ASUCD Commission Behavior

In the Associated Students of the University California Davis or ASUCD, there are 7 commissions with at least 11 members in each one. The legislative branch of ASUCD includes the Internal Affairs Commission, Academic Affairs Commission, Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission, Gender and Sexuality Commission, Business and Finance Commission, External Affairs Commission, and the Environmental Policy and Planning Commission. They all have 9 voting members and at least two alternates although occasionally one may have 1 alternate while another may have three alternates. Commissions that have more than two earn my compliments while those who have less earn my lawsuits.

In order to get on a commission you have to fill out an application form that has your contact information and a description of your experience and qualifications. You should fill out a paper form and an electronic form because either or both can be lost by the system. Granted the chair gives you a call for an interview, (not always the case), you can become interviewed for the positions.

Most of the questions for the interview are vague and thus you could talk forever on your life story before they stop you. Other questions are more specific as to whether you truly have any experience in the field you wish to be involved in. Some questions are stupid though like what is your favorite actor, color, sports team, etc. How you answer this question may establish how human you are.

The interviewing committee consists of two Senators, a commission chair of the commission the applicant is applying for, a commissioner from the commission the applicant is applying for, and another commission chair of another commission. Legally the interview team can be made up of four people but the absent one must be a Senator. If there is less than one Senator or less than four members the interview process is illegal and the Court could rule that the interview process is void. This happened for my interview and so my External Affairs Commission position was unconstitutional.

In most cases active students, even freshmen can get on commissions. I have seen myself passed over by freshmen who know zip about the system. Then there are those who are selected because they are well connected or friends with those in power. Those that rebel against the system tend not to do so well.

Then the Senate usually rubber stamps what the interview committee judges. There have been some small controversies but I have never seen someone not confirmed until just recently with the Gender and Sexuality Commission.

In the commissions as I have observed there are different groups of people. There are the conservative establishment people, the rebels, and the wise men. The Conservatives are not politically conservative; they support the status quo and their way of doing things. They tend to have more experience, have greater arrogance, and are usually promoted to chair or Senate later on. The Conservatives often need to know what they are doing so that the Rebels don’t get the upper hand.

The Rebels are those who introduce legislation on the idea that they are the minority on the commission. They hope for the rare chance that the wise men will side with them against the Conservatives. They often have more fun than the Conservatives because they don’t take the process as seriously. They are liberal only when it comes to what they want done which is a lot of different changes. They may also hope to regress ASUCD back to a more glorious state. The Rebels tend to not promote anywhere within the association but hope for the day when they will rule over the Conservatives. The Rebels and Conservatives are generally experts on ASUCD processes.

The Wise Men never speak during Commission meetings. If you look at the minutes they have zero quotes. They are generally hard working on projects and writing reports but they have little to nothing to say about legislation. They are unpredictable as far as determining how they will vote but they tend to vote with the Conservatives. The Wise Men may know a great deal but this can never be determined and as such people sometimes get the impression that they know nothing about the system. They prove that one can still contribute to a debate without saying a word. They tend to not have as much fun as the Rebels or the Conservatives. They also tend to never promote and are generally content with their position.

Every once in a while accusations of cronyism are thrown around. This accusation is hard to prove and hard to defend which makes it a convenient attack. The story of Greg Webb does not surprise me at all. I aimed him randomly about running for ASUCD Senate in the Fall of 2006 and he agreed but he didn’t collect enough signatures. He managed to secure enough in the Winter of 2007 and joined the Student Focus slate after briefly being with ACT. After his loss in the Winter of 2007, Greg visited the Internal Affairs Commission frequently, and would later comment to me on what he thought of the meeting. He even wrote a letter to the editor commenting on a piece of legislation from IAC and every so often went to Senate meetings. While this was going on Greg Webb and I discussed the possibility of an ASUCD radio talk show on KDVS for the Fall quarter. The idea that he isn’t qualified or that he deserves last place is not surprising to me concerning status quo but is somewhat appalling to me. I fully expect Mr. Webb to be involved in some interesting things on the start of the fall quarter. As said above, Greg made the mistake of being a rebel.

Libertarian and Republican Connection

For most people there is the Republican Party and then there is the Democratic Party. Third party organizations have a difficult time winning high offices but on occasion surprise us by winning local city council elections and challenging the two major parties.

The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in the United States with over 200,000 members and 600 elected officials nationwide. Compared to the two major parties this might not seem like much but there are occasions when Third parties can make a significant difference. In 2000 Al Gore lost the presidential election in large part to Ralph Nader in Florida. Republican Presidential Candidate Ron Paul once ran for president in 1988 under the Libertarian Party.

Why does Ron Paul have such great popularity with the young people? A lot of it has to do with the fact that students and young people behave very much like Libertarians when it comes to their political views. Many students who consider themselves liberal Democrats are actually Libertarians; they simply don’t consider themselves as such. Students seem to have this government hands off mentality and for good reason. Students don’t like regressive taxes; entitlement spending that doesn’t benefit them, budget deficits that they will eventually have to pay, and greater government involvement in their lives.

