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Reason.tv: Hasta La Vista, Arnold!—What California's budget mess means for America
He was the perfect political superhero, sent to rescue California from spend-happy politicians at just the right time. And yet Arnold Schwarzenegger's reign as governor has turned into a disaster flick that could spell catastrophe for the Golden State-and the whole nation.
In 2003's historic recall election, the former Mr. Olympia pummeled dozens of candidates-from incumbent Gray Davis to former child actor Gary Coleman to porn star Mary Carey-on the road to Sacramento. He promised to abolish the odious car-tax hike implemented by Davis. And to balance the budget, cut taxes and spending, and make California more business-friendly.
"He promised to stop the crazy deficit spending, cut up the credit cards, live within our means. And he did exactly the opposite. Schwarzenegger increased spending faster than we saw under Gray Davis," says Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), who was a state senator-and one of Arnold's challengers-six years ago.
Now the Golden State faces yet another spending-induced catastrophe. California could simply go broke by July. Sacramento reacted to the latest crisis by passing a massive tax increase in February, squeezing another $1,100 from the average family. Even the dreaded car tax, the issue that catapulted Arnold to office, is back.
How could it all have gone so horribly wrong, especially after it looked so wonderfully right? Well, it turns out there's a force in California politics that's much more powerful than the Governator: a culture of spending pushed by public-employee unions, money-grubbing corporate-welfare cases, and more.
Sadly, California and Schwarzenegger are hardly alone in spending well beyond their means. As many as 40 states face whopping deficits that are only going to get worse as the recession continues.
If country-wide trends do start in California, Rep. McClintock worries about what's in store for our nation. "As high taxes, high borrowing and high spending destroy California's economy, Californians are moving to those 49 other states. If we allow the same policies to destroy our country where are we going to go?"
"Hasta La Vista, Arnold" is written and produced by Ted Balaker. Director of Photography is Alex Manning and Associate Producer is Paul Detrick. Approximately 10 minutes long.
For embed code, audio podcast, related videos and links, and iPod and HD versions, go here.
Mad Max|5.14.09 @ 12:03PM|#
Remember the 'responsible' conservatives who endorsed
Schwartzenegger over McClintock?
Remember the people who wanted to repeal the 22nd Amendment so
Arnold could be President?
Where are these guys now?
Invisible Finger|5.14.09 @ 12:10PM|#
Well, it turns out there's a force in California politics
that's much more powerful than the Governator: a culture of
spending pushed by public-employee unions, money-grubbing
corporate-welfare cases, and more.
Another force more powerful is his own ego, his incessant desire to
be liked. But it would be unfair to single him out for such a flaw;
99% of candidates for political office have the exact same flaw -
it's what drives them to seek office in the first place.
Gilbert Martin|5.14.09 @ 12:10PM|#
There is an editorial in today's Wall Street Journal about the role of public sector unions in state and local government's fiscal disasters.
Tomcat1066|5.14.09 @ 12:17PM|#
The unions once served a valid purpose. Now, all they do is jack up pay rates to an extent that the employer will never quite be right. California is one example. GM and Chrysler are two more.
|5.14.09 @ 12:21PM|#
Why, oh why, did Superman stop Lex Luthor's real estate plan? We'd all be better off if he hadn't.
T|5.14.09 @ 12:23PM|#
Seven states have not reported a FY 2009 budget gap. They
are Arkansas, Montana,
North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia and
Wyoming.
See? Provide negligible social services and you too won't go broke.
Or, just don't have a whole lot of people to begin with.
|5.14.09 @ 12:26PM|#
I, for one, voted for Arnold over McClintock. In a recall
election that existed solely because the Dems couldn't throw away
money fast enough, the fiscally responsible McClintock talked
non-stop about... DAMN MEXICANS GET AWAY FROM HERE.
It's as if he were worried that if he were to highlight his
strengths, he might be compeititive.
|5.14.09 @ 12:27PM|#
As high taxes, high borrowing and high spending destroy
California's economy, Californians are moving to those 49 other
states.
