Government octopus strangling state

August 20, 2012

By Katy Grimes

If forces are at work quelling America, the best place to start would be right here in California.

California used to be the 6th largest economy in the world, with rich natural resources, prime agricultural land, the innovations of Silicon Valley, and a once envied education system.

But the land of milk and honey has turned sour and bitter, full of entitlement, resentment, and class warfare, burdened under the nation’s highest taxes, the highest debt, and one half a trillion dollars in unfunded pension liability. California has the worst credit rating in the nation, the most illegal immigrants, and the most welfare recipients in the nation.

Whether there are “forces” or not working to dismantle the great American experiment, the government is doing it for us–and California is first up at bat.

California: on the brink

State government, with the help of the feds, dried up California’s Central Valley, the world’s agricultural Mecca, through a myriad of absurd water regulations, high taxing and environmental regulations, and managed to devastate the state’s primary resource. Adding insult to injury, Gov. Jerry Brown has decided to reuse much of the rich agricultural land for a $100 billion publicly funded high-speed train that no one in California wants.

As if enough economic damage hasn’t already been done to the state, Brown recently announced that he would tear up the unique and plentiful Delta region in the state, and replace much of it with water tunnels to funnel Northern California water to the southern part of the state. While the southland needs water, tearing up more agricultural land isn’t the way to accomplish this — not if one is a sincere steward of the unique natural resources California has to offer.

This is just more proof that Democrats are not conservationists, but extreme and irrational environmental posers. And they are so beholden to labor unions and other extreme interests, they are causing the deterioration of the golden state.

In doing all of this damage to the state, Brown has ensured that the dwindling businesses will pay the price.

Multicultural California

Destroying California’s schools was easy. Instead of teaching everyone in English, California politicians and educators claimed they were “celebrating diversity,” and allowed English as a Second Language courses to take over schools.

Instead of allowing and encouraging all immigrants to keep and maintain their own languages, politicians have downgraded and degraded all education in the state.

“It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual,” former Colorado Governor Dick Lamm said in a speech.

“Diversity” was not the charge of government education, nor was the goal high-paying jobs and employment for adults.

But liberals hijacked the schools, and on the way forgot about educating kids. Today’s California public schools are ranked last in the nation, but the teachers are paid really well.

Manufacturing: the last frontier

In California, those who sit in government offices have labeled people who create businesses “polluters.” Lawyers and bureaucrats, who receive government paychecks and create nothing other than impossible hurdles for people in business, are behind the regulations. And they do this in order to keep government growing.

I worked in manufacturing for 20 years and witnessed first hand the strangling regulations California bureaucrats impose on manufacturers. Even when business owners comply with the regulations, bureaucrats up the anty and impose more impossible regulations. And it is our politicians allowing this.

If politicians were sincere about their hatred of bullying, they would first look within government and end the bullying of business owners by petty government bureaucrats.

The government fog

Government is like a fog, filling in every possible crevice with its cold, wet, harsh fingers.

Look at government — it’s everywhere. The owner of a property can’t even turn the power on in his own building without applying for a permit from the city before calling the power company.

We can’t travel without the Transportation Security Administration breathing down our backs, and dumping out our hairspray, shampoo and lotions–rules imposed by lamebrain bureaucrats.

Our public schools have become detrimental to many kids, instead of the wonderful, safe , stimulating halls of learning they once were.

As the private sector has deteriorated under the imposition of government rules, regulations, taxes, and cheating, bureaucrats and politicians are getting rich, living well beyond their pay grades, and making secret deals with faceless power brokers for future wealth.

Public corruption is killing the private sector. Government is run by men and women who largely base their decisions on how they can grow government, and personally benefit from it.

“In short, our top pundits, our political elites, our very president all believe that they can blast the unfairness of high capitalism while doing everything in their power to enjoy its dividends — and demand an ethical standard from others that they habitually do not meet themselves,” said Victor Davis Hansen.