries are at odds with each other over intellectual propery rights issues. They are probably also a large chunk of California's huge economy. Do you think you can balance the needs/wants of both lobbying groups in a manner that will be beneficial to both industries? If so how? I realize that this is mostly a federal matter as far as the law and politics go but there are many that believe that California kind of sets the standard for the rest of the nation to follow(at least economically and politically) so I am intersted in your ideas on this matter.
Georgy:
This is a federal issue; however I think that the RIAA in its aggressive pursuit of young mp3 down loaders demonstrates its lack of creativity. Can't they find a new way to make a buck? Besides which, concert prices are typically $40 or more! I haven't seen the numbers on this, but digitized music and video have certainly fueled sales of technology used in association with them. Additionally, kids and adults understand technology better as a result of digital music boom.
The RIAA, with the support of the government, should have approached the situation proactively long ago, and embraced digital music. They should still do this. If they can provide a reasonably priced, easily accessible digital music alternative, I think people will go for it. Right now however, it's cumbersome for the under 18 crowd especially, to buy stuff online, and they haven't worked out all the kinks surrounding the "rules" (e.g. burnable tracks, how long you can keep them, etc) of proprietary downloads.
I believe the role of the government should be to encourage technology companies and the RIAA to work together on the issue, as well as taking a look at it in terms of intellectual property rights of the artists. To me it seems that the RIAA is mostly concerned with their $$$ and not the rights (or $$$) of the musicians. Again, politics is hit with same problem - special/self interest ruling the legislature. And, with the looks of this ballot, anyone who wants to prevent prosecution of down loaders might want to think twice about voting for Arnie.
4) Hope to win or shake things up? - by Dark Paladin
With the names of such heavyweights as Arnold and lightweights like Gary Coleman (no pun intended - well, all right, it was), do you honestly hope to win, or are you making a Ralph Nader like point in forcing certain issues and ideas into the public's eye?
Georgy:
I hope to both win AND shake things up. Obviously the odds are long (Vegas has them at 100 to 1 - bodog.com/sports-betting ), but they are not out of reach. We've only reached a small percentage of voters and already received an impressive amount of support. Howard Dean was considered a long shot just a few months ago, now he's a front runner. To think a Georgy for Governor victory is impossible is to succumb to the jaded view that money is the only victor, and in effect solidify its reality.
5) Technology - by chrisgeleven
Why does your blog and web site, from what I can tell, not mention any uses of technology that you would like to see? Can you describe any protential plans to use technology to reduce costs or provide more benefits for the same price?
Georgy:
Check back soon. Technology is key to improving the efficiency of government, and though the government has come a long way (you can file electronically for some things on the Secretary of State's website) there is still more that can be done. As for problem solving, I like to speak in specifics rather than generalities, so it takes a while.
I am currently looking into the role of visas in technology companies and its effects on California's labor market, and investigating how we can encourage more wide spread use of open source software (both in education and businesses). I'm also trying to get some volunteers to develop apps that will aid in the voting process (check the website for updates or email if you're interested in helping).
6) the most important question - by Mothra the III
Boxers or briefs?
Georgy:
Boxer-briefs! But seriously, boxers, and Georgy for Gov boxers at that!
6A) Re:the most important question - by markhb
vi or emacs?
Georgy:
I'm so glad you asked!! Both. vi for quick editing, emacs (NOT xemacs) for coding projects. :q!:q!:q!
7) Do you think this election is Real? - by Voltas
With all the "Star Power" and the number of candidates that obviously are looking for media attention (I.E. Gary Colemen ), do you really thing that the candidates or the office really going to be taken serious when its all said and done?
Won't this whole election fiasco cripple anyone who actually wins?