From what I've seen California expatriates generally go about
trying to replicate exactly the things that made them leave
California. So this doesn't bode well.
Naga Sadow|5.14.09 @ 12:28PM|#
Lex Luther knows what's best for America, especially when
he's Gene Hackman.
But what about Kevin Spacey?
Warty|5.14.09 @ 12:29PM|#
Why, oh why, did Superman stop Lex Luthor's real estate
plan?
For that matter, why did James Bond stop Christopher Walken from
destroying Silicon Valley?
|5.14.09 @ 12:34PM|#
Montana's doing things right all over the place. Might have to
really consider a move there.
Lex's plan would have failed. California is not hanging over the
edge of a cliff waiting to fall into the ocean. It's just on a
different tectonic plate rubbing up against the North American
plate. All that would have resulted would be a more violent
earthquake and a bigger gap or more rubbing between plates. The
only bright side would have been the end of Margot Kidder.
|5.14.09 @ 12:37PM|#
For that matter, why did James Bond stop Christopher Walken
from destroying Silicon Valley?
Because Silicon Valley makes good software?
"Good. Right on schedule."
T|5.14.09 @ 12:38PM|#
From what I've seen California expatriates generally go
about trying to replicate exactly the things that made them leave
California.
It's a constant battle trying to smack them down and keep them from
screwing things up. This also applies to people from the northeast,
like MA and NY.
wingnutx|5.14.09 @ 12:41PM|#
Now, all they do is jack up pay rates
Don't forget deliberately making things inefficient so as to
require more labor.
Orange Line Special|5.14.09 @ 12:43PM|#
Aw, Reason appears to have forgotten its long history of
supporting those "corporate-welfare cases" through their endless
articles promoting MassiveImmigration. Given the fact that many
CALegislators frequently act more like they work for the
Mexicangovernment than the people of CA, supporting
MassiveImmigration has the highly predictable impact of providing a
subsidy to crooked businesses and increasing public spending. Yet,
despite all that, Reason persisted in helping to bring us to this
situation.
Here's more on California governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Mad Max|5.14.09 @ 12:52PM|#
'Or, just don't have a whole lot of people to begin with.'
You are replying to a list of states which includes *Texas.*
|5.14.09 @ 12:54PM|#
Yeah, STFU. And, by the way, you're wrong, DumbAss. Agreeing that people should be able to move freely from place to place and work for whomever will hire them is different than agreeing they should have their education, health care, or housing subsidized...you know, things Reason does not agree with.
Paul|5.14.09 @ 12:55PM|#
I think the thing that pisses me off about California is that previously, I would laugh at the budget woes, the fact that the entire state was strangled by public sector unions. But now California's problems are my problems, because they're stealing money from me under the auspices of an economic crisis.
|5.14.09 @ 12:57PM|#
the odious car-tax hike implemented by Davis.
That is, returning the car tax to its previous level when the
windfall tax revenues from the internet bubble ended, in an attempt
to keep the state budget balanced.
|5.14.09 @ 12:59PM|#
I think its laughable that anyone thinks that California, or
indeed the US federal government, can fix itself from these
deficits and debts. What are they going to cut? Pretty much every
cent in those budgets have unions, corporations, and bureaucracy
who will make it their job to maintain the status quo.
If ag subsidies are cut or eliminated, farmers will drive their
tractors into the city streets and block traffic. The media will
cover stories of farmers "just like you and I" who are just trying
to get by, and why does the government need to steal their money
like that? No mention of the taxpayers who had their money stolen
from them to prop up the farmers lifestyle, of course.
And people will look at the chaos that happens afterwards and say
"you see, this is what happens when libertarianism runs wild!
Anarchy! Chaos! Destruction! Lets make sure that never happens
again!." These institutions need to fail on their own, without our
influence.
Mike M.|5.14.09 @ 1:01PM|#
In reality, Arnold isn't to blame for the sorry state California
is in any more than Gray Davis was. It's the people themselves in
California and the horrendous representatives they elect that
deserve the lion's share of the blame.
