Ten good reasons to recall Gray Davis

Human Events, Aug 18, 2003

Now, facing the wrath of business owners, Davis has begun talking about revisiting his own terrible legislation by capping medical costs for injured workers-ignoring the obvious problems of excessive liability and the unjustified doubling of benefits.

State Sen. Chuck Poochigian (R.) of Fresno told the Sacramento Bee that Davis's new plan "falls woefully short by failing to address the most significant problems including skyrocketing litigation costs, over-utilization of the system and subjective medical claims."

6

Driver's Licenses for Illegal Aliens

Last month, Davis promised to sign a bill allowing illegal aliens to apply for California driver's licenses. In September 2002, Davis had vetoed just such a bill, stating correctly that it could help terrorists attack America.

"The tragedy of September 11 made it abundantly clear that the driver's license is more than just a license to drive; it is one of the primary documents we use to identify ourselves," Davis said in a veto statement. "Unfortunately, a driver's license was in the hands of terrorists who attacked America on that fateful day."

Davis's flip-flop on this issue is one of the more blatant examples of his pandering-in this instance, to the Hispanic community.

7

In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens

On Oct. 11, 2001, Davis signed a bill to grant lower in-state tuition rates at California state colleges to illegal aliens who have attended at least three years of high school in the state. The regents of the University of California system followed suit instituting a regulation extending in-state tuition to illegal aliens in the state's public universities.

The law clearly contravenes a 1996 federal statute that bars states from granting such privileges to foreign nationals if they are not also extended to Americans from other states. In fact, Davis had vetoed a similar measure in 2000, citing that federal law. This in-state tuition rule not only imposes an additional burden on California taxpayers, but also empowers illegal aliens to take spots at California state colleges and universities that otherwise would go to American citizens.

8

Cross-Dressing as Civil Right

Two weeks ago, Davis signed a bill imposing a heavy fine on employers who refuse to hire so-called "transgendered" persons-namely transvestites and transsexuals. Employers-including, for example, church bookstores-will now face fines of up to $150,000 if they try to fire or refuse to hire cross-dressers. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that in Davis's new law, "Gender is defined as a person's identity, appearance or behavior, regardless of whether that identity is the same as the person's sex at birth. Employers would still be able to use dress codes as long as workers are allowed to dress as the gender they prefer."

The law follows the one Davis signed in October 2001 under cover of the recent terror attacks, granting many of the rights of marriage to homosexual partners, including the right to adopt a registered domestic partner's children. Many conservatives have argued that this law represented an end run around Proposition 22, which stated that only marriage between a man and woman is valid in California. Prop 22 passed in 2000 with 61% of the vote. To further shore up his support from the gay-rights lobby, Davis may go further in eroding Prop 22 by signing a bill (AB 205) that essentially guarantees all the rights of marriage to registered homosexual couples.