Georgy:
This election does seem like it was dreamt up by Hollywood reality TV executives, but it is a real election, and it will go down as one of the most, if not the most, historical elections. After October 7, the fun will be over, and I'm sure the media will be bored by the daily details of Sacramento bureaucracy. The only thing that will cripple anyone who wins is his/her inability to lead. A candidate like Gary Coleman, who said he didn't want to be Governor, won't win (I hope). The interesting thing about Coleman, though, is that he was actually a president on Buck Rogers! Perhaps this is a case of the line between reality and fantasy blurring. "Hieronymous Fox, an 11-year-old child genius from the 20th Century is kidnapped for ransom by the sinister Roderick Zale. The boy is the President of the planet Genesia and his bodyguard fears that he will be killed because they cannot meet the ransom demand. Buck, Wilma, and the bodyguard then make separate attempts to rescue the boy." Maybe things will pick back up for the media in 2006, when Arnold Drummond can take another shot at it, and Willis can run as Lt. Governor.
8) Did you pay SCO? - by sharkey
Did you pay for your Linux licenses?
8A) Re: Did you pay SCO? - by El_Ge_Ex
If not, would you support strategic military action against Utah?
Georgy:
Despite the fact that SCO has launched an attack on many Californians, I don't think California will be declaring war on Utah, let alone the cowards at SCO. I'm not sure if my company plans to pay SCO, but I certainly hope they won't. SCO seems like they're running scared, using a lawsuit to boost revenue (kind of like the RIAA). Asking for $700 per license is extremely high, and should send a warning single to people that they are doing this to boost revenue and not simply out of fairness. If you check SCO's insider trading, people are selling like crazy. I think the open source community needs to educate people about the SCO case, and keep SCO's scare tactics from bullying weary individuals or corporations into paying them.
9) Who's in your staff? - by zoneball
A good leader must surround him or herself with the best advisors and experts within their respective fields. Who will you be bringing in to your campaign and administration, and what are their qualifications?
Georgy:
My "staff" is all volunteers. Their experience varies from none to work with local and state campaigns. I also have a professional photographer helping me, and a few people working on the technical side of things - website and video editing.
As for my administration, I plan to bring in people who have first hand experience with the problems on which they'll be working, and I would like to see diversity, in terms of both professional background and demographics (ethnicity, age, sex, etc.).
10) Do you understand... - by niko9
Do you understand Dselect? That program scares the poop out me. But I figure if you can handle dselect, you can handle being governor.
Georgy:
I have not used dselect. Hopefully you can find another litmus test for me!
Re:Perhaps a better question to ask Georgy... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:What crapola (Score:5, Informative)
Re:What crapola (Score:3, Informative)
2) If a 40% approval rating is all it takes to vote a leader out of office with Repulicans' blessing, maybe we'll be seeing a Pataki recall campaign sometime soon?
3) Georgy is a she [georgyforgov.com].
Two Things. (Score:3, Informative)
Concorcet's [electionmethods.org] method is much better than Instant run off.
And her preference for editing is the same as mine... exactly.
-Craig.
Grit in Craw... (Score:5, Informative)
Californians should find it frightening that a wealthy Republican can buy himself another election.
This has a few problems.
1) Who is buying themselves another election? I know of no money donations that came from a ex-gubenatorial candidate. Not Simon, or Riordan (who else would know who she might be talking about?). Most of the money was fronted by Darryl Issa, who not only didn't run previously, but is not running now (although he did fill out the papers to run).
2) How is this a purchased election? The money was not given to public officials as a bribe to make another election. It was not given to voters to sign petitions. It was given to only some of the people who watched people sign petitions. They were offered $1 a signature, and its noted that the counter petitions started by Davis put a bounty of $3-5 dollars a signature.
It just seems rather disenginious to call this election "purchased" in any way shape or form. Probably becuase it margionalises how much even Democrats hate Davis.
This recall was bought? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:What crapola (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Damn! (Score:1, Informative)
Re:wasting time? (Score:2, Informative)
Possession of any amount of marijuana (even hemp with no narcotic effects) in Nevada, for instance, results in a manditory 25 year jail term - FOR FIRST OFFENSES! There's something seriously wrong with that. Your life is over because some prick cop notices you're wearing a hemp necklace.
