The Secretary of State’s website is overloaded, this according to the LA Times, with 3.5 million votes counted statewide:
source: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/election/#props
Oh, and Jerry Brown. Ah, moonbeams and business exodus, the combo that killed the golden state goose.
Strangely, the first symptom seems to be dyslexia, as this odd Google ad showed up right after I hit publish: (screencap)
Maybe by morning they’ll have that fixed….
Dave-
The hippies and stoners voted against Prop 19 – they want to keep pot illiegal so they don’t have to pay taxes on it.
OK, on the bright side, I’m very happy to see the hyper-arrogant Nancy Pelosi lose her job as Speaker of the House….. That’s about it.
Not only do we still have the smug Barbara Boxer as Senator, not only do we still have AB 32, the climate emissions bill that mimics the failed Kyoto treaty and will do nothing but drive more business away than it attracts, not only did J Brown win, but it looks like prop 25, which will allow the Kali govt to pass taxes with only a bare majority of the legislative vote instead of a 2/3rd majority, has also passed….. Welcome To Taxiformia!
OT – Yes, the Iranian/Pakistani hawks may well push Obama into a war soon…..
There are plenty of states that want growth. But when you exodus from California, please leave the progressive ideas behind. Cal ex-pats helped ruin Nevada by bringing all the nonsense with them.
Proposition 23; Suspend Air Pollution Control Law (AB 32)
http://vote.sos.ca.gov/maps/ballot-measures/23/
That was the “toned down” description (after prop 23 backers sued). And, guess who wrote the ballot description?
The Anti-23 cabal outspent the Pro group 2 to 1. The Anti-23 ads promised 500,000 new “green” jobs (which don’t exist yet, and probably never will). The Pro 23 group only promised 1,000,000 actual jobs would be lost. Californians were never very good at math.
I wonder where the Anti-23 money came from…
Brad says:
November 3, 2010 at 9:04 am
“Unfortunately this blog seems to be deteiorating – from a science based blog to another right wing blog like the horrendous Gateway Pundit!”
I don’t particularly care about parochial US politics not being American, nor do I play one on TV, so the recent politicization of this excellent blog is unfortunate for overseas readers, of whom there are quite a few, not preoccupied with internecine US politics.
REPLY: “Well now that election season is over (which many people are interested in, so damned if I do, damned if I don’t, and Prop 23 had U.S. and world repercussions) we’ll be more science based.” – Anthony
One most certainly hopes that is indeed the case.
Mere dyslexia, when Calif. sees “green” in place of brown and red? “Now that’s Progressive!”
The elections in California went Very Well. I could not be any happier. I am from Texas and all that is best and good about California is moving to Texas. That is why Texas has created over half of America’s jobs in the last 3 years. I really say Super Duper.
Brad says:
November 3, 2010 at 9:05 am
Dave-
The hippies and stoners voted against Prop 19 – they want to keep pot illiegal so they don’t have to pay taxes on it.
…………..
I suspect you’re right, it’s the same as when Southern counties vote on staying dry or not. Two groups always oppose alcohol, the religious prohibitionists and the moonshiners/bootleggers. Medical MJ makes it defacto legal already, simply see the “doc” at the MJ store and you have a Rx for it. Then you can buy legally or not and still have a get out of jail card for possession. So why pay taxes to the man
@Alan the Brit
The seventeenth amendment to our constitution provides for popular election of senators and calls for a special election to refill vacant seats. The states may select interim senators pending the election. All but four states provide for gubernatorial selection. Those four senate seats remain vacant until the election.
“REPLY: Well now that election season is over (which many people are interested in, so damned if I do, damned if I don’t, and Prop 23 had U.S. and world repercussions) we’ll be more science based. – Anthony”
At the end of the day, “The People have Spoken”and its not time to gather as Americans and focus on solutions.
Decision Making needs to first define the context before determining “What Could be Occurring in relation to that which Is Not Currently Occurring but Could Be”; subtractive logic is a powerful tool.
