Econony Is Dragging Di Fi Down

In a recent post I noted the Sen. Dianne Feinstein was underwater in a recent poll. It wasn't mentioned in that post but recently reelected Sen. Barbara Boxer was in worse shape but in 2012 Di Fi will have to defend her seat. Feinstein has served in the Senate since 1992 and has been a constant in California politics for decades. So why do 44 percent of California voters want to see the back of her head going out the door? A little digging into the state of the Golden State's economy left me wondering why Di Fi's numbers weren't worse. For starters the state's unemployment rate is 12.1 percent! That's almost a third higher than the national rate of 9.1 percent. From 2006 to 2010 US median household income declined by 5 percent but during the same period California saw its median household income fall 9 percent. There is little cause for optimism. One public policy hindering recovery is Assembly Bill 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, signed into law with great fanfare by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. AB32 mandates that California’s greenhouse gas emissions be reduced by 25 percent by 2020. Regulations to accomplish that, though, could eliminate up to 1 million jobs, according to a 2009 Cal State Sacramento study. Being down is one thing but the prospect of losing another million jobs might just mean Di Fi will be down and out.