If the work product of the legislature really irks me all the way down here in Orange County, I can only imagine how the Governor feels.
One piece of legislation that is 1) totally unnecessary and 2) bad for America, is AB1778 Lieber (D). The law would make it extremely difficult for military recruiters to identify interested high school graduating seniors.
The law gets way more specific than the heavy hand of government ought to. It creates a new box on the emergency contact card all parents fill out at the time they enroll their kids in a school. The new box could be checked by parents who do not want the information shared with the military.
Opponents of the legislation might argue that especially in this time of tumult–the War on Terror we should not limit recruiters in this way. That is a good point.
Republican Senator Abel Maldonado was the only GOPer to support the bill, he voted for it in the Senate Education Committee. His office says he supports all efforts to give parents more control over the affairs of their children and cites other legislation that he supports such laws that require parental notification. That is a not a bad argument although sending a 12 year old girl off campus to a clinic to get an abortion is a lot different than the Navy mailing a color brochure and a DVD to your 17 year-old who graduates and turns 18 in 3 months.
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