Unintended Consequences

Video Info - 5 , 24

Overview

Bad laws did not start out as “bad.” These laws started with reasonable assumptions, purpose, and intent. However, some laws end up creating severe and harmful adverse outcomes upon implementation. Our conversation focuses on the lack of regard for responding to the unintended consequences.

Several laws have been passed to re-classify specific crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. The most notorious is raising the threshold to $950 for felony theft. The result has been organized gangs conducting daytime looting of retail stores, each person being sure to stay under the $950 threshold limit. District Attorneys often drop these cases, which only encourages more organized looting.

Recent OPEC agreements cutting back on oil production and restrictions on domestic oil production have pushed gas prices to record levels. Gas prices in California are approximately $1.50 per gallon higher than the national average. This additional cost is partially due to the state gasoline tax. But there is an additional self-inflicted supply constraint. California laws require two special blends of gasoline, one for the winter and one for the summer, and only seven refineries produce gas meeting these specifications.

Ted Stroll, candidate to represent San Jose in the California Assembly, delves into several topics that need to be addressed by the California legislature. Ted believes he can bring a reasonable and logical response to the adverse outcomes of specific laws.

The topics addressed in this interview are:

00:00 Introduction to Ted Stroll and the Unintended Consequences of certain laws
01:39 The extent of Covid-19 related lockdowns
03:13 Ted’s work at the California Supreme Court
03:58 A linguist who speaks four languages
05:38 San Jose District 25 geographic boundaries
06:00 The refinery problem for gasoline in California
10:19 The homeless, mental illness, and drug addiction
12:34 The California Care Court
13:54 Responding to the crime problem
16:32 Are the voters getting information about the candidates?
18:28 The concerns of Spanish-speaking voters
19:09 California as a sanctuary State
20:45 Ted’s message to voters

More information on Ted Stroll is available at TedStroll.com

Ted's Candidate Statement

Ted Stroll’s Candidate Statement

Registered voters will soon receive county voters’ guides, including candidate statements.

I’m a candidate for California Assembly District 25, a district that includes much of San José. For the primary I published a statement. But for a modestly funded campaign like mine, the cost has soared out of reach.

My statement for the primary cost a painful but doable $4,684. A few weeks ago, I got a surprise notice: the cost is rising to an estimated $7,010 for November.

It could cost more. The county cautions, “Cost estimates are subject to change upon final billing after the election.”

This isn’t isolated to Santa Clara County. Nearby Assembly candidates are paying as much or more. One is paying an estimated $8,536. Another is paying an estimated $8,400.

Contrast that with Portland, Ore., where candidate statements cost $300.

I’m a first-time office-seeker. My campaign can’t afford $7,010, let alone a mysterious possible supplemental bill.

Fees of this magnitude give an advantage to candidates with large campaign budgets, and most are likely to be incumbents.

Had I been able to afford a statement, I would have said this:

Compassion for homeless people with substance abuse and mental health disorders requires in-patient treatment for those who can’t be housed elsewhere. Affordable apartments don’t mean much for those too impaired to occupy them. Nowadays, we have humane alternatives to traditional mental hospitals, but we have to implement them. Out of 120 lawmakers, my opponent was one of two to vote against Gov. Newsom’s CARE Courts, which will try to do that.

The homeless aren’t the only ones with housing problems. Housing costs too much for everyone and is built too slowly. Your children shouldn’t have to move out of state to afford an apartment, let alone buy a house.

Pretending crime isn’t happening is no way to stop it. We must both enforce our criminal laws and give inmates vocational training, education, and help with substance abuse, including after they leave prison, so they stay out of trouble and don’t return.

Energy costs are too high, water is becoming scarcer, and the electrical grid can’t keep up with demand. We must improve our energy and water infrastructures.

Too many proposals that come out of Sacramento are foolish—bad ideas, too costly, unworkable, or rushed through. Like bills to hide criminals’ convictions from the public, reduce certain muggings from a felony conviction to petty theft, and drastically cut extra punishment for using a gun in a murder.

I was in Massachusetts this summer. I saw no homeless encampments, graffiti was minimal, and the streets were safe. The state sales tax is 6.25% with no local surcharges. Our sales taxes hover around 10%. Massachusetts’s state income tax is a flat 5%. Ours sports a top bracket of 13.3%, and some legislators want to boost it to 15.8%.

Why do we tax more and achieve less? The people who are elected year after year, decade after decade, to state offices aren’t likely to change very much.