Thursday, November 4, 2010

I Don’t Feel Sorry for Californians Anymore

I used to feel sorry for Californians, myself included. I felt sorry for them because, with the exception of a couple of years in the early eighties, our beautiful state had been hijacked by the brain-dead Democrats who had been running things in Sacramento for more than four decades. These otherwise unemployables have been uniformly choosing the wrong tax and spend and governance and regulatory policies for even longer than I've lived here (34 years).

They have taken the best public educational system and trashed it. From what was on a par with any public school education in America just a generation ago, we have to now feel lucky there's a Louisiana, a Mississippi and an Alabama, or California would rank last out of the 50 states.

Every survey of business leaders over the past several years ranks California in the bottom two or three states in terms of friendliness to business formation and operation. Maybe that's why so few choose to now relocate or open branch operations here.

Our income taxes are the third-highest in America. Our sales taxes are fourth highest in the nation. Public employee and cop and fire unions are so gargantuan they're strangling our cities and our state with an unfunded pension bomb that's ready to explode in our collective faces. It's to the point that we now work for them, not the other way around. How was that allowed to happen?

Our roads and bridges infrastructure is decaying before our very eyes. Our once-vaunted Central Valley agriculture, which has produced more than 10% of all fruits and veggies in the nation for decades, is now a depression-era dustbowl because some commie pinko weenie in a black robe shut off their water in favor of the Delta Smelt. What's that, you ask? It's a little Anchovy-sized fish that this judge preferred over suffering, drought-stricken, jobless people. So it lives, they die.

San Francisco won't let the ROTC into its schools, prohibits the military from filming commercials inside county limits and won't stop aggressive panhandling, but it will prevent its citizens from buying pets because they might abandon them. And now, San Fran has just passed legislation to prevent McDonald's from selling Happy Meals because they're deemed by the calorie police to be unhealthful. Amazing.

And these same liberal policies have turned Los Angeles into a third world-caliber toilet inhabited by illegal aliens and fourth-generation welfare recipients, sucking up our tax dollars like a Hoover vacuum cleaner on steroids.

So why do I no longer feel sorry for Californians? Because they absolutely refuse to change it. The election just concluded gave Golden Staters one more chance to fix some of our problems and prevent a few others. And what did you do, California? You blew it, big time. You reelected Jerry Brown, a guy who earned the moniker "Moonbeam" when he was the Guv in the seventies. He appointed Rose Bird as Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court. She overturned 62 death penalty cases, every single one that came before her, including the Manson Family killers. He signed the legislation that permitted collective bargaining for public employee unions, which now threatens our State's very economic existence. He vehemently opposed Proposition 13 until it passed, at which time he decided to support it. Flip-Flopper? You decide. After he termed out he ran for and was elected Mayor of Oakland. He was so successful in this job the state was forced to take over their school system. And, he managed to also double their murder rate (one could argue he might have been even more successful if he'd have tripled it!) Then, as our illustrious Attorney General, he refused to defend Proposition 8 in the courts even though he was obligated by law and his oath to do so. And I don't care what you think about gay marriages. Prop. 8 made it illegal and good old 'Jer had a duty to defend us, the citizens of California against it, despite his personal views on the subject. The Attorney General, nor any sworn official, does not have the right to pick and choose the laws they wish to support. A pox on his house. And now, Jerry Brown will now likely live out his life without ever having had a private-sector job. Imagine. You get kicked out of the Jesuit seminary and then feed at the public trough for the rest of your liberal little, otherwise unprepossessing life. Astounding.

Then there's Barbara Boxer. You reelected her, too. After three terms in Washington, during which she earned the lowest possible rankings as to effectiveness, you sent her back for another six years. She's never had a real job either. Never met a payroll. Never signed a check on its face. Knows nothing about job creation. What she does know is that partial birth abortion is the preferred method. Oh, and she knows how to spend our money. She voted for tax increases 258 times during her ho-hum tenure. Even her home-town newspaper refused to endorse her, saying she was an ineffective and ineffectual senator and should be put out to pasture. And you decided to send her back. Either of Jerry's or Bab's opponents would have been preferable to these preening elite losers, but you decided differently.

