Point of View: No Blank Checks
LOS ANGELES, CA (FOX 11) - The state of California is over $340 billion in debt. Sacramento politicians are still, however, going all out to spend over $100 billion for more projects such as High Speed Rail and the Twin Tunnels. To get their projects funded, elected officials are taking advantage of a legal loophole that would allow the state to take on billions of dollars of extra debt, without voter approval.
To put an end to this spending without accountability, Prop 53, known as No Blank Checks, was born. It is the brainchild of 79-year-old farmer-businessman Dean "Dino" Cortopassi and his wife Joan. Prop 53 would require voter approval of any public works project over $2 billion.
The Cortopassis have spent $4.5 million of their own money to get Prop 53 on the November ballot.
No Blank Checks Prop 53 is already under attack from Governor Brown, Big Labor and Big Business. They claim it will bring important state public works to a standstill.
Dino asks, what are they all afraid of?
He says, "What you get with 53 that you don't have now is the truth before you start spending the money."
Give the voters a chance to decide whether these projects have merit and are worth saddling future generations with billions of dollars of debt.
"The state has to first explain to the voters exactly how much the project will cost in total and secondly put it to a vote of the people."
Dino says he is trying to start a grass roots movement, and he thinks it can win.
I agree.
"We want to do something for the state that we grew up in and for our grandkid's generation."
Sometimes extraordinary things are accomplished by concerned citizens. Thank you to the Cortopassi's. No Blank Checks should, and can, win. I urge all Californians to vote for Prop 53 in November.
Send a message to the politicians that there are no more blank checks.
I'd like to hear your point of view. Email me directly at pov@fox11.com.
The views expressed are not necessarily those of the station or its employees.
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