Norma Torres Has A Near Meltdown

Thursday night I wrote of the California State Assembly and their horribly bad and very illegal decision to add approximately nine billion dollars in new taxes on the population of a state that is already one of the most if not the most heavily taxed state in the nation. They accomplished this by calling the new taxes...."fees." This creative writing/terminology on their part lowered the threshold for the number of votes they needed to pass the illegal legislation. I call it illegal for one simple reason. Back in the 70's, the people of California passed the now famous Proposition 13. Prop 13 clearly states that the California State Assembly and the California State Senate must both have a two thirds majority vote in order to levy new taxes on the citizenry. What they did Thursday night was a clearly illegal effort to circumvent Prop 13 and the wishes of the people of the state of California.

One of the major proponents of Thursday nights action in Sacramento was Assemblywoman Norma Torres (D-Pomona). I wrote Thursday of her near meltdown on the floor of the state capitol as she tried to bully her fellow assemblymen and women to accept and support this illegal legislation. I finally managed to obtained part of the audio of that near meltdown. Give it a listen and see what you think.

This woman is supposed to be a professional legislator, not an emotional train wreck on display for the whole world. Even some people from her own assembly district don't like her. No wonder people in other parts of the country look at California and shake their heads.

For the record, both sides have been working on this budget for over a year. California's Republican Caucus has said time and time again they would be willing to look at new taxes. But only after the Democrats cut subsidized education and health care for illegal immigrants. A huge portion of the prison population in California is made up of illegals. Then there is the insane pension plan that many state workers get. Far above and beyond the pensions or 401k's of your average American. I haven't even mentioned the money and power hungry teachers and prison guards union leadership that on a routinely try to undermine Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger every time they get the chance. The libs however refuse to address any of this. So here we are. The only difference between the automakers and the state of California? We have stood up and said NO! No bailout for the wasteful spenders in the State Assembly and Senate. Still people like Ms Torres seem to float to the top every time there's money to be extorted from the people.

Unfortunately, the state of California is full of people like Ms Torres who like to play on people's fears, emotions, and lack of knowledge when it comes to matters of politics. She's a very sad lady and a big part of the problem here in California. But the problem isn't just in California. Every state in America has their own Norma Torres' using fear and intimidation to get their way.

Until those of us who reside in the middle of the political spectrum start paying attention and making our voices heard and getting involved in the process, the Norma Torres' of the world will continue to dominate the political landscape. California as a state and the United States as a nation are better than this. But we won't be if we don't get involved!!!

Til Next Time................