Nonpartison sorrow

Partisan politics plays an important role in California and legislators seem locked within their parties, but when Governor Schwarzenegger gave his last state of the state address, you didn't have to be partisan to feel sad. Timothy Egan in the N.Y. Times expressed best perhaps the general sense of sorrow for lost opportunities that now pervades the state. The high hopes of six years ago when Californians thought a new hand at the helm could steer the state through its problems have faded. The governor and the legislature are locked into an endless battle of meeting ever-growing needs with ever-shrinking resources. It's not the government that has failed us, however, but we the citizens who have failed at directing ourselves. Californians struggled for the right to change the state through citizen initiatives and the idea was a good one. What has happened over the years, though, is that we have voted in opposing initiatives, demanding services but making it impossible to raise taxes to pay for them while making no provision for facing a recession like the one we are currently facing. Many concerned citizens believe the initiative process is broken. Our constitution surely needs an overhaul. It's time for citizens to take responsibility. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in the stars...and not even in the politicians, but in ourselves.

Necessary reading

Every day, it seems, there is more disturbing news about global warming, and today's installment is a blockbuster. Governor Schwarzenegger has released a backup plan for the state based on various assumptions about how high water levels will reach by 2100. Most people agree that we should take steps to control the speed with which climate change is coming, but just in case we don't work fast enough, we need to consider various scenarios that might occur. The article in today's S.F. Chronicle includes a slide show of pictures, the most chilling of which is a map of the Bay Area regions that will be underwater of the worst-case scenario happens. No one likes to consider the possibility of losing coastal beaches, homes, and businesses, but every citizen should take a look at what the possibilities are. It makes our small sacrifices to slow climate change seem even more imperative. Think about New Year's resolutions now!

This in the other day from our Governor:

"As governor, I have made significant efforts to advance health reform in California. As the Obama administration was launching the current debate on health care reform, I hosted a bipartisan forum in our state because I believe in the vital importance of this issue, and that it should be addressed through bipartisan cooperation.

Our principal goals, slowing the growth in costs, enhancing the quality of care delivered, improving the lives of individuals, and helping to ensure a strong economic recovery, are the same goals that the president is trying to achieve. I appreciate his partnership with the states and encourage our colleagues on both sides of the political aisle at the national level to move forward and accomplish these vital goals for the American people. "

Would it be churlish to note that this very same Governor closed enrollment to the State's children's healthcare program...and restored it after the waiting list grew to more than 100,000 with alarming speed? Yes. Instead, let's be optimistic that more and more Congresspeople will come around to speak up for universal healthcare as a fundamental right. At the very least, if Congress fails us, perhaps California will craft and launch its own plan providing affordable, universal coverage. We will remember our Governor's words from this week, and look to him for leadership. It would be quite the legacy. LLII.