Science Invents or it at some point in the past it was allowed to?
Invest in Nevada electrical plants. They’ll be selling electricity to California.
At least they got the chance to vote (&40% sane is better than a poke in the eye). In the UK we just get told.
correction to my last comment:
Decision Making needs to first define the context before determining “What Is Occurring in relation to that which Is Not Currently Occurring but Could Be”; subtractive logic is a powerful tool.
At all points in the past, Science Invents and defines the opportunity.
Shall we chat once again over passe ROEI solutions or something more insightful?
While we’re at it, shall we chat about passe Kyoto Protocol AB32 climate implications or Science and logic?
Don’t worry about California. That’s where many of those Chinese and other Asia-area imports arrive. The unionized dock workers and unionized truckers and other shipping companies will still have jobs, which is what is really important.
Although it’ll be interesting to see them make do with the mandated solar-charged electric forklifts and clean hydrogen-burning tractor trailers.
In other news, the Republican candidate for governor in Pennsylvania, blasted in campaign ads for not supporting additional taxes on the Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling operations, won. Our term-limited soon-to-be-former Democratic governor, was recently blasted in the Wall Street Journal for petulantly banning new gas drilling leases on state lands after Republicans in the state legislature blocked a new tax that would be twice as high as the current highest tax, which is in West Virginia. The gas industry is expected to generate hundred of thousands of jobs and billions in new state and local revenues already. The arguments for the new tax basically went ‘Hey, these big companies got billions invested already, they ain’t gonna walk away from that, they’ll still make lots of money!’ Think of an episode from a TV series where Mafia guys are talking about shaking down some neighborhood stores for protection money and you get the tone of the arguments.
Looks like PA will end up doing its part in providing clean cheap energy after all.
😉
BTW: Obama’s press conference is the current TV background noise as I write. Some mildly interesting perhaps-conciliatory words about EPA being allowed to regulate CO2 as a greenhouse gas, which should be done in a way that doesn’t hurt the economy, creates green jobs, puts America in a stronger more-competitive position, etc. Oh, and he also made the first mention of his trip to India, which I surprised three people already today by informing them of it as the US media has been silent, which is estimated to cost $200 million a day, for ten days, and he’ll be leaving on it soon. Strange how it got no mention right before the election. ☺
Unemployment is +9% here in CA, and we vote anti-business? Gone full-retard is an understatement.
Watching this from Britain with some but not a great deal of knowledge of American politics: doesn’t the loss of the House mean that any projected Democrat bail-out of Ca (which it will surely need after this vote) is now highly unlikely?
Also, has no one in Ca been paying attention to the situation in Spain? PM Zapatero’s government has immolated that country’s economy in his pursuit of ‘green’ jobs.
A bout of ‘tough love’ in the form of a lesson in basic economic laws is sorely needed. To quote, the problem is that eventually, socialists run out of other peoples’ money.
Just a note of caution for those NOT living in California. The CA mass hara kiri demonstration yesterday DOES have National and maybe International ramifications.
(a) The Republicans did NOT take over the US Senate.
(b) The California Suicide Pack DID re-elect Barbara Boxer to her Senate seat for a fourth six year term.
(c) Ergo; Barbara Boxer will remain as Chairman of the Senate EPW Committee, as in Energy, and Public Works.
So the whole Cap and tax and carbon tax, and global Climate disruption campaign is still full on.
As for me; If I don’t get laid off before the end of the year, I will probably die right here at my desk (some day).
Since George H. W. Bush first uttered those immortal words:- “Read My lips; NO new Taxes !”, I have been waiting for just a short breather from the total tax burden we get from all sides; and so far; no Congress or Administration has been able to close the deal. The RINO republicans who are just Democrats in drag, still haven’t met a tax that they don’t like. The Death tax comes back in spades, come Jan 1-2011; so my kids won’t be in line for anything either. Well there won’t be much left anyway.
