California named the worst state to do business, for 8th year in a row

Why, it’s almost as if businesses are averse to burdensome regulations and oppressive taxes or something!  Almost, that is.  Excerpt:

So much for the idea of West is best. In an annual survey, executives ranked California as the worst place to do business for the eighth year in a row.

Chief Executive magazine has only been conducting its survey for eight years. Texas has been top-ranked every year.

The survey considered responses from 650 business leaders, who graded states on factors such as taxes, regulations, living environment and more.

Texas and second-ranked Florida have the highest migration rates in the nation for 2001 through 2009. California has lost 1.5 million people over the same period.
…
Its 10.9% unemployment rate is only lower than Nevada’s and Rhode Island’s. A third of U.S. welfare recipients live in California, the report noted. High state taxes and bundles of red tape make operating a business in the state unaffordable to many companies, critics say.

Last year, 254 California companies moved some or all of their work and jobs elsewhere — 26% more than 2010. Most chief executives in Silicon Valley said they won’t expand in the state, according to the survey.

Interesting observations here.  Note the performance of the red/reddish states…

Also in the top 10: North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia and Utah.

… and blue states.

California narrowly edged out New York in what the survey called “the ninth circle of business hell,” sharing the bottom five spots with Illinois, Massachusetts and Michigan.

I’m sure the crushing regulations and taxes of the blue states have nothing to do with their rankings whatsoever.  Right?

California about to run out of cash

But hey, these mouthbreathers want to keep putting Democrats in charge, so with all due apologies to my conservative friends trapped on the Left Coast, my sympathy fuel tank is on fumes right now.  Details:

California will run out of cash by early March if the state does not take swift action to find $3.3 billion through payment delays and borrowing, according to a letter state Controller John Chiang sent to state lawmakers today.

The announcement is surprising since lawmakers previously believed the state had enough cash to last through the fiscal year that ends in June.

New state motto: Sure, we’re bankrupt, businesses are fleeing like crazy, our taxes are oppressive, we have rolling blackouts, and no one here speaks English anymore…but hey, at least Republicans aren’t running the show, right?

Occupy LA vermin evicted, hazmat suits required in cleanup

But hey, where would you get this crazy idea that the Occupiers were a bunch of filthy, disgusting, unemployable miscreants?  Oh, I dunno.

Sanitation workers wearing hazmat suits and masks moved into City Hall park Wednesday to clean up tons of trash, debris and human waste after police evicted the 2-month-old Occupy LA tent camp and arrested almost 300 people in a mostly non-violent pre-dawn raid.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the cleanup and repair to the damaged lawn and park facilities would cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars, possibly more than $1 million.

So how does the 99% live?  Apparently, like this:

By dawn, trash, flattened tents, strewn clothing, bedding and the stench of urine were the legacy of the Occupy LA.

“It’s so contaminated that it doesn’t even make sense to sort it out,” said Jose Garcia, sanitation superintendent of the city north central district.

An estimated 25 tons of trash and debris were to be carted away by mid-afternoon. Workers were finding bottles of urine throughout the camp.

Who knew I was a 1%-er, huh?

Quote of the day, “sad pathetic California loser” edition

I do pray that leeches like this don’t get near a ballot box, ever again.  Money quote from an article about the failure of the so-called “Super Committee”:

“I think the whole situation is nutty,” said Jan O’Connell, a 47-year-old artist from Los Angeles. “Somebody’s got to save us, and if the government can’t, who can?”

Ho. Ly. Shiite.

I’ve got a radical idea.  How about you fend for yourself and stop depending on the government to “save” you?

Democrat mayor in California to veterans: Screw you, the Occupiers are more important!

But hey, where would you get the crazy idea that the left doesn’t support the troops?  From Californiastan:

The mayor of Richmond, Calif., is under fire for her decision to skip a Veterans Day memorial to attend an Occupy Rally.

Mayor Gayle McLaughlin sent an email to the San Jose Mercury News explaining why she would not be attending a Veterans Day salute that included a re-enactment of the launch of a World War II-era ship at the Richmond shipyards.

“I choose to honor our veterans, not only on Veteran’s Day, but daily, but supporting an end to military warfare to prevent further fighting and dying in needless wars,” she wrote. “I am a strong supporter of Veterans for Peace and Iraq Vets Against the War.”

The mayor said that since the city is not sponsoring the Veterans Day salute, she chose to attend an Occupy rally – an event that she has been actively promoting.

The left is reflexively anti-military.  It’s in their DNA.

Occupy Oakland turns violent

Just remember, folks: this is what the 99% supposedly looks like.  Mass vandalism, shouts of “F*** the police!”, etc.  Why, they’re practically indistinguishable from our neighbors!

Story and video, lots of video, here.

 

If you want America to be as screwed as California, vote for Obama in 2012

That is the subject of this column by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), and it is absolutely brilliant.  Please take the time to read it, because it is also a warning to Americans: If you want to avoid the disintegration of the once-Golden State from being exported to the other 56 states, you must vote out the Commie-in-Chief next year.

Excerpts:

I want to welcome this groundbreaking scientific expedition to the savage lands of the Left Coast. You are here in California to answer an important theoretical question and now you have your answer.

Study it. Fear it. And then go home and make sure that it never happens to the rest of the country.

…

Mark that well, because if we lose this struggle for the future of our country, you too someday will live in a California – only without the nice climate.

Bad policies. Bad process. Bad politics. Those are the three acts in a Greek tragedy that tell the tale of how, in the span of a single generation, the most prosperous and golden state in the nation became an economic basket case.

One of the results?

