0:00

Kassie: Hello Reframers. Thank you so much for joining us today.

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I am Kassie and I'm joined with my co-host, Zach and Erin.

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How are you guys doing today? Erin: I'm doing good.

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How are you, Zach? Zach: I'm doing good as well.

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I'm excited to be here for another episode of The Reframers and today we're gonna be

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talking about the midterm elections, which will take place November 8th of this year.

0:24

So trying to get it out so all you guys can be informed before going off.

0:27

Kassie: And I know, I'm glad we're talking about this right now because

0:30

I feel like I've just seen the packet sitting on my kitchen table for Zach.

0:34

I don't even know how long it's been there, but I think it's

0:36

high time we talk about it. I do wanna apologize in advance for my voice.

0:41

I am fresh off of a bachelorette weekend and Scottsdale definitely

0:46

got the best of my my eardrums.

0:49

Holy cow. It's a loud city. And my my voice box.

0:53

So gonna do my best , but we're gonna talk about the midterm

0:57

election that's coming up. It's November, right?

1:00

Same as same as other elections.

1:04

And then November, correct. November 8th, easy.

1:06

And then really we're gonna focus on what are the midterms?

1:11

Why do they exist? Why, why do we do them?

1:14

That'll include the terms, why some things that we vote on every four

1:18

years versus some are every two. We're gonna talk a little bit about who's up for election, and then at

1:23

the end for our California folks, we're gonna do a prop overview.

1:27

So we're gonna talk about the propositions that are on the ballot and give you

1:31

guys some insight before you have to jump in and vote for yourselves.

1:34

So let's get started. Zach: So the midterm elections are so called midterm because they take place in

1:41

between the presidential election cycle.

1:44

So if you may or may not know, president elections are held every four years.

1:50

So the last one was 2020.

1:53

The next one will be 2024. Because we are in the year 2022, it is happening in the middle.

1:59

So colloquially is called the midterm.

2:03

Basically this is a situation where members of the House of Representatives

2:07

are elected every two years. So their term is always up.

2:10

They're constantly, practically, constantly campaigning seeking reelection.

2:15

They have the shortest term of the elected offices federally, now US

2:20

senators are elected every six years.

2:23

So there. Kind of comes every other midterm because sometimes it's on a mid, sometimes

2:29

it's on a presidential election. And then the president is obviously elected every four years.

2:34

So this is a midterm election. And in the middle of Biden's first term, this will determine whether he gets to

2:41

enjoy a Democrat majority for the rest of his, his term, or if maybe there's a

2:45

change in, in dynamics and Republicans, you know, take one or both houses.

2:49

And, and now he's met with kind of a locked government.

2:53

It's a very important election. Typically turn out as less in midterm elections than in, in

2:57

regulars, but they're still important and they matter just as much as,

3:01

as presidential elections do. Erin: I just wanna jump in real quick on the term lengths for

3:07

representatives in the house and then senators who are in the Senate.

3:11

So having the two years for the house was very intentional.

3:16

These term lengths are set forth in the constitution.

3:19

So the founders thought about this, and if you think about it, if you're a

3:22

representative and you have to get elected every two years, you have to be pretty in

3:27

the know with all of your constituents and really kind of like campaigning with them

3:32

and knowing what's going on in your state and in your district specifically because

3:37

house reps are elected by district.

3:39

Not by state. And so they really are intended to be very responsive to the people and to

3:45

their constituents In the Senate the Senators are also supposed to be, you

3:50

know, pretty responsive, but they have that longer six year term and they're

3:55

elected by state, not by district.

3:58

And so every state only has two senators.

4:01

House members are determined by the population of the state.

4:06

So for instance, we just did a census in which happens every 10 years in

4:10

California, for example, lost one of our house seats because our population

4:15

went down and it got redistributed. So that's kind of an interesting thing that happens too.

4:21

But I just think it's in, it's kind of important to know, like the

4:24

cadence of these elections because you only get to vote for your state

4:28

senator every six years for their term, and you only have two senators.

4:33

So it's really important to pay attention to these midterm elections.

4:36

Cause, you know, they only come around so often and also they really affect what

4:41

kinds of legislation are gonna get at a federal level because of the majorities.

4:48

And as Zach mentioned, it's a big deal this year because the Democrats currently

4:52

right now hold majorities in the house, they have a majority in the Senate because

4:59

of their vote from the vice president.

5:02

They have exactly a 50 50 split.

5:04

But on tiebreakers, the vice president will vote with the

5:07

Democrats because she's a Democrat. And we also hold, well the Democrats also hold the executive with President Biden.

5:14

So it's dem dem across the board.

5:16

And if that flips over, it's gonna make it really hard for the

5:21

Democrats to pass more legislation cuz they won't have majorities.

5:26

So that's one of the reasons why the midterms in particular are

5:29

really important because it kind of determines what the president can do

5:32

for their final two years in office. Zach: and the president's first year, really first hundred days,

5:38

First year is typically their most. That's when they get the most things done.

5:42

If they have, because they have the most political capital, so to speak.

5:46

So they have the most goodwill.

5:48

They're, they're untested, so people are more willing to work with them.

5:52

And then usually that momentum kind of diminishes.

5:55

So if you're a Democrat, it's really important that, the Democrats hold a

6:00

majority in both houses because already, that momentum that Biden would've had

6:05

is already largely dissipated by now. Just historically speaking, you know, not, not saying in particular, but

6:13

going forward, that's, you really, if you're a Democrat, you really wanna

6:16

hold both houses because, as Aaron mentioned, it'll get be much, much harder.

6:20

You have to engage and work a lot more across the aisle to get

6:23

things on your agenda done that you otherwise wouldn't have to work in a

6:28

bipartisan nature to, to accomplish. Erin: Yeah.

6:32

Work in a bipartisan nature or just be blocked, you know,

6:34

the Right, exactly right. Yeah. Like the, the way you can do things like one of the, one of the things that's

6:40

potentially going to change if, say the house for example, switches over to

6:46

Republican control instead of Democrat control is a lot of investigations

6:50

that the House is doing right now. For example, the January 6th investigation investigations into Trump, and if

6:56

that switches over to the Republicans, you know, they probably will wanna

6:59

halt that investigation and could do their own investigations into things

7:04

that maybe the Democrats wouldn't want them to do investigations into.

