...Proposition 87...would raise taxes on oil extracted from California by 1.5% to 6%, depending on the price per barrel -- all in the name of reducing energy consumption and dependency on foreign oil. Let us run that by you again: The idea here is to tax California oil in order to get Californians to use less Saudi oil. Brilliant.

If approved, the law would raise costs on California's oil producers by as much as $4 billion over the next 10 years. California would overnight become the state with the highest tax on oil producers in the U.S. -- which makes as much sense as Vermont levying the highest tax on maple syrup. Not one penny, by the way, would go to close Sacramento's enormous government debt burden -- which may rise by another $40 billion if the multitude of bond initiatives for new public spending are also approved by voters this November.

Instead, the revenue would finance a new state agency, the Energy Alternatives Program Authority. The new energy authority would be responsible for passing out multi-million dollar checks to projects researching alternative energy. If you think corporate welfare is out of control in Washington, wait until Sacramento politicians start passing out these billions in subsidies.

...Issue 2...would amend the state constitution to raise the minimum hourly wage to $6.85 from $5.15. It also mandates annual minimum-wage increases based on inflation and contains other sneaky provisions designed to aid union organizing.

...voters should also know that Issue 2 is about a lot more than a higher minimum wage. It's also a Trojan horse for other items on Big Labor's wish list that will only make Ohio's business climate less attractive. For example, the proposal imposes onerous and expensive record-keeping requirements on employers and says, "Such information shall be provided without charge to an employee or person acting on behalf of an employee upon request."