From California's perspective, the Democrat legislature and Democrat governor were the main reasons for our state's financial and social crises. The other factors were the dot com bust (hit Silicon Valley hard) and 9/11 and the stupidity of not building more power plants.
That all adds up to President Bush not having a thing to do with the trouble here, and the reason the state voted for our current Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who seems to be doing a pretty good job of whipping the Democrat legislature at every turn.
You are decidedly a minority opinion.
1) Bush's statement of January 7 started a gold rush north and that takes some doing since the train is already crowded.
2) California spends approximately 1/3 of it's annual budget, that's $33B with a B, addressing the needs of the consequences of illegal immigration.
3) The dot.com bust was a precipitant but the core problem was the escalating illegals immigration numbers. Even with a strong tech sector, within 15 years no amount of market strength will support the cost to educate this group who is expanding at almost twice the rate of the rest of the states population.
4) You bet the liberal Legislature had a role in this but they aren't creating the children who are swamping our schools (education is their greatest cost), they aren't raising the children in third world conditions, leading to elevated health care needs (their second greatest cost) nor are they looking the other way when strong parenting is needed to prevent the formation of gangs and the consequent crime that it creates (their third greatest cost).
No patriciaruth, here's the pecking order that created and sustains California's economic crisis.
1) A president (Bush) who is encouraging rather than combating illegal immigration.
2) A governor (Schwarzenegger) who is negotiating in apparent good faith with the illegal immigration lobby in California and is acting like a fedral official meeting and dealing directly with of the corrupt Mexican government.
3) Last but not least, Republican Party loyalists who are willing to erode US sovereignty for a chance at political victory for their party. Shame on them all.
Sorry again for not responding earlier. Too many Republican wildebeests and so few conservative lions.