Obviously no politician could ever afford to tell their people this
simple truth.
|5.14.09 @ 1:02PM|#
Lone Wacko turned off the television, disgusted. Once again the
immigrant governor had failed to address the IllegalImmigrant
issue. He suspected it was because Arnold was actually secretly
Mexican. His detective work had uncovered records of someone named
Arnoldo Montalbanegger, born in Mexico City, around the right time
to be him. He just needed a little more proof to bust the story
wide open.
He desperately wanted a beer, but the nearby bodega only had Tecate
and Negra Modelo, and that was unacceptable. He settled for sipping
from the bottle of Triple Sec the hooker had brought over. She had
also brought tequila and margarita mix, but he'd thrown her out for
that.
Gilbert Martin|5.14.09 @ 1:04PM|#
"See? Provide negligible social services and you too won't go
broke"
I hate the term "social services".
It ranks right up there with "progressive policiies" in the level
of obfuscation.
It should be called "forced redistribution of wealth" or
"government mandated charity" or something similar to that to
reflect the economic reality of what is actually going on.
Craig|5.14.09 @ 1:07PM|#
My preference would be that they just shut down the state
government completely. Really. Everything they do would be better
off either not being done at all, or done at the county or city
level, or done through private enterprise and voluntary
charity.
Realistically though, a good start would be to stop increasing the
budget every year, expecting good times to last forever. Cut every
state department payroll and every state employee's pay by 10%,
then decide which departments can be shut down completely. Switch
all new state employees to defined contribution retirement plans,
instead of the generous defined benefit plans they have now.
The List|5.14.09 @ 1:11PM|#
"Don't forget deliberately making things inefficient so as to
require more labor."
I'd like to see a graph showing union membership declines vs.
worker productivity increases going back to 1945.
T|5.14.09 @ 1:14PM|#
You are replying to a list of states which includes
*Texas.*
Yeah, Texas comes under "don't provide much in the way of social
services". Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota all fit the whole
"don't have many people" part. That's why there's an 'or' in that
sentence.
Naga Sadow|5.14.09 @ 1:22PM|#
How? How can I bust this story wide open? Lonewacko's thoughts drifted to that time on HnR where he showed those Libertarian posseurs what fools they were. The CALegislators were clearly in the pocket of the MexicanGovernment. Lonewacko thought of infiltrating the governors office for incriminating documents but then thought better of it. The furrinerGovernor would no doubt have illegals guarding his office. Lonewacko thought on and off on the problems inherent in getting out documents on MassiveImmigration between swigs of his Triple Sec. Suddenly Lonewacko had it! Epiphany! He would simply walk right in and take them! But the CAlegilators would know him on the spot. What with all the restraining orders . . . how? How could he do it? Another swallow of Triple Sec and once again . . . epiphany! He would simply go undercover using an obscure cognomen. He would go as himself. Not lonewacko but his birth name! Chris Kelly. He would need a hell of an alibi if he was going to break this case wide open. Ah! Lonewacko would go as Chris Kelly using LP credentials! Brilliant! Once he got away the LP would be blamed not him! Now all Lonewacko had to do is find out where the LPMexicanHeadquarters was and he would be on his way.
|5.14.09 @ 1:34PM|#
Lone Wacko's constant epiphanies, being accompanied each time by
a swig of booze, were getting him pretty sloshed. He figured he
should eat something. He would have called Domino's, but his
consistent tipping of the remaining change in a dollar had gotten
him blacklisted. His only remaining option was the burrito place
down the street, but that was unthinkable. Or was it? The booze was
making him uninhibited, and the thought of some chili sauce was
making him strangely horny.
Thoughts of Mexican hookers rubbing chili sauce on their donkey's
nipples began popping into his head. Was he actually considering
this? he took another swig of Triple Sec and decided: yes.
