First, an article from the main newspaper in Atlanta: http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/jay-bookman/ ... -it-fails/
Basically, Georgia has been 100% in GOP hands for a solid decade now. In every single economic index, they are significantly worse off than before, and falling fast. Median income is down, the percentage of people living in poverty has jumped 50% from 12% to 18%, etc. It's not just the results of the overall recession, either. As the article notes, in 2003, they were at 15th in unemployment in the US. Now, 46th. Median income was also at 15th, now 33rd. Before, 20th highest poverty rate, now 7th. In 2003, they had the 18th highest GDP per capita, now 33rd.
The state has been entirely under GOP control for a decade, and the GOP has slashed taxes, slashed business regulations, and all the rest of their dream agenda they've pushed everywhere. Yet they have done nothing but go downhill, dramatically.
Now, look at California.
After the crash of 2008, California's financial situation was a mess. The Governator was in charge, and while Democrats held majorities in both state houses, budgets required a 2/3 vote to pass, this allowed the GOP to play the same obstructionist tactics they use now in the US Senate. In the election of 2010, though, two major things happened: 1) we elected Jerry Brown, old-school Democrat as governor. 2) we passed a ballot initiative allowing budgets to pass with a simple majority, though new taxes still required a 2/3 vote.
The first fiscal year when Brown came in, he faced a > $27 billion dollar deficit. Since that time, with the Democrats running things, we've gone from that nadir to actually this year having a > 4billion dollar SURPLUS, and with enough space in the budget for Brown to propose spending 11 billion this year to pay down all the long term debt that got built up during Arnie's governorship. In the last elections, the Democrats got put in as a super-majority in both houses as well. The economy is much better, we had the top enrollment numbers for new health plans under our state version of the Obamacare website, etc.
Small sample size, I realize, but damn, if that's not pretty persuasive arguemnts that the GOP economic plans are the wrong way to go, at least unless you're part of the 1%.
Thoughts?