Proposal 1

Title: A state in crisis.  The Effects of Proposition 30 and Proposition 13 on California Residents
Author: Payton Schwarz
Date: 9/30/12
Topic: Voting to instate Proposition 30 and abolish Proposition 13 to save the education system and bring revenue to the state of California.
Exigence: Without Prop 30, more classes will be cut for California colleges, tuition will increase, and teachers will get paid less.  And with Prop 13, new California home buyers will be guaranteed to buy at a higher tax bracket than the generation before them.
Intended Audience: Students, young home buyers, anyone making less than $250,000 a year.
Purpose: to persuade individuals to vote for Prop30 and against Prop13
Claim: without Prop30, there will be billions cut from education, and Prop13 staying in effect will guarantee the rich will continue to get richer as the poor get poorer.

Writer's Strategy #1: Reel the readers in utilizing Logos.  Stating that budget cuts of several billion dollars WILL happen to the education system if it is not passed (quoting LA Times article).  This had to the potential to lead to a midyear tuition hike of 20%. Then a brief into to Prop30.  With ongoing tuition hikes year after year, this downward spiral will continue.  What this is going to do is discourage potential students from enrolling in college as the prices of tuition continue to escalate.
Readers Effect #1: My introduction with Logos will hopefully make a logical appeal and relation that cuts WILL be made, classes WILL be cut, and that teachers WILL take another hit in their pay.  Seeing as how they haven't had a pay raise in 4 years now.

Writer's Strategy #2:  My plan is to then utilize Pathos, the emotional appeal, to relate with the reader and show them the serious impact it will make as individuals will suffer greatly as the rich see no impact on their day-to-day life.  Teachers will be lost, classes will be harder to get in to, and class sizes will rise.  Prop30 will ensure that the rich get taxed the appropriate amount, even though sales tax will rise .25%.  Then adding that this proposition is intended to be temporary to see how it plays out.  Then mention Prop13 to further prove how "the rich are getting richer as the poor get poorer" via their tax breaks after "obtaining" property at a lower tax rate compared to buying the property at current tax-rate.
Readers Effect #2: Using Pathos will the audience should help me build a foundation of my argument as I portray that homes that make $250,000+ annually will not feel the brunt of these cuts, but the majority of California, then soon the rest of the nation, will be suffering greatly.  Creating a new tax bracket for the wealthy is a very lucrative tactic for California.

Writer's Strategy #3:  Lastly, my plan is to use Ethos to tie everything together.  I'm going to pronounce my credibility by talking about how Prop30 has personally affected me with tuition rising every year, making it financially difficult for me to stay in college.  Then I'm going to mention how several of my friends are choosing to not enroll due to the ever-raising tuition.  The I plan on mentioning my roommate, who just got released from the Marine's and is just now enrolling in college, with little money to his name and being thrusted into school after recently being in combat.
Readers Effect #3: What this should do for the reader is solidify everything I previously mentioned, showing the very real, drastic effects happening to current students.

My Response: Defending Prop30 and refuting Prop13.  I am then going to bring up a rebuttal of: the hiked sales tax, where the tax money is going, and the conspiracy that this could all be a ploy to get Jerry Brown re-elected.  My plan is to state that: the Prop is temporary to see how it plays out, and that even if 100% of the money isn't going to schools right off, it could be adjusted to make it be, and that California needs the money regardless.  Then address the sales tax hike by stating how shared sacrifice is necessary, even though it is much less than what the new tax bracket will bring in for the rich.