League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Los Angeles County, CA November 2, 2010 Election
	Ethan Michael Musulin Answers Questions Candidate for Member of the State Assembly; District 53

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of California and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. How will you prioritize the budget choices the Legislature must make to align the state’s income and spending, and address the need for fair revenue sources that are sufficient for state and local government services?

Priority one on the budget is for NO accounting tricks. No speculating on future earnings, borrowing or any other form of chicanery. We must work with the money that we have on hand right now; and if that means that we have to shut down government programs in order to live within or beneath our means, than so be it.

2. What proposals, if any, do you support to fix the budget process? What other types of changes or reforms, if any, do you think are important to make our state government function more effectively?

My main proposal is a plan to bring about a much smaller California government that I like to call "S.P.F." S for "Slash the budget" which entails drastic cuts in spending and tax revenue. P for "Privatize;" which is self-explanatory. Finally the F for "Freeze all borrowing;" which is where my proposal to freeze all state bonds and borrowing for the next decade comes into play.

3. Many members of the Legislature say that education is a high priority for the state. Yet fees for public higher education have gone up dramatically and funding has been cut. What is your vision for California’s higher education future, and how do you propose to get there?

My vision for higher education in California is total privatization of the UC and CSU systems. Let colleges and universities run themselves and allow them to keep all the tuition that they acquire. The best way to do this is to simply cut the government feed to these universities. Tell them that we basically cannot afford to fund you, and that you'll be on your own. Will it be tough to do? Yes, but it's the tough things we MUST do to help stop the budget mess.

4. What other major issues do you think the Legislature must address in 2011? What are your priorities?

Right now, the budget is priority one, and all other issues are secondary; except for one issue; and that is making the California Legislature part-time. I supported the initiative to create a part-time legislature and I will propose it though law or initiative if I am elected. In order to break the establishment machine of Sacramento that has infested both major parties, we must bring the politicians back to their roots; their constituents, not their lobbyists.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' responses are not edited or corrected by the League. No candidate may refer to another candidate in the response.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 15, 2010 14:21
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