But a lot of discretionary Californians are already packed to exit. If my son ever graduates from school, I will be looking for either a new State or Country; because this one is on the way to being well done.
But overall, I do think that America is actually on the mend; and maybe just in time; except it is likely to end up with only 56 States instead of 57, as CA likely reverts to Mexico.
John McCain is still there to reach across the aisle in his usual fifth column fashion; so there still are snags in the sytem.
But overall the real People of flyover country, did come through yesterday.
Ca is now basically a one party State; with its famed Prop 13 house tax restraint now dead, and they only need 50% of the nearly all Democrat Legislature to wake up from their nearly legally pot stoned state to vote themselves any level of funding that their public employee union masters demand of them; and we have a senile flower child driving the car; who has already publicly declared that he doesn’t have a plan for California; he simply lied when he said that in his campaign; well at least he said that he lied.
Kum Dollison says:
November 3, 2010 at 1:39 am
California’s deficit is, approx, 1% of State GDP. And, they probably send that much money to Super-Duper “Low-Tax” States like my own. I think California will probably be just fine.
Comparing spending deficit too GDP is somewhat meaningless. It just means that gross dept is expanding because California is running a deficit.
It is spending more that it receives so as the dept expands so does the cost of servicing it. California can’t print money so in order to stop the gross debt from growing, it must either increase tax income or cut spending . To increase tax income it can either hope that GDP will grow faster than spending and there by increase receipts or it can raise direct taxation.
Gross dept as a percent of GDP gives a better view of the situation.
http://i599.photobucket.com/albums/tt74/MartinGAtkins/usgs_line.png
Since Californians seem hell bent on trashing the economy they can rule out growing GDP above spending so that leaves direct tax hikes or spending cuts. They could continue deficit spending but that could see their credit rating fall as the GDP dept ratio expands and that would increase the cost of servicing debt.
@pRadio:
Did you seriously recommend The Democratic Socialist Workers Party Peoples Republic of Maryland as an alternative? If it weren’t for all the Federal jobs (and money) in this area, it would have gone belly up long ago.
Kum Dollison says:
November 3, 2010 at 1:39 am
California’s deficit is, approx, 1% of State GDP. And, they probably send that much money to Super-Duper “Low-Tax” States like my own. I think California will probably be just fine.
You might want to work on your arithmetic a bit.
http://www.usdebtclock.org/state-debt-clocks/state-of-california-debt-clock.html
Doing it the way the nun’s taught us BITD, $150 Billion divided by $1.9 Trillion comes out at about 7.7%. When the results of yesterday’s election kick in, it’s hard to imagine that percentage heading anywhere but North. California politicians have already been laying the groundwork for a “Too Big To Fail” bailout for quite some time and O-P-R have already supplied payoffs to their public employee union backers in an attempt to forestall the inevitable Armageddon. The debt clock numbers do not include the massive overhang of the unsustainable public employee pension plans, which dwarf not only the present debt, but the entire state GDP.
Here’s a link to AB 32’s actual plan: http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/scopingplan/scopingplan.htm
And a summary of the various elements: http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/cleanenergy/clean_fs2.htm
What businesses are being driven out of California? Increased energy costs is a burden on the consumer, it doesn’t drive away energy producers. Note that the energy restrictions apply to imports as well.
As a real estate developer, I have personally seen the change in building efficiency standards and an increase in the solar power industry. Which, again, doesn’t hurt business as long as the standards are applied across the board.
In general I think AB 32 is crap, but California is short on cash and it needs money to subsidize alternative energy and transportation development. So they used BS science to support taxes/fees on certain types of businesses – such is politics. I can see that it ultimately steers consumer dollars spent on one business sector into investment for another, but I can’t see how it results in a net business/job exodus.
If someone could point me to a link that details businesses actually hurt by the “early actions” of AB 32 already in place, it would be a great help. I know of businesses that have been helped – they are getting state dollars! But hurt… I haven’t seen details for a single one. Are people referring to an exodus of consumers who don’t like the high cost of living in California? OK, I can see that.