Thank you, Democrats

California is one of the few redoubts to have escaped the Republican wave election. All eight statewide offices were won by Democrats, as were both houses of the State legislature. Democrats were as dominant in the delegation to Washington, winning 38 seats to the Republicans' 15 in the House; both Senators, neither of whom were running this year, are Democrats.

For the foreseeable future California residents will be subject to high tax rates and ever-more intrusive laws enforced by a regulatory state that is not used to opposition. The tech-media-academic-entertainment complexes are producing enormous wealth, enough to forestall the discontent from bubbling over from non-coastal California.

And I'm very grateful. Thanks to Proposition 13, which caps property tax increases if one doesn't move, our taxes are much lower than our neighbors'. Easing into retirement, I don't drive as much as I used to and don't worry about tolls, high parking fees, gas prices, and gas taxes. The enviros have stopped nearly all home building on the Peninsula despite the immense swaths of open space in the foothills; demand and scarce supply have driven average house prices to seven figures in our sleepy suburb. The nest-egg is accreting merely with the passage of time, no work being necessary.

There aren't many undocumented aliens because, frankly, they can't afford to live here. They move to the drought-ridden farms and industry-fleeing towns of the Central Valley whose social safety nets are frayed to the breaking point. They and their problems are out of sight.

Thank you, Democrats, for having my back. And I didn't even have to hire a lobbyist. © 2014 Stephen Yuen