California’s Progressive Politics Are Hurting Hollywood
by James HudnallOne of the greatest ironies of so called “progressive politics” is that it destroys what it’s supposed to save. California has been run by statist politicians for over 30 years now, and most of them would call themselves “progressive.” The alleged goals of progressives are to take care of “the little guy”; they’re supposed to make a society that’s more “open and fair.” In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Progressive politics have the net effect of doing the reverse of everything it claims to be about.
I’ll be getting into that in detail in another series of articles, but we’re here to talk about Hollywood. Hollywood was once a conservative town run by immigrants who believed in the American way. Many of the stars fought in WWII and acted in patriotic movies. But there was a labor struggle in Hollywood starting with the unions, which began to get infiltrated by communists and socialists in the 1930s. They made more and more demands of the studios that they didn’t like. In 1947, the studio bosses decided to take advantage of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), with which Senator Joseph McCarthy had no direct involvement despite misinformation to the contrary. The Hollywood studio bosses wanted to bust up the unions and the method they used was the HUAC investigations and the blacklist.
Instead of solving their problem, it created a backlash which fills many members of Hollywood with bitterness to this day. It created a whole mythology and a flawed rationale for some to reject all things conservative, even though conservative politics was not really the issue at all. A sort of ideological purge began to take hold in Hollywood. Those with conservative leanings were made to feel so unwelcome that to this day many of them keep their politics to themselves. As Charlton Heston often said, “There are more conservatives in the closet in Hollywood than gays.”
Former MCA/Universal chief Lew Wasserman was famous for his politics. Like many in Hollywood, he picked the Democrats as the party to favor in the hopes that they would favor his company. Like lemmings, the industry followed his example.
Small wonder Wasserman felt a natural affinity for Lyndon Johnson. Facing a relentless Justice Department investigation in the early 1960s, Wasserman discovered the river of power that flowed from channeling Hollywood money to Democratic candidates. LBJ’s 1964 campaign marked his elevation into the top ranks of Democratic fund-raisers. In The Power and the Glitter, his 1990 book on Hollywood and politics, Ronald Brownstein writes, “Wasserman, Hollywood’s toughest operator, eased into this rugged environment as if he were born to it.”
But Wasserman, unlike the left-wing Malibu Democrats, was never an ideologue, as evidenced by his 1968 support for Hubert Humphrey. From Johnson to Clinton, his cause was making sure that the film industry had a pipeline to a Democratic White House. In his equation of politics with business, in his understanding that money buys access, Wasserman was no different than the conservative Texas oilmen who bankrolled the rise of LBJ.
Wasserman was known for punishing those in town didn’t support the Democrats. When studio heads set such examples, the minions often follow suit. So many Hollywood people started supporting Democrats, not just in Washington but the state of California. They funneled millions into the campaigns of people like Jerry Brown, Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, etc. The state became bluer over time. When Hollywood darling President Bill Clinton closed a lot of military bases in California, it helped to push the state more into the Democrat column. And lax immigration policies favored by Democrats, who see illegal aliens as their future voters, hurt Republicans in the state even more. Especially when the Republicans tried to fight back against the huge costs illegal aliens placed on the state budget.
Progressives believe in the nanny state. They’ve ushered in a quasi-Victorian age where more and more things become banned. Where your every action is dictated to by the state. California keeps creating laws to micro-manage its citizens’ every move. And all of that bureaucracy costs money. As a result, the government has become increasingly voracious when it comes to taxes and fines. They fine people for anything they can think of and tax them when they’re not fining them.
This makes the cost of living in California too much for the working class and the poor, not to mention the rich who are tired of being soaked. Business and talent are flocking away from the state. Hollywood productions are forced to relocate to more affordable climes. Which means the city of Los Angeles, which has largely depended on the Hollywood cash cow for most of the last 80 years, is starting to feel the pain. Hollywood is a vast industry that employs thousands of people. It helps fund many more ancillary businesses from the restaurants to the gardeners to the baristas at the coffee shops. When the money in Hollywood dries up so do a lot of the businesses that employ people, like out of work actors and writers. And when that happens, things gets ugly.
The end result is the state of California is on a collision course with bankruptcy. Hollywood helped bring about the end of its own glory. America was once looked on by the world as a savior. It rescued millions from the oppression of the Nazis and Communism. But Hollywood started cranking out movies starting in the late 60s that “deconstructed” the American myths. More and more films portrayed the government as evil, the military as butchers, America as oppressors. Not surprisingly, anti-Americanism started to spread around the world.
