in 2010, Jerry Brown a longtime California favorite got the vote out for him
when in other states people sat on their hands and stayed home.

Off year elections always harder to win, but when there is a candidate everybody loves,
it makes it easy to get people out

Like in 2012, the Presidential election drove people to the polls.

Not to mention California was hit hard by having a republican as governor, so they fought back hard

mornin', sunshine!

What big blue eyes she has! Lovely!

i was a little shakey with the eye liner -- those pain killers were very good.

I hope you're better after your hospital visit. You're always lovely in my eyes!

but I think Republicans failed to take control of redistricting here in CA. Other states have been gerrymandered to give advantage to the right-wing. The Governator tried to do the same here a few years ago, I seem to remember. But he wasn't able to stack the Redistricting Commission with his cronies.

Why? Because they care more about their ideology than they do about actually making anything better. They (republicans) are idiots. Any state could do better following the examples in California. There's no utopia but it sure beats austerity, poverty, and willful ignorance.

There are increasing signs that the "budget surplus" is an anomaly which will not hold up, and public sector pensions are far from being solved. To a very large degree the state finances have been improved at the cost of removing money from cities ("Revedevelopment Zones" eliminated), and city improvement budgets are essentially zero. The tax increase was temporary, and I'm not sure we should be celebrating temporary solutions to long term problems.

Voters voted to convert public pensions to 401k defined contribution plans, and public sector unions sued in court to have the vote overturned. The court ruled for the unions, and 74% of the voters are not happy with unions right now, so unions should not be feeling too secure at this point. Public sector union pensions are becoming a very sore point in this state. There are $billions in unfunded union pensions which are an impending serious problem.

for all of our ills. Isn't it funny that public pensions were not in the cross-hairs until the GOP managed to decimate the economy with the stock market crash, housing fiasco and lowering of taxes for the rich?

In fact, I distinctly remember people making fun of public pensions for being so little while others were making a killing in the stock market and retiring as millionaires in their 40s. Many willingly gave up pensions in exchange for company stock and 401k's in the hopes of striking it rich.

I have some news for you. Taking the little (and yes it is very little in comparison to the amount of money being stolen by the 1%) that people get in retirement from pension plans and Social Security will not help the economy at all and will in fact, decimate it further. Austerity measures have already been proven not to work.

Schwarzenegger fan.

must mean many are feeling their jobs are secure. Nearly all the bigger projects
going on here have some Union labor and the schools are maintaining programs once feared cut.

I know there still is an under-employed group. Hope that changes along as things improve over all.


Tikki

Does it always rain on your head wherever you go?

We did not vote for that, it was not on the ballot.

Link to your information please...