Prop 13 saved California homeowners

From a Time magazine analysis (June 27,2009) QUOTE ...at the root of California's misery lies Proposition 13, the anti-tax measure that ignited the Reagan Revolution and the conservative era.

In Washington, the Reagan-Bush era is over. But in California, the conservative legacy lives on.

Before Prop 13, in the 1950s and '60s, California was a liberal showcase. Governors Earl Warren and Pat Brown responded to the population growth of the postwar boom with a massive program of public infrastructure — the nation's finest public college system, the freeway system and the state aqueduct that carries water from the well-watered north to the parched south.

When Ronald Reagan was governor, he actually raised taxes.

Then Proposition 13 shot the tires out of Pat Brown's liberal state.

Liberal legislative leaders such as Willie Brown and John Burton jerry-rigged repairs and kept the damaged vehicle running for 30 years. Now Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger says there is no choice but to complete the demolition by slashing essential services.

ENDQUOTE We look for the enemy, and the enemy is us (or at least the conservatives amongst us).