* * *
Jon Coupal is the president
of Howard Jarvis Taxpayers
Association. Assemblyman Vince
Fong represents the 34th Assembly
District in the California Assembly.
The Julian News 11
California Commentary
Did California Save Ted Cruz?
by Jon Coupal
November 21, 2018
® 2018 King Features Syndicate, Inc.
® 2018 King Features Syndicate, Inc.
• It was British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian,
writer, social critic and political activist -- and, not insignificantly,
Nobel laureate -- Bertrand Russell who made the following sage
observation: “The fundamental cause of trouble in this world is that
the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.”
• In an odd coincidence, President Abraham Lincoln had a secretary
named Kennedy, and President John F. Kennedy had a secretary
named Lincoln. Kennedy the secretary told Lincoln the president that
he shouldn’t go to Ford’s Theatre the night he was shot; Lincoln the
secretary tried to convince Kennedy the president not to go on a trip
to Dallas, where he was shot.
• If you’re like the average man,
your beard grows about half an
inch every month.
• Those who study such things
claim that an average bank
robber in the United States
nets about $4,000 for every
job. No info at hand on how the
researches acquired their data.
• You might think that hot
dogs are a relatively recent food
offering, but you’d be wrong.
The first sausages were created
more than 3,500 years ago when
ancient Babylonians began
stuffing spiced meat into the
intestines of animals.
• The fastest of all non-
domesticated canines, the
African wild dog can sprint faster
than 40 mph.
• Many people make provisions
in their wills for their pets; it’s
the compassionate thing to do.
Singer Dusty Springfield went a
bit further than most, though; she
specified that her cat was to be
fed only imported baby food.
* * *
Thought for the Day:
“Every man possesses three
characters: that which he
exhibits, that which he really has,
and that which he believes he
has.”
-- Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr
Chuck DeVore is just one of
thousands of former Californians
who have moved to Texas. But
DeVore is unique. Not only did he
serve in the California Assembly,
but he remains heavily engaged
in policy issues as Vice President
of National Initiatives at the
Texas Public Policy Foundation,
a free market think tank based in
Austin.
DeVore is a frequent guest
on national television shows
to speak on economic issues,
including how progressive
policies suppress economic
growth. Moreover, he has
firsthand experience with the
movement of people and money
between the two economic titans,
California and Texas.
The migration of businesses
from California to Texas is well-
documented. Big names, like
Charles Schwab, Campbell’s
Soup, Burger King, Waste
Management and other billion-
dollar businesses severed
their California connections
for Lone Star liberty. In fact, it
was entertaining to watch the
sparring between then-Texas
Governor Rick Perry — who
frequented California to poach
businesses from California —
and the Golden State’s own Jerry
Brown who tried to portray Texas
as hick-country governed by a
buffoon.
More than just businesses, it is
people who have left California
in numbers significantly larger
than those coming in from other
states. From 2007 to 2016,
California has experienced net
domestic out-migration of a
million citizens, and the number-
one destination? You guessed
it. Texas. Of course, that doesn’t
mean that California has lost
population, in fact it has gained.
But those gains have come from
immigration – both documented
and otherwise — and new births.
When Californians started
moving to Texas in big numbers,
the concern of many Texans —
especially conservatives who
have dominated Texas politics
for decades — was that those
crazy, lefty Californians would
bring their progressive politics
with them. But it appears that
Californians are making Texas,
well, more like Texas.
Thanks to the aforementioned
Chuck DeVore, he made us
aware of a very interesting exit
poll taken in Texas on Election
Day. Turns out that ex-pats living
in — and voting in — Texas
supported Senator Ted Cruz in
his high-profile reelection bid
by a 15 percent margin, with an
older poll of Californians in Texas
suggesting that by more than 2 to
1, they’re conservative vs. liberal.
His opponent, Beto O’Rourke,
darling of progressive
Democrats, was a charismatic
candidate backed by a $70
million campaign budget. And
while it is unlikely that Cruz’s
margin of victory was decided
by just ex-Californians, the same
would not be true if the race were
as close as the hotly contested
– and still undecided – races in
Arizona and Florida.
We’ve seen the impact of ex-
Californians on other states’
politics before. Nevada barely
went for George W. Bush in the
nasty election contest against
Al Gore in the 2000 presidential
race. But for former aerospace
workers who left California and
tend to vote for conservatives,
it is entirely possible that Gore
would have become president.
The upshot is that California is
exporting conservatives. We’re
sure that California progressives
are happy about this but it is
bad news for California’s ever-
shrinking number of fiscal
conservatives. This month’s
election has saddled California
with billions in higher taxes and
bond debt on top of our highest
in the nation income taxes and
sales taxes. Moreover, the
dominant Democrats — who
have secured a supermajority
in both houses, are seriously
talking about a hundred-billion-
dollar single-payer health plan
for the state. As California turns
a deeper shade of blue, look for
more conservative voters moving
out to more receptive states and
taking their sane voting habits
with them.
* * *
The bond that links your true family
is not one of blood, but of respect
and joy in each other's life.
— Richard Bach
* * *
* * *
In every conceivable manner, the
family is link to our past, bridge to
our future.
— Alex Haley
* * *
I am proud to have been born in Iowa. Through the eyes of a ten-year-old
boy, it was a place of adventure and daily discoveries - the wonder of the
growing crops, the excitements of the harvest, the journeys to the woods
for nuts and hunting, the joys of snowy winters, the comfort of the family
fireside, of good food and tender care.
— Herbert Hoover
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