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Posted on 09/06/2003 1:29:45 PM PDT by John Jorsett
Wednesday's recall debate broke little new ground as meek journalists and inexperienced citizens lobbed softballs at Gov. Gray Davis and the candidates, failed to ask the toughest questions and let false statements go unchallenged.
The utter fallacy, repeated two or three times by Cruz Bustamante, that illegal immigrants pour $1,400 more into California's economy than they get back, for example, should have been stopped cold. Look closely at his wording, and you will see that each time Bustamante was asked about all the troubles surrounding "illegal immigrants," he altered his answer and spoke only of what we gain from "immigrants."
He well knows, or sure as hell ought to know by now, that an in-depth state audit showed only 19% of illegals bother to file taxes, and the best data on illegal immigrants, from the late 1990s National Science Foundation study, shows that each citizen-headed household in California pays out a net extra $1,178 to shore up 3 million mostly low-income illegal immigrants. Bustamante also knows that underground cash-for-work economy created by the 3 million illegal immigrants in California is one reason income taxes paid to California state coffers are so out of balance.
Shame, shame on our newest statehouse liar, Cruz Bustamante.
Now, is the $1,400 he cited a figure Bustamante got from some think tank study about how much money our legal immigrants pour into California? Faced with experienced tough journalists, Bustamante would never have gotten away with that kind of slimy word game during a debate.
But look at who was doing the questioning: small-market journalists from public radio, a small Bay Area paper and a Spanish-language paper, whose questions about abortion rights and other irrelevancies betrayed their left-leaning sympathies and their intellectual flaccidity in the face of phony Davis propaganda.
(Abortion rights in California have never been threatened, despite a number of conservative Republican governors during the past 25 years, and never will be. This is a media/Davis/NOW concoction that the media should slap down now and stop pandering to.)
Why was Cruz Bustamante silent during the gross overspending of the Davis years? Why did Davis ignore former chief economist Ted Gibson's data indicating the state's revenue had dried up? Is Arianna Huffington, the anti-tax loophole candidate who uses tax loopholes, merely gathering anecdotes for a book?
The questions we wanted to hear weren't asked. The debate merely distracted journalists while some of the worst legislation in years hurtled toward Davis' desk.
Let's review some of the worst stinker bills in Sacramento, shall we?
· Senate Bill 2 comes closer to socialism than anything I've seen heading for approval in 20 years. It would force California's hard-hit small and medium-sized businesses, with 20 or more employees, to pay 80 percent of employees' health coverage. Companies with more than 200 employees would be forced to pay that for the whole family. Even part-timers get this big perk.
SB 2 will spawn layoffs as small businesses pare down to get below the 20-employee cutoff. Bigger struggling companies will close.
It is widely known among insiders that key details of SB 2, by state Sen. John Burton, were ghost-written by the Service Employees International Union. I am told Davis recently chatted with the SEIU about this dog. Then, miraculously, the SEIU handed Davis a check for $250,000 a few days ago.
I doubt SEIU's bosses care if they wipe out thousands of jobs. The SEIU---and Davis---will merely blame President Bush. The goal here is to co-opt workers before the recall, then let the chips fall. They'll say: "We won free health care for you! We made history!" No kidding. Watch for businesses to stream out of state.
· Davis says he'll sign SB 18, giving the obscure Native American Heritage Commission the power to stop development on anyone's land in California if tribes feel construction interferes with a sacred site anywhere in the region.
Initially, this turkey included a five-mile zone around each sacred site, meaning construction could be challenged five miles down the freeway from a burial grounds or other site.
SB 18 was idiotic, and opposition by cities was intense. But Sacramento is Backwards World. So its authors (Burton again, and also ditzy San Diego Democrat state Sen. Denise Ducheny) changed the law. Now, tribes can challenge development even further removed from sacred sites. Now, there's no five-mile limit at all.
This bizarre bill also allows the public to be barred from the Heritage Commission's proceedings. Bowing to religious pressure, the location of the sacred sites will be secret. This means the media will sue very quickly.
is would never sign this blatantly unconstitutional bill but for one thing: rich tribes have already poured $2 million into Bustamante's campaign, and money-grubbing Davis wants some.
emember how Davis vowed to reform workers compensation because California's is the most expensive yet provides almost the worst benefits in the nation?
redicted the Dems would buckle to greedy trial lawyers, unions and others bleeding the system dry. Sadly, I was right.
Although you cannot find this fact in the shallow media coverage, the real reforms were quietly killed weeks ago. True reform, proposed in a package of highly detailed bills by the Republicans that copied the top workers comp programs in the nation, were all wiped out in a quiet Democratic massacre over the summer. The media ignored this.
A Democrat-dominated conference committee now claims that its heavily watered-down proposal will give major relief to California. It won't. Davis was too gutless to force through the two basic reforms that make all others mere fingers in the dike.
First, (although the media rarely explains this) California’s nutty rules allow the workers to essentially determine if they were injured on the job. Many doctors who make their living off workers comp are happy to oblige, proof or no proof. Only three states give workers so much say in this important matter---and naturally California clings more than any other state to this grossly abused and terribly subjective practice.