One thing – and one thing only – changed in those years: public policy. The political Left gradually gained dominance over California’s government and has imposed a disastrous agenda of radical and retrograde policies that have destroyed the quality of life that Californians once took for granted.

The Census bureau has reported for the better part of the decade that California is undergoing the biggest population exodus in its history, with many fleeing to such garden spots as Nevada, Arizona and Texas. Think about that. California is blessed with the most equitable climate in the entire Western Hemisphere; it has the most bountiful resources anywhere in the continental United States; it is poised on the Pacific Rim in a position to dominate world trade for the next century, and yet people are finding a better place to live and work and raise their families in the middle of the Nevada Nuclear Test Range.

Ouch.  So in light of this collapse, why has Californiastan insisted on sending liberals to Suckramento and D.C.?  McClintock has a theory:

Last November, while the rest of the country was celebrating historic Republican gains (including a shift of 63 U.S. House Seats, six U.S. Senate Seats, 680 state legislative seats, 19 state legislatures and six governors), the statewide Republican ticket in California – despite massively outspending the Democrats in the best Republican year since 1938 – lost every statewide race and even lost ground in the state legislature.

Republicans nationally now hold more state legislative seats than in any year since 1928. In California, they hold fewer than at any time since 1978!

That is not because the voting population of California has lost its collective mind and it is not because the state is divinely ordained to be run by morons.

It happened because Dick Armey is right: “When we act like us we win, and when we act like them we lose.”

Republicans lost the 2006 and 2008 elections not because voters abandoned Republican principles, but because they looked at the Republicans and concluded that the Republicans had abandoned Republican principles.

Possibly.  Or, perhaps he gives way too much credit to Californiastan’s residents.

I suspect that because of L.A., the San Fransicko Bay area, and Suckramento, the rest of the state is hopelessly lost to blue policies.  When you have people who basically think “Sure, our economic policies are crap, but gay marriage and abortion rights are far more important to me than fiscal solvency”, there is virtually no way you can expect a collective wake-up call.  The state losing its AAA bond rating did nothing to change that.

Insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.  I wonder, though, if Californians really do expect different results…or if they just don’t care if the results are different.  Because hey, being broke and losing the producers to other stable and friendly states sure beats the other side “winning”, right?

California: Hmm, it seems our “Amazon tax” is pushing businesses out of the state by the droves!

Who knew?  I mean, besides all people who aren’t functional economic illiterates (which disqualifies California), who could have possibly seen this coming?

California recently instituted as part of its budget solution an “Amazon Tax” aimed at forcing out-of-state, online retailers with no physical presence in the Golden State to collect and remit sales tax in respect of goods sold to Californians where the retailer in question advertises, or maintains an “affiliate” referral relationship, with websites based within state lines.

How’s that working, Cali?

Prior to passage of the bill obligating collection and remittance in such circumstances, prominent online retailers including Amazon.com and Overstock.com had threatened to terminate relationships with affiliates, if the legislation became law.  Now that it has, and affiliate relationships are being severed, something critics of the legislation say was entirely foreseeable is occurring: Online businesses and entrepreneurs are leaving the state, thus risking an actual reduction, as opposed to marginal increase, in California’s tax revenue.

…

Backers of the legislation seemed to believe that affiliates would be happy to work with other retailers who also operate affiliate programs, or that online retailers targeted by the law would not end affiliate relationships and the threat was idle.

In neither case do those assumptions now seem correct.

Cali:  Man, our economy sucks!  It continues to suck!  Jobs evaporating, businesses moving, real estate collapsing, public union pensions pushing us to the precipice of bankruptcy…what can we do to stop this?

Normal America:  Well, for starters, how about stop putting Democrats in charge every stinking election cycle?

Cali:  That’s just crazy talk.

Florida passed a series of tax increases in the late 1980′s, when it had a Democratic legislature. One of them was to tax entry fees on freshwater fishing tournaments, such as those held by Bass Anglers Sportsman Society. BASS had tournaments every year in Florida, and those tourneys always generated plenty of tax revenue to cities and the state in the form of hotels, restaurants, stores, gas stations, etc. Taxing entry fees (which ranged from $500 – $1500) was a bit steep, especially since the fisherman were already spending a pantload of money. The libs refused to back down, and BASS pulled back on Florida tournaments. The state lost a ton of money, losing dollars because they were trying to collect dimes.

The GOP revolution of 1994 got people who understood how business and economics work into office. In 1997, the new budget repealed the stupid tax, and in 1998, BASS returned to Florida for tournaments. They even moved their headquarters to Celebration, FL, and brought about 200 jobs with them.  Tax revenues increased as a result.

Liberals are married stubbornly to static tax analysis, the belief that taxing activity results in NO CHANGE WHATSOEVER to productive behavior.  It’s quite simple, really: If you want less of an activity, tax it more.  Businesses and wealthy individuals are intelligent enough to look out for their bottom lines, and if CA won’t help them with their bottom line, states like TX and FL are more than happy to help.

California going broke paying public 1400+ employees over $200k, but at least they’re focused on addressing the REAL problems plaguing the state

You know the bailout request is coming any day now.  Californiastan must figure that the feds will oblige, too.  “Too big to fail”, I’m guessing.

Here’s some of the financial management (or lack thereof) contributing to the once-Golden state’s fiscal demise:

More than 1,400 state employees were paid in excess of $200,000 last year, according to compensation data made public for the first time Tuesday on Controller John Chiang‘s website.

Of those, 790 were prison doctors, dentists or nurses. More than 300 others were psychiatrists and other medical professionals working for the Department of Mental Health.

