Agreed on both points.  Home schooling is a great example of giving kids
that step up early on, which I believe is illegal right now in CA thanks
to lobbying from the Teacher's Union.  Anyone see a pattern here?

As a 527 group, we can essentially be the "lobbying group" of the people
in LA County.  By organizing "everyone else" not be represented right
now, which I'm sure would be a super majority, we can then make these
cases at the voting booth and get some real people elected that will
honor their commitment to their constituent voters.

Regarding the prison overpopulation, of which a high percentage are
non-violent offenders (read - small time drug offenders), many are
charged with felonies.  Even if the sentence is minimal, their parole
sentence is almost always 5-10 years, during which these individuals can
not vote.  In many states, convicted felons are stripped of their voting
right permanently.

Keeping it simple, this is just another way to minimize our vote on
election, a quick and easy way to limit who can and cannot vote based on
community (more drug offense convictions in South Central, less vote,
less representation than in say Malibu).




vivabarbie wrote:
> This may be more of a statewide issue.  The highest line items on the state's budget are Education & Incarceration.  
> 
> There are too many people in our jails that don't need to be there.  Once there, it's hard to get paroled, because there are certain private sector economic interests at play, benefitting from a large prison population of what amounts to a pool of a slave labor.  A prisoner only gets paid 40 cents an hour, a great cost savings to businesses employing these prisoners to produce.  The cost of this, of course, is passed on to the taxpayer, at the rate of some 50K per year per inmate depending on various circumstances.  Inmates are fed a horrendous diet you probably wouldn't feed to your dog, and so the rate of cancer and other diseases is high, additional cost to the taxpayer in the form of medical expenses. 
> 
> The public imagines those behind bars are all dangerous, violent criminals.  This is far from the case, and it's costing us a bundle.  Also, the prison guard union lobbies for stronger sentencing, as obviously the union benefits:  More inmates = More prison guards.
> 
> As regards education: Encourage smaller community based charter schools and private schools, where children have a better opportunity to learn, because classroom size is smaller.  Classroom size is the biggest factor in whether or not a child get the attention they need to learn basics like reading, writing and math skills.  Teach the constitution, and what it means to be an American!  
> 

-- 
Anthony