Now let's talk the measures. You failed to pass Prop. 19, the pot legalization measure. That was surprising to me, because I assume everyone here had to be high on weed to have voted the way they did.

You voted down Prop. 23, our last and best hope to derail AB32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, which Schwarzenwhoozits signed into law in 2006. That's the one whereby California decided to fix the world's climate problem all by itself, by rolling back greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, representing a 40% reduction. Of course, the experts say doing that would be impossible without taking every single car and truck off the road, but hey, nothing appears impossible to those nice folks in Sacto. And maybe the commute will get shorter once all the cars and trucks are gone. So, AB32 kicks in on January 1, 2011, and the next sound you'll hear will be the doors slamming shut on U-Haul trucks as businesses prepare to vacate Caleeeforneea. And they'll take at least 1,000,000 jobs with them. And your electric bill will double or triple after they go. The only ones left will be Starbucks baristas selling lattes to sign twirlers. I've said before and I say again, if you believe that carbon dioxide, that stuff plants breathe and you exhale, is a greenhouse gas, please stop exhaling.

And Prop. 25? Yep, it passed. That's the one that lets those Sacto lifers pass a budget with a vote of 50% plus one. No more 2/3rds supermajority needed. So the Dems can now pass a budget without a single Republican vote. You think taxes may go up? I do. And often. Why, I ask, do we even need a Republican party anymore? Truth is, we don't. That single-party parliamentary-style deal has worked so well in other countries, we should now formalize it for California. You know, like Cuba, and North Korea, and China and Russia. We're well on our way.

So, California, I no longer feel sorry for you. You did it to yourselves. You have turned our California into Greece, and now you've wasted your last, best chance to correct it before our Ship of State hits the rocks. We've finally reached the tipping point. That's where the statist, big government-loving weenies and the hand-out welfare crowd are able to vote themselves stuff at the expense of those few remaining folks who actually produce in our society. I still feel sorry for myself, for my family and for my friends. But I don't feel sorry for the rest of you who made this sorry likelihood possible. I hope you're happy with yourselves.

By the way, if you take a look at the red-blue map after it was updated following the election, which shows a sliver of blue along each coast and most of the remainder of our country in a bright, bright, all-American victory red, you'll have to ask; could it be salt air that's causing all this liberal craziness?

21 comments:

  1. Californians are a little schizo, we tax the crap out of some things but let others entirely off the hook. Instance in mind, if we charged oil companies the same tax or fee or whatever you want to call it the same as our conservative cousins in Alaska or Texas our budget would be far closer to balanced. Palin in 2012 as long as she get Cali the same deal as she got in Alaska from the oil companies.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Chuck move... What did they use to say luv it or leave it. If you dont like exercise your God given right to pull up stakes.
    You're just another right wing wacko. Chuck obvious you never breathed a day in southern Cal before all the pollution control went in. Either that or you are familiar with being affixed to an oxygen tank. Chuck yep you got it no more reactionary right wing obstructionists. Now all that is needed is to clean up the prison guard supporters anc Cal can get back to a pre-Reagon unfettered lifestyle. Actually Meister-man if you looked where all the population is you wud notice it is within all those slivers of blue. In fact in those blue state taxes were allocatted back to blue states everything wud be just fine. Ain't nobody (at least educated types) living in that red swath. I think the best thing to do is divide into at least 3 countries. Each sliver shud be an independent country. The rest can be whatever it wants to legislate itself.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Anonymous. Thanks so much for your kind response. Yes, this right wing wacko would do you the favor of moving and leaving one less well-educated, tax-paying employer here to fund your unemployment checks, except I have four daughters in So. California and I'd prefer to stay close. Otherwise, Mr./Mrs./Ms./Other Anonymous you'd see my tailights growing smaller as I headed down the I-10 toward Texas. And I am aware that those of your political persuasion are inclined to believe that anyone living in the "Great Flyover" are toothless nincompoops. Only those within those blue slivers of liberalism deserve a sniff of your clean air, right? Just remember that that vast sea of red threw your party under the bus on November 2nd, and will do it again in about two years. And one more thing. What is there about you and your ilk that absolutely refuse to use your own name when you opine? Don't have the courage of your convictions? Unwilling to stand up to scrutiny? Unsure of your own position on the issues? Just wondering...