One prison doctor collected $777,423 in 2010 and a dentist took home $599,403, according to the website. The president of the state’s stem cell research agency received $482,234.

The database lists state positions by title and allows users to sort by department, salary range and total wages.

Chiang, a Democrat who has received millions in campaign contributions from state employee unions, did not include workers’ names even though that information is public and has been provided upon request for years.

But credit the state legislature for addressing this issue head on.  Nah, I’m just effing with you:

A bill to require California public schools to teach the historical accomplishments of gay men and lesbians passed the state Legislature on Tuesday in what supporters call a first for the nation.

Governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat, has not said publicly whether he supports the bill, which he has 12 days to sign or veto once it reaches his desk later this month. If he takes no action, the measure would become law automatically. …

California already requires public schools to teach the contributions made to society by women and by racial and ethnic groups that were historically discriminated against, such as blacks, Latinos and Native Americans.

Supporters of the latest bill said it would simply include gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender individuals in that existing requirement, making it part of the curriculum in history and other social studies classes.

“We’re going broke, sinking into insolvency.  Quick, let’s pass some gay-friendly legislation to deflect attention from our impending bankruptcy!  Because at least when we’re belly up, our gay friends will still think we’re fabulous!”

Boxer walks into global “warming” trap

Babs Boxer (Moonbat-CA) came up for air long enough to stop ranting about the GOP’s assassination plot against Elmo and walk directly into the trap set by Senators Barrasso (R-WY) and Inhofe (R-OK).  These two reminded Babs and everyone else about how B.O.’s own “science technology advisor” warned us about the impending Ice Age in the 1970’s.

Hilarity ensues.

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee members sparred Wednesday over whether there existed a consensus in the 1970s that the earth was cooling.

During the hearing, Republican Sens. James Inhofe of Oklahoma and John Barrasso of Wyoming questioned the supposed need to enact policies to combat global warming by pointing to similar predictions in the 1970s of a global cooling phenomenon.

The exchange started with Barrasso addressing the committee’s witness, Environmental Protection Agency Director Lisa Jackson. “Forty years ago, the same scientists that are predicting the end of the world now from global warming were predicting the end of the world from global cooling,” said Barrasso. “So if we had committed the same amount of taxpayer resources and government manpower that the administration now wants us to commit to prevent global warming — if we’d done that prevent global cooling, we wouldn’t be the most prosperous nation on earth.”

He continued: “The fact is that the same doomsday predictions we were getting 40 years is the exact same thing this agency and this administration today. Only now…the problem is man-made global warming.”

…

Still later, Inhofe got into the science debate by citing a 1971 study by Dr. John Holdren, who just so happens to be President Obama’s advisor on science technology. In that study Holdren wrote, “The effects of a new ice age on agriculture and the supportability of large human populations scarcely need elaboration here.” Holdren went on to write that the effects could “generate a tidal wave of proportions unprecedented in recorded history.”

A visibly satisfied Inhofe then turned to Boxer, and stated, “So even the president’s people are agreed with me, Madam Chairwoman!”

You mean there wasn’t consensus about global cooling in the late 1970’s, when the issue was featured prominently in various MSM outlets and on the front page of Time magazine? Huh. Could have sworn there was.

Watch this video clip and see how ol’ Babs (and her white knight Udall (D-NM)) beclowned themselves in front of the camera.

Quote of the day, “Babs Boxer cracks up on Senate floor” edition

Cali, you had a chance to kick this crazy wench to the curb last November, and you passed.  She’s all yours, chumps.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said Tuesday that House Republicans want to strip government funding of PBS because they have a “vendetta against Elmo.”

Boxer made the comments during a floor speech where she made the case for her bill that would ensure that the president and lawmakers are not paid if a government shutdown occurs.

Boxer said that the cost of four hours of the Iraq war would be enough to keep PBS funded — and the popular fire-red children’s character on the air.

Boxer believes that the GOP has more than just a vendetta against Elmo. She added that Republicans hold a “vendetta against healthcare” and a “vendetta against clean energy.”

House Republicans last month passed a bill that would strip government funding for both National Public Radio and PBS.

Well, crap!  There goes that coveted and potent kindergarten voting block.

Governor Moonbeam: Support tax hikes because of Egyptian riots. Or something.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?  Nice job, Californiastan, electing this relic as your governor:

Citing the pro-democracy unrest in Egypt and Tunisia, Gov. Jerry Brown called it “unconscionable” that GOP legislators are vowing to block his attempt to ask voters to extend tax hikes to balance the budget.

“When democratic ideals and calls for the right to vote are stirring the imagination of young people in Egypt and Tunisia and other parts of the world, we in California can’t say now is the time to block a vote of the people,” Brown said in his first State of the State address in nearly 30 years.

Californians want their taxes increased.  It’s for the Egyptian children.  Or the delta smelt.  Or…

Job-hemorrhaging former Michigan governor tapped by UC Berkeley to lecture about…job creation?

Any wonder this school is called Berserkley?  From Politico:

Now that she’s left office, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm plans to write a book, teach at Berkeley and stay in the public eye as a speaker and commentator.

The 51-year-old two-term Democrat told POLITICO in an interview that her new work will revolve around the interrelated themes she emphasized as governor: creating jobs, reviving American manufacturing and expanding the clean energy economy.

What’s next?  Getting Bill Clinton as a guest lecturer on the joys of marital monogamy?  Maybe Howard Dean can lecture on anger management?

MI just elected a Republican governor after enduring years of Granholm’s disastrous economic policies.  MI is one of the worst states in the nation in terms of unemployment numbers.  So naturally, Californiastan thinks Granholm would make a fine addition to their faculty.

