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Ballot initiatives are killing California.
The state is in the red by $24 billion and will soon have to make drastic cuts to schools and prisons, even as money continues to be spent on less urgent matters. As has happened before, the state nearly shut down completely while the legislature bickered over a budget. Next year is unlikely to be any better. Most voters are fed up and ready to throw the bums out. But a new set of bums can't fix anything. The real problem is that the legislature has been emasculated by a series of ballot initiatives passed by the voters themselves, simultaneously protecting services and limiting taxes. Elected politicians have no power to repeal or amend these laws, even in the face of severe budget shortfalls. California's paralysis shows the folly of direct democracy in such a large state. U.S. government was created as a representative democracy (you elect representatives who decide), in part because the founders feared an ill-informed public could not be trusted to make wise choices for themselves. They were right. |
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Civic and theater areas (12 images) |
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Streets and businesses (15) |
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Cemeteries (4) |
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Baths (12) |
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Homes (12) |
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Murals and mosaics (13) |
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House of the Faun (4) |
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House of the Vettii (6) |
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House of the Venus Marina (4) |
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Villa of the Mysteries (12) |
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18th-century drawings of murals (14) |
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Start with Civic and theater areas  |
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Photographs of Pompeii at the Maecenas Web site. |
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Learning From Pompeii, by Carroll William Westfall. |
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The Pompeii Forum Project. (More photographs and a street tour of Pompeii can be found under ``Notes for Teachers and Students''.) |
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Conjectural Map of Pompeii. |