5 ms·

Very few members of the party in power come from rural districts.

acdha 5y ago
Now, yes. Ignoring the fact that the Democrats are not a single ideological block, they also haven’t held control of the entire state for most of the last 50 years the original poster was talking about. Agriculture is a politically powerful industry and water usage hasn’t been enough of a crisis to override normal political influences for that long. I remember the drought in the 90s where they were basically telling you to let your lawn die and it was still basically presented as “we can’t ask farmers to use much less unless we buy them out”.
- will4274 5y ago
  Of the last 22 years, Democrats have had control of all three branches of California's government for 14 of them, including all of the last 10. Besides those 14 years, no party has ever had unanimous control of California.
  - acdha 5y ago
    Note my comment about the party not being uniform: they have never had something like the ideological purges which the GOP has conducted so even if you have a Democratic majority there’s been considerably less support for telling farmers that they need to dramatically change their entire business.
    - bifrost 5y ago
      I'm not sure thats true, the D side of California is going pretty hard towards the "far left" aka "progressive" side of things. Its impossible to get elected in the major cities without being a progressive or DSA member. I'm pretty sure that Farming isn't on the DSA radar.
      - acdha 5y ago
        I was describing the historical situation and even now I think that's overstating things considerably — San Francisco and LA aren't exactly a stranglehold on state power and even there the policies actually enacted are nowhere near as lefty as conservative media would have you believe. Water shortages are going to make reforms happen at some point but _everyone_ knows it'll be a political knife-fight. Betting on, say, desalination plants might actually be easier from the perspective of not getting mired down in the snarl that are water rights contracts.
        bifrost 5y ago
        People who've been affected by CA Prop 47 would beg to differ. The recalls of the DA in both SF and LA (the LA DA was a former SF DA) are also indicative of far left politicians being incredibly unpopular. The upcoming recall election of the governor of CA also points to societal unease. Some of the numerous and relevant points of the recall - Gavin failed to manage forests, power and water in CA. Many lakes and water supplies are close to empty. Lake Oroville is dropping about a foot a day, when it hits 640 feet, California will lose generation capacity that supplies about 750,000 homes. http://oroville.lakesonline.com/Level/ http://oroville.lakesonline.com/Level/ We've got about 10 days before that shuts off. Gavin has failed to endorse additional generation capacity from viable sources (Geothermal and Nuclear) in addition to pushing for the electrification of everything. We're going to start having rolling blackouts again, thats what resulted in Gray Davis being recalled. People are starting to realize that progressive policies are a huge problem.
- masonic 5y ago
  they also haven’t held control of the entire state for most of the last 50 years Actually, they have controlled taxation and spending (which must originate in the Assembly) for over 50 years now , except for part of the 1995-96 term. Republicans haven't controlled the Assembly for a single full 2-year term since 1970.
  - acdha 5y ago
    That’s still not the entire state government, and that doesn’t mean that the environment was a top priority for most of them. The point was that farmers have a lot of sway in Sacramento and any significant water usage reform would require serious commitment unless the situation has reached a point where everyone sees a need for change.

Now, yes. Ignoring the fact that the Democrats are not a single ideological block, they also haven’t held control of the entire state for most of the last 50 years the original poster was talking about. Agriculture is a politically powerful industry and water usage hasn’t been enough of a crisis to override normal political influences for that long. I remember the drought in the 90s where they were basically telling you to let your lawn die and it was still basically presented as “we can’t ask farmers to use much less unless we buy them out”.

will4274 5y ago
Of the last 22 years, Democrats have had control of all three branches of California's government for 14 of them, including all of the last 10. Besides those 14 years, no party has ever had unanimous control of California.
- acdha 5y ago
  Note my comment about the party not being uniform: they have never had something like the ideological purges which the GOP has conducted so even if you have a Democratic majority there’s been considerably less support for telling farmers that they need to dramatically change their entire business.
  - bifrost 5y ago
    I'm not sure thats true, the D side of California is going pretty hard towards the "far left" aka "progressive" side of things. Its impossible to get elected in the major cities without being a progressive or DSA member. I'm pretty sure that Farming isn't on the DSA radar.
    - acdha 5y ago
      I was describing the historical situation and even now I think that's overstating things considerably — San Francisco and LA aren't exactly a stranglehold on state power and even there the policies actually enacted are nowhere near as lefty as conservative media would have you believe. Water shortages are going to make reforms happen at some point but _everyone_ knows it'll be a political knife-fight. Betting on, say, desalination plants might actually be easier from the perspective of not getting mired down in the snarl that are water rights contracts.
      - bifrost 5y ago
        People who've been affected by CA Prop 47 would beg to differ. The recalls of the DA in both SF and LA (the LA DA was a former SF DA) are also indicative of far left politicians being incredibly unpopular. The upcoming recall election of the governor of CA also points to societal unease. Some of the numerous and relevant points of the recall - Gavin failed to manage forests, power and water in CA. Many lakes and water supplies are close to empty. Lake Oroville is dropping about a foot a day, when it hits 640 feet, California will lose generation capacity that supplies about 750,000 homes. http://oroville.lakesonline.com/Level/ http://oroville.lakesonline.com/Level/ We've got about 10 days before that shuts off. Gavin has failed to endorse additional generation capacity from viable sources (Geothermal and Nuclear) in addition to pushing for the electrification of everything. We're going to start having rolling blackouts again, thats what resulted in Gray Davis being recalled. People are starting to realize that progressive policies are a huge problem.
masonic 5y ago
they also haven’t held control of the entire state for most of the last 50 years Actually, they have controlled taxation and spending (which must originate in the Assembly) for over 50 years now , except for part of the 1995-96 term. Republicans haven't controlled the Assembly for a single full 2-year term since 1970.
- acdha 5y ago
  That’s still not the entire state government, and that doesn’t mean that the environment was a top priority for most of them. The point was that farmers have a lot of sway in Sacramento and any significant water usage reform would require serious commitment unless the situation has reached a point where everyone sees a need for change.