Posted on 10/04/2009 9:06:22 AM PDT by SmithL
A political earthquake is rumbling in the Central Valley over water, and it could cause a real tsunami for the Democrats in the 2010 elections if they don't handle it well.
That's the message I'm getting from my Blue Dog Democrat friends in farm country.
Rep. Jim Costa, D-Hanford (Kings County), told me unemployment in his district is running at 35 to 45 percent. The once-fruitful federal farm subsides are drying up and so is the water, with people blaming the Democrats on both counts.
The perception is that folks like Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, and environmental activists are orchestrating a policy out of Washington that says "yes" to water for the delta smelt and "no" to water for crops. Anger over putting fish before jobs in these lean times is running as strong as any anti-war, anti-Enron feeling we had up here in the Bay Area during the Bush years.
Not only could the fish fight lead to a split within the Democratic Party, it could also be just the issue Republicans are looking for when the environmentalists' best friend in the Senate, Barbara Boxer, faces re-election in 2010.
Speaking of the 2010 races, I called Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Campbell to invite him to the Willie Brown Institute breakfast Nov. 3.
He was at a Denny's somewhere in the valley, having breakfast with a would-be supporter.
"Now let me understand this," I said. "You're in a Denny's for a one-on-one? How important can that person be if you're in Denny's?"
I had to compliment him, however. Whatever you think of Tom's politics, he is the only candidate for governor who has clearly spelled out his agenda for the state. The rest are still talking in feel-good generalities.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Run Larry Elder vs Boxer, play the water card, the conservative card, and if necessary, the Race card !!!
***Why don’t they build a desalinization plant?***
We have that in the works in Texas...
and we are not in quite as bad shape as CA (yet).
Also here in Florida, and we have water galore in Florida.
A silly sidebar—can somebody satisfy my curiosity about the origin of the term “Blue Dog Democrat”?
Brilliant wrote:
Why don’t they build a desalinization plant? They’ve got all the saltwater they could ever want, and they aren’t going to suddenly find some fresh water that they did not know about.
Munson wrote:
And a water recycling plant, use filtered water from waste water.
They have a reservoir full of water. They just can’t use it for irrigation because it might hurt some little minnows.
And building a desalination plant would probably hurt the habitat of some little crab or insect. They couldn’t do that in California.
And recycling, sounds like a good idea, but that “plant” part, would we have to build something for that? Where would we build it. It might hurt some bird, animal, turtle, whatever. We need to study things for 5 or 10 years to know what we’re dealing with before you might be able to build that.
People need to pay attention to this. This part of California used to produce a lot of the food we eat. Expect food prices to rise dramatically this fall and winter.
| From the desk of cc2k: |
***Also here in Florida, and we have water galore in Florida.***
Don’t you guys have some dry spells that really hurt some areas more than others?
Yes but its more a matter of water not being where its needed. Its more a matter of the forests being dry.
Yes, very little national press. I wish Rush/Sean/Levin would front burner the issue. It is a crime that unelected, untouchable bureaucrats can get away with this. It is tyranny, America style.
With 40% unemployment, way beyond the Great Depression figures, I’ve been expecting some violence. None yet that I am aware of, but US Fish & Wildlife have earned it.
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