Who are American politicians beholden to? The People? The Constitution?

[Ben Kenobi]

If the Republican party tries keeps to the right in general elections, the only way they'll ever win again on the national stage is to clone a Democrat.

How's California working out for you?

[MichaeltheGreat]

Still the biggest economy in the US. Working just fine.

[Ben Kenobi]

Still the biggest economy in the US. Working just fine.

Knock Knock.

[DinoDoc]

Working just fine.

It doesn't seem like it. 34% of the nation’s welfare recipients live in California but only 12% of the U.S. population resides there.

[MichaeltheGreat]

We can afford 'em. Seriously, though, a large portion of them are economic refugees from other states. California also gets commuter homeless in the winter, though they're freezing their asses off here now. I used to hate seeing the Chargers have home games in the playoffs, because you knew all these people would see 65 degrees on a January evening in San Diego and decide they needed to move themselves out here.

[DinoDoc]

We can afford 'em.

It doesn't seem like it. California's debt still a heavy cloud over state's future.

[MichaeltheGreat]

The state government is in a hole, as happens every recession. California has had a decades long pattern of economic migration from other states, so added population imposes costs more rapidly than they contribute offsetting tax revenues.

[DinoDoc]

California has had a decades long pattern of economic migration from other states, so added population imposes costs more rapidly than they contribute offsetting tax revenues.

The Great California Exodus

[MichaeltheGreat]

Of course. After the immigrants from Bum****istan states drove housing demand and prices through the roof, they're leaving There is still tons of money here, and tons to be made.

[DinoDoc]

Of course. After the immigrants from Bum****istan states drove housing demand and prices through the roof, they're leaving

Are we to believe that you blame brown people for your state's fiscal woes and people are leaving to better places around the country?

There is still tons of money here, and tons to be made.

After the passage of Prop 30, I'm starting to doubt that contention of yours.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Nope, the economic migrants were mostly white and (in my experience) from rust belt states or the south. As far as leaving to "better" places? Nope. Cheaper places, or back where they came from - yes. I could live a lot cheaper in Oklahoma or Nebraska, among others. But why in hell would I want to? And Prop 30 is no big deail from a cost standpoint.

Here's the view out the living room window at sunset:



Yep, life's just a ***** in California.

[Joseph]

Nope, the economic migrants were mostly white and (in my experience) from rust belt states or the south. As far as leaving to "better" places? Nope. Cheaper places, or back where they came from - yes. I could live a lot cheaper in Oklahoma or Nebraska, among others. But why in hell would I want to? And Prop 30 is no big deail from a cost standpoint.

Here's the view out the living room window at sunset:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]173248[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]173249[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]173250[/ATTACH]

Yep, life's just a ***** in California.

Is that San Diego?

[MichaeltheGreat]

Yep, overlooking Misson Bay and the ocean.

[MichaeltheGreat]

As Ben and DD can see, we live in a real cesspool of collapse and despair out here.

[Straybow]

Because the modern GOP has become so extremist that they reject ideas that previously were part of mainstream Republican thinking. This is why progressives laugh when the right try and paint Obama as some wild eyed radical. Obama is virtually indistinguishable from a mainstream Republican of yesteryear. Take away the social stuff like gay rights which is simply a result of how western civilization has moved on, and most of the rest is pure center right. It's been said many times, but even Reagan would have been hounded out of todays GOP as a 'RINO'.

Oh, the "modern" GOP, that hasn't elected a "progressive" since Ike? What the modern GOP voter says is that the GOP of Ike had lost its way. Ford, Dole, and GHWB were old guard. McCain lost his way in his own unique fashion. Romney is even more progressive than the rest.

The Reagan Democrats said the party left them, not the other way around. The Reagan Republicans said the Republican leadership had left them. Reagan reached around the media to win from the grass roots. I was there, and I'm betting you weren't. Reagan would be hip deep in the Tea Party if he were a generation younger.

As progressive as the old guard of the party may have been then, and now, there is no comparison. If you think O is "indistinguishable" from the Republicans of "yesteryear" you aren't just drinking the coolaide, you're huffing it.