7:07

So it actually does have some prac, some other practical effects.

7:12

Zach: And that's because the, the party that is held, the majority

7:15

in the house also automatically then gets to head the chairs of

7:21

each of the different committees. So the chair who sets the agenda and the goals for those individual committees,

7:27

which there are numerous, is chaired by the, the leader of the majority.

7:33

Erin: Just so everyone knows the fight in the midterms, this is pretty much

7:37

always a thing where, especially if you have majorities that are being held

7:42

and all the houses of Congress and the executive for it to be this, like, is

7:47

the other party gonna gain control?

7:50

Mm-hmm. , that's something that, that has happened in recent years, in past years.

7:55

It's always a big question of like, is this gonna be basically, in some ways

7:58

people think of it as like a referendum on the president who is in the, whose party

8:04

is in control and how people feel about how they've done the first two years.

8:11

Zach: Yeah. The implication being that if you're unhappy with how, you know Biden is

8:16

doing, you're gonna vote Republican in the midterms because you want to

8:20

block further his agenda and, and not give him that leeway and just to

8:26

complete the loop, I guess on this, it's because you have to have both

8:29

houses, or both branches of government, pardon me, both branches of government

8:34

involved in agreement to sign a bill. So you have to get sign signatures and passages from the house and the Senate.

8:42

So once both houses of Congress sign off a bill, that bill then

8:46

goes to the president to sign before it can take effect as a law.

8:50

Erin: And that's a really good point for right now, because at least with

8:54

the current talk, and I think there's a big caveat because polls have been very

9:00

difficult the last few years especially.

9:03

And I think we need to be skeptical of some of the polling.

9:07

Cuz it's not turned out to be the case, particularly in

9:12

the presidential elections. But so we can be skeptical of that.

9:17

But what it looks like right now is that, it seems likely that the

9:21

Democrats will lose their majority in the House of Representatives and

9:27

potentially likely that they will keep their majority in the Senate.

9:31

Although I would say that's kind of up for grabs right now, and it's a

9:34

little hard to tell exactly what's gonna happen in the Senate, So.

9:38

Mm-hmm. there's a lot of talk obviously about, you know, how this is gonna play out

9:43

and lots of work being done by both parties to try and raise money and, you

9:48

know, sell ads and influence everyone so that, you know their party will win.

9:53

That's happening on both sides right now. And there's a part, there's a couple states that have become sort of these

9:58

battleground type states which we think about in a presidential election

10:02

of like, oh, that's a swing state. But that also happens in these midterm elections, and they

10:07

have just as much of an effect. Zach: Yeah.

10:10

So let's get into to some of the breakdown then of, of what is the current situation,

10:14

maybe starting with the house cuz that's the bigger, the bigger chamber.

10:18

So just as a refresher, the house consists of 435 representatives

10:25

based on population from each state. So as Erin mentioned at the top, California lost one of its

10:30

representatives because of the overall population shift in the state.

10:35

And currently, Democrats hold a 220 to 212 advantage , in the US House.

10:43

And there's three vacancies at the moment. So what that amounts to is Republicans need to gain a net of six districts

10:50

to win a majority of the chambers. So for all the different districts that are up for reelection,

10:56

republicans have to hold what they currently have plus win six more.

11:02

Erin: Yep. And then for the Senate, it's a little trickier for the Democrats at least

11:08

because they hold 50 seats right now.

11:12

As a reminder, there's a hundred seats in the Senate, it's two per state, and.

11:17

so the Republicans would need to hold all the seats they currently

11:21

have and flip one seat in the Senate.

11:24

And if they do that, then they hold a majority of of the Senate.

11:29

And just for reference, the Democrats are still trying to flip their own seats.

11:33

They wanna hold their majority, but also gain advantages.

11:37

Mm-hmm. and the states they're particularly focused on right now are Pennsylvania

11:42

North Carolina and Wisconsin.

11:45

And the Republicans are focused on getting rid of Democratic incumbents.

11:50

So those are people who currently hold the seats in Arizona Georgia,

11:55

Nevada, and New Hampshire.

11:58

Those are kind of the states at issue right now.

12:01

It's actually like, kind of funny, I was looking this up cuz I haven't really been

12:05

paying that much attention honestly to like a lot of the races going on in other

12:09

places and I looked it up today and the first couple things that popped up were

12:14

Herschel Walker in Georgia who people probably, I mean you may have heard of

12:19

him, but there was some scandal where he's this huge anti-abortion activist

12:24

and like today or yesterday it came out that he may have paid for an abortion

12:28

for an ex-girlfriend or something. So that was like the salacious news that I read this morning.

12:33

And then if anyone doesn't know. In Pennsylvania, Dr.

12:37

Oz, who is this like TV personality, pseudo Dr.

12:42

Guy is running. And there is something that came out, I think today or yesterday about him

12:49

like performing experiments on like 300 puppies and killing them or something.

12:54

So these are just like the random headlines. I'm not trying to over focus on Republicans, I promise.

12:59

They're just the ones that popped up on my feed and it was like, okay,

13:03

this is where we're talking about these, like various candidates.

13:07

So if you're tuning in, there's actually quite a bit there to, to sift through.

13:13

Yeah. The pencil rates, pencil, The Pennsylvania race has been a

13:20

big focus because yeah, it's Dr.

13:23

Oz running for Republicans and then the guy John Fetterman.

13:32

John Federman. Yeah. Mm-hmm. is running for the Democrats.

13:35

And it, it's a, it's a weird race because Federman suffered a

13:40

stroke back in May, I, I think.

13:43

Mm-hmm. , April May timeframe, something like that. And he was like totally gone from the campaign trail for months and

13:49

then recently has been back on the trail the last maybe month or so.

13:53

And it's just people are, you know, from the Republican side and, and

13:57

maybe media in general are speculating, like, is this guy fit to serve?

