by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

With 7% reporting:

98 N Eminent Domain. Limits on Government Authority. 357,626 43.3% 467,116 56.7%

99 Y Eminent Domain. Limits on Government Acquisition. 536,649 65.5% 282,737 34.5%

It's a bigger problem for 98 than just winning.  Because the props are related, 98 has to do better than 99 to become law.  I can't see how that could possibly happen, even though these are early numbers.

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

I do some web work for No on 98.

A while back, I mentioned a lawsuit against AG Jerry Brown regarding the ballot title for prop 98, "EMINENT DOMAIN. LIMITS ON GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY." You see, that really doesn't clearly articulate what Prop 98 does.  But, let's just think about the amount of people this actually impacts. Eminent domain? A few hundred per year. Rent Control? Several hundred thousand.

So which one should be in the ballot title? Hmmm. Nonetheless, the judge ruled that Brown, while perhaps wrong, didn't actually overstep his authority. Under the law, being wrong isn't enough, but rather you must be super-wrong. So wrong that you didn't have authority to be that wrong. So, when you get that June ballot in the mail, for prop 98 it will say "Eminent Domain. Limits on Government Authority." despite the fact that it will impact far more people through its rent control provisions than through eminent domain.  

You know, the thing that I don't get here is why Brown wouldn't include it. After all, it's pretty clear he has designs on reliving the 80's by running for governor again. You'd think he wouldn't try to intentionally mess with the tenants organizations.  But, alas, the enigma that is Jerry Brown continues.