Politics are a funny thing. Highlighted by this article about California, we can see that California hasn't been doing too shabby -
- having above average GDP growth from 1999-2009 compared to the rest of the country
- taking home 50% of all venture capital dollars
- it's budget deficit, while large, is still only 6-7% of its budget, and future pension and health liabilities are only 7% of its economy
- not to mention bailing out the South, Midwest, and some of the West to the tune of $620 billion from 1981-2005.
So let's get this straight, California bails-out the country for a quarter-century and Republicans scream its a failed state? Yeah, right... If you want to see the tax data, it's supplied by the Tax Foundation.
Republicans claim they want to slash Federal spending, so why don't the Democrats let them? Let the Republicans shrink the Federal budget by 80%, abolish the income tax, the corporate income tax, and payroll tax. And do you know who will be better for it? Many of the states that reliably vote or are more likely to vote Democratic - California, New York, Illinois, Massachusettes, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Minnesota, Washington, Oregon.
If the Democrats end up raising taxes to lower the budget deficit, then who will be worst off? Their own constituents.
No wonder politics often defies logic.
