Let Them Come to Kalifornia

"Lasst sie nach Kalifornien kommen!" (Let them come to California)



Since it's the political season, and one of the biggest debates is how much government we want in our lives, I thought it would be instructive to all of you in the other 49 states to know what our government is doing to us in California. I won't even bother with San Francisco because everyone knows what a joke that place is, with full encouragement and participation of their tribal council or city government. I would like to concentrate here on the Los Angeles Unified School District and the State Government in Sacramento. If anyone thinks that more government is needed to fix what's wrong with our nation, I say, in the immortal words of John F Kennedy in his 1963 speech in Berlin- let them come to California.

First, the LA Unified School District (LAUSD), one the worst in the country. I myself graduated from University High School in West LA in 1963. At that time, it was rated number 2 in the nation, only behind New Trier High School in Northbrook, Illinois. Not any more. In my days there, Uni had probably the most beautiful setting of any school in the country, set on a pine tree studded hill with an Indian spring running through the campus. As a result, many movies and TV shows have been filmed on the campus. Today, however, many of the trees are gone and the campus is full of weeds and pavement cracks.

What has happened in the intervening decades? For decades now, bussing has accomplished nothing but force students to get up before dawn and spend half of their day sitting on school busses. Yet, it still continues. Illegal immigration, basically supported by LA City Government, has filled the classrooms with non-English-speaking students. In addition, gangs and drugs rule over many campuses.
Under conditions like those, education does not occur. The drop-out rate is somewhere between 25-50%. That, however, has not stopped the city from pouring huge amounts of money into the schools with no real results. Up until a year ago, the LAUSD was run by former Colorado Governor and Democratic political hack (DNC Chairman), Roy Romer, who continued throwing away taxpayers' money and demanding more and more. Now there is some guy named David Brewer in charge. He can't even pronounce the name of the Mayor he works for (Tony Villaraigosa-"Villagarosa"!)

Recently, the LAUSD sank millions of dollars into a new computer pay system for its teachers. The system was so good that it overpaid teachers something like 53 million dollars. When LAUSD found the error, they started trying to collect back pay from their teachers, many of whom are disputing the amount of overpay. So now, LAUSD will spend upwards of 130 million more to correct the system plus 5 million to a PR firm to explain to the public how the school district is "on the job taking care of business". Now Brewer has brought in two consultants, at annual salaries of $178,000 and $90,000 respectively to "help fix the problem" and deal with the negative publicity. But wait, the guy who will make $178,000 doesn't even have a college degree. He doesn't have the requisite qualifications for the position. Well, that's OK. He's going to take classes to get his degree from the UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX!!

Then there is the State Government in Sacramento under the "reign" of Arnold Schwarzenegger who was elected during the recall of Grey Davis, promising to come to Sacramento and clean up the mess, cut spending and cut taxes. Problem was, he is virtually the only Republican there. Sacramento is firmly in the hands of not only the Democratic Party, but the far-left (and corrupt wing) of the Democratic Party. If you are not in California, you probably don't know the names of Fabian Nunez, Don Perata, Cruz Bustamante et al. The spending and high life these people enjoy is a scandal unto itself. Interestingly enough, many of these figures were members of Mecha, a Mexican-American university student group that has advocated the return of the SW United States to Mexico. Today, as state leaders, these characters pushed the far-left political agenda and spend, spend, spend. Not enough money for a new program? Easy solution-raise taxes. As a result, many productive people are packing up and leaving California-in many cases, taking their businesses with them due to the taxes and regulation. As for the reformer, Schwarzenegger, he quickly learned in office that, if you can't lick 'em, join 'em. That is what he has done. His reign as governor has become pretty much like Queen Elizabeth's reign in England. (Just sit there and wear the crown while the country falls to pieces around you.)

Today, it has been announced in Sacramento that the state is short 14 billion dollars. In other words, they have 14 billion more in expenses than money on hand. Nunez and Perata are already stating that taxes must be raised. If the Republicans (what few there are in Sacramento) get in the way, they will have to go to the voters (in the form of a bond or voter initiative).

Tom McClintock,a Republican, and one of the few sane politicians in the state (he has run for Governor and Lt Governor unsuccessfully), has, for years, laid out the problem in Sacramento. In the last decade, while inflation has risen, state income has risen even more. Unfortunately, spending has risen the most of all. The math is easy. California doesn't have an income problem; it has a spending problem.

Then there is a recent episode in Glendale, outside Los Angeles where a local family was ordered by the Fire Department to trim some of their trees. When they complied, they were hit with a $347,000 fine by the City for "damaging indigenous trees", whatever that means. It was only a public outcry against the city and Mayor Ara Najarian, fueled by KFI radio talk jocks, John and Ken, that finally caused the city to rescind the fine after being deluged with calls and e-mails and being held up to ridicule by the aforementioned talk jocks.

So what is the lesson for all this? It is obvious that Democrats like Hillary Clinton want to create more government involvement in areas like education and health care, just to name two. That means more taxes and more power to the government. Do you really believe that government will use that power and money wisely? I don't for two basic reasons; First, I spent my career in government. Second, Ich bin ein Kaliforniener.