Posted on 11/13/2009 1:43:48 AM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
In July, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for a "Commission on the 21st Century Economy," it was hoped the group of experts could provide a way to finally resolve California's budget woes.
When the commission issued its report at the end of September, however, the recommendations fell to the floor with a resounding thud. Defenders of California's status quo in the state legislature in effect said "no way."
Today, California is a by-the-numbers state tragedy. Unemployment is higher than 12.2 percent as of September. Business costs are almost 23 percent higher than other states on average.
Migration out of the state is at an all time high. A map by United Van Lines shows a strong demand for moving trucks as residents leave California for other destinations, particularly Texas.
More Californians would leave if they could sell their houses, but the Golden State's real estate market has tanked as well. It has the fourth-highest foreclosure rate of any state.
All of these indicators are the product of a toxic mix of liberal Democratic government -- a steep progressive tax rate, an uncompromising regulatory regime, and budget-busting programs like MediCal (California's Medicare system), generous state welfare benefits, and extraordinarily costly pay and pensions for state employees.
The state's fiscal plight is so bad that earlier this year it had to resort to issuing IOUs when state coffers ran dry. According to the governor, California will have another budget deficit of as much as $7 billion through June, on top of the $7.5 billion deficit projected for the following year. That will create a shortfall of almost $14.5 billion
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Are Americans just ignorant, or are they pretending to be surprised at the blatant acts of communists?
Really, FReepers, am I off base here? Is this still regarded as an ‘extreme’ view, or a ‘conspiracy theory’?
Is it strange that I see the agenda unfolding before me?
I believe they are breaking the bank to break our country.
They seek to scare us into a tyranny...plain ol’ communism.
Why do so many refuse to see this?
Please advise because I really don’t understand why it is such a big ‘surprise’ anymore.
Are we under attack by the hard-left, or not?
Disregard the Word of God and Jesus, the Son of God and this is the future that you ask for yourself, on either a personal scale or a national scale.
The laws of nature cannot be repealed.
Especially those of self-interest.
Bureaucrats “buy into” the idea of state-run everything because that’s where they get their salary, benefits, power, social connections, etc.
Same with the transfer payment recipients, although their relationship is even more dependent.
When the average citizen realizes they’re working for the government instead of their own families, they lose their incentive.
Like the rest of us, CA needs to elect some real conservatives. Meg Whitman will not do. She is anything but a conservative. Could be more of the same old bs or worse.
Yes, but it's complicated. Some on the left, like the ‘Third Way’ types, don't think of themselves as ‘communists’. They think that some socialism is good, but they aren't Marxists. But some truly are Marxists.
You hit on a very important point. We are often hesitant to state what we think is happening around us because we will be dismissed as ‘kooks’, conspiracy nuts, right wing fanatics, etc. The left uses this consistently to denigrate their critics. Right there with the cries of racism, and sexism, the left has the cry of ‘McCarthyism’ in their armament.
I think most people wake up in the morning, start their routine, go to work, and really can't believe that an American president could be a Marxist, or have an agenda that was anti-American. Even as the evidence mounts, people want to believe the best. On top of that you have the MSM.
Although confidence in the media is generally at an all-time low, I would say most people think that the media has at least some credibility. That said, when the media goes out of its way to paint Obama in a good light, and when they don't point out how he has surrounded himself with radicals etc. they give him mainstream ice cream and apple pie credibility. That's why it's so important to the left to discredit Fox News. They don't want them to be considered mainstream because to keep pushing their agenda through they have to keep marginalizing those who disagree with them.
I don’t think these people are Marxists. They’re facists representing themselves as marxists and socialists. If anyone wants to know what’s happening in this country, read the first few chapters of the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.
And, they all rationalize at some point that ‘the ends justify the means’. I'm quite sure Obama thinks that he is setting things right, and that the ends justify his means. He doesn't want to be a good steward of America, taking over the helm and keeping the ship sailing in the right direction. He wants to chart an absolutely new course because he thinks we have been going in the wrong direction all these years.
You got that right. A prime example is Nanzi Pelosi affirming as "just" the
healthcare bill provision that people go to jail if they don't buy ObamaCare.
"You vile piece of white trash. How dare you refuse to buy healthcare."
I think that even if every last conservative left the state, they still would not get it.
Socialism is just another form of Slavery
Mussolini started out as a socialist. Hitler was not a socialist (in the commonly understood sense).
From the evidence I see on a daily basis, you just may be right.
Almost every story I ever read about the plight of CA never once mentions immigration. A situation that is supported by both the left and many on the right.
Hitler wasn't a "Fascist who started out as a Socialist".
He was a Fascist, which means he was a Socialist. The Nazis were National Socialists. In the early years they even called each other 'comrade'.
Von Mises charted the rise of the Fascists in great detail: if you get a chance to read his body of work you will be in no doubt that the Nazis were hard left-wing.
Here are two definitions which I have found helpful.
Fascists seek to control the means of production.
Communists seek to own the means of production.
There is therefore as much difference between Fascism and Communism as there is between 11.55 and 12 o'clock. They are both left-wing, big government totalitarian ideologies.
I absolutely agree. The linear model of political ideology is just a convenient tool that the left uses to distance themselves from the Fascists. The reality is that the political spectrum is more like a circle, with Communism, Socialism, and Fascism sitting right next to each other on the big government totalitarian side.
I heard a radio ad yesterday urging people to sign up for a state-subsidized auto insurance plan. This broke state is spending money on radio ads urging more people to sign up for giveaways.
Those Californians who are able to move will just infect other states with their voting for big government programs...and then wonder why things always turn to crap wherever they go. A completely predictable pattern of self-destructive behavior.
It’d be funny if it didn’t affect normal people.
“....residents leave California for other destinations, particularly Texas.”
Aw, crap.
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