The irony of progressives is they attack the very government they created. The oppressive government which spies on our every movie in Hollywood films is less the product of the cold war conservatives and more the product of big government-loving statists. And that’s a progressive ideology. Not a conservative one.
The cost of running a government the progressive way is too expensive to take care of anyone well. It only exploits and robs revenues the citizens as much as inhumanly possible. The people are given inferior benefits as a bribe for their acceptance. They’re bribed with their own money or the money of those who could have given them a good job, if the state wasn’t bilking them first.
If Hollywood wants to return to its former success, it needs to stop deluding itself and start supporting those who would make the business climate good for them again.The leaders in California that the progressives support are not helping little guy. They are making them destitute. And if Hollywood doesn’t get smarter fast, they will meet them on the way down.
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66 Comments
Having used to work on Hollywood productions, I have always known that political correctness and spending like nothing would eventually make film making a problem in California. That is why I stay away. I am making films in my state just fine. Unions, the Green movement, evil big corporations and so on totally contradict the hollywood lifestyle. I remember George Lucas saying in his early years he was making films in Northern California to fight the big corporate mentality, then admitted that he is now one.
I would quibble there has always been a level of anti-Americanism. There were quite a few Europeans back in the 1800s who sneered down at American exceptionalism and American culture and were blatantly scornful of the lack of a class structure in the states. Its only in the 20th century that it has become so virulent.
In reality, the feds will probably give CA a bailout in order for the progressives in DC to maintain power and insure they receive future support. Of course, if the fine folks of CA decide it is time for a change, they will be able to repair their own state in time.
Europeans still look down their noses at Americans. Dependency breeds contempt, and the EU needs the US in NATO to protect them. They know it, and they despise the US for it.
Not to mention, every day America succeeds, grows and prospers, we are the truth that capitalism, free markets and democracy do work, far better than flea-bitten, European statists socialism. That bugs the crap out of them too.
Agreed, if the dems are still in power, they'll bailout their comrades in California. Can't have anyone thinking socialism doesn't work, no can we?
James, you are so correct on the state of both h-wood and California. I'd go a little further to state that h-wood is a microcosm of CA. With the stranglehold of extreme left leaning unions, the costs of production are skyrocketing. Unfortunately for both h-wood and CA, the idea of changing course and trying a different solution to the current spate of problems for both institutions is anathema to their ideology.
Progressives believe in the nanny state. They’ve ushered in a quasi-Victorian age where more and more things become banned. Where your every action is dictated to by the state.
Rhetorical questions: I am just curious which actions were dictated by the state during the Victorian era? The Sabbattarians whom tried to ban a lot of things on Sunday were not very successful . The mores that people followed was "enforced" by societal pressures and expectations not law. Compared to today you had a lot more freedom from state interference to run you own life or business.
i believe before the blacklist of communists, wasnt there a communist attempt at blacklisting capitalists and conservatives in hollywood in the 20s & 30s? the studio blacklist started as a fight against the communist attempt of taking over? i read that i believe in an older article here on Big Hollywood or was it Ann Coulter?
Well, true, the Victorians used religion to impose restrictions on people because pre-20th century that was how the state operated, using religion as a tool of state. But it was sometimes pushed around by the religion it tried to use as in the case of the two King Henrys (II and VIII)
A friend of mine once said: "To Understand the Macrocosm, you have to understand the Microcosm". Hollywood is a small scale version of the madness in the state.
the trouble with Progressivism is needing total control…
Total control requires complete power. That they do not have. Ergo, the problems. Why fix California? Just allow California's issues to overwhelm the system and make the REST of the country like them, as opposed to 'fixing' CA and brringing it on line with, say, Texas.
It's what they are hoping for…
California is running out subsidies? Hollywood is a malignant tumor of the society. All they touched turn into a feces.
If Obama bails out California, the anger will quickly turn into civil unrest. No progressive politician at any level will be safe. Already, plans are being formulated for upcoming local budget hearings to prevent politicians from raising taxes while giving union bloated payrolls and pensions a pass. In fact, it's kind of a Socialist mantra: if the regular folk have to suffer, then everyone should; no one should be automatically exempt.
'As Charlton Heston often said, “There are more conservatives in the closet in Hollywood than gays.”'
