California--The Welfare State-Important Read

But the real political problem lies in Sacramento, the state capital, which is run not so much by politicians as by the unions they've sold out to - state employees, nurses, teachers and prison guards.

For their part, politicians have largely ignored the state's crumbling infrastructure, failing schools and dismal job market. And it's about to get worse.

Voters also approved a new measure requiring a simple legislative majority to approve a state budget. It previously took two-thirds, giving Republicans far more leverage. Democrats, in other words, will now find it even easier to spend money they don't have.

Moreover, as its tax base shrivels, the state is lurching ever closer to fiscal insolvency. At some point, it will ask Congress for a bailout, and how likely is that with the new Republican majority?

Worse is the feeling among the state's businesses of an entrenched, almost pathological antipathy toward any job-creating activity.

More from IBD

And this from WSJ

From another blog below: (click here to read whole post)

So why do I no longer feel sorry for Californians? Because they absolutely refuse to change it. The election just concluded gave Golden Staters one more chance to fix some of our problems and prevent a few others. And what did you do, California? You blew it, big time. You reelected Jerry Brown, a guy who earned the moniker "Moonbeam" when he was the Guv in the seventies. He appointed Rose Bird as Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court. She overturned 62 death penalty cases, every single one that came before her, including the Manson Family killers. He signed the legislation that permitted collective bargaining for public employee unions, which now threatens our State's very economic existence

A comment I read:

and hypocrisy and is best left to its own self destruction. And I hate to say that with a passion as I too use to love going to the state to see all its wonders. The state gave me my favorite president, one of my favorite pastors, and IMO, the best drug and alcohol treatment guide in the business which I became certified in so that I could use the program in my state/church. That being said…

Here is a state racked with debt, corruption, union control, unemployment out of the ying yang, etc all caused by the leftist they have allowed to run their state. They have the two leftist congress folk in the business and could have rid themselves of them, but they chose not too. Then they get even dumber and bring back moonbeam which just blew my mind. It does not take a genius to know that if one thing has not worked, get rid of it and try something else, yet they do the opposite. And in a matter of months or a year at most, the state will be broke and asking the rest of the country to bail them out. I hope when that day comes, we give them the finger and sell that state to Mexico.

Many years ago, I swore I would never cross the border into that state again. It is a disgusting state that was once a great state. The last time I was there, I saw what had to be the most disgusting sight ever. NAMBA in a gay parade, which by itself was disgusting ( not so much for the parade, but for the way they acted, dressed, and carried themselves) with little boys riding their shoulders and/or walking hand in hand with them all while the perverts proclaimed the holiness of child love. They did this with the full support of the populace and the government of the area/state. This was enough for me, but then came along the whole sanctuary cities debacle, the boycott of Arizona, the push in the state to force BS greenie laws on all of us, etc. That was the nail in the coffin. Now all they offer this country is radicalism, debt, and Pelosi/Boxer. It is high time we write them off and let their ship sink. All the good guys out there should pack their bags, shake the dirt off their shoes at the border, and join the rest of us in real land in another state. Let them sink to the bottom, then go in and take over. Outside of that, I see no hope for that state.

What was once a proud and beautiful state is now nothing more than the poop tank for all that is progressive. Yet they could not even find in it themselves to make weed legal. While it is the way I would have it, it made no sense for such a progressive state and one that is so deep in debt. Only right thing they did in that election yet it made no sense at all.

In order to regain our government as it was intended to be, we must demand the the government recognize the power lies with the people and it is not them that rule this country, it is the people who rule the government.

Here's more from the WSJ

California officials acknowledged last Thursday that the state faces $20 billion deficits every year from now to 2016. At the same time, California's state Treasurer entered bond markets to sell some $14 billion in "revenue anticipation notes" over the next two weeks. Worst of all, economic sanity lost out in what may have been the most important election on Nov. 2—and, no, I'm not talking about the gubernatorial or senate races.

This was the California referendum to repeal Assembly Bill 32, the so-called Global Warming Solutions Act, which ratchets the state's economy back to 1990 levels of greenhouse gases by 2020. That's a 30% drop followed by a mandated 80% overall drop by 2050. Together with a $500 billion public-pension overhang, the new energy cap dooms the state to bankruptcy.