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The Californians current and past who post here sound so detached from what is happening. Here and elsewhere, I've seen people call for a bailout or talk about illegals who supposedly cost the state a fortune. And then, there are the newbies who say "it's not my fault". Given that the federal government didn't bailout the ailing rust belt of the 80s (I lived there) or New York City, I can't imagine why we should make an exception for California. The greedheads who whine about illegals often enjoy cheap labor and don't cut their own grass. Many took the benefits of California (tax-subsidized) and then moved to Utah. The people who want a bailout, though, seem unwilling to organize and try to change the situation. Things can only get better if you the worst excesses (the implicit giveaway to commercial real estate, for example) were used to stimulate a movement as popular as the one responsible for the original Prop 13. The whining reminds me of the handwringing over Prop 8 last year. California is not as instinctively progressive as its boosters have kept telling us it was. Instead of whining and boostering, they need to solve their problems, Look at the difference between Iowa and California on gay marriage--the Iowans played to win, but did it in their own low key way. Californians seem too disengaged and whiny to do something that simple.
