Many of you, especially those of you who live there, know how screwed up the state of California is. For a long time, the Democrats have blamed this sad state of affairs not on their idiocy, their subservience to public labor unions or their refusal to control spending, but on the Republican minority in the legislature.
Looks like they are going to run out of excuses soon:
Mitt Romney lost to President Obama by a landslide 21 percentage points in a state that used to consistently side with the Republican nominee.
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein drew only token Republican opposition and won by 23 points.
Democrats, at last count, were gaining four congressional seats in California.
The stunner was the state Assembly, where Democrats apparently achieved a historic supermajority to match the party’s similar feat in the Senate. This means there’s virtually nothing that Democrats can’t pass on their own in Sacramento, relegating Republicans to mathematical irrelevancy.
But it doesn’t stop there.
The Republican slice of registered voters in California slipped below 30%. Only eight years ago it was nearly 35%. Democrats are 44%.
And about that loud anti-tax mantra, the Republicans’ favorite rallying cry: Most voters aren’t listening.
Two tax-increase measures were approved by Californians. Brown’s Prop. 30 won by a surprising 8 points. Prop. 39, ending a tax break mainly for out-of-state corporations, was approved by 20 points.
Skelton blames this on the weak Republican party and their inability to compromise. There may be something to that, but I’m dubious that even a functional GOP could make progress in California. The fact is that the Democratic majority has persuaded the people of California that their salvation lies in more spending, more taxes and more regulation.
Those of you who have read Atlas Shrugged may remember the endgame. The national government kept pursuing collectivists policies. As that drove achievers away and crippled the economy, they responded with ever more collectivism, eventually destroying the national economy.
I am under no illusion that the denizens of California will realize how badly the Democratic Party is screwing them. As the state continues to decay into bankruptcy and economic stagnation, the Democrats will continue to blame Republicans and the public will continue to follow along. As a result, I think we are about to Atlas Shrugged played out in real life.
9 comments
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Dave D says:
November 13, 2012 9:39 am at 9:39 am (UTC -4)
The REAL question, for us, is “How long can the collectivists blame the out-of-power party for the ills they create?” Same thing going on in the federal government. People beleive what they either want to hear or are told enough times (as a lie). This required either a dumb society in whole or a complicit/cheerleader watchdog media.
AlexInCT says:
November 13, 2012 11:34 am at 11:34 am (UTC -4)
That was a joke right? Did you miss the last election and all the “Blame Boosh” shit, even though this has been their economy since 2006 (when they took over control of spending by taking control of the house and about the same time that the deficit spending started jumping to insane numbers), and the economic crisis was caused & excacerbated by their social engineering bullshit?
The excuses will last for as long as the democrats need them, and the LSM will make sure that’s the case. It is NEVER their faullt. They mean well.
Miguelito says:
November 13, 2012 4:46 pm at 4:46 pm (UTC -4)
I was born and raised in San Diego, and still live here. But if my company offered to let me keep my position but move to and work out of our Austin office, I’d jump at the chance. Even though Austin is like a liberal pockmark on Texas, at least I’d be in Texas.
I could even see taking over our Boxborough, MA office and living just over the border in NH as a possibility.
Thrill says:
November 13, 2012 4:48 pm at 4:48 pm (UTC -4)
Unless that one petition works out, of course.
Hal_10000 says:
November 13, 2012 6:30 pm at 6:30 pm (UTC -4)
I live in Austin for a couple of years and while it’s liberal, I would probably describe it as less so than most liberal meccas. That said, you don’t have to go very far out of town until you are in more mainstream and even conservative areas.
repmom says:
November 13, 2012 6:43 pm at 6:43 pm (UTC -4)
Austin is a very pretty city.
Texas will miss it.
Mississippi Yankee says:
November 13, 2012 10:36 pm at 10:36 pm (UTC -4)
Atlas Shrugged had a happy ending… we will not.
Hal_10000 says:
November 14, 2012 12:45 am at 12:45 am (UTC -4)
Wow, Reason dug up some facts about Cali that boggle the mind:
briggie says:
November 14, 2012 2:05 pm at 2:05 pm (UTC -4)
We have a couple family friends in California, and they are really hurting. They have been trying to leave, but can’t because no one will buy their home. With prop. 39, are you guys actually trying to sink the ship?