The Blob

Tuesday, August 19, 2003

You're so vain

Clueless. That's the word that came to mind as I listened to a "make-or-break" speech this afternoon by California Governor Gray Davis. Instead of being an act of contrition about the incompetence of his tenure as Governor, Davis went on the defensive. Calling the recall election "a Republican power grab," Davis said, "...They don't give a rip about past mistakes. This is all about control in the future, seizing back the governor's chair..."

What Davis can't grasp is that this is not a Republican power grab, but a grass roots effort by the people of California (Democrats, Republicans and independent voters) to get control of their state back from an aloof, egotistical and incompetent politician deeply wedded to special interests.

"This recall is bigger than California," Davis said. "What's happening here is part of an ongoing national effort to steal elections Republicans cannot win."

Funny. In most democratic nations, it's called a Vote of Confidence. It's not the lack of democracy, but evidence that the people, regardless of their political view, are working determine the course of the state, not the Governor.

To infer that 1.6 million voters in California who signed petitions for the recall election are attempting to deny freedom of expression guaranteed by democracy is simply insulting. And it's interesting to note that most of the people on the recall election ballot are Democrats, not Republicans. If Davis had not made such a mess of things, this recall election would never have happened. Consider this:

- In search of the ever-elusive free lunch, California government increased spending in the last four-and-a-half years by nearly 40 percent, well above the 21 percent combined increase in state population growth and inflation. Governor Gray Davis, who entered office in 1998 with a $10 billion surplus, converted that into a staggering $40 billion deficit, a deficit larger than the combined deficits of the other 49 states.

- Most California businesses saw their workers' compensation insurance premiums double and even triple, while increasing payouts, despite the fact that the number of claims filed actually decreased.

- The state already imposes up to 9.3 percent state income tax, one of the highest in the country.

- California's sales tax is 7.25 percent - the nation's highest.

- Despite the governor's declared ''freeze'' in hiring, he added 44,000 people to the state payroll.

- For the first time since 1940, California lost residents to other states. Over the last several years, many businesses left California for business-friendly states like Utah and Nevada, resulting in a loss, since 2001, of nearly 300,000 jobs in manufacturing alone.

It's little wonder why Californians of different political views agree on one thing: Davis has to go. Instead of backing down today, Davis showed again how out of touch he is with the people of California.

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