STATEMENT OF THE BAY AREA SOCIALIST PARTY ON THE CALIFORNIA RECALL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SUMMER 2003

 

STATEMENT OF THE BAY AREA SOCIALIST PARTY ON THE CALIFORNIA RECALL

 

The Bay Area local of the Socialist Party urges voters to abstain on the referendum to recall California Governor Davis, but to fight against any attempt to eliminate the right of California voters to recall elected officials. We strongly support the right of popular recall of elected officials. We equally strongly condemn Gray Davis, who has shown himself to be not only a friend of the corporate rich, but an incompetent one at that.

The right of recall is the only chance for the people to exercise direct control over elected officials. For this reason, the recall is usually opposed by all wings of the California establishment. The media has carried numerous stories suggesting that the recall undermines democracy. Yet they devote huge amounts of space and time to the most bizarre candidates, while saying nothing about some simple modifications that could ensure a serious campaign while strengthening democracy. Diane Feinstein has announced that she may back legislation to repeal the right to recall--in order to "strengthen democracy".

The way to strengthen democracy is to fix the flaws in the recall process, Consider the representative electoral process--for example, take the 2000 presidential election, or a typical senatorial race, or most gubernatorial races. All of these are rigged in favor of the rich, the powerful, the corporate elite and those that they back. Sometimes, as in the 2000 presidential election, the undemocratic nature of major elections in the U.S. becomes evident to all. But neon will argue (at least not today) that elections should be thrown out because they're abused. Well, the same holds for the recall. The way to strengthen democracy is to improve the recall process, rather than to throw out the recall process.

We propose the following ways to make the recall more democratic: (1) Institute instant runoff; (2) Eliminate paid solicitors; (3) Require a minimum of 10,000 signatures to get on the ballot; (4) Eliminate the financial requirement for getting on the ballot; (5) Make advertising free and equally available to all qualified candidates.

As far as the current recall is concerned: while it started out as an attempted right-wing coup, initiated by right-wing talk show hosts and bankrolled by millionaire Republican Congressman and would-be governor Darrell Issa, it more and more resembles a traditional election. Issa was forced out of the race by the Republican establishment, who back a moderate Republican (Arnold Schwarzenegger). But neither the Democrats (Davis, Bustamante) nor the Republicans (Schwarzenegger, McClintock) want to examine the real causes of California's budget crisis: federal military spending and California's regressive tax structure. The Republicans don't want to restore the lost jobs and services; they want to make even deeper cuts. They don'Õt want to remove the deficit by increasing taxes on the rich; they want to mimic George Bush with tax cuts for the rich and handouts to corporations. Meanwhile, Democrats like Davis and Bustamante applaud the bloated military spending and call for soaking workers and the poor rather than the rich: for example, instead of increasing income taxes on the rich and property taxes on corporations, they call for increasing the state sales tax (which falls disproportionately on families with lower incomes).

Davis has been a rotten governor. He has made state workers and the poor the targets of his fiscal policy: he has slashed education, housing, medical, transit and other essential services across the board, laying off thousands of state workers and depriving working people and the poor of essential services. These cuts have been passed down to the county and municipal levels. Consequently, bus service has been drastically reduced in inner city areas; teacher layoffs and lack of basic materials make schools more overcrowded and more dysfunctional; tuition has been sharply increased at community colleges, state colleges, and the University of California; community health clinics have been shut down, particularly hurting poor single mothers, children, and the elderly; and on and on. Davis has handed out millions to his corporate friends, rewarding them for the campaign contributions he so openly and continually solicits.

In good conscience, we simply cannot recommend a vote in favor of Davis, and therefore we cannot and do not recommend voting no on the recall.

At the same time, it's clear that the Republicans are trying to take advantage of the flaws in the current recall process to undercut democracy. They used hired guns--paid solicitors--to get the signatures needed to put recall on the ballot. They have succeeded in keeping Davis off the gubernatorial ballot, which is patently unfair: Davis could lose the recall vote and still be the gubernatorial choice of the largest percentage of voters. Therefore, we cannot recommend voting yes on the recall.

Therefore, the Bay Area local of the Socialist Party recommends abstaining on the referendum to recall Governor Gray Davis.

It is important to keep our eyes on the big picture. We must recognize that Davis is inept, corrupt, and not to be defended. At the same time, we must also recognize that the current recall process is flawed. We must fight to broaden democracy by fixing the flaws in the recall process, and we must resist all attempts to deprive the people of California of the right to recall their elected officials.

 

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