I have wondered what is the reason conservatives in the film industry do not create a conservative clearing house of performers, producers, and directors so that people of like minds can pitch, fund, and book projects together. If the progressives can do it, why not the conservatives do it also?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVsr-_-v2sI
Save the republic and replace congress, let's not allow what happened in Ca. infect the rest of the nation.
Three words: An American Carol! Hahahaha!
True, that
I feel they should. But for course, as someone else pointed out there has to be a script worth the effort.
How can you write so much about Wasserman and totally ignore Republican Governor, then President, Reagan?
Hence proving liberalism = insanity. Both insist on doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results the next time.
But the bar for a "worthy" conservative script is much higher than the bar for a "worthy" liberal script. A worthy conservative script would have to be something so outstanding and undeniably great that the powers-that-be could not argue about supporting it (only because they could see that it could bring in a ton of money for them), and even then they'd try to come up with any reason they could to spike it and bury it along ideological lines. Indeed, that may be enough of a reason for them to fear the amazing conservative script and try to kill it anyway. They've proved time and again that they're willing to support anything that mirrors their own liberal point of view.
Hollywood has already shipped a lot of jobs out of the country. Animation is done in Korea. Special effect digital work is done in India. How long before a studio moves to Baja Mexico or Central America? Hollywood will continue their progressive downfall and support Democrats to their graves.
Hollywood? Upon learning of the impending release of the Something 911 movie by the producer of the Roger and Me trope against General Motors, I vowed to never again enter a motion picture theatre. It is one vow that will be kept, no matter what the temptation. Gut Full.
Hollywood? Upon learning of the impending release of the Something 911 movie by the producer of the Roger and Me trope against General Motors,I vowed to never again enter a motion picture theater. It is one vow that will never be broken, no matter what the the temptation. Gut Full.
Hollywood? Upon learning of the impending release of the Something 911 movie by the producer of the Roger and Me trope against General Motors, I vowed to never again set foot in a motion picture theater. It is one vow that will never be broken, no matter what the temptation.. Gut Full
I'm impressed. I've never heard even the most strident leftist suggest that the real reason for the blacklist was that studios were tired of paying union wages, and therefore dummied up a fake scare about Communism to use the power of the Federal government to imprison people for their political beliefs. It's just about the most horrifying and cynical thing I've ever heard — and yet it fits Republican governance perfectly. Just like now, the right faked outrage used the fear they whipped up to destroy lives and enrich themselves.
Thanks for the expose!
WTF was that, the "I'm rubber, you're glue" defense? Wow. I'm sure the author is devastated.
"Progressive politics have the net effect of doing the reverse of everything it claims to be about."
Hud. If you convince just ONE "Progressive" then you are genius.
Until then. The Pitchforkers will consume everything the Bigs dish out. And then some…
Seriously? Never, ever?? That seems a bit extreme. That's like getting food poisoning at a Pizza Hut and refusing to ever eat in a restaurant again.
Chapter 9 bankruptcy is the only solution for California. The unions will fight it kicking and screaming and you will see union led riots and work stoppages, with some Acorn picketing on the side——it's the only solution for anyone with an ounce of common sense—-Ooops, I'm asking for too much, aren't I?
Large, well populated chunks of California are conservative, always have been and always will be–otherwise how to explain Republican governors since forever? The notion that the entire state is solidly blue or lives and dies by the health of the entertainment industry isn't really true. Many of my friends in the business swore mightily that the writer's strike a few years ago would "bring the state to a standstill." Guess what? It didn't remotely. The true engine of California is the agriculture industry, and it kept chugging away just fine. Those of us in show business, along with a lot of other people tend to forget that. Not that California hasn't made many astounding mistakes in governing itself. Personally, I don't really see how we're going to get out of the current mess, and even Great Left Hope Jerry Brown is dragging his heels at running for governor–a race he might win this time after Arnold's implosion–because even for him, the thought of running the mess is daunting. But I still feel much of the production losses come not from California rates being too high, but from it being flat out outbid by other states. And as those states realize that giving away millions in rebate money to California producers isn't really bringing long term tangible effects (but fun publicity) I think that'll change. I think union workers in L.A. are slowly starting to realize (like auto workers and garment workers, etc. etc.) that they're going to have to get used to the new landscape and work for less at whatever jobs they can get. A bitter pill, but the increasing reality.
wr1…
Care to get specific. I could go off and spout the same thing about the Democrats. Defend your position.
Why the need of unions in Hollywood?
I thought all those "progressive" people want to share and share alike amongst themselves.