Naga Sadow|5.14.09 @ 1:50PM|#
Lonewacko snapped awake. Where was I? He cleared his eyes and found . . . a donkey next to him. A dead donkey. What happened? A cascade of bleary images flashed across his eyes. Burritos. Mexican tranny hookers. Triple sec. A donkey with eyes that seemed to be screaming. Chili sauce? What could it all mean? Lonewacko shuddered and then vomited down his shirt. Suddenly, he was angry. He had been drinking this . . . this . . . he stared at the empty bottle of Triple Sec for several moments. Damn furriner drink. Lonewacko couldn't put his memories in order. Clearly he had been tricked. Implanted with memories while the IllegalImmigrants had ransacked . . . Oh God! His casefiles!Lonewacko tried to shuffle back to his apartment but couldn't get his bearings. He felt as if he were in some sort of alternate reality. He needed some water. He saw a nearby cactus and stopped. Weren't cactuses supposed to have water in them? But before he stepped in the direction of the cactus the urge to hurl became overpowering. Lonewacko once again vomited down his shirt. Lonewacko went to the cactus and tried to bite into it. Unfortunately the dirty Mexican plant kept sticking him in the face. Finally, giving up on the plant Lonewacko surveyed his surroundings. Several large warehouse type buildings in the distance. A car drove down the road off in the distance. He thought about hitching a ride but realized the caked on vomit would discourage good American samaritans. Lonewacko could hear salsa music in the distance. He knew what he had to do.
JP|5.14.09 @ 2:00PM|#
Why do you Reason writers use hyphens when dashes are called
for?
the former Mr. Olympia pummeled dozens of candidates-from
incumbent Gray Davis
who was a state senator-and one of Arnold's challengers
What's a "candidates-from"? What's a "senator-and"?
I keep having to pause and untangle what my eyes initially tell me
you're trying to say.
Orange Line Special|5.14.09 @ 2:07PM|#
Nick opines: Agreeing that people should be able to move
freely from place to place and work for whomever will hire them is
different than agreeing they should have their education, health
care, or housing subsidized...you know, things Reason does not
agree with.
You're living in a fantasy world. Reason has constantly promoted
MassiveImmigration without once saying, "but only if we end social
welfare". Not even a single time have they said that. If they were
selling their faulty ideology as an all-or-none package, that would
be one thing. But, that's not what they do and that's not what
happens.
If anyone wants proof that people like Nick are living in a fantasy
world, simply look at the current situation in CA.
|5.14.09 @ 2:11PM|#
Lone Wacko stumbled to the nearby pay phone and attempted to put some quarters in it...but it only took pesos. He was growing more and more concerned about where he was and what he had done. This was all too familiar, and not in a good way. That was when he felt the stickiness on the front of his pants. He was afraid to look.
EJ|5.14.09 @ 2:30PM|#
"From what I've seen California expatriates generally go about
trying to replicate exactly the things that made them leave
California. So this doesn't bode well."
Same goes for New Hampshire. All the F'ing Massholes are moving
north for low taxes and jobs just so they can vote in policies that
drove them out of MA in the first place.
Mike M.|5.14.09 @ 2:32PM|#
If anyone wants proof that people like Nick are living in a
fantasy world, simply look at the current situation in
CA.
It sure does seem like it would make a lot more sense to end the
full entitlement welfare state first, and then open the doors up to
instant entry and citizenship to the entire world afterwards.
To try to do it the other way around is idiotic, and is nothing but
a way to hasten the bankrupting and destruction of a republic.
Forty-Two|5.14.09 @ 2:44PM|#
Afraid to look because he knew from experience the cause of the peculiar odor which accompanied the stickiness: semen. And not human semen. LoneWako's thoughts were wrenched back to childhood, to summer days on Uncle Vic's farm. To the paddock behind the barn where he'd first learned about life, about IllegalMexicans and about love...
|5.14.09 @ 2:47PM|#
Max Max: Wherever they're hiding, they've been joined in recent
months by Dave Weigel and the rest of the "Obamatarians."
There's a relatively simple compromise that could solve the budget
problems for the states and even the federal government: freeze
spending until revenues catch up. I haven't checked recently but
for many years, the federal deficit could have been erased by
simply spending what they'd spent about five years previously. In
other words, freeze spending and in a few years the budget gets
balanced.
Brian Sorgatz|5.14.09 @ 2:49PM|#
Hey, Lonewacko, it's raining in my part of California. Should I blame Mexican immigrants for that, too?