Blogging the midterms tonight (and into the morning)

Updates will be flowing throughout the evening. I’ll probably hit the hay around midnight or so, since those crazy people that sign my paychecks expect me to show up tomorrow and do stuff.  Crazy b#st#rds!  (For those of you on the left, google “paycheck” if the term confuses you.)

UPDATE 7:45 PM EST:  Rand Paul wins KY Senate race over Jack Conway.  Aqua Buddha hardest hit.  Also, Rob Portman wins OH Senate seat vacated by RINO George Voinovich by beating Lee Fisher (D).  Pickup news:  Dan Coats beats liberal Brad Ellsworth for Evan Bayh’s vacated IN Senate seat.  +1 GOP pickup.

UPDATE 8:00PM EST:  The AP is calling the FL Senate race for Marco Rubio!  Most elections, I vote against someone, but with Rubio, I enthusiastically voted for him.  Two man-crushes now: Rubio and Chris Christie (I still like women, though!).  Governor Citrus’ pathetic career comes to a bitter end, though I’m sure Willy Wonka will put him back to work in the chocolate factory.  😆

UPDATE 8:10 PM EST:  The left had hoped to pick up Senate seats in NH and MO (in addition to OH, mentioned above), but it didn’t happen.  Republicans Ayotte in NH and Blunt in MO hold serve.  #sshat Alan Grayson is getting pounded early in FL, which means he’s probably got MSNBC on speed dial and has an itchy dialing finger.

Also, Palin’s gal Christine O’Donnell got creamed by the Bearded Marxist in DE (enjoy Mike Castle’s RINO scalp!).  It didn’t have to be that way, people.

UPDATE 8:30 PM EST:  Blanche Lincoln gets blasted by John Boozman.  Hey, Blanche, how’d that ObamaCare vote work out for you?  You’re welcome, Kevin.  +2 GOP pickup.

UPDATE 8:32 PM EST:  Other “Blue Dogs” have fallen.  Suzanne Kosmas traded her vote on ObamaCare for some NASA pork, but she’s done.  VA’s Tom Perriello won narrowly in a reddish district in ’08, but his Lap Dog votes on ObamaCare, cap and tax, and Porkulus cost him this seat.  His fellow VA Dem Rick Boucher just lost, as did Glenn Nye.

UPDATE 8:35 PM EST:  Congress’ biggest jack#ss Alan Grayson is about to concede to Daniel Webster.  “Submit to me”, Grayson!  😆  Grayson blames Beelzebub the weather and gerrymandering (an R+2 district?)  😆

UPDATE 9:35 PM EST:  Another FL Democrat falls: Allen Boyd in FL-2, in the Panhandle.  Hard to be a “Blue Dog” when you’re adding ObamaCare’s trillions in debt, huh?  Anywho, Barney Frank wins, and we have a Senate pickup in ND, as John Hoeven takes Byron Dorgan’s old seat.  +3 GOP pickup.

UPDATE 10:20 PM EST:  FL governor’s race still up in the air.  Scott (R) up by 4% with about 75% of the votes in (and Democrat-heavy south FL isn’t finished), nowhere near ready to be called.  NM will elect a Republican Latina governor.  Also, the Senate is off the table, but the House is ours, baby!  Chris Matthews’ leg hardest hit.

Olbermann has a hard time finding black people at Tea Party rallies, so perhaps he’ll have an easier time finding Tim Scott, the newly elected black Republican Congressman from SC-1.  He’ll be in the Capitol, douche.

If retired Marine Allen West (no relation to Batman) beats Ron Klein in FL-22, that will be two black Republicans in the House.  If Ryan Frazier comes from behind to win in CO-7, that would be three black Republicans.  If those two men lose, can we ask why Democrats hate black people?  😉

UPDATE 10:40 PM EST:  McCain’s buddy Russ Feingold (D-WI) falls to businessman Ron Johnson.  +4 GOP pickup.

Also, SC elects Palin’s gal Nikki Haley as governor.  Haley endured mudslinging, especially unfounded rumors of an affair (and if you saw the dude who accused her of sleeping with him, you’d know it was a lie, as the guy was uglier than Helen Thomas chasing a parked car…and catching it.)

Stupak mortgaged his career for ObamaCare, and his seat just went to Republican Dan Banishek.

UPDATE 11:00 PM EST: Remember this guy?  Phil Hare (D-IL), who said he didn’t care about the Constitution and that the deficit was a “myth”?  Yeah, well now his career his a myth, as he just fell.

Still waiting on FL governor.  83% in, Scott up by 3% with South FL coming in.

UPDATE 11:40 PM EST: AP calls it for Pat Toomey. +5 GOP pickup.

UPDATE 11:59 PM EST: FL governor’s race still not decided.  91% of the votes in, Scott up by 2%, not done yet.

AP calls IL Senate for Mark Kirk.  Obama’s old seat, in Republican hands! +6 GOP pickup. 

Allen West did defeat Ron Klein in FL-22.  Predicted MSM headline:  Two black Republicans going to Congress, blacks hardest hit.

Votes out west being counted, but Californiastan votes for that senile relic Jerry Brown for governor, as well as Senator Ma’am, thus proving that they have no interest in resolving their economic despair anytime soon.  Don’t know any more, I’m off to bed.

UPDATE 09:39 AM EST: FL governor’s race still not decided. 99% of the precincts are in, with Republican Rick Scott clinging to a 1% 53,000 vote lead, and about 66 precincts in heavily Democrat Palm Beach County remaining. If Scott’s lead holds and stays above 27,000, he avoids the state-mandated automatic recount. However, since Sink is married to ambulance chaser Bill McBride (recipient of Jeb Bush’s buttkicking in 2002), I wouldn’t be shocked if her side sues in the event of a loss.

