I was hoping the McClintock would run for Senate but Arnold has his eye on that job.

Besides, McClintock has a legislature background. He was very impressive in the recall debates and would have been a more rigorous governor.

We really need him on the state budget fights!

The single mothers I knew who lived on benefits definitely had a nicer lifestyle than those who worked. For instance, on HUD housing, the size of your apartment is determined by your family size, and you could live in whatever neighborhood you wanted, while working mothers not eligible for HUD housing usually got the smallest possible apartment permissible, oftentimes with mother and child sharing a one-bedrooom, one bath, because the mother was paying the whole cost out of her own pocket. I knew single mothers who were NOT trapped in California, and could have left for better opportunities in other states, but they would NOT leave because the welfare benefits made them so comfortable. If the benefits had been time limited, a lot of these women would have moved. There was no reason for them to live in high-cost California, as they were not working, and had no prospect of getting a good job at any point in the future.

Also, in So. Ca. when I lived there, before I became eligible for HUD housing, I tried to get a cheaper apartment, but there weren’t really any. In nice neighborhoods you had to have a good credit rating and tenant history to get a nice apartment. In bad neighborhoods, you didn’t need either, and once you were “in” you could break every zoning regulation under the sun. For that reason, the nasty apartments in bad neighborhoods were only about 15% cheaper than the ones in nice neighborhoods and good school districts, even though they were smaller, older, and dirtier. If it had not been for the endless stream of arriving illegals, the apartment rents would not have been so outrageous, and there would have been fewer people dependent upon HUD housing.

I must say that even I am somewhat shocked by AhCalifornia’s tale of couples getting divorced in order to collect benefits while remaining in the work force. I never saw anything that blatant. I was surrounded by divorced women with young children, who received little or no child support and who were not employed (and usually had not completed college) at the time of the divorce. When the judge ordered them to stay in the “seven southern counties” they simply didn’t have any great options.

There was a time when California was rich. A time when the Libs could almost legitimately claim that we should ‘pay our fair share’ toward the poor and impoverished and all that – to include citizens of other countries.

That is why California adds to Federal benefits.

Kindof an odd death spiral. Basically, the additional benefits increased the burden on those paying the bills while simultaneously – and temporarily – inflating the costs of basic necessities.

And, we were so rich that we could afford fuel reformulations that reduced smog pollutants by almost ½ of 1 percent. Anyone remember Katrina. One of the affects of Katrina was a summer without reformulated fuel. Oh, the horrors. That fuel reformulation increases our costs by about 0.30/gallon if I remember. Taxes increase it over average by another large and growing chunk.

Now, the rich have moved, or are moving, to the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe.

But, the illiterate poor are still flooding in.

And, the Libs don’t see it

Caught.

Uh…agreed, but welfare benefits are just ONE slice of the pie that Californians must “foot the bill” for illegal immigrants. Hospital/medical care paid by counties with state help, added education costs, added police and state correction facilty expenses, not to mention child health and nutrition programs not part of regular “welfare rolls”…

ALL these and more (including the one you mention about California supplementing federal welfare benefits with its own) contribute to the budget mess we find ourselves in.

Don’t get me wrong though. I’m not blaming the illegal migrant for California’s problems. I lay the blame squarely in Sacramento, with a healthly regard of indifference from Washington.