CA was too stupid to put Tom in charge, so we're sending him to Washington from a district that is now more conservative than Orange County because half of Orange County has moved up here to Placer and El Dorado counties that constitute the vast majority of the District 4 population.
And they came for the weather?
More accurately: Half of Mexico moved into Orange County setting off white collar flight to anywhere where there isn't a plurality of Mexican nationals. It's ok if they mow the lawns, but when they move in next door, it's off to the hills.
No, CA is too liberal to put someone like Tom McClintock in charge.
CCPOA- liberal or conservative (biggest contributors to any campaign/ initiative)?
CA Teacher's Assoc.- liberal or conservative?
Hell, for that matter, every California State Employee- liberal or conservative?
Trial Lawyers- liberal or conservative?
University professors- liberal or conservative?
MediCal recipients- liberal or conservative?
Every sucker who's getting a free-ride on a government teat- liberal or conservative?
See a pattern here? What you may notice (in addition to the liberal slant) among those mentioned is that each represents a significant portion of any budget. A 'drain', if you will.
And, as 'social overhead' costs to society- they allow little or no wiggle-room for investments in infrustructure like dams, nuke plants, even glorified wind and solar (if your butt is green) sans a major tax hike.
As to having Tom represent us, it is a great thing. Perhaps we can show the rest of the state how to get things accomplished, things like energy, water projects, flood control, etc.
My biggest disappointment with Arnold is that he's been unable to use the 'bully pulpit' effectively at all, what with all his muscles and hollywood celebrity. [Has Maria been 'cutting his hair'? (see: Sampson)]
As the seventh or eigth largest economy in the World, it is still quite a luxury to fund (to the extent we do) these budget termites.
This $15 billion budget deficit may be a blessing in disguise. Collapsing under the weight of it's own malfeasence, whatever hardships may ensue could bring about a new era of "what can my country do for me", reality. Then again, maybe not.
Me, I'm looking forward to secession from the coastal cities and electing an East California governor instead. We could sell them our excess water, and, we'd have access to the gold in the Mother Lode. Win, win baby!