UPDATE 10:49 AM EST: The FL governor’s race appears to be over.  Alex Sink just conceded to Republican Rick Scott.  It was very close, but in the end, the votes just weren’t there.  And while that inconvenience doesn’t always stop Dems from finding/creating more, I guess Sink concluded that Scott’s win was outside the margin of fraud.

Also, don’t look now, but the nepot from AK (Princess Murkowski) looks like she just might pull off her write-in bid to get back to DC.  Absentee ballots and overseas ballots have to be counted, and they did swing the 2008 Senate election to Democrat Mark Begich, so anything’s possible, I guess.  But it’s not looking good for Republican Joe Miller.

Jerry Brown: My female opponent is a “whore”. Feminist organization: Jerry’s our guy!

As Ed asks, what exactly does it take for a Democrat to lost the endorsement of NOW?  I mean, Bill Clinton was a serial womanizer, sexual harrasser, and rapist, and NOW couldn’t get enough of the guy.  And less than 24 hours after an audio clip of Dem CA governor candidate Jerry Brown calls his female opponent, Meg Whitman, a whore, NOW comes to his rescue.

If you were naive enough to think that feminism actually had the best interests of women at heart instead of being a leftist front group, then “you’re welcome” for me setting you straight.

Carly Fiorina dresses down Senator Ma’am

Ouch!

L.A. school on polluted grounds named after Al Gore

On the first day of school, irony will be the feature menu item!  Excerpt:

School district officials insist that the Arlington Heights property is clean and safe. And they’ve pledged to check vapor monitors and groundwater wells to make sure.

The $75.5-million Carson-Gore Academy of Environmental Sciences will open Sept. 13 for about 675 students. As he was with Bill Clinton (who has an L.A. middle school named after him), Gore is second on the ticket to Rachel Carson, the late author credited with helping launch the modern environmental movement.

“Renaming this terribly contaminated school after famous environmental advocates is an affront to the great work that these individuals have done to protect the public’s health from harm,” an environmental coalition wrote in a letter to the Los Angeles Unified School District. Making sure the school is safe “would be an even better way to honor their contribution to society.”

No word yet on the school’s mascot, but rumor has it that the students will decide between the Crazed Sex Poodles or the Fighting Manbearpigs.

Obama for same-sex marriage…before he was against it…or was it AFTER he was against it?

Aw, heck, who knows?  But Fox News has a handy little run-down on his shifting positions over the years.  Read it and chuckle…or weep.  Whatevs.

Exit question: If he opposes gay marriage (which he said he does, multiple times), and he supported the right of California to decide for themselves (which they did: 53% voted to adopt B.O.’s position and ban gay marriage), and he applauds the gay judge that just overturned CA’s Prop 8 because Prop 8 was “divisive and discriminatory”…then doesn’t that logically mean that President Kick#ss applauds the judge for overturning the electorate’s decision to implement his own “divisive and discriminatory” position?  “Hey, I sure am glad that judge didn’t uphold my own personal divisive and discriminatory beliefs!  It sure would have sucked if my bigoted position were law.”

20% of Californians need mental health treatment

Well, that would certainly go a long way in explaining the voting proclivities of the state, right?  😆

AZ utility company to LA: Do you still want electricity in your city?

As if Chris Christie’s takedown of a liberal reporter (pardon the redundancy) wasn’t enough to make me orgasmic, this retort from the AZ power commission to LA regarding an AZ boycott oughta do the trick.  Link to PDF here.

Dear Mayor Villaraigosa,

I was dismayed to learn that the Los Angeles City Council voted to boycott Arizona and Arizona-based companies — a vote you strongly supported — to show opposition to SB 1070 (Support our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act).

You explained your support of the boycott as follows: “While we recognize that as neighbors, we share resources and ties with the State of Arizona that may be difficult to sever, our goal is not to hurt the local economy of Los Angeles, but to impact the economy of Arizona.  Our intent is to use our dollars — or the withholding of our dollars — to send a message.” (emphasis added)

I received your message; please receive mine.  As a state-wide elected member of the Arizona Corporation Commission overseeing Arizona’s electric and water utilities, I too am keenly aware of the “resources and ties” we share with the City of Los Angeles. In fact, approximately twenty-five percent of the electricity consumed in Los Angeles is generated by power plants in Arizona.

If an economic boycott is truly what you desire, I will be happy to encourage Arizona utilities to renegotiate your power agreements so Los Angeles no longer receives any power from Arizona-based generation. I am confident that Arizona’s utilities would be happy to take those electrons off your hands. If, however, you find that the City Council lacks the strength of its convictions to turn off the lights in Los Angeles and boycott Arizona power, please reconsider the wisdom of attempting to harm Arizona’s economy.

People of goodwill can disagree over the merits of SB 1070. A state-wide economic boycott of Arizona is not a message sent in goodwill.

Sincerely,

Commissioner Gary Pierce

Ball’s in your court now, LA.  😆

LA Times front page: Hey, Dems won two races! Oh, yeah, and in other news, Republicans won a couple, too.

Seriously…why do they even pretend anymore?

Nope…no liberal media bias!

Treehuggers responsible for California wildfires

Story here.  Excerpt:

Federal authorities failed to follow through on plans earlier this year to burn away highly flammable brush in a forest on the edge of Los Angeles to avoid the very kind of wildfire now raging there, The Associated Press has learned.

