Pretty stark statement. Yeah, there are lots of libs in SF, but remember all the citizens are not that way.
Good point. One that brings up problems that goes several layers deep.
Let's say a group of taxpaying citizens in SF decide to sue the city. Maybe the cause is because they are breaking the law, or maybe because the city puts their safety at risk, the reason isn't all that important. What is important is that cities are very hard to sue. Most cities make it part of their charter, have state legal protection as well, and also have legal precedent on their side. You better have a slam dunk case if you decide to sue a city, and even then the odds are stacked against you.
As an example, a federal judge says SF cannot be held liable for the death of Kate Steinle who was killed by a man in the country illegally. Had SF been an individual and not a city they would be guilty of aiding and abetting. They could have been sued six ways to Sunday. But as it is the city has more or less a blank check or get out of jail free card depending on how you want to look at it. So back to those taxpaying citizens in SF that want to sue they city. They are more or less powerless to do anything at all -
except move.
And that's the key. If you don't like what elected leaders in SF decide to do you are free to choose to move somewhere else. And if you don't like what elected leaders in CA decide to do you can get the hell out of there too. Citizens are free to choose.
----
Things change when you switch views from the city level (or state level) to the federal government level. A federal law covers the entire nation. Moving from SF to Dime Box, TX doesn't allow you to escape the law of the land. In that regard citizens are not free to choose.
But . . . there's always a but. What about marijuana laws? What about federal mandates covering the electrical grid? Things get a bit dicey in a hurry.
Suppose president Trump decides to suddenly enforce federal marijuana laws on California, but not on Colorado. He has the power to punish California in a hundred different ways (see Obama's war against Texas). A case could easily be made that Trump is picking winners and losers and as such is unfair. The law is not supposed to work that way, some gibberish about justice being blind.
This brings up the age old argument about the federal government using the carrot and stick approach.
----
Now we're back to my original statement that these problems go several layers deep. In football terms, you have multiple battles being waged. Team Residents of SF vs Team City of SF. And then you could have City of SF vs State of CA. And toss in the battle of Team Fed vs State of CA which is just a prelude to Team Fed vs City of SF.
Yikes. What do you do if you're just Average Joe citizen and want to be left alone to raise your family, cook a little BBQ on the weekend and go to the occasional baseball game?