14:02

Obviously being a senator is a big job, so there's some question

14:05

of his, his cognitive New ability and, and things like that.

14:10

But I didn't see, hear this stuff about Dr.

14:13

Oz, but that's sounds like another s show just in general.

14:20

So, and a what, I'll go back to what I said in the police episode, like

14:24

have some integrity and be cognitive a avail cognitively available.

14:28

Zach: So that's still my standard in case, in case anybody was wondering.

14:33

Yeah, And, and just to tack on the numbers here, 14 seats currently are

14:37

held by Democrats that are up for reelection 21 held by Republicans.

14:43

So there's 35 of the 100 seats up for reelection for the Senate and 14 held

14:51

by Democrats, 21 held by Republicans.

14:54

That's the breakdown there on the, the Senate map.

14:57

Yeah. Kassie: I have a quick question. When you say up for reelection, can, you can clarify.

15:02

Some people are not up for reelection, so it's not that everyone all at

15:06

once is eligible the same years.

15:10

Zach: Yeah, so the Senate is, is staggered where a third, you know, basically a

15:14

third of the senatorial body is up for reelection every six years or every

15:20

two years, Sorry, every two years. So a senate, a senator's term is six years long, and every two years a

15:26

third of the Senate rotates through. So that way the Senate maintains some institutional knowledge and,

15:32

and functioning that happens. E you know, despite the fact that incumbents typically are reelected,

15:37

setting that part aside, only one third of the Senate body is up

15:40

for reelection every two years.

15:42

Just to kind of keep a certain degree of consistency.

15:45

Is it exactly a third or roughly a third? It's roughly a third cuz we, there's a hundred senators, 50 states, and three

15:54

doesn't divide into a hundred evenly. So this, this year is 35, I'm guessing.

15:58

Another year is, you know, 34, Another year is 33 or something like that.

16:03

Cool. It's roughly a third of the seats.

16:05

. There's a, there's a really great breakdown, you know, that I'm just

16:08

referencing ballotpedia.org and they have pages for the United States

16:14

Senate elections for this year. A similar page for the United States House elections.

16:19

And if you really wanna get into the weeds in terms of you know, there's

16:23

a section for house races without the majority party oppositions.

16:26

So it's like breaking down the exact districts where, okay, it looks like,

16:31

you know, North Dakota district is gonna be a hundred percent Democrat because

16:35

there's really not a or a hundred percent Republican because there's

16:38

not a Democrat running in opposition. So like, if you really are interested in all the minutia and the, the politicing

16:44

that goes on in terms of who's likely to do what, Ballotpedia is a great

16:49

resource for you to dig in there. Erin: Yeah, I just have to plus one on that ballot.

16:53

pedia is great. They also have data on endorsements, so that was one

16:58

of the things I looked at too. I think it might be kind of interesting to just talk really at a high level

17:06

on, I think the issues that are sort of at play in this midterm election.

17:12

So on the Democrat side, I think it's a concern about the Dobbs

17:21

decision and abortion rights. You know, I've been reading articles where people who are independent or even

17:27

Republican leaning are saying, I think I might need to vote, you know, Democrat

17:33

because I'm concerned about abortion being outlawed at a federal level, which some of

17:39

these candidates have talked about doing. So I think that's really playing into some of the surge that the Democrats saw

17:47

in the polling, at least over the summer.

17:49

A lot of that has mellowed out since then.

17:52

But I think that's a pretty significant issue for people in this election.

17:56

And on the other side, I think that there's big concerns about high inflation

18:02

and what's going on with the economy which really cuts against Democrats.

18:07

And then also low approval ratings for Joe Biden, which, you know, some

18:12

of that is a little bit misleading because there's a lot of Democrats who

18:15

are giving him low approval ratings who are still gonna vote Democrat.

18:19

Right? But even I think the, having it out there, like, oh, so many people disapprove

18:24

of him could sway some independent voters as well, saying, Well, I don't,

18:28

you know, really like what he's doing. So I think those are some of the big issues.

18:33

And another factor I think at play in these midterms is former

18:37

President Trump and his role, he's endorsed many candidates and.

18:43

You know, there were a bunch of candidates he endorsed in primaries who didn't

18:46

win their primaries, but there's a, a lot who did, and there's a few who are

18:52

particularly in the news and either, you know, are too extreme to be that popular.

19:00

I think. Carry Lake, who's running for the Arizona governor is one of those

19:07

, , potentially she still will win it.

19:09

It doesn't seem like she's polling that way right now, but she has

19:13

some pretty extreme views and has particularly really embraced the

19:17

election fraud thing and saying that Trump actually won the 2020 election.

19:22

And then Hersha Walker is another one who was a Trump Dorsey and there's

19:27

another one, I can't remember her name, in Nevada, who was also Trump backed.

19:32

And so just kind of interesting because I think it really still shows

19:36

the influence that, that he has. On these elections and it's looking, I mean this is really preliminary,

19:42

but it's looking more and more likely, like he might be the Republican

19:46

nominee for president, who knows?

19:49

But it feels like it's trending in that direction, which is another reason

19:53

why it'd be helpful for Republicans if that's who their nominee is gonna be

19:57

to win majorities in either the House or the Senate because they can, you

20:03

know, start, start to deflect these. Trump is a criminal, you know, type allegations and investigations.

20:09

So I just wanna put that out there. Cause I think all of those factors are really present and something to

20:14

be aware of as you are thinking about how you wanna vote in this election.

20:18

Kassie: So in all things, we wanna give you guys the opportunity to

20:21

go ahead and do your own research. We have a few resources and references that we wanna share with you, and I'll

20:27

put these in the show notes as well. But can you, Zach and Aaron just share a couple of the places that you would go

20:33

to look into the midterms and decide for yourself, determine how you'd wanna vote?

20:39

Yeah, so as a, like, sort of general overview stuff, not state specific.

20:44

The Economist has a whole section on the 2020 midterm elections that

20:49

track data and has recent articles and things like that to keep you informed.

20:54

I thought it was a pretty good page and a helpful resource.

20:57

The Associated Press, which if you recall from our journalism

21:01

episode, is one of the. Least bias news sources also has a similar page that has information like that.