    Oh, and I feel honor bound to ask: doesn't your computer have a spell-check?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm conservative but don't mind being politely anonymous for a pile of reasons.

    And in Chuck's defense have to say that nowhere did he opine that the pollution in SoCal was better than emission controls. Nor did he say we needed more prison guards.

    Some of my best friends are liberals (though it's getting harder all the time to accept their insanity) and unfortunately irrationality tends to characterize their dialectic. They tend to put words in your mouth, react as if you'd said things you hadn't, hear what they want to hear and whine about nonsense.

    Chuck, your article was awesome.

    I moved my business, my taxes and my 14 jobs to Nevada 6 years ago. I can visit California whenever I want but oddly I don't seem to want to go back very often -- maybe 4 times since. It was costing me personally out of pocket about $100k a year in state income tax and frankly it wasn't worth it to pay that much to put up with administrative abuse, insane traffic and the nanny state, even though the SoCal climate was fantastic.

    See ya, California, wouldn't want to be ya.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm sorry to see you and your jobs go. But I'm not surprised. Unfortunately, there will be many, many more bright, articulate, well-educated, job-creating entrepreneurs like you who will flee this once-Golden State and take the jobs with them until the brain-dead weenies in Sacto are replaced by adults, or we finally go down in flames once-and-for-all. Until then, I've come up with my own definition of Liberals: "Those who just want to be left alone to live your life."

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thankyou for saying what I've been feeling. I think it's time to move.... I wish I could say I am astounded at the ignorance all around me, on a daily basis, people who are more in tune to what lady gaga wore at that award show... than on an election and it's profound affect on their and their childrens lives. No, I'm not astounded, it truly is a disease and I here that it's spread just enough to have an impact on Colorado and (obviously) Nevada. On that note I hope Pelosi can be minority leader. I hold out just a grain of hope this will be the tipping point in this state I call home, come 2012.

    ReplyDelete
  7. the last comment I left as anonymous comment was Tina of Napa Ca. I didn't see an option to put my name.... so I am in no way anonymous or shamed ... I just haven't posted a blog comment before. I am also in no way affiliated with the original anonymous who would certainly liken me to a redneck hack. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I was born in this state and lived here ever since.(60+ years ago) I have traveled around the world and served in our military for 20 years. Our freedoms have been slowly taken away by our elected officials and given to some board or commission (or even a CZAR now).We now have taxation with misrepresentation.I for one have bought property in another state and will be moving there soon. Maybe not soon enough for some but too soon for others.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I just wanted to say, that the part about San Francisco is almost all inaccurate. And Im not criticizing the movement, Im with you guys. All Im saying that you need to report truth, otherwise your argument come off illegitimate.

    The article reads:
    "San Francisco won't let the ROTC into its schools, prohibits the military from filming commercials inside county limits and won't stop aggressive panhandling, but it will prevent its citizens from buying pets because they might abandon them. And now, San Fran has just passed legislation to prevent McDonald's from selling Happy Meals because they're deemed by the calorie police to be unhealthful. Amazing."

    Im a student at USF, and Im friends with multiple ROTC students who go there as well, so yes, ROTC people are allowed to attend schools in SF. On top of that, the ROTC just filmed a commercial on campus and in Daloris Park, both of which are, again, in SF. As far as aggressive panhandling goes, the city just passed a new, "Sit and Lay" law that bans homeless from sitting or sleeping on sidewalks, Id say that's dealing with aggressive panhandling. Lastly, the Happy Meal is NOT banned. There was a measure voted on by the people of SF, and it was easily shot down. Dont worry your kids!

