Why I dislike California and their ballot initiative system

Our action hero governor has endorsed a set of bills today that, among other things, would require computer tracking of sexual molesters. All the portions of the proposed bill in one way or another have been before the legislature and failed to pass. But that won't stop the husband/wife co-sponsors of the new amalgamation. They are taking their cause to the street:

Supporters of Schwarzenegger's proposals decided to put all the changes into one bill and give the Legislature another chance. The issue will go to the ballot if they are unsuccessful this year, he said.

"We think the people of California deserve this," George Runner said. "Our thought was to give the Democrats one more shot and, if not, we've got it as an initiative."

Runner can propose bills as much as he wants, but if they can't pass the legislature, that should be it. The same with Democratic bills that get vetoed on the Governor's desk.

People aren't in the streets clamoring for a bill like this. In fact, I doubt many out side the Runner family have even thought of it. It's one guys pet project looking to score political points. If you take to the streets with a petition offering to put electronic collars on sex criminals, who's going to think about the cost of such a venture or even the need for such a thing. People are going to sign, and the bar for ballot qualification is unbelievably low out here.

Now, I have yet to read the legislation in question, but initial estimates put just the tracking system alone at $500 million a year. This is a necessary and immediate expense in a state already swimming in debt? Seriously?

The ballot initiative system here in California allows anyone with too much spare time and a walletfull of cash to push their cause. It no longer gives voice to the people, but to the wealthy and attention starved, and those who can't get their pet projects passed by lobbyists in Sacramento.

Think about the initiatives we will vote on this fall. Was anyone other than Arnold looking to extend tenure for teachers before this? Was there a groundswell of movement to silence the voices of the unions in the political process up to this point? Of course there wasn't. But now we all are being asked to make decisions on issues that the general public knows little about.

What's the point of electing a legislature to begin with?