21:09

So I think that's a, a good one to go to, to look at sort of just general

21:12

information about the midterms. As we mentioned, Ballotpedia has information on just everyone who's running

21:18

and you know, where they are all located.

21:22

And that's, that's literally just data, you know, so that one's

21:25

really helpful if you just wanna know kind of like what's going on.

21:28

And then for California specifically, Cal Matters has a page that has

21:33

information on the different candidates and also the ballot measures.

21:37

And I think that's a really good resource for California based people.

21:43

Zach: Yeah. And in addition to if you're California based I'm sure it's other states as

21:47

well, but we get this, if you, if you're California voter and you're

21:51

registered to vote already you get a voter information guide, which I'm

21:54

holding up if you're watching us on video, which I think we will be making

21:58

available very soon, if not already.

22:01

Basically it's a, a nice little handy packet that outlines all of this stuff.

22:05

And it's free, like it's, it should be sent to your house,

22:08

wherever you're registered to vote. So if you're like away at school and you didn't get one, it's like,

22:12

call your parents and make sure they didn't throw it away for you.

22:15

But it has all the information in terms of like when voting by mail

22:20

is due and when the polls are open and what day the poll is open.

22:26

And then as well, there's all of that, that packet of, of

22:30

information is also available online.

22:34

That's voter guide.sos.ca.gov.

22:37

And there's basically everything that's in this packet is also

22:41

available on that website. And it goes through everybody who's running, you know, up for election,

22:47

all the different propositions, ballot measures, and then you know where

22:50

you can find your polling place. So all that is in here.

22:55

Read it or we're gonna go through some of it for you, but

22:58

it's a useful guide as well. Kassie: All right, Thanks guys.

23:01

So next we're gonna do a California proposition overview.

23:05

If you're curious or just want to sort of eavesdrop on California,

23:10

goings on or if you're a California native, please stay tuned.

23:17

Okay, guys, let's go through it. There's not that much.

23:22

Zach: No, there's really not. So this year California has seven propositions that are up

23:27

for the voters to decide on. And basically what that means is if certain number of signatories, you

23:33

know, if you get a certain number of signatures for a measure, Californians

23:37

can propose laws directly from the voters, which is not every state has that

23:43

mechanism, but the proposition system is something that California does have.

23:48

So these are seven then measures that are being proposed that if they're,

23:53

they've already made it to the ballot. So they will be there in November when we vote.

23:57

But now it's up to us as the voters to decide whether we want these things

24:01

to or not to pass and become a law.

24:04

So there's seven. We can go through 'em, I think relatively quickly, just to give you a nice overview

24:08

of here's what it means if you vote yes, and if you vote no et cetera.

24:13

Kassie: Thank you. Cuz this is literally how I'm gonna decide how to vote.

24:15

Otherwise I end up panic reading it the morning of the election, like in my car.

24:22

Erin: I feel like I do that too. Yeah. full. And I'm saying it, I'm saying

24:25

Kassie: in my car, but really I'm reading it like in the booth

24:28

because I've forgotten to turn in my vote by mail on time.

24:32

Cuz that's why I am So if you're like me, take advantage of what's about to happen.

24:38

Zach: Great. So the first is called prop one.

24:42

This is the constitutional right to reproductive freedom legislation,

24:46

Constitutional amendment. So the summary of this is basically this will amend the California constitution

24:53

to expressly include an individual's fundamental right to reproductive freedom,

24:57

which includes the right to choose to have an abortion and the fundamental

25:01

right to choose or refuse contraceptives.

25:04

It does not narrow or limit the existing rights to privacy and equal protection

25:08

under, under the California Constitution.

25:10

And this is included in all of the packet and, and information material

25:13

as well, which is the fiscal impact.

25:16

And the fiscal impact is no direct effect because reproductive rights

25:19

are already protected by state law. So this is almost a redundancy, but being that California's a very

25:26

progressive state one that I'm not surprised to see on the ballot this year.

25:31

Erin: Yeah, absolutely. And I just wanna note, can I see, or Zach mentioned that California's proposition

25:37

process is unique to the state. That's true.

25:40

There are some other states that do this, but something that's

25:43

important when a proposition. Amends the California constitution is that it then can't be

25:51

adjusted by the legislature.

25:53

So they can't go in and make changes to it or even adjust the

25:57

language or anything like that. It actually has to be changed by another proposition, such as something

26:02

to be aware of when you're voting for propositions that might amend

26:05

the Constitution in in California

26:09

Zach: and this and this one does. So basically the redundancy is, is that there is a law already that protects the

26:15

right to abortion in California and, and contraceptives and things of that nature.

26:20

But this is going that extra step and say, No, actually our, our California

26:23

constitution is, makes this unchangeable.

26:27

So that's, yeah. The situation there.

26:32

So a pro or a yes, a vote yes means that the Constitution would be amended

26:37

to expressly include that, right? And then a no vote means the Constitution remains unchanged,

26:43

but the law still is in effect. So you're not, you're not voting to repeal anything.

26:46

It's just do, do we or do we not amend the constitution to

26:49

allow for this to, to go forward? This is

26:52

Kassie: the kind of one that I feel like confuses me because if

26:55

it's already in the ca, California constitution, are people going to

27:01

feel like, Oh, it's not, It's okay.

27:04

Zach: No, it's a law that's passed.

27:06

I don't. But it's not part of the constitution.

27:09

So, so we have, we have a constitution of the United States, right?

27:13

Mm-hmm. , it's like Article one that establishes the legislature.

27:16

Article two, establish the executive, blah, blah, blah.

27:18

And then we have the Bill of Rights in the amendments like that.

27:20

That's our constitution. But for example, the law that says what the IRS can and can't do

27:27

is not part of the constitution. That's just federal law.

27:30

The same holds true for the state. California has a state constitution that is, you know, establishing the structure

27:37

of the state government of California. And then that state passes laws to govern its citizenry.

27:45

And right now the right to abortion is a state law, but it's

27:49

not part of the constitution. Erin: I was gonna say that the reason that this matters is that it's kind of

27:54

what I, I just mentioned in terms of like how you can amend the Constitution.

