Friday, May 22, 2009

California Political Class vs. The People

You would think that the California voter rejection of five tax and robbery measures this past Tuesday was a sign of the apocalypse, judging by the political class reaction to the crushing defeat.
Led by Gov. Benedict Arnold, there is a theme that the voters are tired of voting in special elections. That there have been too many in the last several years.
Well, yes there have been a few elections.
Start with the recall of former Gov. Gray Era Davis. That crushing blow for Mr. Davis and the ascension of Arnold Schwarzenegger seemed to usher in a new era to Sacramento.
But, instead of focusing on one issue at a time, Gov. Schwarzenegger tried to get several ballot initiatives passed all at once. Coincidentally, in a special election.
Ahh, but the state unions, led by the California Teachers Association blindsided Gov. Schwarzenegger and ran enough ads to plant in the voters minds how terrible the governor's proposals were.
Needless to say all went to defeat and then was the beginning of Gov. Schwarzenegger's transformation to his current incarnation as Gov. Benedict Arnold.
And once again, when faced with a left-wing, Democrat-dominated state legislature wanting a slew of taxes, Gov. Benedict Arnold tried to cut down the middle. Oh, he went along with the Democrats by and large, but appeared to be down the middle.
And once again, rather than solving a problem, the governor and the legislative leaders tried to pass the buck and the voters said enough is enough.
But, many of the political class can not believe how badly the voters reacted.
What this means is, THE HORROR!, these clowns in suits now have to work on a real and long-term solution to the mess.
Stop with the threats to cut public services. We know that some will have to be cut. But, there is a whole state bureaucracy that needs very, very serious reforms, cuts and eliminations.
California state government is operating on the exact model when the state was admitted to the Union in 1850 with 93,000 people.
Now, it is time for the people we elect to office to sit down and come up with real solutions.
If they do not, the people will let them know in November, 2010. And it will not be pretty.

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