Months before the huge blaze erupted, the U.S. Forest Service obtained permits to burn away the undergrowth and brush on more than 1,700 acres of the Angeles National Forest. But just 193 acres had been cleared by the time the fire broke out, Forest Service resource officer Steve Bear said.

The agency defended its efforts, saying weather, wind and environmental rules tightly limit how often these “prescribed burns” can be conducted.
…
Some critics suggested that protests from environmentalists over prescribed burns contributed to the disaster, which came after the brush was allowed to build up for as much as 40 years.

“This brush was ready to explode,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, whose district overlaps the forest. “The environmentalists have gone to the extreme to prevent controlled burns, and as a result we have this catastrophe today.”
…
Obtaining the necessary permits is a complicated process, and such efforts often draw protests from environmentalists.

Biologist Ileene Anderson with the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental organization, said burn permits should be difficult to get because of the potential damage to air quality. Clearing chaparral by hand or machine must be closely scrutinized because it can hurt native species.

“Our air quality, for a variety of factors, doesn’t need to be further reduced by these controlled burns,” she said.

Right, because the air quality is much better when raging fires get out of control like the current one.

Putting the “mental” in “environmentalism”!

Boxer: ObamaCare protestors too “well dressed” to be genuine

When she’s not busy being condescending to decorated military officers and black business leaders, Babs Boxer likes to pass the time demonstrating her San Fransicko elitism by insulting normal Americans (i.e. not Bay area denizens) and their dress habits.  Details:

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) appeared on Hardball last night in support of the Left’s attempt to discredit the people showing up to townhalls in protest of ObamaCare. Boxer says she can tell that they’re fakes, because they’re too well dressed.  How does she know that this is a problem?  Because well-dressed people apparently told her to get the hell out of Florida in the Bush-Gore recount, too.  (Um…WHAT? – Ed.)

You have got to go check out the video at the link.  MoonBabs is a walking talking GOP commercial!

Aside from the implication that only slobs or other poorly dressed individuals can have opinions on ObamaCare, these videos show something a tad bit different than what B.O.’s spokestool Robert Gibbs calls the “Brooks Brothers Brigade”: people wearing t-shirts, jeans, shorts, etc.  Not exactly the kind of clothes I wear to the country club when I bark orders to the cabana boy not to put that fruity little umbrella in my mai tai.  (For those of you on the left, the prior sentence was sarcasm…I don’t drink mai tais!  😆  ).

Go ahead, though, liberals: Keep thinking that normal America isn’t diametrically opposed to your socialist takeover of our medicine.  Keep thinking that it couldn’t possibly be true that we will toss you out of office for your leftist overreaching.

Will Obama learn from California’s economic disaster?

Sure he will…when monkeys fly out of his squeakhole.  I mean, just last week, Uhhhh-bama was telling us how awesome Cali’s economy has been and how the rest of the country should emulate it.

See, while his gaffe-tastic VP admits that they didn’t have a firm grasp on economic reality when they passed the Generational Theft Act (or, if you prefer, the “stimulus” bill), they are intent on pushing us into a debt explosion that will likely double long-term interest rates and cause another recession.  Kevin Hassett at Bloomberg thinks that Californiastan’s lesson will derail Oprompter’s socialist plans, but I disagree.  After all, leftists don’t let facts and reality get in the way of their warped worldview. But here’s an excerpt from Hassett that hits the nail on the head:

The Obama administration has no shame, and is willing to abandon reason altogether to achieve its short-term political goals. Ronald Reagan ran up big deficits in part because he believed that his tax cuts would produce economic growth, and ultimately pay for themselves. He may well have been excessively optimistic about the merits of tax cuts, but at least he had a story.

Obama has no story. Nobody believes that his unprecedented expansion of the welfare state will lead to enough economic growth. Nobody believes that it will pay for itself. Everyone understands that higher spending today begets higher spending tomorrow. That means that his economic strategy simply doesn’t add up.

Oh, it “adds up”, alright.  It adds up to be the most irresponsible and damaging blow to capitalism possible.  One wonders if that’s not the left’s true intent.

Obama cites California as economic and energy model?

You. Must. Be. Friggin’. Kidding.

It takes mega-stones and mini-brain cells to do this:

While promoting his new cap-and-trade energy tax bill, which passed the U.S. House last week, President Obama revealed in a White House address on Monday his model for the nation’s economy – California. “In the late 1970s, the state of California enacted tougher energy-efficiency policies,” Obama said, noting that the state and its residents use less energy today per capita than the national average. “Think about that,” he said, “California producing jobs, their economy keeping pace with the rest of the country and yet they’ve been able to maintain their energy usage in a much lower level than the rest of the country.”

Uh…what?  Californiastan “producing jobs”?  Their “economy keeping pace with the rest of the country”?  Is he serious?

And just how has Cali “been able to maintain their energy usage in a much lower level than the rest of the country”?

Between 2000 and 2007, before the current recession, the state shed nearly 21 percent of its manufacturing jobs, driving down its industrial electrical consumption by 21 percent. California’s industrial users pay electric rates twice as high as their Midwestern counterparts – which helps explain why so much heavy industry has fled the state. In addition to alienating its industry, California has also curbed energy use through exorbitant residential electric rates (50 percent higher than the national average) and massive net out-migration. Between 2005 and 2007, 2.14 million Californians moved to other states, while only 1.44 million people from elsewhere moved to the Golden State, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Don’t be surprised when the 2010 Census finds even more people leaving to escape California’s 11.5 percent unemployment. And, as jobs and residents fled California, its tax revenues have declined, while its politicians went on a spending binge, creating a severe budget crisis.

