I’m reading the accounts of delusional maniacs from across the state with not a little bit of bemusement. The lack of economic thought is matched only by the lack of recognition that Republicans got far more out of this budget than they deserved to get, thanks to the anti-democratic 2/3 requirement. Here’s a sample of this Algonquin Roundtable:
“The Republicans should have stood their ground,” fumed 70-year-old Tony Dragonetti. “Abel Maldonado is sick, and so are the other Republicans who voted for this. They give the you-owe-me crowd everything they need, but the poor slob who is working day after day paying taxes gets nothing.” […]
“I think they could have held out. There are a lot more cuts they could have made,” said Steve Pyle, 61, who said he was so unhappy with the country’s direction that he seriously was considering moving to Australia. “They could start by getting rid of all the illegal immigrants and the teachers unions.” […]
“I don’t believe everything would have stopped if this budget wasn’t passed,” Sanders said. “I support what the Republicans did.”
Local GOP activist Adele Harrison predicted new taxes would push the state and country into a depression […]
Terry Carter, 65, just smiled behind the counter and kept pouring coffee. The boisterous regulars have helped keep him in business for 22 years. As for his own opinions, he keeps those to himself.
“Sometimes the smartest thing you can do is listen,” he said.
Well, that depends on who you’re listening to. For example, listening to talk radio is most definitely NOT the smartest thing you can do. I’ve been tuning in to a lot of this down in Southern California, and the ignorance abounds. A typical commenter is a well-off suburbanite bitching about $700 bucks in new taxes for their $126,000 salary (that was an actual conversation). Roger Niello, one of the Yacht Party’s own who voted for the budget, got hammered on a Sacramento station.
John in Sacramento warned, “You’re going to bankrupt the state with taxes.”
And Dave in Cameron Park told Niello he was “outraged that you, as a Republican, caved in and voted with Democrats.” […]
“You should have let (California) fall off a cliff,” John from Sacramento told him. “Then, we pick up the pieces and put this state together, the way it used to be.” (emphasis mine)
This is the suicide cult politics played by the GOP. And it features a lot of righteous anger and talk of censure and recalls and primary challenges. There’s even some Ventura County Supervisor and anti-tax nut who’s mulling a run for Governor as the conservative alternative.
But I’m not sure it’s such a force anymore. The John and Ken show ended Thursday with the two musing that “somebody should do something about this” and asking listeners to find each other to fight against the turncoats. In other words, they’re not going to lead it. Ultimately, these are lazy people shouting at the end of the bar. Independents have turned dramatically against them, and the leader of the party won’t show up at their convention. I don’t know that they’re entirely coordinated, after years of mismanagement and an almost broke state party apparatus, to even pull off the enforcer role. If someone like Anthony Adams survives a primary challenge, that would be a powerful signal that the Yacht Party is all sound and fury, signifying nothing.
In fact, in maybe the most pathetic rallying speech I’ve ever heard in my lifetime, neo-Hooverist South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford argued for losing now, losing tomorrow, losing forevah!
“We are at the incredible gut check point for what happens next in American civilization,” Sanford said in the introductory address for the state party’s three-day Sacramento convention […]
“Would you be willing to lose? Would you be willing to support folks who may likely lose,” Sanford told the gathering at the Capitol Hyatt. He went on to say that it was paramount for party members to support the GOP “at a time when it may look like a losing cause” because their efforts will be “pushing the ball forward in the larger conservative movement.”
California Republicans: Willing To Lose.
