The California primary

California votes on June 6, 2012 in its primary. Now, finally the presidential primary gets interesting and merits some much-needed attention from California Moderates. So, how about that feisty Herman Cain? Or that scintillating and feisty Michele Bachmann? How about that feisty Rick Perry? What about the always slick but less feisty president Obama?

A strange cactus in a snake cage

Oh, yeah. Forgot. The primary contest over and has been for some time. California, as usual, is essentially irrelevant in presidential primary elections. What counts is Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and a few other states. The rest of us are mostly irrelevant and thus deserve nothing more that what the two parties give us. That has been argued here before, more or less.

California is relevant, by golly

But, there is one thing California counts for. Money. From time to time, the candidates fly in, take the black limo to where the money is (La Jolla, Beverly Hills, Menlo Park, etc.), harvest cash (schmooze) for a couple of hours, hop back into the limo to the airport and then get the heck out of the state with the cash pile. What a deeply satisfying experience for us regular voters. Its democracy in action! Thank you democratic and republican parties.

Question: Guess where all that California cash will be spent?
Hint: In battleground states, not California.
Answer: In battleground states.

A suggestion to save California from imminent ruin

California faces yet another of its massive annual budget deficits - about $17 billion for now. Everyone, even several republicans, is for sin taxes, so how about this? Tax 75% of every dollar that goes to the national candidates, the national parties and Super PACs, unless the money is spent in California, in which case it gets taxed at a mere 55% rate. Spending money on politics certainly is a sin, so this massive source of revenue should be a no brainer. California Moderates has just saved the state from financial ruin! And, we get all of  that benefit with no adverse effect on anything. It is a win-win-win scenario. It can't get any better than that.

At least some of us regular voters are disgusted with two-party politics and the two parties for some darn good reasons and this is one.