Joel|5.14.09 @ 2:52PM|#
Damn you, hilarious FlashFiction! Now I'm unable to CloseThisTag
for the RestOfTheDay!
Damn you! DamnYouToHell!
Why am I WritingWithoutSpaces? Why this sudden loathing for
IllegalImmigrants? Oh, god! NOOOOOO!
Colin|5.14.09 @ 3:07PM|#
It's so sad, because this is such a great place to live, in so
many ways.
I can't wait until Tuesday.
Mike M.|5.14.09 @ 3:10PM|#
Wherever they're hiding, they've been joined in recent
months by Dave Weigel and the rest of the
"Obamatarians."
Weigel skedaddled from here about ten or twenty seconds after Obama
won the election. It's almost as though that was his primary
objective or something.
|5.14.09 @ 3:17PM|#
Arnold never recovered after picking -- and losing -- a big
fight with the teachers and nurses unions. Everyone hates greedy
unions, but everybody likes nurses and teachers! After that
election, when all of Arnold's budget measures went down to defeat,
Arnold was never the same. He capitulated, decided to be popular,
and took a big turn to the left.
I have to say, Arnold did what I thought would have been
impossible. He's made me miss Gray Davis.
|5.14.09 @ 3:32PM|#
"From what I've seen California expatriates generally go about
trying to replicate exactly the things that made them leave
California. So this doesn't bode well."
Yet I bet you have no issue with illegal aliens coming to the US
and doing precisely the same thing? Seems many of the border towns
and even some areas of larger cities are nothing but mexican
ghettos, no different then the ones they supposedly fled to come
here and get away from. They come here and demand we make things
exactly like they were in their own shitty country they couldn't
walk and swim fast enough to get away from getting here.
Guess my Libertarian nature ends at the border.
Blunt|5.14.09 @ 3:50PM|#
"Weigel skedaddled from here about ten or twenty seconds after
Obama won the election. It's almost as though that was his primary
objective or something."
I hear that he and joe have moved to a charming little cottage on
Fire Island.
|5.14.09 @ 4:08PM|#
Where are these guys now?
I supported McClintock, but I don't blame anyone who was hoodwinked
by Arnold.
Arnold was a businessman, and he seemed to have an understanding
how California was becoming the worst business climate in the USA.
He started his first term really well. He called in experts to
analyze the budget and look for ways to make it more efficient and
less wasteful.
But then he tried to do too much at once, and had four propositions
in a special election dealing with too much minutiae at once for
the typical citizen. IMHO, that was the turning point where Arnold
seemed to become a completely different person. Or maybe there's
something in the Sacramento water system. Who knows?
Personally, I think he's secretly punishing California for his
failure in that first special election. Well, we'll be punishing
him and the legislature back by defeating the current set of
propositions. With luck, the state will go bankrupt and all those
f***headed, gold plated deals with the state employees unions (by
far the number one biggest source of the California's troubles)
will be null and void.
|5.14.09 @ 4:22PM|#
I can't wait until Tuesday.
Remember: No no no, no no no. ;-)
I'm a mild John & Ken fan, but I might go to that rally on
Saturday to see if I can get a whack at the Arnold pinata.
Sometimes a good primal act can be cathartic. :-)
|5.14.09 @ 4:23PM|#
"As many as 40 states face whopping deficits that are only going
to get worse as the recession continues."
Is is really the case that 80% of the States are so irresponsibly
governed? I'm not saying it's impossible, just very surprising,
given that ANY are responsible at all. The fact that any States are
not in the soup indicates either that they are extremely lucky, or
that good sense DOES exist somewhere -- and in the latter case, why
isn't it more widely disbursed around the country?
The other thing that makes me curious is the fact that so many of
the troubled States are turning to -- openly RELYING ON -- the
Federal government to help solve their problems; and the Federal
government is, quite conveniently, obliging.
