Topic: California Deathwatch
started by: GORDON
Posted by GORDON on Dec. 11 2012,07:09
Was thinking about things, freely associating, as I do.Was thinking about how Greece is a bit of a canary in the coal mine when it comes to European economics and politics... there, they have a culture that spends more than they make in order to ensure the liberal, barely-work, retire-early lifestyle. Additionally, Greeks as a culture don't seem to care about paying their taxes in the first place. Last I heard, Germany was keeping Greece afloat until the next vote when Greece will not fix their problems.
That got me to thinking about California, which admittedly, has a larger economy than a great majority of countries on the entire planet. But, they are also voting themselves into a hole lined with free candy. Border security is a facade, they work to reward millions of illegals who got in and stayed, and they never met a new social program they didn't like in spite of the cost. In defiance of the cost, it seems at times.
And obviously the USA as a whole is having some spending problems. I don't need to reiterate them... it would be racist of me to suggest that it isn't wise to spend more than one can afford.
So, that gets me wondering... perhaps as goes California, so goes the country. CA politicans no longer have the will to try to defy the population of the greater San Francisco area, just as the east and west coasts don't seem to care at all about fiscal responsibility of the country. Worst of all, there is absolutely no fiscally responsible party left in this country with a chance of getting elected to enough seats to make a difference. There is absolutely no hope of fixing the economic problems of the country in the foreseeable future... something bad is going to have to happen before anything changes.
So.... I figure California will drop first.
Let's use this thread to post all of the suicidal things California is doing.
I'll start.
< California schools owe $1 billion on $100 million in loans they've taken. >
This is close to home for me... my local school district also tore down a perfectly good school built of stone and brick in the post WW2 era in order to qualify for millions in federal loans to build a new school. Now the economy is tanked, and they are talking about laying off teachers and increasing class sizes in order to pay the bills. Thanks, assholes!
Posted by Malcolm on Dec. 11 2012,07:55
QUOTE
Was thinking about how Greece is a bit of a canary in the coal mine when it comes to European economics and politics...
I disagree. Are there other countries like them? Yeah. There are others that ain't. The U.K. is probably a few years from opting out of the EU if they don't get their shit together.
California has its own special brand of insanity due to the dense concentration of crazy in most of their metropolitan areas.
Posted by Leisher on Dec. 11 2012,09:51
Why do the schools need to borrow money to get money? That seems really stupid. Why borrow $2.5 million to get $25 million, and then build a new school for $25 million?
Because a $10-20 million dollar school would be a piece of shit?
Why not immediately repay the loan and then work with the money you have left?
It's this short sightedness that gives socialism an audience in this country.
Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 11 2012,10:31
Well, that was most likely a federal educational block grant, which means it works on a sort of dollar matching thing. For every $1 they spend on the new school they get $10 of federal money. And every individual expense is reported to make sure all the matching is being done. Can't get the $25m without spending the $2.5m in the process.
Posted by Leisher on Dec. 11 2012,10:52
QUOTE
Well, that was most likely a federal educational block grant, which means it works on a sort of dollar matching thing. For every $1 they spend on the new school they get $10 of federal money. And every individual expense is reported to make sure all the matching is being done. Can't get the $25m without spending the $2.5m in the process.
Which is a really stupid way of spending.
So none of their accountants could make the $2.5 million loan part of their spending?
And if you don't have the $2.5 million to spend, then you shouldn't be getting the $25 million (under those terms) in "free" money.
Nothing is free.
Posted by TPRJones on Dec. 11 2012,10:57
Yes. No, that would be illegal. Yes. Agreed.
Posted by Leisher on Dec. 11 2012,11:39
QUOTE
No, that would be illegal.
Thank goodness stupid financial policies that are driving our school systems into bankruptcy aren't!!!
Posted by Leisher on Dec. 11 2012,12:10
< Folks and companies are leaving. >
Posted by GORDON on Jan. 01 2013,12:03
No longer allowed to carry an unloaded rifle in cities, and illegal immigrants can legally get a driver's license and financial aid for college.< http://timelines.latimes.com/new-state-laws-2013/ >
One assumes they are not studying immigration law, since it doesn't seem to mean anything.
