Posted on 03/03/2017 12:28:49 PM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
Partisans cherish a persistent illusion: Everything would be fantastic if it wasn't for those dopes in the other party. Yet, as one side gains power, its ability to pass the buck invariably wanes.
California voters have elected a Democratic governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, controller and insurance commissioner. The state Senate has more than twice as many Democrats as Republicans. So does the state Assembly. Democratic mayors preside in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Long Beach and Los Angeles.
We're a case study in what a political community looks like when Republicans wield little or no power - and an ongoing refutation of the conceit that but for the GOP, the United States would be free of dysfunction.
To govern badly is always a failure of the public's trust. To do so now, as a public servant in California - to ignore dysfunction in deference to a special interest group or kick problems down the road to avoid the difficulty of solving them - isn't just a betrayal of the public, it is high-octane fuel for the ascendant Trump coalition.
Positive leadership by example will always be more compelling than mere opposition.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Absolutely true. California will be solidly Dem for at least 2 generations. I can readily imagine what will happen here, the outcome is perfectly clear.
Well on our way to Chicago or Detroit.
Well on our way to Chicago or Detroit.
The sanctuary cities and LaRaza cities in California will make Chicago and Detroit look like peaceful role model cities in the next two years.
The True Legacy of Gov. Jerry Brown (Joel Kotkin)
http://www.joelkotkin.com/content/001331-true-legacy-gov-jerry-brown
And they are begging a Republican President to bail them out.
Unfortunately, we actually elected a Republican governor, but Arnold sucked as bad as any Dem.
The frightening thing about California for me is its sheer size and percentage of GDP and our national economy. The nation cannot afford it if California crashes and while many of us like to poke fun at the loony left there, it won’t be a laughing matter if the state went bankrupt. Everyone in the nation will pay for it.
I know that everybody here hates the California state government, including me, but I know that the State of California will go BANKRUPT soon. The bonds will not be paid back, the public employee pensions will not be fully paid (hooray!). I worry about what this will do to our national economy.
YEah, shite, Illinois elect Republican governors now and then, never changes anything. If your choice is between a rat and a cuck, what does it matter?
Dreaming of a California with about 10 million less residents.
Those who can see the issues and no solutions in sight are leaving. I was surprised the other day that my brother who has lived in California for many years plans to move out of there next year when he retires.
Even once solidly Republican Orange County is a Democrat stronghold now. They got the Sanchez sisters and Hillary won OC bigly
Well, unfortunately, the democrats have already bankrupted the state. And now they want taxpayer provided universal healthcare and unlimited immigration, It’ll be a boom for government workers and government “industry” providers before the inevitable bust. Our great cities will be like Detroit ghost towns as private industry collapses and flees.
precisely.
Hopefully they will be politely told , “No”.
I don’t understand how they are able to sustain the madness without people becoming alarmed. I know some retired cops and firefighters in North Idaho who are making around 100k (or even more) a year the rest of their lives - one on a 20 year retirement! They all talk about the health and strength of the CALPERS system, but using those numbers at any one time a taxpayer in Oakland might be paying 300k plus for one police officer or one firefighter.
That is crazy.
If it weren’t for the technology companies (namely Apple, Facebook, Google, Oracle Systems and Salesforce) and the entertainment industry, California would be in serious financial trouble right now.
It is particularly galling for those of us who have lived here for 30+ years, because we’ve seen the before and the after. And it is maybe not so understandable to those who don’t live here because for the most part it is as nice a place in terms of weather and scenery as it ever was.
When I first moved to CA in 1971 it was a boundless, blank slate of whatever you wanted it to be. There seemed to be a general pride as in “look what a cool clean place we have”. With top-notch schools and roads. At any skill level, there was no business you could not get into. If you wanted to be a printer, you could go find a printer and sweep the floors if you knew nothing about printing and you’d be a printer in a few months. The same could be said about almost any kind of endeavor. It was wide open, not very crowded other than the obvious LA and SF areas. The middle of the state where VDH lives was desolate yet very productive farmland. Sure, there were heavily industrialized and dirty areas, but they were confined and focused and they still worked even if they were built in the 20’s or WW2.
If you are any sort of entrepreneur (and I have had multiple businesses in CA) you can maybe find something that serves a zillion people or some very high-tech niche, but very little in between, and the regulatory burdens out here are ludicrous. My brother is trying to build an entirely conventional building in an area zoned for the proposed building use. It’s kind of on a service road for the highway so it’s not like it’s a national park or nature preserve. The county want him to install a fire hydrant (about $75K) and to generate a report stating that the lighting from his parking lot will not interfere with the observational abilities of the space station (NOT KIDDING) and he is supposed to hire a bird specialist to confirm that any trees he is planning to remove (or plant) will not interfer with any migratory bird flight patterns (NOT KIDDING) So far he has spent 18 months and had to revise his plans 3 times.
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