Back with a Vengence!

So, we meet again! After much tumult in my personal life (getting laid off, working multiple jobs to pay the bills, getting a roommate, interviewing for a new job, getting a new job, losing the roommate, and on and on and...you get the idea) I have returned to the blogosphere. First of all, let me say that I have a lot of ground to cover since I really don't have an outlet other than the unfortunates known as my family and friends. I'm sure that they get sick of discussing politics with me, especially my "to the left of FDR" friends. To them I say: Relax, go read some HuffPo, and hug a tree while I blog.


The last time that I posted, voters in California had just rejected four of five ballot initiatives brought to you buy our opportunistic State Senator-turned-Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado and a bunch of backroom dealing political hacks. They tried to convince us that we greedy working people needed to cough up more money to pay for Sacramento's precious social programs and feed the bloated tick that is our state's bureacracy. We were told that if we didn't tax ourselves into poverty, then the state would slide off into the ocean . Well, we didn't and...didn't. My apologies to the states of Arizona and Nevada; I'm sure that you were looking forward to some oceanfront property.


Our state is facing record deficits (again) and IOU's being issued to employees and contractors (again). According to the Employment Development Department, California's unemployment rate is 12.4%. On a national level, the unemployment rate was just reported at 9.8%. In the face of all of this what has California's legislators done? They have voted even more government spending, raised "fees" on industries and businesses still in the state, and passed a cap-and-trade bill that has our state's private sector economy shrinking. Whole companies have either gone belly up or have left California. In spite of all of this, what did the voters of California do? They voted to keep the status quo. Why? There are a few factors to consider.

Factor #1: California now has more people living off the government, both in the form of handouts and government employment. A state that is drowning in red ink is also the state's biggest employer. More than half of those employed in California are government employees. These employees all pay dues to their respective unions. As a former state employee (I quit because I actually like to finish projects), I had to pay $40 a month to the union despite the fact that I wasn't a member! How did they get away with this? State agencies are union-shops in California. Because I supposedly reaped the benefits of collective bargaining, I had to pay dues. What a racket! Even if you aren't a member, you are still funding the union's PAC and their candidates.

Factor #2: Almost all of the sane people have left the state, leaving the rest of us in the minority. I graduated from high school in a class of 150 students. Of those 150, about one-third of them have left California. There are roughly 37 million people in California. Of those people, 33% of them are under the age of 18 and a little over 11% are 65 and older. So, right off the top, you have 44% of the population that isn't working for a living. Of course, one would assume that the under 18 crowd is being provided for by their parents in some way or another. However, 2008 marked the first year that more people were actually leaving California than were coming here. If the people that I see in my day-to-day life are any indication, the only ones still here are senior citizens, kids, and illegal aliens that have fled Arizona.

Factor #3: At the state-level, the Republican Party still doesn't get it. Look at who we had for political candidates this last go-round. We were asked to hold our noses, once more, and vote for the lesser of two evils. Meg Whitman ran like John McCain. In other words, she ran a horrible campaign. It should have been easy to beat Governor Moonbeam; look at all the material you have. Jerry Brown hasn't had a private sector job since 1970. To give you a little perspective, my mom was ten years old the last time that Jerry Brown earned a paycheck that didn't come from a municipal or state treasury. Whitman didn't have to run a negative campaign to beat Jerry Brown. All she had to do was list his accomplishments while serving has Governor, Mayor of Oakland, and Attorney General.

Is California beyond hope? It's difficult to stay optimistic in the face of this past November. If California is going to recover and become prosperous again, we need to quit doing more of the same. By and large, all the State Legislature's incumbents were re-elected. Even though the governorship switch parties, it didn't change the agenda. Schwarzenegger abandoned conservative principles years ago so he could "get along" with everyone entrenched in Sacramento and still get invitations to Hollywood cocktail parties after he leaves the state's capital. I also suspect there was an element of domestic harmony to be maintained, as well. If you thought Ah-nuld was a schmuck, wait until Moonbeam gets sworn in for the third time.

At least we still have the recall referendum.