Today I Learned

This ballot initiative was so stupid. Voters should not be deciding funding for medical research. It should be governed by a non partisan comittee of scientists. Sending medical research funding through voters risks subjecting those sick with diseases both to a particularly perverse form of popularity contest and also to moral judgement about their illness. If voters had decided funding during the AIDS epidemic antiviral drug research would not have been funded.

Yep. I knew about this because I spent maybe 2 hours on a weekend filling out my ballot and Googling shit as I went.

It's really not that hard and we'd be living in what we'd currently consider a utopia if everyone dedicated a couple hours A YEAR to responsibly filling out their ballot.

I voted against this as it's stupid. Goes a billionaire's non profit and puts California 8 Billion in debt for like the next decade

This is why I vote no on crap like this.

Architected by a billionaire inventor to funnel billions into his own pockets. This is the exact kind of neoliberal corruption and collusion with capital that needs to be destroyed and criminally prosecuted, to prevent fascism and safeguard the future from psychopathic and sociopathic control.

The corruption didn't start with fascism. The corruption gave fascism an attack vector to seize control of the political class and spread like the parasitic mental illness it is.

The DSA voter guide called this out

That's pretty good, how can I do that for my own hobby?

https://www.michelsonmedicalresearch.org/

I voted no on this because I don’t like that part of it either, but since it’s nonprofit and UC-affiliated I’m hoping it won’t be that bad. I’m definitely more upset about 40.

First of all, it doesn’t go the “three people”, it goes to a non-profit immunology research lab. Im sure they will expand their lab and researchers with the additional funding.

Secondly, It doesn’t prevent others from setting up their own labs now that the funding is available. Lots of universities in the state will do just that.

More research into immunization and immunotherapy? A win for public health.

Yet another reason why California's ballot initiative system is a bad idea.

They say the bond spending would pay for itself, since Prop. 38 ensures that 10% of the revenue generated from research would go back to the state’s coffers. And cures funded with Prop. 38 money must be cheaper when sold to California residents — 20% less than the average national price.

Source. If that was actually a good investment then the private sector would have provided the funds...

In the words of a blogger I like,

The great thing about California is that it’s not just a state where a few big special interests can money-pump the public. Anyone, no matter how small or humble, if they try hard and believe in themselves, can become a special interest that money-pumps the public.

My wife works in a related field and was very excited about this measure until I pointed out this guy spent $100M+ to get his institute paid $4.2B. She changed her note to no.

Will be very sad, but not surprised, if this passes. A lot of people lack reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.

That endorsement from the Michael J Fox Foundation carried a lot of weight, it seems.

Here's an article about this.

Robert Kaplan is a senior scholar at the Stanford University School of Medicine and co-chair of the No on Prop 38 campaign.

One of the key arguments of the No on Prop 38 campaign cites a CalMatters investigative report, which found that the highly specific criteria leave only one institution qualified to receive funding: the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy, associated with UCLA and founded by Michelson.

"When I first heard of Proposition 38, I was excited about it because it provides more money for biomedical research, which I think is necessary," Kaplan said.

Kaplan says there needs to be open competition between institutions and questions the limiting of funding to a single discipline, immunotherapy, when there is a wider array of biomedical research.

He is also concerned that the anticipated 10% of revenue generated by discoveries funded through the measure to repay the General Fund could take decades, given the uncertainty in the amounts and timing.

At least they didn't accidentally tax the billionaires. /s

I misread this as someone wrote a piece of legislation that was so good, the voting public paid him $4.2 billion as an outsourced legislator.

I must be naive.

I should put a few measures on the ballot.

Further proof that people can't fucking read.

Apparently, that number is highest in California Source. I wouldn't expect that in California.

I can't tell if California has this mastermind ballot writer that makes these things impossible to know which way to vote yes or no on, Or California has the lowest adult literacy rate?

The measures I'm hearing about are really fucking bonkers. Maybe I should ask the state of California if I can have 10 million dollars to research if video games make me violent.