Eschew Prop 16

Proposition 16- I don't think I have ever seen more blatant propaganda. Political ads often stretch the truth to gain an advantage, but Prop 16 consists of outright lies and attempts to mislead voters used to influence action by the uninformed and misinformed masses.

PG&E proposes to protect its monopoly by requiring a two-thirds vote of approval before a local government can arrange to provide its own electricity. PG&E doesn't care that the PUC has approved the rights of local government to do so. PG$E has already spent millions in trying to prevent Marin county and others from generating electricity or aggregating sources.

Cities such as Santa Clara operate electricity generating facilities efficiently and offer reasonable rates to users. Elected leaders should have the authority to provide its residents with services without the interference of the self-interests of a monopoly.

PG$E has taken a page from the Nazi playbook in try to dupe the public. As Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf, use the media to appeal to the masses with stereotypical messages. In this case, say it is a voters' rights issue and blame government for spending without a vote. Pay lobbyists exorbitant fees to craft misinformation and spend lots of shareholder money to spread the messages. PG$E is spending 30 million dollars to convince voters of a false issue, money that might be used to lower rates instead.

Voters must not be fooled by these tactics. Perhaps a city might want to get voter approval, buy requiring a two-thirds majority would doom the vote to failure. Proposition 16 could make it into the history books as an example of the worst kind of propaganda. Let's hope that's the only place it's remembered.