As California Burns, Lawmakers Apologize To Chinese Workers Of The 19th Century

Last week California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger criticized the legislature for debating cow tails while the state went bankrupt. Apparently they did not heed his advice and get to work on the pressing issues that face California. The Sacramento Bee reports on the legislature passing a resolution apologizing for the treatment of Chinese workers in the 1800s, writing that "Assembly Concurrent Resolution 42 calls for an apology for forcing the Chinese to pay higher taxes on gold than whites; barring them from holding certain jobs, owning property or testifying in trials; and segregating them and forbidding them from marrying whites or bringing family from China. California politicians, the authors also note, were instrumental in persuading Congress to pass the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred more Chinese immigration."

Nobody denies that the Chinese and others were treated poorly in the 19th century, but now is not the time for lawmakers to be debating cow tails or passing symbolic resolutions. The living citizens of the Golden State elected their legislature to deal with today's problems, and California has no shortage of very big problems. If they were going to apologize, these lawmakers should be apologizing to their constituents for the utter incompetence they continue to display. The California legislature is the perfect picture of the completely dysfunctional liberal legislative body.
Tweet