California...Failing

It's been 6 days.  6 stinking days!  6 days since I decided to "social distance" from the blog and just be a watcher of events instead of a commentator.  My caveat was returning to put up a post if something pissed me off enough or there was a compelling issue to comment on.  Well...suffice to say that the actions of the state leadership of my beloved California has my blood boiling.

California is my birthplace and home for most of my life.  It is a diverse state that is almost a country in itself.  To many for a lot of years, it's been a place that has defined tomorrow.  A place with optimistic people who are on the cutting edge of society.  For a lot of years it had an education system second to none, high technology firms had centered their operations here, a rich cultural heritage related to the Mexican culture, almost every tourist and recreation attraction imaginable, and an agricultural industry that was second to none.  The state government routinely had a surplus and focused their priorities on growth and quality of life.  People flocked to California.  The population swelled and life was good.  To be sure there were problems along the way, but I've been proud to be a Californian my whole life.  I could extoll it's virtues and minimize it's failings with the best of them.  When we lived on the East coast a few times, I always yearned to return.  My family is from here and the draw remains.

But it's getting more and more difficult.  In fact, it's extremely difficult.  California has become the butt of so many jokes around the country and I must say deservedly so.  When the pandemic first hit I was a bit optimistic that Gov Newsome was exhibiting some pretty sound leadership.  He seemed to be spouting all the correct things and provided some reasonable direction given that we really didn't know what we were facing.  But in the weeks and months since taking the spotlight, it has become increasingly obvious that he is a grandstanding ego maniac.  His dictatorial edicts from Sacramento have hurt more than they help and now we see cities and counties around the state either begging him for dispensation to open or ignoring them as much as possible.  He is not only misguided but he comes from a very powerful, elite, racist family lineage that has been in power a long time and unless something drastic happens will remain in power a long time.  Check out this family tree.

But the latest idiocy and the straw that broke the camel's back is his edict to provide hard earned taxpayer money to illegal aliens.  I mean, that is just beyond the pale.  Like many, I am outraged.  This is just blatantly an attempt to influence voting blocks and nothing more.  He doesn't give a shit about illegal immigrants.  To him they are nothing but an entity.  But at the same time I know there isn't anything I can do about it but fume.  The state has a solid majority of liberal Democrats and they will go along with it. But to most clear thinking Americans, this makes no sense.  It's just another step down the steep slope to disaster.  President Trump has threatened to withhold Federal relief money if this decision isn't reversed and I really hope he will do it.  And so what did Newsome do?  He doubled down of course.  Now he is saying that unless California receives a massive bailout from the federal government, the first to face cuts will be first responders.  Think about that.  He's giving taxpayer money to illegal aliens and will cut funding for first responders.  What a royal asshole!

But this latest idiocy shouldn't be a surprise.  After all, we're the home of the sanctuary cities and a drive to create open borders.  We have arguably the worst homeless problem in the country that has driven Los Angeles and San Francisco to become cess pools of disgusting tent encampments.  And the local governments don't seem to be able to do anything about it.  Or more accurately I don't think they care.  We're the place where the state government is championing "vote by mail" which is an obvious corruption of the process and designed to favor one side over the other.  We're the place that used to have the premier university system in the world that is now a laughing stock.  Just this week they took another step toward mediocrity by getting rid of the SAT and ACT system.  We're the place where local schools used to be the pride of the community and now don't have enough of anything except very nice salaries for teachers and administrators.  We're the place that had a world class, thriving agricultural industry and killed it by shutting off the water and diverting it to sea to save the snail darter.  We're the place where the coastal elites are doing just fine and in fact thriving, while their fellow Californians 100 miles inland are starving to death.  I've come to believe that these elites are the worst kind of racists.  We're the place where the state government is famously owned by the Unions.  Nothing can change or get done unless the Unions agree because they own all the politicians.  We're the place that is actively debating a state healthcare system for all, including illegal aliens, that will cost over $400 Billion.  We're the place where illegal aliens can get a drivers license.  We're the place that has adopted it's own climate change policies that are devastating to the poor and even the middle class but don't impact the elite coastal racists.  Think about this...California has the worlds most comprehensive climate change laws.  The worlds!  We're the place that is recognized as the most regulated state in the country, if not the world.  It literally takes years to get any project approved.  We're the place that has the highest income tax in the country and a high sales tax.  And only 150,000 people of the 40 million who live here pay more than half of the tax collected.    We're the place where our Attorney General has filed dozens of lawsuits against the Trump administration as a form of "resistence".   When he's not doing that he's protecting criminals.  We're the place that has water infrastructure to serve 25 million people at most with a population of 40 million.  And nothing has been done about it since the 1960's because of idiotic and onerous environmental regulations.  We're the place that people are fleeing from more than any other state in the Union.  And I could go on.

And so you might say just leave.  Easier said than done.  When I balance the reasons to stay versus the reasons to leave, staying still wins.  But it's by an increasingly thin margin.  Things have gone so very wrong in California and I fear it is a generational issue that won't improve until devastation rains down on us.  I probably won't live to see it but I hope somebody comes along to save the State.