Pretty thought-provoking. Basically Buchanan points out that California has absorbed the lion's share of illegal immigration and had to pay the costs thereof, such as schools and health care. In addition, Davis refused to appeal the federal court ruling that Prop 187, which restricted spending on illegals, was somehow illegal. California also lost many high-paying factory jobs. So blame Davis, but also both Bushes and Clinton.
Right now, our country is seeing the GREATEST IMMIGRATION IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. And California is "absorbing" a ton of it! Stay tuned.
I repeat for the 10,000th time, the debate regarding the issues and budget problems of CALIFORNIA cannot be succinctly dissected into the classic "Republicans vs Dems" political discourse. Moreover, you cannot underestimate what Prop. 13 and the cap on property taxes ( 2% per annum ) does to the State's coffers. When a state's economy tanks and personal income as well as corporate tax revenues PLUNGE, there is no "cushion" in the way of a consistent revenue stream from Property taxes. Thus, the State's revenues are much more sensitive and volatile to the economy. That's a fact.
"But what is happening in California is not confined to California. It is happening across America. Unless we elect a president who will enforce our immigration laws and defend our borders, unless we find a Congress that will jettison the free-trade madness that is denuding America of her manufacturing, what has happened to California will happen here." "President Bush appears oblivious to it all â but then, so did his father before him."[b/]
is dealing with hundreds of thousand of "new" immigrants because the Bush Administration fails to defend our borders, CALIFORNIA gets hit with the manipulation of its power grid by the ENRON'S of the world. Then, when Gov. Davis and the State's Senators appeal to FERC for help, they simply turn and look the other way . . . saying that they see no signs of a problem. It's like a prize fighter who is coming out of his corner for the 11th round and he has been taking a beating to the point of several standing eight counts . . . Then, when he goes back into his corner to get some support, rather than get helped by a trainer and manager that are loyal to him, he gets absolutely ZERO from his corner because his corner ( the Bush corner ) is full of cronies on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, also known as FERC, and are going to let him go twist in the wind. Can you imagine letting the world's 5th largest economy and all of its people TWIST IN THE WIND during a crisis, during a huge national recession, because of politics? Bush did. And don't ever forget it!
Who is really to blame is the system wherein an illegal can get a job but the state can't bust the employer.
Waggie, I hate to break this to you but California is a socialist state. That's the problem. Stop blaming Bush and everyone else. California is a perfect example of a mico level what would happen to the country on a macro level if we adopted many of the socialistic principles of the democratic party. If you look very carefully at other socialist nations around the world, you will see they have the exact same problems California has. Deny this all you want and call me whatever name you want but you know it's true. I have many friends that live out there for this exact reason. And yes I do agree with you the border is a huge problem. However, the reason those border jumpers are invading California is because they know they will get a free education, free healthcare and secured employment and even a drivers license, all at the expense of the California taxpayer. Why? Because Grey Davis and his cronies are rolling out the red carpet and letting them in. He also lets them vote illegally too. If you don't give the Mexicans all that free stuff, guess what, they won't come. Don't you think it's odd that they just bypass Arizona and New Mexico where the cost of living is a lot cheaper to live in California? Every illegal in the world would love to live in socialist republic of California. Why do you think you guy have one of the largest arab populations outside the middle east? So keep pointing the finger and blaming the other guy all day long. Your song and dance is growing tiresome. If Arnold has his way he will break up that socialist state and bring some much needed reform.