Watching San Diego Grind to a Halt

Councilman Carl DeMaio has made a reasonable proposal to cure most of San Diego City economic woes, now that the taxpayers have loudly spoken by defeating an increased sales tax. (Prop. D.)

The unions will likely thwart all of DeMaio’s efforts.

Forget the fight between competing interests. The City is broke! You can delay the inevitable, you can parse the numbers, you can nibble around the edges but you can avoid all of the lengthy angry discussion — not the eventual pain.

The nation cannot bailout the state, and the state cannot bail out the city. The money is in the salaries, and somewhere before the streets become so pot-holed that only raised trucks can travel, and all roads are awash with burst water pipes, someone getting those salaries must agree to something.

Declare bankruptcy and let the Court decide. We will see if the union power will survive the court. Cut to the chase — everyone is waiting for someone else to absorb the pain, meanwhile the taxpayers are hurting and no one wants to join them, just exploit them to absorb more pain.

The taxpayers, city, state and nation have spoken. The powers are still not listening but if they continue fighting over diminishing spoils they will be ruling economic chaos.

Little value, that!

Sitting Back and Relaxing In the Sun

Yes, the Senate and the presidency are still in the hands of the Democrats, but you don’t have to be a weatherman to see which way the wind is blowing. There is a two year deadlock — or “checks and balances” as I prefer — then hopefully the Republicans will have learned their lesson and not overreach.

If they do (again), they will be punished (again).

And, yes, there is still the soon-to-be-isolated state of California — or as I call it Fallujah. (An isolated enclave, awaiting freedom.)

I actually think Jerry will surprise everyone — pleading absolute necessity he will cut, cut, cut and become the West Coast version of Chris Christie, or even Greece’s George Papandreou. There is no state bailout available with the Republican’s holding the House, so it is a new ballgame in Sacramento for Jerry. I think he may well do what he must do, because his options are limited. He needs to make a virtue out of necessity.

Everyone may act as they choose, but I intend to live here as I would on Belize: Enjoy the sun and the weather and order my goods over the internet.

Liberals can’t take that away. (Yet.)

Policics as a Blood Sport

A writer in the Washington Post analyzes this morning that the Pelosi decision to run for the House Minority leader presents President Obama with a major problem: It limits his ability to maneuver, to compromise with Republicans, and, eventually to run for a second term.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/05/AR2010110507192.html

Of course, she may not win a House Democratic vote for Minority Leader. She drove a lot of recalcitrant Democrats to vote for bills that they knew their voters did not support and it cost them their jobs this past week. Remaining House members may credit her power-wielding skills but fear her being able to wield it over them.

 

Pelosi was the face that the Republicans placed on the administration, even more than that of the president who still maintains a certain amount of personal support. His problem, in my opinion, is that he still thinks his policies are not the problem – that he was simply less articulate, or the voters were too dumb to comprehend what he was doing for them. At least that is what he apparently expresses in his up-coming 60 Minute interview.

The polls, which he knows but dismisses, say otherwise. Only one of his policies, Wall Street Oversight, has popular support.

From a political standpoint, Pelosi will be a problem for the White House and right now this White House has more than its share of problems. There are plenty of opponents from the right, and pressure from the left will just be an added problem. Just when the Republicans face internal divisions within their ranks – along comes a split between leftists and Obama supporters hoping for a second term on the left.

Politics is a blood-sport more than football – and it never rests, and is never blacked out!