[Marxism] California antiwar news

[Anthony Boynton <northbogota@xxxxxxxxx>]

Iraq pullout ballot vetoed
Governor rejects legislation calling for an advisory
vote on withdrawal of U.S. troops.
By Kevin Yamamura ? Sacramento Bee Capitol Bureau

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation late
Tuesday to ask California voters in an advisory ballot
measure if they want to withdraw United States troops
from Iraq.

The Democratic-backed bill put the Republican governor
in a political bind because a majority of California
voters support a withdrawal of some or all troops, but
Schwarzenegger has hedged his own answers on the issue
and his Republican base opposes withdrawal from Iraq.

"The decision to engage in or withdraw troops from war
is a federal issue, not a state issue," Schwarzenegger
said in a statement. "Placing a non-binding resolution
on Iraq on the (presidential primary) ballot, when it
carries no weight or authority, would only further
divide voters and shift attention from other critical
issues that must be addressed."

Senate Bill 924 by Senate President Pro Tem Don
Perata, D-Oakland, would have specifically asked
voters if President Bush should "end the United States
occupation of Iraq and achieve the immediate,
complete, safe and orderly withdrawal of United States
forces."

With anti-war activists at his side, Perata introduced
the proposal in April at the Veterans Memorial
Building in Berkeley, the site of what he called "the
birthplace of the peace movement."

He cast the nonbinding proposal as a way for
California to place political pressure on the Bush
administration. But critics charged that Perata was
trying to boost Democratic turnout in February to help
passage of a change in term-limits law.

The measure might have intertwined with presidential
politics because it would have appeared on the same
ballot as next year's presidential primary in
California.

"I'm disappointed," Perata told reporters early this
morning. Perata said he had worked with Schwarzenegger
on the issue of global warming, "and I see the war on
Iraq in that very same vein."

Senate Bill 924 would have required the secretary of
state to send the advisory vote results to President
Bush. The legislation cited 3,700 American military
deaths, 27,000 injuries, and 70,000 Iraqi civilian
casualties among the reasons for seeking the vote. It
noted that more than 400 Californians have died and
that Iraq war costs have exceeded $350 billion.

SB 924 contained strong political statements critical
of President Bush. It declared that despite a growing
consensus that the United States should withdraw
troops, "the Bush Administration has chosen instead to
jeopardize the safety of additional personnel with an
ill-conceived 'surge.' "

Most California voters support a removal of U.S.
troops from Iraq -- 65 percent said they want to
withdraw some or all, according to a Field Poll
conducted in August. The survey also found that 58
percent of voters want Congress to set a deadline that
would lead to troop withdrawal by spring 2008.

The governor may have tried to minimize negative
reaction to his action by delaying his decision until
late Tuesday night, shortly before a midnight
deadline. At an afternoon press conference, he
repeatedly dodged questions about what he would do.

Schwarzenegger had guarded his views on the ballot
question ever since Perata announced his intention in
April to ask California voters about Iraq. The
governor cited polls showing that voters oppose the
Iraq war, so he questioned why Perata needed to have
an official ballot measure on the matter.

The governor has parsed his own feelings on the Iraq
war. He supports a timeline for troop withdrawal, but
he also has warned that a public authorization of
withdrawal may not be wise because it could send a
"signal to the enemy."

Schwarzenegger supported Bush's troop increase earlier
this year because he said the United States "should
give it everything we have," a position contrary to SB
924's language.

On other controversial issues, the governor has
preferred to let the voters guide public policy. He
has opposed gay marriage bills because he said the
voters decided the issue in a 2000 initiative. He said
last year he had no position on legalizing assisted
suicide because he thought it was an issue that voters
should decide for the state.

Lawmakers sent SB 924 to Schwarzenegger on Aug. 30,
giving the governor 12 days to decide on the bill's
fate under state law. The Senate action also gave the
governor a deadline of Sept. 11, the politically
sensitive six-year anniversary of the 2001 terrorist
attacks.

The bill passed through the Democratic-controlled
Legislature on a mostly party-line vote. No Republican
lawmaker voted for the proposal, while only one
moderate Democrat, Assemblywoman Nicole Parra of
Hanford, voted against it.

In the Legislature, the governor's own Department of
Finance opposed the bill, citing increased costs for
printing ballot pamphlets. A legislative analysis
estimated the proposal would cost an additional
$220,000.




      
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