I could go on and on. Suffice it to say that California's Democrat and Big Government Republican (we call them "Establishment Republicans") management is an utter joke. This state is on the fast track to becoming the first state in the Union to be bailed out by the Obama government.
With this context in mind, there were two muni-elections on Tuesday and the results were absolutely shocking.
The first involved San Diego to the far south of the state. San D is a conservative region, by comparison (but not "Republican"). On Tuesday, the citizenry of that city voted to reduce the pension packages of its public unions and the vote garnered 66% of that city's voting population. The unions fought this vote, of course, but their efforts were decimated.
The second election is even more telling. San Jose, as liberal a region in this state as there is, also voted to reduce union pension plans. And the vote in that election was 70% for these reductions. Truly amazing.
Obama is all talk when it comes to his opposition to "trickle down economics." Welfare assistance is just that - trickle down. So too are bail-outs and, in this case, bail-outs offered to the several States in the Union. With California in mind, understand that if a state's economy is to be brought under control, two things must happen: first, there must be a refusal of outside "aid." Such only puts off the inevitable. Protracted and well planned spending cuts accomplish the same thing as a bail-out and actually solve the problem, of fiscal embalance; two, city governments must bring their economies in line with honest revenue projections. This second consideration is a "bottom up" solution that will be lost if the larger state government refuses to balance its budget without borrowing money. But, enough with my scrub opinion on financial resolution.
Point of post: to let the readership know that the "spending rebellion" seen in Wisconsin and locales on the East coast, has spread to the very liberal Left coast, as well.
After decades of spending as if there were no limits, “regular” Liberals and Establishment Conservatives are learning the following lesson -- something I knew before getting out of the third grade, by the way: you can promise the moon, but if your only means of transportation is a Chevy Vega, the only space trip you can afford is a short drive off a long pier.
In other words, all intended “good deeds” and fiscal planning must be crafted in the world of fiscal reality. Liberals resist this bit of wisdom, even ridicule the idea, but only as long as they have access to other people’s money and,or a printing press.
The money is gone. Time for change is now.
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End notes
Figures for California's unfunded pension problems come from the Orange County Register (link) - the biker boys on cable live in Orange County, Florida, by the way.