27:59

So if it's just a law, then the legislature can repeal it.

28:05

You know, if they, if they, by a majority vote, for instance

28:09

could get rid of that law. If it's in the constitution, the legislature can't do that because it's

28:15

a right listed in the Constitution.

28:17

So it is more protected by putting it into California's constitution.

28:22

Kassie: Done sign it. And I think that's the idea. I'm, I'm in, I'm a hundred percent in.

28:26

Thank you very much for the explanation. Zach: The next proposition is Proposition 26.

28:31

I don't know anything else on prop one? I feel like it's pretty straightforward.

28:36

Yeah, Erin: The only other thing I would say is that it's endorsed by abortion

28:39

activists and Governor Newsome is also one of the endorses of it.

28:43

So sometimes it's helpful to, to see who has endorsed the different peaceful

28:47

legislation or piece propositions.

28:49

They're not legislation Kassie: Did we talk about if Newsome's up for reelection?

28:52

And we did not yet, but he is.

28:56

Erin: Yeah. Yep. Newsom is up for reelection.

28:59

Zach: The walking, talking Lego brick.

29:05

Erin: I don't know what that means. Zach, what is a walking talking Lego brick.

29:09

It's an insult. He looks like kind, but I

29:12

Zach: don't, He looks like a Lego. Kassie: Looks like a Lego.

29:15

It it, the yellow skin. Zach: It's, it's the skin.

29:18

It's like the hair's all like slicked back.

29:21

He just looks like, like the leg, like Lego hair where it's like, it never moves.

29:25

There's no character to it or I'm just talking about him, but he just looks like

29:29

Kassie: leg. What a strange insult. Never heard this.

29:32

I'm look Gavin, some Lego.

29:35

Lego. Erin: Did you, did you hear that somewhere or did you come I think you made it up.

29:39

Zach: That, that just came to me. That just came to me in the moment.

29:43

Kassie: Who's in the ballot to run against him? Lego . I'm only confused that he's up for reelection because

29:48

I feel like we just voted. That's because there was a, vote to repeal him.

29:52

Is that the right term's?

29:55

Zach: A recall? Recall. Recall. There's a recall, yes. You can't repeal a person.

29:57

Mm, okay. Do we, do we recall him early and end his term early or do we leave him?

30:04

Well, since we're talking about governor then so Newsom is, is running

30:09

on the Democrat ticket for Governor.

30:12

He did not provide a governor's statement for the ballot

30:16

packet, the information packet. I guess he feels his record speaks for itself.

30:22

And on the Republican or on the Republican side.

30:26

Erin: Take a wild how I'm,

30:29

Kassie: Oh my Zach: God. I dunno what you mean.

30:32

Yeah. Not, not a fan. Anyway, on the, on the Republican side Brian Doll is running Dale,

30:39

I don't know how to pronou it. D it a d a h l E.

30:42

So he is the, he is the Republican endorsed candidate

30:46

for governor for California. . And he did provide a statement, but I haven't read it yet.

30:51

, Kassie: Zach, where do you go when you're just deciding how to vote?

30:55

Zach: I read the packet. And so there's a, there's a quick like, reference guide that just says what it

31:00

means to vote yes and what it means to vote no, and then kind of some arguments,

31:05

but then if you dive deeper into the packet, there actually is, there's some

31:09

detailed information that are people that support or oppose the, the proposition.

31:15

So for example, if I go to prop one in the packet itself I can see that

31:21

the arguments in favor of prop one were by board chair of the California

31:26

Medical Association by Jody Hicks, President of Planned Parenthood, and

31:30

by Carol Moon, President of the League of Women's Voters of California.

31:34

So those are people that like, wrote and endorsed the arguments for prop one.

31:38

And then the arguments against Prop one, I can see are written by a

31:42

gynecologist, the president of the International Faith Based Coalition,

31:46

and then an assemblyman, Jim Patterson. So I'll read these and I'll take a, a specific look at who is

31:51

writing the four and the against.

31:54

Mm-hmm. . And then they also get rebuttal. And based off of that and the fiscal impact, I'll weigh it against my,

32:01

my judgment of and my values to see.

32:03

What I think should be and shouldn't be made a law.

32:08

Kassie: And for the governor? Zach: The governor is more straightforward, where it's

32:11

like, I don't like Newsom. I, I have a record, so I'm gonna vote Republican on, on that ticket just because

32:18

I don't like, like as a party, they're probably, the parties endorse the, the

32:23

candidate and I don't like the work of the current ones of the incumbent.

32:25

So I'm gonna vote for Brian Kassie: Even though we don't know Brian.

32:30

Erin: Yeah. I love how you refer to politicians by their first name.

32:36

, my friend Kassie: is running. Zach: It makes me, I guess I do don't I

32:43

Erin: like Mitch McConnell, the

32:46

Zach: turtle. Ah, yes, Mitch the turtle.

32:50

Kassie: That's good observation. I never noticed that.

32:53

Oh my God. Erin: You do it sometimes with like Ben Shapiro too.

32:58

You just call him Ben . I'm like Zach's good personal friend, Ben.

33:03

Zach: That's true. Yeah. I've never met any politician of any note and yet

33:06

Kassie: First name basis. Yeah. First name basis.

33:09

First. First name basis. Yeah. That's funny.

33:13

Let's get back on track with the remaining California propositions and then close

33:18

it out with any last minute questions. Erin: For sure.

33:22

I think we should do the next two propositions together because they

33:25

both have to do with sports betting. Kassie: Oh, random.

33:29

Yeah. Are any of us the right people to talk about sports betting?

33:32

Zach: This is probably a bad time to tell you Kass, but Yeah.

33:34

We're, we're like super in debt. Cause I, I bet the farm on the, we had a farm and now we don't.

33:41

Yeah, it's gone. Yeah. On them ponies.

33:44

You know, I'm, I'm very highly qualified to talk about these two profits.

33:51

Erin: So it's interesting because these two propositions, it's Proposition

33:55

26 and Proposition 27 would actually be like fighting with each other

34:00

if both of them end up passing.