    The problem with this type of misinformation is that, Im a resident of SF, so I know the true information. But I don't know the details of the rest of the article. So, It makes me wonder, are other parts of this article equally false?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hey Anonymous,

    Thanks for weighing in. You live in one of my favorite cities. It's beautiful. One of my kids graduated from SFSU. Unfortunately, it's run by a bunch of socialist commie pinko weenies. And so, I have to come down on it when doing so seems prudent.

    So let's take a look at your points, one at a time. San Fran outlawed ROTC several years ago. That was in response to their anti-war movement, which nearly everybody in your town adheres to. They may have reversed that. If so, good. They've also considered banning Fleet Week for the same reason. Here's hoping they're not yet that stupid. As to the military commercials, last year the Marines tried to get permission to film a spot near Union Square. The City Fathers, Mothers and Others said NO! They were forced to film just across the Golden Gate Bridge near the foot. Perhaps you saw that commercial. It played during last year's Super Bowl.

    You indicate the City just passed new legislation regarding panhandling. That too, is new. It must have replaced laws in force for years that were panhandler-friendly in the extreme. And as to the Happy Meal. Yes, it passed by the Council 8 - 3, a veto-proof majority. Your Major, Gavin Newsome, our new Lieutenant Governor-elect, vetoed that ordinance yesterday. But because it's veto-proof, and because they're hell-bent to outlaw anything that's fun or enjoyable world-wide, it's expected that the Council will overturn his veto when next they meet.

    I appreciate your oversight in helping to keep me honest. You must appreciate that I do my due dilligence before I publish. I'm usually correct. When I'm not, you be sure to let me know...

    ReplyDelete
  11. THANK YOU, CHUCK! It's the middle of the night, and I am dreading the prospect of having to go into our Los Angeles 'community college' for yet another day of White-America-and-all-things-decent-bashing. Our 'Human Geography' (aka 'Covert Sociology') teacher admits regularly that he takes no notice of current events. When I attempt to point out to him the actual facts about what is going on in our world, he says I am 'off-topic' and 'not listening.' The thing is, he isn 't even evil. He really doesn't mean any harm. We literally live in a sci-fi horror flick, only we never get to wake up, not until we can get out of California. It leaves us gasping, so muchas gracias, mi hermano, for spelling out so clearly en la noche lo que I've been trying to tell him. About the salt air, I lived in England for many years, and it is like this there too, so maybe what has happened to these people is a sea-change, because, for sure, there certainly is no explanation for it.

    ReplyDelete
  12. BF of Yorba Linda / Huntsville.
    My CA job dried up 2.5 years ago. When similar CA jobs appear these days, the offered salaries are 50% - 60% of what they were. So for the last 2 years I've lived and worked in Huntsville parttime where the cost of living and wages are reasonable. I visit my wife and family home in SoCal frequently.
    The only good thing about Jerry Brown being Governor again is that the State of Kalifornia will implode and the contracted state's pensions will be broken. I am not the best informed but I do what I must to fulfill my obligations to my family.

    ReplyDelete
  13. BF, you're not alone, my friend. I fear it will get much worse before it gets better. And to get better will require exactly what you foresee; a total meltdown, bankruptcy, union contract abrogation and a new beginning based on solid financial precepts. Let's keep our fingers crossed it's sooner rather than later...

    ReplyDelete
  14. Job losses are not at all due to current California government policies. Otherwise, the "red" states would be booming - which they aren't. Having just spent yesterday at San Fran Auto Show at Moscone Center as part of a great outing with my family, your thoughts on San Fran are off base. Anyway, you do have a right to express your beliefs / comments. Personally, I believe many of our current issues have to do with poor public education across the entire country for the 40 yrs, and many not willing to work hard. China and other countries are poised to eat our cake. There is no right to happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to work at it.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hey Anonymous, I'm happy you and your family enjoyed your outing at San Fran's Moscone Center. It truly is a beautiful city. Your response reminded me of the trip my wife and I recently took to Beijing and Shanghai. Those are beautiful cities as well. And they share much in common with SFO.

