You children are adorable.

Think about this -- Democrats have run this state's legislature since I was in sixth grade. I'm 57 now. FIFTY-SEVEN. I've watched my home state deteriorate forever and I lived in another state for several years, so I know what a trainwreck California has become.

You should want some balanced representation here, but you don't. California voters still haven't figured out that a bond equals higher taxes, that most propositions equal higher taxes, and your representatives in the state and in Congress are pretty much focused on raising your taxes some more. At some point it will become unsustainable, even for the most progressive Californian.

Someday you may be like me and decide that you didn't work and save for thirty-plus years to spend your retirement savings on taxes to a state that is full of politicians who have no desire to live within the government's means. You will eventually want to feel like there are some people in government who represent your values, and you, too, will be frustrated with those who can't see that.

Everything being politically on one side or another is never a good thing.

You'll be surprised to know I'm not a Republican either. I dumped the GOP almost 20 years ago and became unaffiliated because the Republicans sold out to the evangelicals.

I'm a moderate who is socially moderate and fiscally conservative, and one day most of you will be, too. Unfortunately, you probably won't ever find that in California and will also feel the need to leave the home you once loved but can't bear to see destroyed anymore.