Umm, no. Posession of narcotic marijuana used to be a felony, but first-timers always got it knocked down to a misdemeanor. Now, your first time for simple posession is always a misdemeanor. And hemp is totally legal. There are shops right here in downtown Reno that sell a variety of hemp products. Also, Nevada is one of the few states that has legalized medical marijuana.
Re:wasting time? (Score:5, Informative)
Incorrect, as I read the law.
NRS 453.096 "Marijuana" defined.
1. "Marijuana" means:
(a) All parts of any plant of the genus Cannabis, whether growing or not;
(b) The seeds thereof;
(c) The resin extracted from any part of the plant; and
(d) Every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of the plant, its seeds or resin.
2. "Marijuana" does not include the mature stems of the plant, fiber produced from the stems, oil or cake made from the seeds of the plant, any other compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of the mature stems (except the resin extracted therefrom), fiber, oil or cake, or the sterilized seed of the plant which is incapable of germination.
This sounds to me as though hemp-fiber necklaces are perfectly legal, as they are not "marijuana" in the eyes of the law.
NRS 453.3363 Suspension of proceedings and probation of accused under certain conditions; effect of discharge and dismissal.
1. If a person who has not previously been convicted of any offense pursuant to NRS 453.011 to 453.552, inclusive, or pursuant to any statute of the United States or of any state relating to narcotic drugs, marijuana, or stimulant, depressant or hallucinogenic substances tenders a plea of guilty, guilty but mentally ill, nolo contendere or similar plea to a charge pursuant to subsection 2 or 3 of NRS 453.336, NRS 453.411 or 454.351, or is found guilty of one of those charges, the court, without entering a judgment of conviction and with the consent of the accused, may suspend further proceedings and place him on probation upon terms and conditions that must include attendance and successful completion of an educational program or, in the case of a person dependent upon drugs, of a program of treatment and rehabilitation pursuant to NRS 453.580.
The judge has the option of sentencing a first offender to probation and treatment.
NRS 453.336 Unlawful possession not for purpose of sale: Prohibition; penalties.
1. A person shall not knowingly or intentionally possess a controlled substance, unless the substance was obtained directly from, or pursuant to, a prescription or order of a physician, osteopathic physician's assistant, physician assistant, dentist, podiatric physician, optometrist, advanced practitioner of nursing or veterinarian while acting in the course of his professional practice, or except as otherwise authorized by the provisions of NRS 453.005 to 453.552, inclusive.
2. Except as otherwise provided in subsections 3 and 4 and in NRS 453.3363, and unless a greater penalty is provided in NRS 212.160, 453.3385, 453.339 or 453.3395, a person who violates this section shall be punished:
(a) For the first or second offense, if the controlled substance is listed in schedule I, II, III or IV, for a category E felony as provided in NRS 193.130.
NRS 193.130 Categories and punishment of felonies.
(e) A category E felony is a felony for which a court shall sentence a convicted person to imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 1 year and a maximum term of not more than 4 years. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b) of subsection 1 of NRS 176A.100, upon sentencing a person who is found guilty of a category E felony, the court shall suspend the execution of the sentence and grant probation to the person upon such conditions as the court deems appropriate. Such conditions of probation may include, but are not limited to, requiring the person to serve a term of confinement of not more than 1 year in the county jail. In addition to any other penalty, the court may impose a fine of not more than $5,000, unless a greater penalty is authorized or required by statute.
If the court deci
Runoff elections can be unfair too (Score:5, Informative)
The 17 voters are split into 4 factions with the following preferences:In the first election, everyone votes for their favorite choice:
X gets 6 votes; Y gets 6 votes; Z gets 5 votes, and is eliminated.
In the second election, everyone votes for X or Y:
X gets 11 votes; Y gets 6 votes; X wins!
Now assume that the 2 voters (*) with preferences (Y,X,Z) had decided that "X" really was the best candidate and change their preferences to (X,Y,Z). All other preferences remain the same:In the first election, everyone votes for their favorite choice:
X gets 8 votes; Y gets 4 votes, and is eliminated; Z gets 5 votes.
