California: The bluest of states

Los Angeles Times ^ | November 28, 2010 | Editorial Staff

[Oldeconomybuyer]

With Kamala Harris' victory in the state attorney general's race — a win she intends to make official Tuesday — California Democrats have defied national trends and achieved a historic milestone. For the first time since at least the 1930s, one party controls both houses of the Legislature and every one of the state's constitutional offices.

The power to obstruct has been the California GOP's most potent weapon in recent years, and though repeated use of it is partly responsible for the party's long trip to the wilderness, Republican leaders show no immediate signs of coming to their senses.

Republicans will someday field a decent set of moderate candidates; Republican legislators may even recognize that voters want constructive change rather than an organized blockade.

When they do, Democrats who lack a record of achievement could face the same wrath that many of their counterparts nationally already have felt. This is their opportunity — to produce or to squander.

[DaxtonBrown]

“This is their opportunity — to produce or to squander.”

I’m betting on squander. California is toast for twenty years (or more). I live in Nevada, which is adversely affected by California’s shenanigans.

I see no Democrat cutting any budgets. They are on the fast track to bankruptcy.

[indthkr]

Socialist States bump for later........

[SC_Pete]

You get more stuff by taking money from people who worked for it and giving it to people that didn’t. Then when people die, take the estate away from the heirs and give it to people who don’t deserve it. That will solve all of Kalifornia’s problems: nasty, greedy corporations will leave the public arena to the homeless. Once the former commercial buildings are converted into hobo resorts, an eternal socialist utopia will reign. Oh, goody.

[outofsalt]

“Shrieks Kalifornia: “We’re Too Big To Fail!”
Why isn’t Bernie Sanders screaming to have it broken up, ala the big banks?
California is too big to fail... It should be partitioned.

[Oatka]

For heaven’s sake, just move next door to NH. They’re still GOP on a good day.

There's a story about an old Vermont farmer who spotted some guys on his property and went over to check 'em out. They were surveyors and told the farmer that they corrected a boundary line error and that he now lived in New Hampshire. "Thank God," said the farmer, "I couldn't have taken another of those Vermont winters!"

[snoringbear]

“hope you are wrong about Boehner. I'm clinging to the belief that most Americans are fed up enough to keep up the pressure on Congress to knock it off with the crazy spending. When, not if, California starts mooing for a bail out...we all have to stand strong and hold the Congress’ feet to the fire.”

I hope I am wrong about Boehner too. I expect the Calie lobby to make the “to big to fail” argument. They will point out that Calie if a country would have the seventh largest economy in the world, with a GDP ranking of 8th. The Calie contingent will warn congress that should Calie be allowed to go into bankruptcy it will take down the whole U.S. economy. Boehner, will go into a cold sweat, get weak kneed, and with tears in his eyes and all quivery lipped announce that he has “no choice” but to support a bail out of Calie. Like I said at the top, hope I'm wrong. We'll see...

[fieldmarshaldj]

"California Democrats have defied national trends and achieved a historic milestone. For the first time since at least the 1930s, one party controls both houses of the Legislature and every one of the state's constitutional offices."

These idiots have not much grasp of recent history. In November 2002 not a single Republican was elected to a statewide office. That lasted until the recall of Gov. Davis in October 2003.

[Clintonfatigued]

If California goes under, the ‘Rat Party will be left holding the bag.

[bareford101]

Actually, California is the saddest of states. For it has rejected God. They are in a lose/lose situation...

[LouAvul]

Good Conservative California folks...get out while you can...

Yeah, all three of them.

[lentulusgracchus]

LET THEM GO BANKRUPT. I feel for the avg. Californian that is stuck....but most have known for the last 15 years where this was going.....A crappy 56 year old [Marxist-Leninist] college “professor” all of the sudden won't get his $18,000 per month pension, and zillions of illegal aliens won't get their hand outs. Boo freaking hoo.

Concurring bump.

Let 'em go, let 'er rip -- let them show us what they've got under the hood, and yeah, make 'em put up their pink slips first.

These guys don't realize what it means in practical terms to have as their ideal East Germany fer pity's sake .... they're going to find out the hard, hard way. The Grapes of Wrath will look like a Disney 'toon compared to what's coming to the People's Republic of California. It'll be Argentina North. (See the article at Silverbearcafe.com on what happened to Argentina during their economic melt 2001-2006 -- which article, however, doesn't cover the 2008 government seizure of private retirement funds!)

[Rocky]

California, the brokest of states.

[Rome2000]

California has more marxists representing it in Conmgress than any other state in the union.

It is a socialist state and will fall, and can expect no help from the GOP Congress

The CPUSA, DSA, and their affiliates in Congress, the reds in the CPC (Congressional Progressive Caucus), are where you find the marxists and what states they hail from.

And it sure as hell isn’t Alaska or Alabama, who don’t have a single red in Congress.

THE TOP 3 RED STATES ARE CALIFORNIA, NEW YORK AND MASSACHUSETTS.

