Being a Californian, native born and still a resident it always amazes me the simplicity of how an entire population gets labeled. We have no shortages of people to label, but the once gl;amorous Sunshine state does have quite a few problems, Solar Energy among them for cost vs. Benefit. I for one don't meet most of labels that get applied here, for instance the wierd gun control laws we have to abide vs. the ones the bulk of the rest of the United States have. We didn't vote for these laws, just the idiots who write and pass them, like former Governor Swartneger. Our energy policies weren't written by the consummer, despite poplular belief, but by elected officials with their wallets lined from lobbyist, so to say the Californians wanted this or that is a missnomer. It's sort of like saying the Americans want to become a socialist country like Sweden, based on the practice of our current administration, yet I'm pretty sure most of us don't want that, and don't want to be taxed at 50% either. The problem is the voter base in this country dictates the idiots who get elected to a certain extent. Once they are elected they do whatever they personnally believe regardless of what the voters really want.
When it comes to energy, we were lead down the road to believe natural gas was cheaper and more effiecient way to heat our homes. When we faced our energy crisis, and power rates spiked for electricity, based on supply and demand, the gas rates spiked 4 times as much and never went down. Effectively quadrupuling the average Californians heating cost over night. Now we can blame it on the citizens saying they asked for it, but, I believe the average citizen has no idea of what our energy regulators, and power utility companies do behind closed dooors any more than we know what our elected officials are dreaming up.
Back to gun laws, here's a great example. Senator Dianne Finestein on national television, at a huge anti gun rally turned in her snub nosed 38 to be melted down to make manhole covers. Immediatedly, after the cameras were off, she ordered one of her two ARMED guards to retrieve it and give it back to her. So on record it would appear to her constituants that she wants nothing to do with guns, yet in reality she is a gun toting american, afraid for her safety enough to want a concieled weapon. Nothing new here.