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A new symbol for the state flag?

Posted on February 21, 2017 by Sonoma Valley Sun

Without any disrespect to what was a magnificent animal, perhaps it is time for a new emblem to that more accurately reflects the current state of the state. Let’s consider the Oroville Dam as a more appropriate symbol. It’s large, not functioning well, parts are crumbling and it is putting the lives and property of thousands of Californians in jeopardy. To top it off, for over a dozen years, officials have been ignoring warnings that the now eroding emergency spillway was vulnerable to heavy rains.

Since the dam came on line in the late 1960s, and especially beginning with the first terms of Gov. Jerry Brown, California has shifted from a state that prioritized infrastructure improvement to one that focuses on entitlement programs, public employee compensation and environmental policies that stifle economic growth.

The governor and many lawmakers and local officials would prefer to put their energies into fighting the Trump administration on immigration policy. When it comes to infrastructure, the governor’s one contribution seems to be a slavish devotion to spending as much as hundred billion dollars on a bullet train that will serve few. This is serious money that would go a long way to improving California’s highways, bridges, dams, airports and public buildings.

The only solution to the infrastructure crisis that Sacramento seems to be able to come up with is to raise taxes on a population that is already bearing one of the heaviest tax burdens in the nation. Prioritizing spending is not in their vocabulary.

The political class likes to tout that if it were a country, California would be the seventh largest economy in the world. But it isn’t a country — it is a state within a country, subject to the guiding document written by our founders more than 200 years ago.

While America may appear to be hopelessly divided right now with both sides looking for opportunities to inflict harm on their political enemies, Californians have a right to demand that their leaders rise above this nonsense and focus on the pressing, immediate needs of all Californians.

Let’s not let the long-neglected Oroville Dam become our symbol. It’s time to roll up our sleeves, meet with the Trump administration and start the work of rational governance. Everything else is a waste of time and energy.

Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association



One thought on “A new symbol for the state flag?

  1. “. . . .and environmental policies that stifle economic growth.”
    More white-wing fake-news ranting from the Usual Suspects. In case Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association hasn’t noticed, over the time period he mentions California has become the 6th largest economy in the world. If that is ‘stifling,’ we could use a little more. Now, if he wants to make a real contribution, how about amending Howard’s “Prop 13” to exempt corporate properties from the property tax increase limits intended to protect seniors and the middle class? Then Google, Apple, Bank of Americas and their ilk – hardly Mom & Pop operations – would start paying their fair share of property taxes to a state that has made their vast fortunes possible.

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