34:03

And a court would probably have to decide which one applied.

34:07

So Proposition 26 allows, would allow for sports betting on tribal lands.

34:16

And then Proposition 27 allows online sports betting across the whole state.

34:23

But because Proposition 26 is specific to tribal casinos and horse tracks, the,

34:29

it's in conflict with online betting happening across the whole state.

34:33

So there would actually be a conflict between these two propositions if they

34:37

both passed and it'd have to go to court. Zach: And there's some other things too, like 26 allows for in person roulette,

34:45

dice games, and I think, Is this the horse track one or is 27 the horse track one?

34:51

It is, it's the horse track one. Okay. And 26 is horse track.

34:54

So there's, in addition to the, the tribal casinos there's

34:59

also four privately held horse.

35:02

Track, clearly I'm the expert. Horse track rings tracks at venues tracks.

35:08

Yeah. And so if yes, were to pass, it would authorize sports wagering

35:14

at in person casinos and limits sports pets to adults only.

35:19

But it supports Indian reliance by providing revenue for tribal education.

35:23

Both of these bills are taxed, so the state would see an

35:27

increase in, in some tax revenue.

35:29

I think the, amount was 10% for each.

35:32

Erin: Can I follow up on that real quick? Yeah,

35:35

yeah, of course. Yeah. On the proceeds. So this is interesting, the US Supreme Court, and this is from Cal

35:41

Matters, ruled that states could legalize sports betting in 2018.

35:45

And there's 35 states that have ar have already decided to make this legal.

35:49

California's been trying to negotiate a deal about this since

35:53

2018, but Americans have bet more than 57 billion on sports in 2021.

36:01

So that's across the whole country, but that's a significant amount of money.

36:04

So, you know, we'll, we'll scroll that down to California and

36:08

then you put a 10% tax on it. It's potentially a ton of revenue.

36:13

Zach: Yeah, it could be a big driver for the state.

36:17

There, there is , some speculation that if you're not betting on California

36:21

land and you're California resident or if you're, or vice versa, if you're

36:25

actually betting on tribal land on a not California betting site, like the,

36:30

like there's some conflicts there. Like there's, that's against these laws.

36:34

So they do mention in the, the impacts that there could be some increased cost

36:41

in enforcement, whether or not that is paid for by the revenues generated.

36:47

I would speculate that it would be, but that is the cost associated with

36:50

these is that if you vote no, the status quo remains the same and.

36:56

Gambling is the same in, in the state of California.

36:59

If you vote yes, there could be some fiscal revenue that's increased by

37:03

allowing more gambling to take place either in the state or on tribal land.

37:08

But and that, and that could be a revenue generator, but it could also

37:11

come with some enforcement costs.

37:16

Erin: And then there are some advocates who oppose this proposition because

37:23

they're worried about gambling addiction and they think allowing gambling in, you

37:28

know, these areas where it traditionally hasn't, well, not traditionally,

37:31

where it hasn't been allowed before, like roulette on tribal lands would

37:36

potentially increase gambling addiction. And that we don't have good research on the long term

37:40

effects of gambling addiction. So that's one of the opposition.

37:45

Zach: Points to, and specifically Prop 27, because that's the one that mm-hmm.

37:48

allows for online and mobile sports wagering on any on,

37:52

in, anywhere in California. And so that's the one that I think people are, are more concerned about because,

37:58

or concerned about the opportunity for abuse or, or breaking that law.

38:03

Because who's to say me as an 18 year old, you know, or a 16 year

38:07

old that has an iPhone couldn't line sign up for an account,

38:10

so that's, that's a little bit of the difference there.

38:12

But the point is to allow more gambling in both propositions.

38:18

Erin: Right? Because sports betting is currently illegal in California.

38:22

So that's, both of these would make sports betting in these various ways, you

38:25

know, on travel lands or online legal.

38:28

Zach: Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

38:33

Next one. Next one.

38:36

Next one is Prop 28 provides additional funding for arts and

38:40

music education in public schools. Pretty straightforward if you vote Yes.

38:46

The increased cost will be about 1 billion annually to provide additional funding

38:51

from the State General Fund for Arts and Music education in all K12 public schools.

38:58

A no vote would mean that the funding remains the same and

39:01

would continue to depend on state and local budget decisions.

39:05

So more increased funding for these things, but it obviously comes at a price.

39:10

Mm-hmm. , Erin: And just to be clear, this is really specific for music and

39:14

arts education, so it's allocating a percentage of the funding for.

39:19

Public schools and community colleges from the state budget

39:22

specifically for music and arts. So that's a big push here, you know?

39:25

Mm-hmm. like, yes, we have funding for math and English and all of those other things,

39:29

but it's really to also provide protection for those other modes of education so

39:35

that those are being taught in schools and, you know, given maybe not the

39:40

exact same weight, but a higher, you know, more weight than maybe they've

39:43

been given before, or more support.

39:46

Mm-hmm. , I, I think is a better way to say. Zach: Interestingly on this one, just because I did point out about Newsome

39:51

there was no con submitted for this.

39:54

So if you look at your reference guide, there is a pro argument

39:59

for why this should become, you know, why this should pass.

40:01

There was no con and there is no information in the against campaign.

40:05

So I don't know whether that is because nobody was coldhearted

40:09

enough to say no, we shouldn't fund music and arts or if they just like

40:14

didn't have their act together. But just as a note.

40:17

So the next one is to Prop 29, which would require an onsite license medical

40:22

professional at kidney dialysis clinics and establishes other state requirements.

40:29

Basically this is a yes vote would mean that any chronic dialysis

40:34

clinics would be required to have a physician, nurse practitioner,

40:37

or physician's assistant on site. And a no would mean that the, the clinics would not be required and

40:43

continue to operate as they are today.

40:46

Erin: And if this sounds familiar to you, it should, because this

40:50

is the third time that this proposition has been on the ballot.

40:54

It was defeated the last two times.

40:57

And yeah, I mean, correct me if I'm gonna over generalize here, Zach, but

41:02

it's really boiling down to a fight between a labor union and the dialysis

41:07

companies in who wants this to happen.