“Hey, let’s emulate a state that is about to go bankrupt, that has resorted to paying with IOU’s, whose bond rating is trashed, that has endured rolling blackouts, that has unemployment at 11.5% (nearly two full points higher than the rest of the country), and that is financially stupid at all levels!”

The Hotel California: You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.

Is this a crazy world or what?

Europe seems to be eschewing big government liberalism and moving to the right, while a country that was once the bastion of freedom and liberty (for those of you on the left, that would be America) is following its smooth-talking Shyster-in-Chief down the failed path of leftist governing.

Californiastan, meanwhile, has seen its leftist utopia wither away over the last decade or so.  The state is about to go bankrupt, after having run off individuals and businesses that succeed by way of punishing tax rates, all while inviting welfare leeches and criminal aliens.  However, RINO Gov. Arnie is thinking that maybe a flat tax is the way to go, instead of a “soak the rich” tax that has hastened the exodus of achievers to more tax friendly states like neighboring Nevada.  Heck, CA is even considering canning its welfare program!  But while CA is thinking about not pounding the rich so hard anymore, B.O. is thinking that the same thing (punishing achievers to subsidize non-achievers) that has driven Californiastan to the brink of insolvency is a darned fine idea for the country.

To add to the craziness, we now live in a society that has a media that is no better or different than Pravda during the Soviet days, Castro’s Granma, or publications that you would expect to find in Chavez’, Ahmanutjob’s, or Mugabe’s countries.  They are propaganda mouthpieces for the administration, telling us that black is white and night is day.  Case in point: the MSM keeps spinning further job losses as “sure, jobs were lost, but not as many as we thought…so that’s good, right”?  There’s a problem with that, though: the job losses are worse than B.O. expected!

Did you ever think you would see the day where American media would fail to take their role seriously in policing government?  Journalists are now comparing the Obamessiah to God (but there’s no “Obama as Messiah” thing going on, is there, Andrew?)!  Instead of scrutinizing his Marxist agenda, his ties to domestic terrorists, his frequent apologies to the world for the crappy country he governs, or anything like that, the MSM delves instead to more pressing matters in B.O.’s “impossibly elegant” life:  his date night with his wife.  By the way, such an “objective” piece of news and not opinion was found in the National News section of the fishwrap.  The MSM also tells us that while Uhhh-bama has flip-flopped considerably (some might say “lie”, but why quibble over semantics?), his “flip-flops are for the common good“!  Then, of course, there’s MSNBC’s Brian Williams bowing before The One.

I mean, media bias has always been around, but we’ve gone way over the cliff and into the abyss here!  If Jon Stewart is making fun of you for kissing Oprompter’s behind too much, and if a leftist magazine like Vanity Fair admits to the pervasive media bias, then it’s safe to say that you’ve jumped the shark.

With apologies to John Lennon: Strange days, indeed.

Queers attack Mormons for CA passing Prop 8

Nothing says “we’re just like everyone else” quite like attacking churches, religious people, and normal Americans.  From FNC:

In the nearly four weeks since Election Day, gay activists and thousands of their supporters have rallied outside Mormon temples around the country, protesting the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ support for California’s Proposition 8, the ballot initiative to make same-sex marriage illegal in the Golden State.

There have been calls to boycott the annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah; some activists have called for a boycott of the entire state of Utah. Protesters have defaced some church buildings, and in Arapaho County, Colo., the Sheriff’s Office is investigating a possible hate crime — the torching of the Book of Mormon on a church’s doorstep.

Even the state of California itself has announced that it is investigating the church’s involvement in Proposition 8, which was approved by a vote of 52 percent to 48 percent and, barring a Supreme Court overturn, will ban gay marriage in the state.

There have been no other reports of backlash against other groups that supported Prop 8, notably African-Americans and other churches and religious denominations that turned out in heavy numbers to push through the ban.

Exit polls after the Nov. 4 vote showed that 70 percent of black voters and more than half of Latino voters voted yes on Prop 8. About two-thirds of self-identified Christians supported the ban, and married voters and parents also showed strong support. The Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Church and evangelical groups in the state also urged for a ban on gay marriage.

So why is the Mormon Church the only target?

It’s because of the money, says Evan Wolfe, executive director of Freedom to Marry, a New York-based group that supports same-sex marriage.

“The Mormon Church hierarchy led the way on this attack on gay families and the California constitution,” Wolfe said. “They provided more than half of the funding. They provided the ground troops and were a major political force in a way that no other group was. …”

Let’s cut to the chase and call it like it is: these drama queens are nothing more than lily-livered cowards.  I mean, this right here says it all:

Lorri Jean, CEO of the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center, wrote on the organization’s Web site that she doesn’t blame African-Americans or minority groups for the passage of Prop. 8. 

Why not “blame them”?  Why would you not blame the acutal people who voted on the matter?  Why attack a religious organization (Mormons) that has little influence in a gi-normous leftist state like CA?  If you really believe that Mormons drive policy decisions in Californiastan, I’ve got some prime beachfront property in Oklahoma I’d like to sell you.

Virtually all groups of people who voted “No” on Prop 8 would fight back (many with force) against the queer lobby’s heavy-handed tactics.  Mormons won’t.  These sissies know that, so they throw their limp-wristed temper tantrums with impunity.  Sad and pathetic.  May God have mercy on their depraved souls.

CA government school punishes student for wearing American colors

Your tax dollars at work, Californiastan:

Students at Dos Palos High School protested Thursday — by wearing patriotic regalia to school — after a sophomore student was forced to remove a T-shirt depicting the American flag.

Officials at the Merced County school confirmed Thursday that Jake Shelly was forced to take off a red, white and blue tie-dyed American flag T-shirt on Tuesday. The shirt said nothing offensive, just: “United States of America, Washington, D.C.”