The CPC’s founding statement of purpose states that it was “organized around the principles of social and economic justice, a non-discriminatory society, and national priorities which represent the interests of all people, not just the wealthy and powerful”. The founding members underscored that the Cold War was over, and that the nation’s budget and overall priorities should reflect that. They called for cuts in outdated and unnecessary military spending, a more progressive tax system in which wealthy taxpayers and corporations contribute their fair share, a substantial increase in federal funding for social programs designed to meet the needs of low and middle-income American families, and trade policies that increase the exports of more American products and encourage the creation of well-paying jobs and sound investment in America. They also expressed their belief that those policy goals could be achieved in concert with a commitment to long-term fiscal responsibility.
Ideology

According to its website, the CPC advocates “universal access to affordable, high quality healthcare,” fair trade agreements, living wage laws, the right of all workers to organize into labor unions and engage in collective bargaining, the abolition of significant portions of the USA PATRIOT Act, the legalization of same-sex marriage, strict campaign finance reform laws, a complete pullout from the war in Iraq, a crackdown on corporate welfare and influence, an increase in income tax rates on the wealthy, tax cuts for the poor, and an increase in welfare spending by the federal government.
Supporting organizations

The non-profit organization most closely associated with the Congressional Progressive Caucus is the American Progressive Caucus Policy Foundation which works to connect the caucus to progressives outside the Congress.
In addition, an array of national liberal organizations work to support the efforts of the progressive caucus, including the Institute for Policy Studies, The Nation magazine, MoveOn.org, National Priorities Project, Jobs with Justice, Peace Action, Americans for Democratic Action, and Progressive Democrats of America. Also co-sponsoring the kickoff event were the NAACP, ACLU, Progressive Majority, League of United Latin American Citizens, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, National Council of La Raza, Hip Hop Caucus, Human Rights Campaign, Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs, and the National Hip Hop Political Convention.
House members

All members are members of the Democratic Party or caucus with the Democratic Party. There are currently 82 total declared Progressives including 79 voting Representatives, 2 non-voting Delegates, and 1 Senator.

Arizona
Ed Pastor (AZ-4, Phoenix )
Raúl Grijalva (AZ-7, Tucson ) - Co-Chair

California
Lynn Woolsey (CA-6, Santa Rosa ) - Co-Chair
George Miller (CA-7, Richmond ) - Chairman, House Education and Labor Committee
Barbara Lee (CA-9, Oakland ) - Chairwoman, Congressional Black Caucus
Pete Stark (CA-13, Fremont )
Michael Honda (CA-15, San Jose )
Sam Farr (CA-17, Monterey )
Henry Waxman (CA-30, Los Angeles ) - Chairman, House Energy and Commerce Committee
Xavier Becerra (CA-31, Los Angeles)
Judy Chu (CA-32, El Monte )
Diane Watson (CA-33, Los Angeles )
Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34, Los Angeles )
Maxine Waters (CA-35, Inglewood )
Laura Richardson (CA-37, Long Beach )
Linda Sanchez (CA-39, Lakewood )
Bob Filner (CA-51, San Diego ) - Chairman, House Veterans Affairs Committee

Colorado
Jared Polis (CO-02, Boulder )

Connecticut
Rosa DeLauro (CT-3, New Haven )

Florida
Corrine Brown (FL-3, Jacksonville )
Alan Grayson (FL-8, Orlando )
Robert Wexler (FL-19, Boca Raton )
Alcee Hastings (FL-23, Fort Lauderdale )

Georgia
Hank Johnson (GA-4, Lithonia)
John Lewis (GA-5, Atlanta )

Hawaii
Neil Abercrombie (HI-1, Honolulu )
Mazie Hirono (HI-2, Honolulu )

Illinois
Bobby Rush (IL-1, Chicago)
Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL-2, Chicago Heights )
Luis Gutierrez (IL-4, Chicago )
Danny Davis (IL-7, Chicago )
Jan Schakowsky (IL-9, Chicago )
Phil Hare (IL-17, Rock Island )

Indiana
André Carson (IN-7, Indianapolis )

Iowa
Dave Loebsack (IA-2, Cedar Rapids)

Maine
Chellie Pingree (ME-1, North Haven )

Maryland
Donna Edwards (MD-4, Fort Washington )
Elijah Cummings (MD-7, Baltimore )

Massachusetts
John Olver (MA-1, Amherst )
Jim McGovern (MA-3, Worcester )
Barney Frank (MA-4, Newton ) - Chairman, House Financial Services Committee
John Tierney (MA-6, Salem )
Ed Markey (MA-7, Malden )
Mike Capuano (MA-8, Boston )

Michigan
Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (MI-13, Detroit )
John Conyers (MI-14, Detroit ) - Chairman, House Judiciary Committee

Minnesota
Keith Ellison (MN-5, Minneapolis )

Mississippi
Bennie Thompson (MS-2, Bolton ) - Chairman, House Homeland Security Committee

Missouri
William Lacy Clay, Jr. (MO-1, St. Louis )
Emanuel Cleaver (MO-5, Kansas City )

