Posted on 06/28/2009 10:06:03 PM PDT by Bob017
PALM SPRINGS, Calif.—In just a few weeks time, California hits the wall.
And Americans should take a good, long look at the fiscal and social wreck of the Golden Land, because California is at a place to which all of America is heading.
In May, when five fund-raising proposals were put on the ballot, Gov. Schwarzenegger pleaded with the overtaxed Californians not to make their state “the poster child for dysfunction.”
As The Economist writes, “On May 18th, they did exactly that.”
Arnold went to the White House for U.S. loan guarantees for new state bonds. But with the president’s approval rating wilting because of a belief he is spending too much, the Obama-ites slammed the door.
In Sacramento, a Republican blocking force is resisting any new tax revenue. And with the state under a constitutional mandate to balance its budget, yet facing a $24 billion deficit this July, a chainsaw is about to be taken to state government.
Some 38,000 of 168,000 state prisoners may be released. As Barack Obama is pushing universal health insurance, California will cut Medi-Cal for the poor. Education will be slashed, resulting in a shortened school year, thousands of laid-off teachers, school closings and an end to summer programs in a system that has plummeted from the nation’s best to one of its worst, as measured by dropout rates and academic achievement.
The 10 campuses of the University of California face cuts that may result in 50,000 fewer students and 5,000 fewer teachers.
What makes her fiscal crisis relevant to us all is not only that California is our most populous state, with one in eight Americans living there, but California has a gross domestic product larger than Canada’s.
Moreover, the demography of California today is the demography of America tomorrow, just as the social and fiscal policies of California in the last decade mirror those of the U.S. government today.
One-third of all U.S. wage-earners today have been amnestied from paying U.S. income taxes, as the top 1 percent haul fully 40 percent of that huge load. So, too, in California, the well-to-do and the wealthy are hammered, which is why many have quietly closed their businesses, packed and gone back over the mountains whence their fathers came.
Under George W. Bush and Obama, the U.S. government has undertaken huge new responsibilities: No Child Left Behind, Medicare prescription drug benefits, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the takeovers of banks and auto companies, bailouts without end, and national health insurance.
California, too, spent lavishly in the fat years and issued bonds when state revenues did not cover the costs, bringing its once-sterling credit rating down to the nation’s lowest. So, too, U.S. Treasury bonds, T-bills and the American dollar are now increasingly suspect.
Demographically, California is where America will be in 2040.
White folks, who are leaving California as they did in the millions in the 1990s, are below half the population. Hispanics, their numbers surging due to legal and illegal immigration, are well over a third of the population. The African-American share of California’s population is also falling, as the Asian share is rising, again from immigration.
Los Angeles, which is what most large American cities will look like, is the most diverse city on earth. Has diversity been a strength?
In the prisons and jails, and among the scores of thousands in street gangs and the underclass, a black-brown civil war is underway.
In October 2006, the Financial Times reported the findings of the famed author of “Bowling Alone” on what diversity has wrought:
“A bleak picture of the corrosive effects of ethnic diversity has been revealed in research by Harvard University’s Robert Putnam, one of the world’s most influential political scientists. His research shows that the more diverse a community is, the less likely its inhabitants are to trust anyone—from their next-door neighbor to the mayor.”
“In the presence of diversity, we hunker down,” said Putnam. “We act like turtles. The effect of diversity is worse than had been imagined. And it’s not just that we don’t trust people who are not like us. In diverse communities, we don’t trust people who do look like us.”
“Professor Putnam,” said the Financial Times, “found trust was lowest in Los Angeles, ‘the most diverse human habitation in human history.’”
Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan carried California nine times. But the state is now a fiefdom of liberalism. John McCain’s share of the vote was smaller than Barry Goldwater’s. California today believes in Big Government, open borders, diversity, multiculturalism and the politics of compassion. But what liberalism has wrought in California, its native-born are fleeing.
Still, where California is at, America is headed.
Californians who are running away from the communities and towns in which they were raised have Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, Utah and Nevada to head to. But when all of America arrives at where California is at today, where do the Americans run to?
Well, at least we have a great conservative president.
lol..
It is time for the state and its citizens to experience the real world. I am a native Californian finding may way to Texas.