41:10

Mm-hmm. , it's the labor union who has brought this proposition the last three times, and

41:16

dialysis companies have spent like really millions to defeat this proposition.

41:21

So there's a lot of interesting competing interests here on the

41:26

two sides of this proposition. , Zach: Thanks for that insight.

41:29

, I didn't know about that, but the pros and the cons or the

41:32

arguments foreign against this are actually very emotionally charged.

41:37

Where, and, and there's some value, I think to both but basically

41:41

the pro argument is, is this is a medical related activity.

41:46

There can become complications. You know, you're basically taking your blood out of your body.

41:50

You're putting it through this machine to clean it and then inserting it back in.

41:54

This should be done under the practice of, somebody who knows

41:57

about these things rather than just, a private service providing this.

42:02

And the con is, is well, if you implement this change it will drive up the cost

42:07

and we will probably have a lot of these centers close, which means I won't be

42:11

able to get my actual dialysis treatment. So while you're, you're trying to implement this to be more safe and

42:17

have more oversight, it actually means that I may not end up getting

42:21

my dialysis treatment at all. Erin: Yeah, I think this is one if you, you know, haven't thought

42:26

about it very carefully, it's worth diving into a little bit.

42:29

I think there's just a lot of powerful interests at play here.

42:33

There's two main dialysis companies that operate most of

42:37

the dialysis clinics in the state. This obviously really affects them, and so they fight really hard against it.

42:44

And then you have, you know, the union on the other side.

42:47

And to be honest, I don't know quite as much about that, which

42:50

is why I think it's worth it. Even if you've seen this, you're like, Well, I'll just

42:54

vote the same as last time. It might be, this might be one where it's worth it for, for you to do a little

42:59

bit of your own research on it and, and come to a decision on whether this, you

43:03

think this really makes sense or not. . . Zach: The next one is providing funding for programs to reduce air pollution

43:09

and prevent wildfires by increasing tax on personal income over $2 million.

43:15

A lot of words to say, If you make more than 2 million, you're gonna get taxed more.

43:18

Erin: Yep. It's a 1.75 personal income tax, and that tax, the amount from that tax goes

43:25

to subsidize zero emission vehicles and fund wildlife response and prevention.

43:31

They think that it will be between 3.5 billion to 5 billion

43:35

annually growing overtime. Zach: Oh yeah.

43:39

Thanks for pointing that out Erin. The fiscal impact for the last one, the, the, the dialysis one is

43:44

increased state and local government costs likely in the tens of millions.

43:49

And then I think we mentioned it, but the arts and, and music one is a $1 billion,

43:53

so that's the fiscal impact to voters. So for this one, yeah, 3.5 to 5 billion annually, as Erin mentioned.

44:00

That's Erin: pretty easy one. Anything less for that one? ? I mean, I think that one just pretty straightforward.

44:04

Yeah. It really goes to how you feel about people being taxed, I think.

44:09

Zach: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Mm-hmm. . And then lastly is a referendum on 2020 law that would prohibit the retail sale

44:18

of certain flavored tobacco products. So like e-cigarettes, flavored e-cigarettes, and,

44:22

and the banning of those. So this would be about yes means in-person stores and vending machines could not

44:29

sell most flavored tobacco products in a no signature means in-person stores

44:34

and vending machines could continue to sell flavored tobacco product.

44:38

Erin: And that's an important yes no, because this is about

44:42

overturning a current law.

44:44

And so voting yes. Is upholding the current law.

44:48

Voting no would strike down the law.

44:51

Mm-hmm. . So that's one that's important to be careful about.

44:54

You know, making sure you know what you're voting for.

44:58

There's a 2020 law that prohibits the sale of flavored products.

45:02

So if you vote no, you're voting to strike down that law and allow

45:07

them to sell flavored products.

45:09

And if you vote yes, you're vote oh, I uphold the law and not allow

45:13

them to sell the flavored product. Zach: I was confused because of the, the continue to sell, which means that they

45:20

would be like allowed to resume selling, like they're currently not allowed to.

45:24

So if you vote no, it means that yes, they would be allowed to mm-hmm.

45:28

So the argument here is that if you go on to use cigarettes or

45:31

other drugs, like typically now the gateway is flavored tobacco products.

45:38

That's where people, a lot of kids start. And then the against is vote no on prop 31 .com, which is probably a fun for Yeah.

45:47

Yeah. Somebody else, company Erin: being able to sell their product and personal choice

45:52

and all of that, I would guess. Yeah.

45:54

Yeah. Zach: Mm-hmm. . Okay, that's it.

45:58

Those are the ballot props for the year. Kassie: What was the one we got the mail on that had, Don't let prop

46:03

something, something make you a sucker.

46:05

And then on the back it's like just a bunch of pictures of people with suckers

46:11

. Zach: The material was like, like on the front of it was just a, a two sided flyer.

46:15

The front of it said, people who want prop 26, like, think

46:18

Californians are suckers. And then you flip it over and it's like a person surfing and like a couple,

46:23

like walking in a farmer's market. And instead of it being like, their faces was just like a Photoshop

46:28

picture of like one of those like flat spirally lollipops over the face.

46:32

And so like the implication was like Californians or

46:36

suckers if they go for this. It was, it was kind of a funny bit of, of campaigning, which I appreciated from just

46:43

the regular like, doom story kinda stuff.

46:46

It was, it was a little bit funny. Erin: Yeah.

46:49

Oh, good times. Well, listeners, I hope that was helpful.

46:53

Good times to walk through all of those ballot propositions.

46:57

You can now listen to this podcast instead of reading all about them, although again,

47:01

I encourage you to do your own research. These are just, you know, brief summaries with obviously a little

47:07

bit of our bias commentary. So be sure to look into that yourselves.

47:13

But, you know, excited for the midterms November 8th.

47:15

If you are someone who has a mail-in voting ballot in California,

47:20

this is all, most people. Your ballot needs to be posted by election day, which is November 8th.

47:26

So you can put it in the mail on election day.

