Two Californias

During the entire 38 years I lived in the PRC, I was among those who thought we should have divided the state into two separate ones. We Northern Californians had nothing in common with those who lived down South in LA-LA land. Whenever we had droughts up North and were not allowed to wash our cars or water our lawns, we were treated to photos of the Southern Californians doing just those things with the water that they stole from our Delta area and diverted down to themselves.

While the natural division of the two Californias always seemed to be by bisecting it cross-wise in the middle, this map and analysis of the voting last week for governor shows that a more politically feasible division would be to section off the liberal coastal counties from the more conservative inland ones. It’s very similar to the blue and red state map of the USA after the 2000 Bush vs Gore election. For some reason, liberals have a tendency to congregate more on the coasts, while the more conservative members of our society seem to be satisfied living in fly-over country.

KMK

Not Giving Up

It’s good to know that the only political party that actually advocates removing taxes isn’t giving up their efforts after just one loss at the ballot box. Here in Arkansas, the State party leaders are already preparing for a petition drive to put another measure on the ballot to remove sales tax from human food and medicine. In Massachusetts, they are going to take another stab at removing the state income tax.

We didn’t arrive at such high levels of taxation overnight. It will take patience and persistence to change the momentum to the other direction.

I hope the New York Libertarians are doing what they can to prevent NYC Mayor Bloomberg from implementing his planned $2 Billion annual increase in property taxes. For someone who is supposed to be a Republican and a capitalist, the new mayor is acting like anything but.

While some may blame term limits for not allowing Rudy Giuliani to serve a third term, it’s really his fault for not considering the need for a successor to carry on his fine work. I know Rudy is currently riding high on his recently published book, called Leadership, which I must admit I haven’t read. While I have no criticism of his accomplishments as Mayor of the largest city in the nation, I’m sure even he would admit to being lax in the area of planning for leadership succession.

KMK

Pro-Business Agenda?

Those of us who believe in the principles of capitalism can only hope that there is a strong move in the direction of pro-business legislation in DC before the November 5th euphoria wears off. Unfortunately, moderation is still the main driving force among our rulers; so I don’t expect to see as dramatic a shift in tone as the liberal media are warning about.

KMK