In the Private Sector, bailout funds purchase Federal control of
the corporations that receive welfare. What about in the government
sector? Is this just another stepping stone to reducing the States
to mere administrative entities of the Federal government, perhaps
eliminating States as semi-autonomous, semi-sovereign entities
altogether? If Obama could dismiss the CEO of GM and dictate future
product development efforts in exchange for pulling the company's
chestnuts out of the fire, what powers might he assume over Mr.
Schwarzenegger's or future administrations in the Golden State, or
in other States? What's really astounding about this situation is
that Uncle Sam would be purchasing control over the States with
funny money, horribly inflated dollars, which won't have quite the
salutary effect that the State governments may be hoping to
enjoy.
It'll be interesting to see how all of this turns out.
|5.14.09 @ 4:27PM|#
I'm not sure why Schwartzeneggar is afraid of state employees
unions. It's not like they are really popular or anything.
What he needs is a moment like Thatcher's decision to break the
coal miners unions in the UK.
They were thought to be politically bullet proof. But ultimately,
all it took was someone with the balls to stand up to them. They
didn't have nearly as much popular support as they thought they
did.
Sarkozy needs to do the same thing in France. Merkel in Germany. I
don't know anyone who thinks that striking public sector workers
are sympathetic. Most people find them annoying, overpaid, lazy,
crybabies. Most private sector workers don't have it nearly as
good, and yet they bitch and moan and ask for more breaks.
Gilbert Martin|5.14.09 @ 4:38PM|#
"The fact that any States are not in the soup indicates either
that they are extremely lucky, or that good sense DOES exist
somewhere -- and in the latter case, why isn't it more widely
disbursed around the country?"
It would be hard to replicate elsewhere some factors that help keep
certain states in the black.
Alaska for example is sparsley populated and gets a ton of revenue
from royalties on oil.
That's not likely to work in Rhode Island.
DHS Thinks I\'m a Terrorist|5.14.09 @ 7:39PM|#
Is there any legal provision wherein a U.S. State can be booted out of the Union for sheer incompetence? If so, I would love to boot California out. Let it pay for its own damn mess.
|5.14.09 @ 8:53PM|#
You folks know California better than I up in the boonies of NH,
but I've no sympathy for Arnold. He's just another (no worse, no
better) ego-maniacal billionaire who made enough money that he
wanted to tell everyone else how to live.
Notwithstanding his obnoxious, self-serving arrogance, his history
of ass-grabbing women that wanted nothing to do with him, his days
of macho fist-fights in the locker room over trivial nonsense, and
his bad-acting, he earned his comeuppence.
But the egos continue. Did you ever notice a pol who admitted
failure, who somehow accepted the blame? Just watch the Cheneys,
the Pelosis (now that's sickening, eh?), the Kennedys, the Palins,
the Edwards... rationalizing all their buffoonery, stupidity,
power-mongering and elitist lifestyles at your expense.
He'll be the same. He was astonishingly transparent in every
interview.
So now he'll walk off into the sunset, return to movies, I guess,
spin his utter failure by blaming everything and everyone except
himself.
Gray Davis must be laughing his own fool head off, as well.
To sustain the acting metaphor, I remember Ned Beatty in the movie
_Shooter_, playing the corrupt senator: "It's not about Republicans
and Democrats; it's about the haves, and the have-nots!!!"
They're all the same.
American Idol at the State House, at the Capitol, at the Governor's
Mansion. And everyone arguing over which piece of scum should speak
for me.
Good luck in California. The same trends are coming eastward. I
regretfully await.
|5.14.09 @ 9:15PM|#
I give a liberal estimate of 20 years until America implodes completely. Maybe 15? Maybe even 10? I have my passport, now the only question is- where will free minded individuals escape to? There is no "John Galt" hideaway in the mountains in the real world; Or is there?
Ebeneezer Scrooge|5.15.09 @ 3:17AM|#
James Anderson Merritt,
It'll be interesting to see how all of this turns
out.
"Interesting" is really not the right word. Unless you find the
idea of an incredibly tyrannical government sucking the wealth out
of us all, followed by all-out anarchy, "interesting".
I for one got quite enough anarchy in my life, just by reading the
history of Europe's last Dark Age.