The Republican and the Libertarian view points collide on several points and I desire to list these points as I interpret the Republican and Libertarian mindset. I will further prove that an ultra-liberal socialist cannot be under Libertarian definition be a true Libertarian leader.

Libertarians favor tax breaks whether it be income tax, sales tax, social security tax, any kind of tax. Republicans agree as it has been shown with the Republican Ford administration, the Reagan administration, and the George W Bush administration. The Republican Congress during the years of 1995 to 2007 enthusiastically supported tax breaks and even under a Democratic controlled Congress Republicans were able to negotiate a small business tax cut in order to pass a higher minimum wage. On the California state level Republicans have generally been supportive of tax breaks and have always opposed tax increases. Governor Schwarzenegger vowed he would never raise taxes and has succeeded. In Davis however there have been constant tax increases under a progressive population and Davis City Council. There has been Measure O, P, and G which have increases taxes on the Davis population.

Libertarians favor greater economic freedom to develop and oppose government regulations. Republicans and Libertarians alike have supported greater growth in cities and have shown themselves to have a pro-business mentality. This is good, because it is business that keeps this nation as prosperous as it is, not the government. Those that opposed Measure K are not Libertarians where is those that did are more in agreement to Libertarian view.

Libertarians promote greater property rights and oppose eminent domain seizures. Republicans pushed for Proposition 90 which would have given greater compensation and protection to property owners. It failed but it was worth a shot.

Libertarians oppose taxation of religious institutions and many Republicans and myself agree. Religious organization should continue to have non-profit status and Republicans and Libertarians would be more agreeable to having welfare services flow through charity organizations than the wasteful government.

Libertarians and Republicans both agree when it comes to gun ownership. Democrats and progressives have put a great many restrictions on rural areas when it comes to purchasing various weapons. Both political parties consider the 2^nd Amendment seriously while some liberal judges have ruled that the 2^nd Amendment doesn’t even pertain to citizens.

Libertarians and Republicans agree on greater free trade. Free trade allows us to sell stuff and buy stuff from the world without restriction or tax from the government. It strengthens the economies of the Third World and makes things cheaper for us here in the United States. It doesn’t balance out the economic circumstances of the world but rather it increases capitalism and investment in the world. There is no zero sum game. The more money you have the more stuff you can do with it.

Libertarians and some Republicans have been tireless fighters of budget deficits and have decried the incredible spending under George W Bush. The amount of spending comes close to Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society programs. This kind of spending needs to be lowered in order to bring about a balanced budget. If we do not, the expense of the interest alone will hurt my generation and the generation beyond me.

When in comes to Social Security both parties agree that this institution needs to be privatized if it is to stay functional decades into the future. If it remains as it is more economic pressure will be put on the shoulders of my generation and future generations.

And finally the Republicans and Libertarians agree that we must have a secure border in order to protect the property rights of US citizens and to prevent run away spending of social programs on undocumented persons. Though these parties may disagree as to how much security is needed but they do agree on the fundamental principle that our social programs should not be held hostage by uncontrolled borders.

There are some obvious differences between Republicans and Libertarians but there are also many similarities. As such it is my belief that the two parties can work together when it comes to certain specific issues. When it comes to the city of Davis I fear that the 160 registered Libertarians and 7,000 Republicans are being ignored. Libertarians should identify that in city politics Republican social conservatism is rarely an issue but Republican economic policy is what is most important on the city level.

When it comes to myself I have disagreements on Libertarians on certain issues but I have more meaningful similarities. The two issues that have been brought before me is my ASUCD record on two bills I hope to and “will” pass; that being the So Help Me God oath of office bill and the Pledge of Allegiance.

It can be acknowledged that Libertarians believe in the Separation of Church and State but I feel that I need to give Senator-elect the public freedom to express whether they wish to say it or not and have that recognized. As I have said before ASUCD is not a state, it is an association. Those who oppose my bill have a more tyrannical nature in that they hope to silence religion in ASUCD and this was one step to do it. As for the Pledge of Allegiance I also consider this to be freedom issue. People should have the freedom to recite it and have it recognized under the system. It’s completely voluntary and I don’t see why it shouldn’t be a part of an association that is heavily entangled with the federal and state government. Even so, these two bills are minimally important in the grand scheme of things.

Now, I could change all of my positions to make everyone happy but that would insult the intelligence of the people and it would be flip flopping on the issues which I shall not do. Instead I believe that I need to keep the principles that I believe in but be open to new information and act accordingly. There is a difference between someone who acts like a fake to get an endorsement and someone who stands firm and gains respect from the general people. Despite my opposition to Giuliani’s positions I do find it respectable that he keeps to his positions and states to all those who listen, “This is who I am and you can either vote for me or not.” You can change your mind of course, but never change your political soul.