    ReplyDelete
  16. CA is such a beautiful and geographoally diverse state, it has really been a shame to watch the level of erosion since 1972 when I started visiting and then working in the Bay Area for a couple years in 1995.

    I had visited CA on business multiple times and jumped at business trips to CA - especially the Bay Area and San Diego - when I worked as a national sales manager for a Fortune 10 company for about 20 years. I always planned and hung some vacation time at the end of each trip after business was completed to enjoy the golf and skiing access to the Rockies. San Francisco was my favorite city for years of comparitive domestic and international travel. I used to look forwward to staying at the Embarcadero Hyatt regularly. I went back on a trip in the late 80's about 4 years since my prior visit to experience how much it had deteriorated.

    The only way I agreed to live there with my subsequent high tech employer was to sign on with the understanding I made no change of address and could commute at company expense least 2x's a month to FL where I kept my residence to avoid CA taxation. The great news was that we had an office in the next town where I lived in FL otherwise I would have never accepted the postion.

    While I am an outsider to CA, for the most part, the author may have a couple facts out of "exact alignment" but he is right on the money with how the rest of the US has viewed CA for some time. The recent mid term election results and the statement of fiscal direction for CA is decidedly negative and declining.

    Sorry, just holding up a mirror from my expereince and that of my fellow business colleagues in and out of CA. It got so bad that my Fortune 10 company would not hold our annual sales recognition event in CA because of the cost. That meeting was over a 2 week period for approx 10,000 attendees. We now avoid CA whenever possible.

    With the kind of budget defecit run up by CA leadership over the past 20 years driven by CA's appeal for high tech jobs, real estate, weather, etc., I don't see how they will ever be able to fiscally recover in the next 10 - 20 years without a default.

    Some time ago, I heard a woman on an infomercial for weight loss declare the definition of insanity. I suspect CA embodies the impact of that definition. Now you have the electorate to prove it.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Amazing how many of you claim to be San Franciscans. No San Franciscan would say San Fran. It's such an ignorant thing to say and so redneck. You gave yourselves away, you carpetbaggers. Go home and let us return our Golden State to a neutral, classy and enviable State. Take your stupid politics with you and your transient homeless.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Steve, your fragmented and less than timely response to my November 4, 2010 posting confirms a suspicion I've long held: Those from San Fran and its environs are likely smoking some of those Anti-God cigarettes on a fairly routine basis. I've never claimed to be from San Francisco. I've visited often but never harbored a thought about making your once-beautiful city home. In fact, I think the major problem SFO faces is the fact it's filled with San Franciscans. Let's put it this way: It's a boil on America's butt. I suggest that those of you in or near San Fran elect to secede from the U. S. of A. post-haste. Then we'd both get our wish. We wouldn't have to deal with you and you wouldn't have to deal with us...

    ReplyDelete
  19. I lived in California for over 40 years. I retired in 1996 And then I got the HELL out. I moved to Colorado and love it. So if your sick of California I suggest you try Colorado.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If I weren't so lucky as to have four beautiful daughters, who live with their mates/significant others in California, and within an hour's drive of my home, my taillights would be growing ever smaller as I headed east on the I-10 toward the Hill Country of Texas. Or, perhaps, the Lake Country of Tennessee. Or, maybe Utah, or Idaho, or Nevada, or Arizona, or New Mexico, or ANYWHERE BUT HERE! Colorado would be good too, were it not for your Governor Hickenloooooper. He's a bit much, my friend, what with all that gun-grabbing nonsense he's involved himself in. You're going to lose several other manufacturers (Magpul is only the first) because of his anti-2nd Amendment efforts. But as to the state itself, nothing not to like. Good luck with your decision. I wish I could make it as well...

      Delete

The Chuckmeister welcomes comments. After I check them out, of course. Comment away!