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I'm with you J.Norman! My 17 year old son questions why I turn off the radio when a springsteen song comes on…"Son…rock-n-roll used to be an escape from the mundane (politics anybody?) but now, his songs instantly conjure up an image of his smug face, telling me what to belive and think"
They do want to Share . Just yours not Theirs.
I agree. And Pen (in the comment below me) still listens to music on the radio. Norman refuses to go to the theater, even if the film is apolitical (Star Trek, Up, The Hangover, etc.) or even right-leaning and conservative friendly (Dark Knight, Taken, Gran Tornio, From Paris With Love, The Blind Side, etc.).
Great stuff!
Although I'm sure Mr. Hudnall would agree, he neglected to mention the anti-morality, anti-family, anti-faith content that came with deconstructing America, including repeating the patently untrue, ad hominem about a "50% divorce rate." The divorce rate in American has NEVER been 50%; the highest divorce rate in America last year was in a county in Indiana — 19%. But Hollywood has repeated it so often in so many movies and TV shows, so often elevating the most base of cases, that our society has begun to emulate and mirror what were once our fringe elements and behaviors. That's but one example of how Hollywood has inexorably alienated mainstream American audiences and served to pervert our culture with its powerful influence.
The stats on the fall off of ticket sales since the end of the MPAA's Hay's Code are shocking and dramatic. It's possible that the annual box office could be double what it is today. Some saw the Code as confining, though an internal governor of content, but it ensured that the movies bowed to the mores and wants of their audience., not the reverse. Once unfettered, not only did Hollywood not consider its benefits, they scuttled simple business principles geared toward satisfying audience demand rather than progressive artist preferences.
I hope that this aspect of the damage Hollywood has done to itself as an industry, and to America, will make up an entire future article, Mr. Hudnall.
Producers have _never_ been accused of wanting to share…hence the need for unions/guilds in the first place.
wr1, the reason a strident leftist wouldn't cop to the impact unions were making during the Golden Age, nor to the real presence and influence of Socialists and Communists, would be that to admit it would be to break from the victimized-innocent-artist narrative fashioned by decades of post Studio System repetition. Such an admission would suck the wind right out of the left's self-righteous sails.
The facts be damned, progressive newcomers like you are all too happy to swallow the party line and repeat it ad infinitum without an iota of investigation. Why would they lie to you? And why would they repeat the lie that was told to them if it was a lie? Why indeed….
Are you saying we should bring the code back?
The only other thing that comes to mind is… a writer can only write a book he'd want to read. A musician could only write a song he'd want to play and listen to. A filmmaker can only make a movie he'd want to go see.
And it's very often difficult to predict what the public will want – that, of course, applies to many other fields as well. (Does the public need an iPad or is Steve Jobs trying to force it on people?) But this all goes back to getting more right-leaning people involved in the creative process in Hollywood.
And there is often a world of difference between what filmmakers want to make versus what the suits think they should make.
Conservatives whine too much about Hollywood producing left-wing films. I have a simple answer to this complaint, go make some conservative films yourselves. This is not a case where dozens of conservative films are being denied release, and conservative directors are not given work. There is simply a dearth of good conservative filmmakers and movies. Seriously, is Proud American the best we can do?
Who is the conservative Michael Moore? Who is the conservative James Cameron? Who is the conservative Sean Penn? Who is the conservative Oliver Stone? I can think of some names, but few and far between. If we can dominate the airways (take a dirt nap Air America), we can do the same with cinema. WWII wasn't won by writing articles complaining about Nazis, it was won by troops on the ground. Same goes here, you can write all the scathing articles you want, but if we can't cough up a single great conservative film, we will never make any change.
I'm technically European and I rather think it is even simpler than your explanation for Europe anyway. It's envy. Deep down we know the majority of the American populace are our descendants and the US has been at the top for the past 70 or so years. That's a little annoying considering Europe was on the top for for so long.
Obviously some countries harbor more anti-americanism than others of course…. but in general I've found the "hate america" attitude to be based simply on envy. The reason is it very often not rational. That is they may like something (say some product) until they find out it's american and then suddenly it's a hated item (that they buy anyway). Or they complain about "American Capitalism" as they go and participate in that capitalism regardless. Silly people really.
That's true about California. I live in one of those so-called mythical "conservative" areas. Interestingly, it's also one of the wealthiest.