In the second election, everyone votes for X or Z:
X gets 8 votes; Z gets 9 votes; Z wins!
The only change between the first and second cases was that X was more preferred by 2 voters. Because of the additional support, X lost.
Another American History Expert Speaks! (Score:1, Informative)
Once again, the American slanted view of history rears it's red, white, and blue head.
Not, I suppose, that's it's entirely your fault. It's not like the American educational system is big on the nuances of history....
Anway:
1) Hitler used the political instability of the time to help him launch his populist movement. Without an unstable (from a political perspective) Germany, the Nazis would have never made it into power.
Collerary: be VERY suspicious of the motives of people promoting instability and chaos.
2) By every metric one could choose to measure with, the defeat of Germany in WW2 was a Russian show. The Western Allies made important contributions, especially in material, but the Nazi war machine died on the Russian steppes.
The prime American contribution to WW2 was in the Pacific theatre, which was pretty much a straight US vs Japan fight (with small contributions from the British and Commonwealth nations)
You can make a solid case for "the United States kicked Japan's ass", but the oft-repeated opinion that the US "rescued" Europe is mythmaking at its finest.
It's about time that the West (and especially the US) got over the Cold War cheerleading and started facing reality.
DG
PS - if there are any ex-Soviet-army tank officers reading this, drop me a line, willya? I'd love to compare notes with my former opposite numbers.
Re:Perhaps a better question to ask Georgy... (Score:3, Informative)
According to Georgy, taxing the rich will magically make the economy boom, and therefore end the budget deficit.
Now, taxing the upper brackets may be an important step to ending the budget woes, but that is apparently her entire economic plan.
I'm glad she thought this one out.
About Georgy (Score:3, Informative)
"Georgy Russell is a Software Engineer who works at VERITAS Software in the Advanced Technology Group. She graduated with honors in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1999."
"As a progressive, Georgy sees fairness as the underlying tenet which should frame decision making in California."
Re:IRV (Score:2, Informative)
The choice is:
Keep Davis.
XOR
Replace Davis with X.
Where X is the candidate selected by the voter.
There's no reason that IRV couldn't be used to make the replacement-candidate selection.
Re:What crapola (Score:2, Informative)
(Disclaimer: The viewpoint below is not mine. I'm just summing up the POVs of many, many people that I know from growing up in the Bible belt.)
The common saw is that gay marriages are an "affront to the institution of marriage." For most Christian-raised Americans (and those of other religions), marriage is a sacred institute. The keyword there is sacred. It's a religious act, meant to join a man and woman in a relationship sanctioned by God, and the Bible is not particularly supportive of the idea of homosexual relationships. You can find a pro/con analysis of several verses here [religioustolerance.org]. To this point of view, sanctifying a homosexual relationship is just as ludicrous and evil as sanctifying a relationship between a man and a goat. For a priest to wed a gay couple is on the same level as the same priest saying that child molestation is okay or that Wiccans will get into Heaven just like good Christians do. It's a prideful declaration that modern man knows more about what God wants from us than the authors of the Bible itself!
That's the most commonly proferred explanation. I find that the most psychologically visceral reason for opposing it is in the sheer disgust that conservatives who oppose homosexuality feel for the act. The reasons why are irrelevant. The fact is that they believe that gay relationships fall somewhere on the spectrum of wrongfulness between lying and murder. As they are motivated to "improve" their surroundings, they cannot abide by someone who willfully and pridefully commits a sin over and over again. They would no more like to see gays sanctioned by the government any more than they'd like to see liars or murderers sanctioned by the government. This akin to the motivation behind pro-life protesters and anti-drug laws. What they see as a heinous act, they don't want supported and legalized by society.
That's what gay marriage is. It's one of the final steps towards full societal acceptance of homosexuality. The 3 most important barriers left for gays are marriage, priesthood, and adoption. If these barriers fall, then all taboos will fall just like they've done for gambling and just like is happening for abortion. They may be faced with the most horrible fate of all for one of their beliefs; their own kids could accept the gay lifestyle. You may scoff at the whole "what about the children" mentality, but that's deep at the core of what anti-gay marriage people fear. What if their own kids follow a path blazed by the non-believers around them. What if their own kids become gay?
