I enjoyed yours as well.

Things are quite a mess politically in Cali. I think the root of the problem lies in human nature. It is easy to find people who want lower or no taxes. Promise this and win their votes. The tough part comes when it is time to choose those items which will no longer be funded. Schools? Law enforcement? Roads and bridges? Med-i-Cal? Unemployment bennies? State colleges and universities? Everyone wants to stop paying taxes, few really want the government to stop spending money.

The same thing occurs at the national level. Many have this gut feeling that government waste is out of control. They know this with certainty, yet they cannot haul out a copy of the federal budget and show it to you. They favor a certain party and political philosophy that they believe will stop "government confiscation of my wealth" or some such. They ignore contrary evidence such as "no-bid" Haliburton and KBR contracts which caused the evaporation of billions of their dollars. This occurred when a different party with a supposedly different philosophy was in charge.