I've been to hollywood a few times unfortunately. It's a dump. So is the vast majority of the terrible blight that spreads out over California's once beautiful golden hills…. LA. Talk about danger to the environment! Forget Global Cooling (err I mean Warming), the sprawling LA plague needs to be stopped and soon. 
Yeah, I'm not a fan of LA in case you couldn't tell.
Really? I wasn't sure there. ;-D There are still a few lotuses struggling out of the mud in L.A., you just have to be willing to look for them. (I was on top of Mt. Hollywood yesterday looking out over the glistening cityscape in Griffith Park all the way to the ocean and the snow-topped peaks to the east and I defy anyone say that isn't stunning) Yes, Hollywood itself (the physical neighborhood, really, not the *concept*) is a bit of a pit, but it's actually been sprucing itself up lately and is a decent place to go, ever for those of us who have aged out of the hipster demographic.
Why is the most beautiful landscapes are populated with idiots….
Hold on. "Blindside" is a hit with a decidedly conservative & Christian theme. Hollywood just may begin to realize that conservative-themed films that "pull" the envelope (as opposed to "push") back to traditional values can be profitable.
Plus – there is a group of conservative actors, etc. headed up, I believe by Gary Sinese.
Joe McCarthy was right and has been vindicated by the release of the Venona papers
He did defend his position…with the whole article. The ball's in your court now, cowboy.
Fang, I think that the bar would be substantially lowered if someone would actually go crawling into their den and dust off all those John Wayne movies and John Ford westerns.
There is at least 2 generations of yahoos running around that don't even know about guys like John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Yul Brenner, Charlton Heston, etc. Why can't someone re-make those movies?
You tell me that the world isn't screaming for "The Magnificent Seven" re-made to the Afghan war? That would work wonders for our troops' morale, are you kidding me? They know who they are. They want to be loved for it.
We (with a few minor exceptions) have forgotten that the American soldier embodies the last spoken lines from that movie. "The Old Man was right. Only the farmers won. We lost. We'll always lose."
I say f**k all the Hollywood conservatives for lacking the testicular fortitude to stand up and fight rhetoric. No one shoots at them. Sh!t on them and shame on them.
I think the distinction here is that American movies have produced this sentiment, not sneering Frenchmen smoking cigarettes on the Champs Elysee (can they still do that there?). California seems to be a textbook example of being hoisted by its own petard.
Having never been to LA, I have to admit I'm facinated by it. I saw an interesting docu about a trip down Sunset Strip and the contrasts of the differing neighborhoods the long winding road goes through. I'd love to see it sometime. Also on my bucket list is to travel the length of the Pacific Coast Highway. Indeed there are many great and beautiful things about CA, it's been the victim of bad PR, sorta like the way many Hollywood pictures depict the good ole USA!!
They don't mention it because it was an attack on the leftists attempts to take over the town through the unions. The communists and socialists were doing it under the aegis of their ideology. They complained about their persecution because they are defending their ideology. But more importantly, they wanted to discredit the idea of complaining about communism. They wanted to make the idea of complaining about communism as something evil. And they largely succeeded. They also didn't want people to know that yes, they were trying to take over the town through the unions the same way the Mob tried to control US industry the same way. Because they were the bad guys and they don't want people to figure that out.
Hollywood hurt itself when we stopped checking for commies (pregressives) and let them spread their propaganda to the masses. Now that the masses seem to be waking up, hollywood is unable to reverse the years of pregressivism in their ranks. Their hatred of America, of our Constitution, of the rule of law and of our founders are a few of the reasons many of us, including myself, no longer give them our money or our attention.
I don't watch the StarTrek episodes that have the doofus Hoopy in them.
There are many "actors" whose movies I no longer watch, even when they are free. Once I know their inner thoughts, it's impossible to watch them role-playing a part.
Come on down, spinal: walk on the beach, admire the Getty, find the Kogi BBQ Truck, have some boba, take in the cheesy goodness of the Walk of Fame, and then after lunch you can _really_ find some cool stuff to do!
Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) is -gorgeous-. Well ok, it hits a few low points like Malibu but for the most part is probably the prettiest scenic drive I've ever been on. (And certainly the longest!) I've traveled up and down the whole thing twice now. I believe my favorite sections are pretty much everything north of LA county. You've got miles of beautiful coastline, those glorious trees in Northern California…. You know, if you exclude how terrible it is that California has been run into the ground (and how ugly about 80% of the cities are) it really is a magnificent state.
