George Rebane
Not that there was any chance of doing that during the last thirty years or so. Huffingtonpost.com summarizes it –
State Democrats have won a supermajority in the legislature (at least 54 Assembly seats and 27 Senate seats), which means they can now reach the two-thirds majority vote needed to overcome filibusters and pass crucial tax revenue laws. It also empowers the party to overturn vetoes handed down by Gov. Jerry Brown.
The certifiable idiots are now fully in charge of the asylum known as the California Legislature. I believe that Californians are again first in the nation, this time to demonstrate that we are not capable of governing ourselves.
Dear reader, if you thought that AB32 (aka the cynically named ‘Global Warming Solutions Act’) was a disaster when passed, you were among the state’s few prescients. Today no one will get much credit for predicting the dystopia that now faces our once Golden State. All I can advise is to keep women, children, and the infirm away from the exits. We don’t want any more injuries as the rush of the state’s emigrants turns into a torrent.
And then, just when you thought things were already going to hell in a handcart, they upgrade that to high speed rail.
[9nov12 update] The world of liberty and enterprise is beginning to take note of the other disaster that befell our country last Tuesday. Today’s 9nov12 WSJ observed our state’s calamity with these words.
For Republicans unhappy with Tuesday’s election, we have good news—at least most of you don’t live in California. Not only did Democrats there win voter approval to raise the top tax rate to 13.3%, but they also received a huge surprise—a legislative supermajority. Look out below. … The main check on Sacramento excess has been a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds majority of both houses to raise taxes. Although Republicans have been in the minority for four decades, they could impose a modicum of spending restraint by blocking tax increases. If Democratic leads stick in two races where ballots are still being counted, liberals will pick up enough seats to secure a supermajority. Governor Jerry Brown then will be the only chaperone for the Liberals Gone Wild video that is Sacramento.
Noting the ongoing rise in union power in the state that promises to swamp the already unserviceable fiscal burdens, unfunded liabilities, and growing municipal bankruptcies, the WSJ states that “now Californians will experience the joys of one-party, union-run progressive governance.”
However, there is a possible upside for America in this regional storm of electoral dumbth.
The silver lining here is that Americans will be able to see the modern liberal-union state in all its raw ambition. The Sacramento political class thinks it can tax and regulate the private economy endlessly without consequence. As a political experiment it all should be instructive, and at least Californians can still escape to Nevada or Idaho.


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