In 47 normal states, determining if a worker was injured on the job isn't largely up to the worker because that would be crazy! These states use "objective standards"---basically, an independent doctor who makes no money treating workers comp, and who utilizes American Medical Association guidelines.
But in California, we don't allow independent doctors to make the judgement. The unions view the rampant abuses as a form of paid time off---a perk for their workers. And here's the proof: years ago, special interest groups including the unions pressured the politicos to make it illegal to use the AMA guidelines.
Good Lord.
Second, when determining if a worker should get permanent disability payments---a huge slice of California's crisis---our Orwellian "no fault" laws encourage the parties to go fight it out for months in court (as the trial lawyer lobby insisted so it could get rich off the system). As a result, 50 percent of all California workers comp cases hit court. In Utah, where independent doctors determine permanent disability, 4 percent of cases hit court.
The end result is, truly injured workers get screwed and are forced into court for months, and everybody else from doctors who look the other way to lawyers who string cases along, sucks the system dry.
Reforms you'll hear touted this week by less-than-honest media spinners like Los Angeles state Sen. Richard Alarcon, such as capping some medical fees and chiropractor visits, won't end the crisis.
The reason highly irritated Costco CEO Jim Sinegal delivered 150,000 signatures from Costco workers demanding reform to the capitol this week is that businesses---and now even the workers---are sick of the lying and delaying out of Sacramento. Costco operates in 36 states in the U.S., but 70 percent of its workers compensation costs come from California. Think about that math. That's as good a measure of the level of corruption and wealth-creation inside California's workers compensation system as any I've heard.
The plain truth is, only by copying how the top-rated states use "objective standards" will we see major relief. Any politico who says otherwise is ignorant or lying. Despite the recall, what else is new?
There's another strategy that some have started using: appear to live elsewhere. I know of someone who set herself up as a Nevada resident - car registration, voting, etc. She actually spends most of her time in California, but she doesn't pay state income tax nor the recently boosted vehicle license fee. It's not a walk in the park - she doesn't dare use her credit cards in California, for example - but it's an approach that looks more and more attractive. Myself, I might check out what it would take to become a virtual resident of Mexico.
As to Indian burial grounds, when did they stop frying loved ones on a rack? I'd like to see the shovels used, if they did bury their kin. Dotting the landscape with dead bodies hardly equates to what is commonly referred to as a 'cemetary'.
They'd better revisit the term 'sacred', as their hold on a gambling monopoly in this state will surely get them a visit from the liberal 'revenuers' at some point, forked tongues and all, as the socialist utpoia doesn't come cheap.
So they earn $20,000, pay no taxes, spend $15k to live, receive $13.6K in aid (Net $1400 into economy) and send $5k to Mexico. Oh yeah, they are just pouring money into the California economy.
No. Not any more than I, as one of 3 million conservative New Yorkers got what we deserved. We were simply outnumbered by wimpering Liberals, both the Republican and Democrat kind.
What have they done, other than try and overcome the rampant puke liberalism that infests the state?
Probably the same I did. I gave money, I campaigned for the best people, I wrote letters, I worked in the Party organization, I ran for office myself. But, in the end I moved to a more conservative state. There is now less wear and tear on the wallet and psyche.
However, "moving" is not always the same as "escaping". The same pathology is slowly moving here, so the struggle goes on. However, nowadays I spend more money on gun oil and sincerely hope it is ultimately only for fun.
Very true. What's insane is that they owe whatever prosperity they now enjoy to 'developement', casinoes in particular. Those who want to continue to play the race card will one day wish they hadn't.
Alternatively, this could result in a drop in demand for property and improvements (new stuff). A freeze on new development will drive up demand for existing stuff. More improvement in existing property values. Higher property tax revenues from the population that chooses to hang around.
Are you saying those 11 million conservative Republicans are getting what they deserve?
Actually they are getting what they deserve. To round off numbers, let's say that CA has 30 million. The Conservatives need to attract 15 million + 1 to the polls on election day. That means that they have to find a way to get 4+ million non-Conservatives to get out to the polls and vote with them.
But all I read are rants about how "Conservatives should stick to their principles", usually in connection with some issue, like abortion, which isn't even under state control.
It's going to take a heck of a lot longer to get a majority of conservatives in the state (esp. since the laws encourage most of them to leave) than it would take to set priorities (like fiscal restraint and pro-business rregulations) and start on the path to conservative gov't.
People who insist on all or nothing most often wind up with nothing.
Republicans are the minority in the lib-controlled state of California. The "all or nothing" crowd you refer to (11% at last count) are minorities as well.
And, sure, *some* are willing to vote for mcclintock even though THEY KNOW HE STANDS ZERO chance of getting elected because, hey...they've got principles!
It's just too bad for the rest of us they have no sense.
We don't deserve the ramifications of THEIR stupidity.
It's just too bad for the rest of us they have no sense.
Yes. It's so frustrating that people will vote for some obscure principle instead of a sure improvement in status. Arnold could win, and he has a good chance of improving the financial status of CA. Why isn't that good enough?
In California, polls taken just days before the election showed an unprecedented number of voters unwilling to choose either Democrat Gray Davis or Republican Bill Simon as the state's next governor. In the end, only about 30 percent of the state's 21.7 million eligible voters even bothered to go to the polls.
Proof that if conservatives want to they can take their state back.
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