New Jersey
Frank Pallone (NJ-06)
Donald Payne (NJ-10, Newark )

New Mexico
Ben R. Luján (NM-3, Santa Fe)

New York
Jerry Nadler (NY-8, Manhattan )
Yvette Clarke (NY-11, Brooklyn )
Nydia Velazquez (NY-12, Brooklyn ) - Chairwoman, House Small Business Committee
Carolyn Maloney (NY-14, Manhattan )
Charles Rangel (NY-15, Harlem ) - Chairman, House Ways and Means Committee
Jose Serrano (NY-16, Bronx )
John Hall (NY-19, Dover Plains)
Maurice Hinchey (NY-22, Saugerties)
Louise Slaughter (NY-28, Rochester ) - Chairwoman, House Rules Committee
Eric Massa (NY-29, Corning )

North Carolina
Mel Watt (NC-12, Charlotte )

Ohio
Marcy Kaptur (OH-9, Toledo )
Dennis Kucinich (OH-10, Cleveland )
Marcia Fudge (OH-11, Warrensville Heights )

Oregon
Earl Blumenauer (OR-3, Portland )
Peter DeFazio (OR-4, Eugene )

Pennsylvania
Bob Brady (PA-1, Philadelphia ) - Chairman, House Administration Committee
Chaka Fattah (PA-2, Philadelphia )

Tennessee
Steve Cohen (TN-9, Memphis )

Texas
Sheila Jackson-Lee (TX-18, Houston )
Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30, Dallas )

Virginia
Jim Moran (VA-8, Alexandria )

Vermont
Peter Welch (VT-At Large)

Washington
Jim McDermott (WA-7, Seattle )

Wisconsin
Tammy Baldwin (WI-2, Madison )
Gwen Moore (WI-4, Milwaukee )

Non-voting

Donna M. Christensen ( Virgin Islands )
Eleanor Holmes Norton ( District of Columbia )
Senate member

Bernie Sanders ( Vermont )
Former members

Sherrod Brown (OH-13) - Elected to Senate
Julia Carson (IN-07) - Died in December 2007
Lane Evans (IL-17) - Retired from Congress
Cynthia McKinney (GA-4) - Lost Congressional seat to current caucus member Hank Johnson
Major Owens (NY-11) - Retired from Congress
Nancy Pelosi (CA-8) - Left Caucus when Elected House Minority Leader
Hilda Solis (CA-32) - Became Secretary of Labor in 2009
Stephanie Tubbs Jones (OH-11) - Died in 2008
Tom Udall (NM Senate)
Paul Wellstone (MN Senate) - Died in plane crash in 2002

[Vision Thing]

We Red Staters gotta get rid of CA already. Feed it to the Chinese and Mexicans.

[Kickass Conservative]

I live in CA and I will be livid if the Feds give this State a dime. I am surrounded by ignorant fools and idiots.

Electing a AG who opposes the Death Penalty, even for Cop Killers, was just the icing on the cake.

[Impy]

Goodness, that’s an easily checkable fact. In fact a political writer in the state oughta damn well know it off the top of his head.

It that was my paper (well I wouldn’t have printed this finger wagging tripe in the first place but say I did) I’d have to fire everyone associated with the article.

BTW the 30’s wasn’t the last time before 2003, The rats did not hold every office in the 30’s.

Frank C. Jordan (R) was Sec of State from 1911-1940! Died in office, replaced by a rat who was replaced at the next election by Frank M. Jordan son of the former who served from 43-70! Interesting.

Anyway there also was not a rat Treasurer or Controller elected during the 30’s. The first in the 20th century for each office was elected in 1958.

That took a couple minutes to learn. But it was easier for the lazy and ignorant writer to just put “at least since the 30’s”.

[Luke21]

“Republicans will someday field a decent set of moderate candidates;”

I thought that’s what they have been doing.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Yeah, the advantage of having the Dems sweep everything is that they’ll have to own all their f’ups. The state had about 9 or so months of that the last time in 2003 before they went running for the first available Republican (alas, a Socialist even more fiscally irresposible than the Dem incumbent). If I were the CA GOP, I’d be warming up somebody viable in the meantime if we move on recalling Jerry before long (although loathe to say it, perhaps Steve Poizner could do it, despite my favoring McClintock. Whitman simply is not viable). Kamala Harris should be 2nd in line to be recalled, she is repugnant to anyone with even the slightest respect for the rule of law and victims rights.

[AuH2ORepublican]

I would rather have had Steve Cooley defeat Kamala Harris for AG; I’d like to see the Democrats try to blame the state’s problems on the Republican AG.

[Impy]

I could picture it. Even though AG only incidently effects economic matters.

Moonbeam Brown: “Steve Cooley’s failure to protect consumers by choosing not to sue every business in the state is destroying our economy!!!”. ;-p

They will try to blame the GOP minority in the legislature. Obstruction obstruction!

Here in IL I bet they will be trying to blame Topinka and Rutherford, nevermind that Auditor General William Holland (the most powerful man in the state that no one has ever heard of) probably has more power than they will.