A popular meme making the rounds shows a row of Porta-Potties engulfed in flames. Underneath is written, “If 2020 Were a Scented Candle.”

No two ways about it, 2020 has been a very bad year for millions of Americans who have suffered from all the fallout associated with the pandemic. Many have been furloughed or lost their jobs entirely while others lost loved ones. It is doubtful that anyone hasn’t been negatively affected in some way from what has been a difficult year.

It’s even worse here in California, as hard as that might be to believe. We have the highest poverty rate in the nation when the cost of living is taken into account, and both citizens and businesses are leaving the state in distressing numbers due to high taxes, high unemployment, burdensome regulations and deteriorating public safety.

To add insult to injury, we have clueless political leaders who issue edicts while they themselves ignore those rules. While they expect us to remain shut down, they take trips to Hawaii, go to hair salons and attend dinners at high-end restaurants.

And yet, there are a few things for which California taxpayers can actually be grateful this Thanksgiving season.

First and foremost is the successful defense of Proposition 13 by the defeat of Proposition 15, the so-called “split roll” initiative. For 42 years, Proposition 13 has remained essentially intact despite countless efforts to weaken it. The split roll proposal, advanced mostly by public-sector labor unions and radical progressive organizations, was the most serious challenge to homeowners in four decades.