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1. 

   Nurb said, 4 months ago

   What do people expect them to do? They’re trying to solve a huge debt, but they aren’t allowed to cut services or raise taxes.

   That’s like saying “You can go for a swim, just don’t get wet”

2. 

   Anthony 2816 said, 4 months ago

   The Democrats are allowed to cut services, and the Republicans are allowed to raise taxes.

3. 

   dwyant said, 4 months ago

   Hey! Why doesn’t the rest of the country follow their model? Let’s start with their building codes in the cap & trade legislation!

4. 

   Norman said, 4 months ago

   Unfortunately the rest of the country does follow their god-d-mn fool laws. May as well we all go bankrupt.

5. 

   dtroutma said, 4 months ago

   It stems from the Reagan “no tax is a good tax” philosophy as governor, and is reflected at the national level as well. No medicine, read viable tax policies to actually PAY for what they spent, has left the nation malnourished and needing multiple organ transplants, not just a shot of cold medicine.

6. 

   Gladius said, 4 months ago

   Part of the problem with CA is how badly the political districts are gerrymandered. It has gotten to the point where the only important election is the primary and there are both Republican and Dem guaranteed seats. As a result extremists, on both sides, tend to win the primaries. Result, Rep. don’t want to raise taxes whether or not the end of the world is coming and Dems never saw a service they didn’t like whether or not the state could afford it.

7. 

   Tigger said, 4 months ago

   This is not the First Time Cali has issued IOU’s, I believe the did this when Reagan was Governor of ths Golden Bear State.

8. 

   Gladius said, 4 months ago

   According to Timeline(I googled California ious history) it was1992. They barely avoided it in 1983 and apparently already had the ious printed. Sadly, it’s not new.

9. 

   Bluejayz said, 4 months ago

   Anthony 2816 has it right. When both the Dems and GOP pols start thinking and acting like citizens instead of ideologues, they’ll figure out that both spending and taxes have got to be on the table.

   Hmm. Could work in Washington, also.

10. 

    dtroutma said, 4 months ago

    I remember a California Congressperson stating it shouldn’t be the task of public schools to teach kids how to balance a checkbook. Does THAT tell you anything? BOTH parties, and the voters DO need a little remedial math. If you want it, pay for it. If you DON’T want to pay for it, don’t buy it. That applies to missiles, bridges, air traffic controllers, cops, prisons, firefighters, schools, agricultural subsidies, corporate bailouts, and medical care.

11. 

    oldlegodad said, 4 months ago

    Give CA back to Mexico and good riddance.

12. 

    Tom Ciborowski said, 4 months ago

    The bottom line is fiscal responsibility. If you want something, you’ve got to pay for it. Why do you think that most Eurpoean countries have 40–50% tax rates? Americans decry those tax levels, yet they want that level of government. Try running your houshold the way the government does and see how long you’ll stay out of jail.

13. 

    Gladius said, 4 months ago

    Whether you agree or disagree as to whether we should have that type of government, I think that saying all Americans want it is a foolish generalization.

14. 

    DrCanuck said, 4 months ago

    Gladius, that is one of the unspoken rules of this blog; always generalize your points to EVERYONE.

15. 

    PUPPYSAURUS said, 4 months ago

    It’s all good, man.

16. 

    M Kitt said, 4 months ago

    OGD, stop dissing the West coasties, not all of us meet the Lib ideal but we’re reaching for it…… :-)

17. 

    Anthony 2816 said, 4 months ago

    Most people don’t realize that except for the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas, California is fairly conservative.

    The Central Valley, where I live, sure is.

    But most of the universities are concentrated in the SF and LA areas, so obviously the educational element makes them more liberal…and those are the two biggest population densities.

18. 

    M Kitt said, 4 months ago

    Anthony, I work in Santa Barbara and it’s a Lib mecca but have to agree, the conservative element of CA. is old money and entrenched, displacement of Gray Davis by the Grubernator is a good example of how organized they are. Activism is the catalyst for change, the campus collectives are a good starting point.
    Fortunately Repubs. are falling away from the mainstream on a national scale and if CA. could get the whole voter education & prop. 8 issues resolved we could be the Lib state we deserve to be :-)

19. 

    Anthony 2816 said, 4 months ago

    Prop 8 was such an embarrassment.

    Iowa beat us! How bad is that?

20. 

    believecommonsense said, 4 months ago

    Anthony and MKitt, both points are on the money. CA is nowhere near as liberal as many make it out to be, There are more progressive areas, but north of Napa, it’s all red state, in addition to the “red-state” inland.

    But we (CA) are in a world of hurt right now, financially speaking. It’s almost like the state is not governable. They haven’t passed a balanced budget in years, even though they’re required to by our own state constitution.

21. 

    fritzoid said, 4 months ago

    The Red and Blue mapping of California is deceptive, as is the Red and Blue mapping of the U.S. as a whole. For the most part, those pockets of the map which show consistently Blue are the more densely-populated areas, while the Red swaths are largely rural (Orange County being the notable ecxeption, even though Laguna Beach is liberal). Old news, but it explains why Blue (liberal) measures are passed despite an overbalance of Red acreage. However, if the votes of INDIVIDUALS are tracked rather than the larger units, most of California (like most of the U.S.) ends up varying shades of Purple.

    In San Francisco, as you might imagine, the proportion of “No” votes on Prop. 8 was overwhelming, but there were still a couple of precincts which on the whole voted “Yes”; these were the districts primarily populated by Blacks and Chinese.

22. 

    M Kitt said, 4 months ago

    Fritz, think that’s legit particularly regarding population density, the large landowners have always been prevalently conservative and politically connected tying into what I called “old money”.

23. 

    fritzoid said, 4 months ago

    That’s true, but in rural areas you don’t have to be rich to be conservative. The small farmer generally votes about as Red as the mega-rancher.

24. 

    M Kitt said, 4 months ago

    And won’t be happening any time in the near future, Believe.