CALIFORNIA IS OBAMA'S DREAM

Roger Hedgecock is a nationally syndicated radio talk-show       host.

RADIO STATION 600 AM, SAN DIEGO


CALIFORNIA IS       OBAMA’S DREAM
Written by Roger Hedgecock, former Mayor of       San       Diego
Wednesday, 25 January       2012



I live in       California. If you were wondering what living in Obama's second term would be like, wonder no longer. We in California are living there now.



California is a one-party state dominated by a virulent Democrat Left enabled by a complicit media  - where every agency of local, county, and state government is run by and for the public employee unions. The unemployment rate is 12%.


California has more folks on food stamps than any other state,       has added somany benefits and higher rates to Medicaid that we call it "Medi-Cal."



Our K-12 schools have more administrators than teachers,       with smaller classes but lower test scores and higher dropout rates with       twice the per-student budget of 15 years ago. 


This week, the       once and current Gov. Jerry "Moon-beam" Brown had to confess that the       "balanced" state budget adopted five months ago was billions in the       red...because actual tax revenues were billions lower than the fairy       tale revenue estimates on which the balance was       predicated.


California government needed more money.


Echoing       the Occupy movement, the governor proclaimed the rich must pay their fair       share. Fair share? The top 1% of California income earners currently pays       50% of the state's income tax.


California has seven income tax       brackets. The top income tax rate is 9.3%, which is slapped on the greedy       rich - those earning $47,056 or more a year. Income of more       than $1 million pays the "millionaires' and billionaires'" surcharge tax       rate of 10.3%.


Brown's proposal would add 2% for income over       $250,000. A million-dollar income would then be taxed at 12.3%. And       that's just for the state.


Brown also proposed a one-half-cent       sales tax increase, which would bring sales taxes (which vary by county)       to 7.75%, and as much as 10%. Both tax increases would be on the       ballot in 2012.


The sales tax increase proposal immediately brought       howls of protest from the Left. Charlie Eaton, a sociology grad student at       UC Berkeley and leader of the UC Student-Workers Union, said: "We've       paid enough. It's time for millionaires to pay."


At least five       other ballot measures to raise taxes are circulating for signatures to get       on the 2012 ballot in California. The governor's proposals are the most       conservative.


The Obama way doesn't end with taxes.


The       governor and the state legislature continue to applaud the efforts of the       California High Speed Rail Authority to build a train connecting Los       Angeles and San Francisco.  Even though the budget is three times the       voter-approved amount, and the first segment will only connect two small       towns in the agricultural Central Valley.



And we don't want to turn down the Obama bullet-train       bucks that Florida and other states rejected because the operating       costs would bankrupt them. Can't happen here, because we're already       insolvent.


In California , we hate the evil, greedy rich (except       the rich in Hollywood, in sports, and in drug dealing). But we love people       who have broken into California to eat the bounty created by the       productive rich.


Illegals get benefits from various generous       welfare programs, free medical care, free schools for their kids,       including meals, instate tuition rates and scholarships too. Nothing's too       good for our guests.


To erase even a hint of criticism of illegal       immigration, the California Legislature is considering a unilateral       state amnesty. Democrat State Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes has       proposed an initiative that would bar deportation of illegals from       California.


Interesting dilemma for Obama! If immigration is       exclusively a federal matter - and Obama has sued four states for       trying to enforce federal immigration laws he won't enforce -what will the       President do to a California law that exempts California from federal       immigration law?


California is also near fulfilling the       environmentalist dream of deindustrialization.


After driving out       the old industrial base (auto and airplane assembly), air and water       regulators and tax policies are now driving out the high-tech, biotech and       even Internet-based companies that were supposed to be California 's       future.


The California cap-and-trade tax on business in the name of       reducing CO2 makes our state the leader in wacky environmentalism, and       guarantees a further job exodus from the state.


Even green energy       companies can't do business in California . Solyndra wentunder, taking its       taxpayer loan guarantee with it.


No job is too small to escape the       regulators.  In fact, more and more of California 's public land is       off-limits to recreation by the people who paid for that land. Unless       you're illegal.


Then you can clear the land, set up marijuana       plantations at will, bring infertilizers that legal farmers can no longer       use, exploit illegal farm workers who live in hovels with no running water       or sanitation, and protect your investment with armed illegals carrying       guns no California citizen is allowed to own.


The rest of us only       found out about these plantations when a workers' open campfire       started one of those devastating fires that have killed hundreds of people       and burned out thousands of homes in California over the last       decade.


It's often said that whatever happens in California will       soon happen in your state.


You'd better hope that's       wrong.