The school’s assistant principal issued Shelly a bright yellow T-shirt that read “DCV: Dress Code Violator” to wear for the rest of the day. He was given his shirt back after classes ended.

“It was really embarrassing and humiliating to have to wear that all day — and just for supporting your country,” his sister Kaycee Shelly said.

Kaycee Shelly told members of the media at lunchtime that her brother was overwhelmed and did not want to do any more interviews.

Earlier in the day, he was speaking with a local news station when an unidentified teacher walked up to him, ripped off the microphone clipped to his shirt and told him he was not allowed to talk to the media.

District officials said they apologized to the student, his family and the local American Legion on Wednesday — Constitution Day.

“In reviewing the dress code at the time, an administrator felt the shirt was in violation of that section of the dress code,” said Superintendent Brian Walker. “She asked him to remove it and he did.”

The assistant principal initially thought Shelly’s T-shirt violated a clause of the school dress code that does not allow “shirts/blouses that promote specific races, cultures, or ethnicities.”

School officials said they will now interpret that clause of the dress code — which was written at the beginning of this school year — differently. …

I’m guessing that the overzealous politically correct nimrod who punished the student will suffer no disciplinary actions whatsoever.  Memo to moonbat administrators: America is not an ethnicity or a race!

Economics 101 for blue states

Two of the bluest states in the union, CA nd NY, have huge budget deficits and plan on addressing them by raising taxes.  Not the best approach, to say the least.  From WSJ:

Anyone who thinks the path to “fiscal discipline” is through higher taxes ought to look at the current budget spectacles in New York and California. The two liberal states have among the highest tax burdens in the country, yet both now find themselves with huge budget deficits and are debating still higher taxes to close the gap.

California has the highest state income tax rate in the country (10.3%), while New York State also has a high income tax rate (6.85%), with the combined state and city rate rising to 10.5% in New York City. Their overall government spending totals also happen to top the national charts. And, what do you know, California is $15 billion in the red this year while New York is trying to close a $6.4 billion 2009 budget hole, which budget expert E.J. McMahon of the Manhattan Institute expects to grow to $26 billion over three years.

California hasn’t even passed a budget yet, many weeks into the fiscal year. The Democrats in Sacramento have proposed a series of new taxes on businesses and individuals with incomes above $1 million. Their plan would raise the top income tax rate to 12%, which would be the highest in the nation. They would also repeal a tax law allowing businesses to carry forward losses against future profits.

…

A similar mess is playing out in Albany, where Assembly Democrats and Republicans have passed a budget with two added tax rates. Millionaires would face a one-percentage-point rate income tax hike (to 11.5% in New York City), while anyone making more than $5 million would get hit with another 0.85-point hike (to 12.35% in NYC). A new business tax of 4% would also apply to hedge fund managers.

And what happens to those vile, evil rich when you jack their taxes up even higher to fund the nanny state?  Well, they don’t like it very much…go figure!

The “progressives” who dominate politics in these states target the rich on grounds that they have the ability to pay. They also have the ability to leave. From 1997-2006, New York State lost 409,000 people (not counting foreign immigrants). For every two people who move into the state, three flee. Maybe the problem for New York is merely bad weather, not high taxes.

Except that sunny California is experiencing a similar exodus. Over the past decade 1.32 million more native-born Americans left the Golden State than moved in — despite beaches, mountains and 70-degree weather. Mostly the people who have fled are the successful, the talented and the rich.

I’m sure those numbers are simply inflated due to their large populations, right?  Nope.

If taxes don’t matter, then maybe someone can explain the divergent economic paths of California and New York and America’s two other most populous states, Florida and Texas. The latter two states have no personal income tax. Personal income has been growing about 50% faster in Florida and Texas than in California and New York. (See chart.) This year Texas became the No. 1 state for Fortune 500 corporate headquarters. About a dozen of those 58 corporations once called New York or California home, and taxes are one reason they departed.

Atlas is shrugging in CA and NY, and as long as the economically illiterate rubes continue running those states in the same way, the results will be the same.

Attention, liberals: The numbers don’t lie.

California tries to destroy its economy once and for all

The Eagles were ahead of their time with Hotel California.  “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave!”  From TaxProf:

A California activist is trying to gather the 694,354 signatures needed to place a tax initiative on the ballot that would:

• Impose a new 35% income surtax (in addition to federal taxes and the existing 10.3% top state rate) — 17.5% (on all of the taxpayer’s income) when income exceeds $150,000 (single)/$250,000 (joint), and an additional 17.5% (again, on all of the taxpayer’s income) when income exceeds $350,000 (single)/$500,000 (joint).
• Impose a one-time 55% wealth tax on assets exceeding $20 million held by a California resident or held in California by nonresident.
• Impose an exit tax of between 36.5% to 54.3% on both income and unrealized appreciation in asset values over $5 million when a resident dies or leaves California.

Let that sink in for a moment: you are incredibly successful, living in CA, and one day you’ve decided that you’re tired of being taxed through the teeth to fund the deadbeats living off the public teat in Californiastan.  So, you do what got you rich in the first place (hint: it’s not marrying a ketchup heiress): you use your noggin.  Economic literacy tells you that it makes better sense to move to less tax-oppressive states that don’t want to punish you for being successful.  CA’s response?  “How dare you!  We’ll tax you through the nose on your way out!”

Until the people of Californiastan get their collective heads out of their Marxist backsides, they will continue their seemingly unstoppable slide into bankruptcy.  And I, for one, will laugh myself sore when it happens.