47:29

It needs to be received by November 15th.

47:33

And you can mail it as soon as you get it.

47:36

So if you want to be really on top of it, just fill it out once you get it and

47:41

send it in the mail so that you don't forget and aren't rushing on election day.

47:46

Zach: And those should be coming soon, I think in the next like week or something.

47:50

Mail in ballot should be arriving to you at your registered address.

47:55

So we mentioned governors up for election also Lieutenant governor, Secretary of

48:00

state controller, treasurer, attorney General, and insurance commissioner.

48:06

All of those state held positions are also up for election this year,

48:10

as well as your local state reps.

48:15

So depending on the cycle and, and the year and stuff like that, your

48:19

county representative will probably, or maybe up for election as well, which

48:24

is not covered in the general packet. So that one is like you gotta check out on your own

48:29

Kassie: Okay. And then we just wanna end with, if you're not yet registered to

48:32

vote, now is a great time to do so.

48:35

You can learn how to register to vote by going to vote.gov, and that'll

48:41

begin your voter registration process.

48:44

And then from there you select your state or territory, depending on the rules.

48:48

You'll find instructions on how to register online or by mail or in

48:51

person at your local election office.

48:55

It's super, super important that everybody registers to vote what

48:58

you think really, really matters. If you are getting ready to vote for the first time, there's a

49:04

lot of great resources online. And just reminder that every state except North Dakota does require citizens to

49:11

register if they want to be a voter. So depending on your state, the registration deadline could be as

49:16

much as a month before an election. So you can check the US Vote Foundation to find your state's

49:22

deadline for registering. You can also check your state or territories election

49:27

office for more details. But again, visiting vote.gov is a great place to begin the registration process.

49:33

Erin: Just gotta continue that plug. You know, we're, we're really lucky to live in a democracy

49:38

that listens to our voice. And really the main way that we exercise that is through voting.

49:45

And it's a responsibility for us as citizens and just wanna really encourage

49:49

everyone to embrace that right, and that freedom and come out to vote.

49:55

Kassie: And honestly, it's really, really easy. I'm one of the most lazy people ever, and if I can do it, you guys can do it.

49:59

So don't, don't worry, it doesn't take very long.

50:02

A lot of times people who became introverts over the pandemic,

50:05

you can just mail in your vote. So you don't even have to go to a place, wait in a line,

50:10

pay for a stamp, none of that. So it's really, really easy to do.

50:13

Just make sure you do Zach: yeah, you also get time off work too right.

50:17

It's like federal law that your employer has to let you

50:21

have time off work to go vote. It's like four hours or something.

50:24

Like, it's a long time. It's two hours to allow for lines.

50:27

Oh, two hours. , Erin: Sorry it's two hours, but more if you need it, so,

50:32

Zach: Okay. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it really is a responsibility, you know, it is a right to vote.

50:36

You know, we always say that around, you know, throw that line around.

50:39

But it really is a responsibility to vote.

50:42

You know, we do live in, in one of the few true you know, re representative

50:47

republics where our voice does matter.

50:50

We're not direct democracy, but, but we vote for people who speak for us and that.

50:54

not common in the world or historically.

50:58

So it, it really is incumbent upon all of us to take that seriously and don't

51:03

just throw away a vote or, you know, vote willy-nilly, but, you know, your school

51:07

board people may be up for election or you know, city mayor or whatever, and

51:13

like that stuff directs really affects you so much more than president or whatever.

51:19

Like, we spent so much time talking about the big stuff because that's

51:21

most applicable for our, our audience.

51:25

But like your mayor affects your city life so much more than, you

51:29

know, voting for your president. So really take the time.

51:32

It's, it's very important and it matters.

51:35

It really does matter. Erin: And what else?

51:38

Other thing on that, we would love to see your voting post, your I voted stickers.

51:44

You're sending your vote in the, in the mail.

51:47

So, you know, on November 8th or whenever you go in to vote, please

51:51

tag reframer podcasts on Instagram.

51:53

We'll repost you to our story. We would love to see all of your votes going in.

51:57

Kassie: Yes. That's that's so fun.

51:59

Yeah, I love that. Yeah, I'll definitely do it. I'll go somewhere and get a sticker.

52:03

Oh no, we get a sticker with our mailin ballot.

52:05

So even if you mail yours in and don't go somewhere physical put your

52:09

sticker on and, and go on Instagram.

52:12

Tag us at framers pod. Instagram is our, still our most active platform, but we are going to be expanding

52:19

more regularly to YouTube and TikTok.

52:22

You can always send us an email if you have something you'd like

52:25

to say or you any questions. If you wanna request an upcoming podcast episode, you can email

52:31

us reframer pod gmail.com and.

52:36

You guys, we love seeing you wherever you choose to find us.

52:38

As you might already know, you can hear us on pretty much

52:41

anywhere you get your podcast. I know most of you are listen on Apple Podcasts, but we are

52:45

also on Spotify, iHeartRadio.

52:48

You can see us on YouTube.

52:52

And that's for a full episode. And then of course we have our website, reframer pod.com, which has much of this

52:59

information and is also a place for you to listen to the website, to the episodes.

53:03

So thank you guys so much as always, for being a reframer with us, reframing

53:08

what it means to discuss and disagree, all of these crazy political things.

53:13

And one more tiny thing.

53:16

Happy for your wedding anniversary to my co-host, Zachary Alexander Mar.

53:21

Yay. Zach: Yay. Happy anniversary my love..

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Kassie: Yay. Happy anniversary to Erin doing the office dance down the aisle in

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front of 200 people at our wedding. Erin: Oh, you guys had such a fun, The best day.

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It's been a good four years. Kassie: Cheer to 40 more.

53:41

Yeah. Yeah, sure. For you guys. Mm-hmm.

53:44

. 80 more. 80 more . Zach: 80 more.

53:47

What? What are you dumping me at 70? Somebody that's, it's, that's all I

53:50

Kassie: signed up for . All righty.

53:53

Friends, tell us if you think we did a good job, tell us if

53:57

you think we did a bad job. Either way. We're glad you're out there listening and we'll talk to you soon.