Ebeneezer Scrooge|5.15.09 @ 3:19AM|#
Andy, what good is your passport going to be when the US
collapses?
You should really consider conquering a small country
somewhere.
Somewhere warm, because I can't stand snow.
NC Dweller|5.15.09 @ 2:03PM|#
One prediction I can give you for certain: the next guy will do
absolutely no better. The makers of this video refer metaphorically
to Schwartzenegger's term in office as a disaster flick, but I'd
say it's more like the big-budget sequel to the wildly successful
smaller-budget disaster flick: Gray Davis was plenty profligate
while he was in office too, and the next sequel--something like the
election of the 0bamassiah to preside over our nation's
destruction--will be like an even bigger-budget disaster flick
that'll make you nostalgic for Schwartzenegger. ("Schwartzenegger
at least TRIED to do something about the unions when he first got
in. This *%&$!#@ is their best friend from day 1!") (Speaking
of union friends, how about 0bama and that UAW, eh?)
If the unions aren't popular, then how--pray tell--did they manage
to send Schwartzenegger's propositions down in flames? The
Californians have no one to blame but themselves for voting for
this crap. I would personally be in favor of firing every one of
those smug union extortionists I saw there on the screen and
confiscating everything they own in compensation for their
thieving, but apparently my view is the minority opinion in
California. Even if they do have another recall, they sure as hell
will do even worse than they already are.
As for those fool expatriates, you may be interested to know that
expatriates from ALL the "blue" states have been poisoning every
"red" state to which they go as well: North Carolina and Virginia
have lately been infested with all the Marxist money molesters
fleeing from the hellholes of New York and New Jersey. They've
carried their votes with them, and if things go on this way much
longer, soon you won't have anywhere to run. What good will
secession do you if every state governor is also a political
messiah these fools elected?
|5.15.09 @ 3:39PM|#
# Ebeneezer Scrooge | May 15, 2009, 3:17am | #
## James Anderson Merritt,
## It'll be interesting to see how all of this
## turns out.
# "Interesting" is really not the right word.
It is, if you're trying to be sarcastic via understatement.
|5.15.09 @ 4:02PM|#
# DHS Thinks I'm a Terrorist | May 14, 2009, 7:39pm | #
# Is there any legal provision wherein a U.S.
# State can be booted out of the Union for sheer
# incompetence? If so, I would love to boot
# California out.
# Let it pay for its own damn mess.
Two thoughts on that: 1) California could probably purchase a LOT
if it got back the nearly 50% of land in the State that is
currently owned by the Federal government. That's right, almost
every other acre in the State is federal property.
2) It really chafes me to hear people putting California down for
its slipshod statecraft on the one hand and its immigration mess on
the other, since the immigrants who overwhelmed the natural-born
Californians and put us on our current bad path were primarily
transplants from OTHER STATES, not Mexico or any other foreign
country. For the most part, all the people I've ever met who were
actually born and raised here (or who were at least here
permanently since childhood), display pretty good common sense
about how to govern this State and promote economic activity within
it. It may surprise some people, but California was once (and for a
long time) politically conservative, even the Democrats, and even
well-into the 1960s. But as demography changed with CA's population
explosion of the past several decades, so did the State's politics.
Note that foreign immigrants could not legally vote -- usually not
for many years aftet their arrival. So the blame for the political
changes in this State belongs to those who were able to vote almost
immediately after taking up residence here: the out-of-state
transplants, many of whom moved on, chasing their dreams to Oregon,
Washington, or other places, after setting up some pretty sorry
legal and regulatory conditions. They were as bad as locusts,
imho.
cathy|5.18.09 @ 6:03AM|#
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|5.18.09 @ 2:02PM|#
While I like Tom, the reality is he wouldn't have acomplished
anything either.
Arnold pushed a bunch of propositions during a special election.
These would have helped get things under control, but CA voters
rejected these, and since then Arnold caved and now acts like a
typical CA Democrat, except a rare moderate one. On top of that, CA
voters have supported propositions that have created numerous
unfunded mandates.
It is CA voters who are to blame. Arnold started off fine, but when
defeated proved to be a wimp.
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