That's why some people feel so threatened by gay marriage.
Re:IRV (Score:2, Informative)
Do you miss the absurdity that 49% of people could vote against the recall (arguably "for" Davis) but the new governor would be some millionaire jackass with 2% of the vote?
It's a bad law. Recalls are for politicians who lost; impeachment is for citizens who lost.
Re:It works for Ahnold, why not for Georgy... (Score:2, Informative)
Georgy - IRV is fatally flawed! (Score:2, Informative)
I'm opposed to recall for a very different reason: it's a kludge to "fix" a broken voting system. The possibility of being elected with less than 50% support is bad, but recall is not the best way to fix it. If he's really doing that bad, there should be an impeachment process. The problem there is that the legislature is also elected with the same broken system. There's nothing wrong with proposing a new voting system to fix California's ills. What really needs to be done though, is to address the fact that plurality voting is a broken system by replacing it with a better one!
However, IRV is not the method that should replace plurality voting. Condorcet [eskimo.com] trounces IRV in every way [electionmethods.org] that matters - even plurality is demonstrably better than IRV! IRV is deceptive [electionmethods.org] because it gives voters a false sense that they've got a real choice, but in reality it's just as bad as the current plurality system. Run-offs need to be done simultaneously (Condorcet) not sequentially (IRV) to be fair.
Implementing Condorcet would encourage third party involvement. We need more voices in government, not fewer. After all, two choices is only one more than they had in communist Russia, and both options of the "Duopoly" gravitate toward the middle to get votes. That's not real choice! If you look at voter turnout in presidential races from 1960 on, it was a steady downward decline...with one exception: 1992. What happened in 1992? Ross Perot ran a strong third party campaign. It's clear that people want choice in politics.
Vote third party. Vote your conscience regardless of what the pundits and "strategists" say. The only strategy you should need in the booth is honesty to your ideals! The only way we're likely to see voting reform is if we get a third party into office, but we're going to have to do it with the current broken system.
Re:An outsider's perspective (Score:1, Informative)
Introduce a flat corporate income tax of say.... 2.5% for businesses based in CA and 5% for those that just do a lot of business there.
We were doing almost this exact thing here in Alabama up until a few years ago. It was struck down by the Supreme Court for violating the Commerce Clause by discriminating against interstate commerce.
Re:Better reasons. . . (Score:2, Informative)
Arnold Schwarzenegger has plenty of rich and famous friends. But to become governor of California, he really needs people like Marlon Sandoval. Sandoval, 26, a hip-hop musician and part-time security guard in Los Angeles, has never cast a ballot in his life. But he says that he'll go to the polls for Arnold "plain and simple". Sandoval, who saw "Terminator 3" last week for the second time, admits he has no idea where Arnold stands on the issues. "It doesn't matter," he says. "I'd vote for the Terminator anyway."
This is from this week's Newsweek [newsweek.com], the whole article [msnbc.com].
The sad part is that the parent's post and Marlon Sandoval (above) is probably how a lot of people are going to justify their votes; however, can you blame them? Look at some of the people running (Gary Coleman, Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger) most people won't know where they stand on issues or their history in politics, but will instead judge them by who they are. This is like ultra-democracy, where the People can recall a leader and anyone can run for office -- ultimately, the People have the final say, for better or worse.
Re:Runoff elections can be unfair too (Score:4, Informative)
Unrestricted Domain: Any preferences are allowed.
Undifferentiatedness: different permutations of the same preferences must not lead to different outcomes.
Neutrality: the voting method does not favor any outcome.
Condorcet Criterion: if an alternative beats or ties all other alternatives in a pair-wise match, it ought to win.
Consistency: if the electorate is divided into subsets, and if one outcome is favored or indifferent in all subsets, the union of those subsets should lead to the same outcome.