I dated a lady who worked as a California prison guard. She could afford a new Mercedes. I paid a lot in taxes to California and worked 60 to 80 hours a week, and there was nowhere near enough for a new car. So I am leaving. Great weather, just too much of just about everything else.
I continue to read about this “chainsaw”.
I was on a conference call with a state agency in California this week.
The budget cuts are smoke and mirrors
111 jobs are not being filled, so they are considered “terminated” even though the work is being done just fine.
11 (maybe 15, I can’t find my notes) jobs that are filled will in fact be cut, layoff notices have been sent. They were based on seniority only, and have been on the job for less than 6 months, and have 120 more days of work coming to them.
Earlier in the year the agency had over 9,800 employees - and has one the worst collection of all child support agencies in the country.
“A bleak picture of the corrosive effects of ethnic diversity has been revealed in research by Harvard University’s Robert Putnam, one of the world’s most influential political scientists. His research shows that the more diverse a community is, the less likely its inhabitants are to trust anyone—from their next-door neighbor to the mayor.”
Oh man, get out the flame suit for this poor soul.
But then, that's what the scumbag politicians are afraid of.
And most of these simpletons will, no doubt, take their Democrat voting habits with them.
Hmmmm.. planning a California vacation in December. Hope it’s safe and not complete anarchy at that point! I did notice that a couple of places we have stayed in the past have gone up significantly in price in the last couple of years.
Well, ask Gov Arnold with all the cuts to libraries, etc, how much money stays in the budget for illegal alien benefits?
Hint: “all”
My Advice to all FREEPERERS living on border with CA
is grab your shooting irons and defend your state - dont
let any of these varmits escape ......
Same here. Left CA in 2001 after 31 years in Silicon Valley.
It was a wonderful and exciting place for a technical professional for many years. The brain dead liberals have killed the golden goose. I have no regrets and do not want to publicize where we landed. Just to say it is several thousand miles away.
Don't be silly, they CAN'T cut libraries! Where will all the poor people get their internet porn? It's just not fair.
Arnold went to the White House for U.S. loan guarantees for new state bonds. But with the president's approval rating wilting because of a belief he is spending too much, the Obama-ites slammed the door.Nothing to do with Obama's approval rating -- he doesn't care about that. Arnold may be a RINO to some, but he is a Republican.
In Sacramento, a Republican blocking force is resisting any new tax revenue. And with the state under a constitutional mandate to balance its budget, yet facing a $24 billion deficit this July, a chainsaw is about to be taken to state government. Some 38,000 of 168,000 state prisoners may be released. As Barack Obama is pushing universal health insurance, California will cut Medi-Cal for the poor. Education will be slashed, resulting in a shortened school year, thousands of laid-off teachers, school closings and an end to summer programs in a system that has plummeted from the nation's best to one of its worst, as measured by dropout rates and academic achievement. The 10 campuses of the University of California face cuts that may result in 50,000 fewer students and 5,000 fewer teachers. What makes her fiscal crisis relevant to us all is not only that California is our most populous state, with one in eight Americans living there, but California has a gross domestic product larger than Canada's.IOW, the bigger the failure, the more it can be blamed on Republicans, dropping one-eighth of the US population right back into line behind the Obamanation, the deficits don't matter, the constitution is just a piece of paper wing of the Demwit party. Arnold has hit term limits I think. The NEA will be out in force, and nearly every Californian to the US Congress will vote for the so-called national health care bill.
You've already done so multiple times...SC... My condolences...
No, the government is the major factor here, just like it is where you live. It's still a very nice place outside the typical big cities, with near perfect year round weather.
I have no regrets and do not want to publicize where we landed. Just to say it is several thousand miles away.
You posted where you had to move multiple times. SC....
Been there...The heat, brutal humidity and bugs were uh...Interesting. I wish you the best of luck on the east coast.
The problem isn’t diversity per se. The problem is the idiotic pursuit of diversity for diversity’s sake. The company for which I work is a leader in the industry and has a fairly diverse workforce, maybe even slightly heavier in African Americans and way heavier in Asians than the population as a whole, but that is more a reflection of the parent company (Asian) and the local workforce pool (AA) than an attempt to “paint by numbers.” What we have done is go out to hire the best available and diversity ends up being a result of that effort. Companies who make diversity the goal end up with multicultural incompetents as reflected in your average SEIU make-up.
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