I actually think the drive on PCH is superior to the drives on both the Adriatic and the Tyrrhenian seas due its length and the sheer beauty of the landscape. Well, if you exclude the occasional ugly town.
Yeah, ugly towns. Yet another West Coast thing I'm not terribly fond of…
LostFan, aren't a lot of movies actually shot outside of California these days? I'm thinking that there's been quite a few big movies over the past several years shot in either Canada or eastern Europe.
Don't forget that Hollywood did not always rule the roost in Los Angeles. Not so long ago, the area was the world's center of aerospace, with facilities and total employment that dwarfed the movie industry. But Hollywood has long been antagonistic towards the aerospace industry, and the entertainment people have used their influence with state government to make things difficult for the engineers. Between high costs of living, a strangling regulatory regime, and having most of the rest of the town sneering at them, the aerospace people have found it advantageous to go elsewhere. The Douglas airliner factory in Burbank is long gone; the Long Beach facility will probably close as soon as C-17 production ends; the Rockwell plant in Palmdale where the Space Shuttles were built is closed; the Santa Susanna field lab is out of business, and Boeing recently closed its facility in Anaheim. What's left is maybe 10% of what it used to be. Aerospace is nearly all high-paying, skill jobs — the sort of thing everyone claims to want. But evidently southern California doesn't.
You're right Dave. Most states and even countries have a film commission and groups to lure film makers to their state or country where production costs drop dramatically. The base camp is still Hollywood and that is still where the big money is or soon to be was. Last year Miramax was cut by Disney by 70% to only produce a couple of films a year, down from 8. Recently Disney merged Miramax's New York and Hollywood office effectively closing them. I would expect to see more independent film companies popping up in places like New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado primarily financed by wealthy stars. I also expect to see one of the big studios to liquidates in the not to far off future, providing there isn't a 'bailout' from Congress. Movie makers all want to get out from under union rules whenever they can. The film industry and auto industry have a lot of parallels and common problems. I'm not a entertainment insider, but just enjoy reading about what's going on behind the scenes.
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Oh I will mate, when I get a real job and save a few bob!! I just know there is so much to see after watching so many movies and TV shows that film there, many iconic LA things; kinda like NYC, only….different. Plus I love the beach.
Having done the PCH from bottom to top, I can tell you it's a fun trip. Do try not to be in LA around 5pm.
And pass through Santa Monica, quickly. I rarely ascribe much to my bad vibe radar, but it was going off like a air raid siren the entire time I was there.
Lots of good riding north of LA, I stopped at few of the tourista spots, got lost once or twice. Passed on staying in Frisco, rode up to Petaluma, and stayed in a motel that i swear was used in a Verizon commercial recently.
Having spent enough time in Cali to become aware that it's not the promised land of my youth, I still kinda like it. Just stay off the 5, nothing good happens on the 5. If you are riding a scooter watch the rain grooves. In 95 I was riding my period-correct 72 Honda chopper complete with the ribbed front tire, it felt like I was going to be spit from lane to lane for hours at a time.
What I'd like to do is to go to Port Angeles WA and take Highway101 south through WA & OR. Haven't looked at a map to see where to catch CA 1, but I'll figure it out, and look forward to it.
I think there is more to California's decline than this although what has been said certainly is a factor. To me it is so ironic that Hollywood is so friendly to labor unions and liberal politics and yet has to film outside the area where it is more affordable. One would think that the unions would get smart, lower their costs, get more work….
Never will forget attending a trade show – with Sun Oil from Philadelphia – held in the Moscone Center in San Francisco.
Because of all the labor union rules in setting up everything the cost was far greater than they anticipated and they said "never again" to coming to San Francisco. It was too much even for an oil company.
Is Hollywood any different?
Then you have 100s of thousands of businesses who have left the state over the last 20 years – taking conservative values and tax revenue with them.
Imagine trying to build a factory here today. The red tape would kill you. And this in the state that was pretty much the birthplace of modern aviation. Well, Douglas, Martin, Lockheed, Consolidated (you can still see the hangers where B24s were made in San Diego).
You look at the Golden Gate Bridge – built in 3 years or so – how long would it take today with "environmental studies", etc?
You have the unfunded pension liabilities promised to the public labor unions – but that isn't just a CA problem.
The list goes on and on.
You know every time I get so pissed off I am ready to leave I think where else can one drive a couple of hours in any direction and get ocean, high mountains, desert?
But it is true, the insane are running the asylum. Something will have to give.
There are none so blind as those who will not see…
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