I’ve always found demonizing one party to be a poor proxy for the real problems in politics.

Screeching about how much the other guys suck is always easier than not sucking.

California voters passed Prop 25 which took away the Republicans ability to hold the budget hostage. That took most of the Republicans remaining power away.

The slow dismantling of Prop 13, which Prop 25 played a part in, has certainly helped a lot. However, Proposition 218 remains largely intact, and California's ballot-box budgeting woes are far from over.