Posted by Paul on Jan. 01 2013,15:57
Adam Carolla complains about CA a lot. The cost of operating in CA is incredibly high.He can do a 1,500 person show in Oregon and make $20k profit. He makes a fraction of that when he has a show in CA due to the unions and increased fees. He can make a lot more money by flying him and his crew to other states to perform.
Businesses are fleeing because the taxes are too high, and keep getting higher.
He finds it ironic that the liberal Hollywood actors talk about the rich needing to pay their fair share. Then they leave their Malibu mansions to go out-of-state or to Canada to film movies that could have easily been shot in L.A. (some even take place in L.A.). But no, it's cheaper to fly an entire crew out of state (and board them) and haul out all that equipment than it is to pay the taxes and buy the permits and put up with all that red tape they have in CA.
For all the taxes they pay the freeway signs are still covered in barbwire or graffiti, and the public school system is atrocious.
(He may have talked about this stuff in his latest podcast (with Andrew Brietbart).
Posted by Malcolm on Jan. 01 2013,16:00
QUOTE
(He may have talked about this stuff in his latest podcast (with Andrew Brietbart).
Latest podcast? Andrew's been dead since early March of '12.
Posted by Paul on Jan. 01 2013,19:13
He's not taping during the holidays so they're re-releasing old podcasts.The latest one on my iPod is that one, and I think they talked about L.A. then.
Posted by GORDON on Jan. 21 2013,10:28
New pension rules are bankrupting 6 CA counties.< http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2013....ounties >
Posted by Malcolm on Jan. 21 2013,12:28
(GORDON @ Jan. 21 2013,12:28)
QUOTE
New pension rules are bankrupting 6 CA counties.
< http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2013....ounties >
< http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2013....ounties >
Like anyone'll notice.
Posted by Malcolm on Jan. 24 2013,10:31
< Cali's "State of the State" address >.QUOTE
Still, Brown urged caution as the state prepares for its first budget surpluses in years. California's progress, he said, relies on financial discipline.
Posted by Paul on Feb. 08 2013,06:28
< Taxes are going up again in CA >.QUOTE
“It’s definitely the highest in the United States,” said David Kline, a vice president of the California Taxpayers Association, a taxpayers’ advocacy organization. “What we like to point out to people is that there are states with absolutely no personal income tax — so if you moved from California to Florida, and you are in a high-income bracket, you are automatically giving yourself a 13.3 percent raise.”
QUOTE
“Taxes have to be a very important part of the equation,” Mr. Schiller said. “If you are talking about an income tax of 13 percent on a millionaire in California and an income tax rate of zero percent on a millionaire in Nevada, to argue that it doesn’t affect a millionaire’s locations decision is to say all millionaires must be stupid.”
Posted by GORDON on Feb. 25 2013,05:43
Corrupt public employee pension fund has california in a debt hole it can't ever get out of.< http://www.city-journal.org/2013/23_1_calpers.html >
And the hole gets deeper every day.
Posted by Malcolm on Feb. 25 2013,07:18
QUOTE
Their paper on Cal- PERS’s panic selling in 2008 notes that the cash-hungry fund sold 2.3 million shares of Apple Inc. for $370 million; those shares would be worth nearly $1.5 billion today.
Wait, wait, wait. The hippies were afraid to invest in other hippies and it cost them money? HAHAHAHAHAHA.
/cartman
Posted by TPRJones on Feb. 25 2013,07:28
QUOTE
Such dubious practices have piled up a crushing amount of pension debt, which California residents—and their children—will somehow have to repay move out of the state to avoid repaying.
Fixed.
Posted by GORDON on Feb. 25 2013,07:33
(TPRJones @ Feb. 25 2013,10:28)
QUOTE
QUOTE
Such dubious practices have piled up a crushing amount of pension debt, which California residents—and their children—will somehow have to repay move out of the state to avoid repaying.
Fixed.
State bailout from the feds, and nothing will get fixed.
Posted by Malcolm on Feb. 25 2013,07:44
(GORDON @ Feb. 25 2013,09:33)
QUOTE
(TPRJones @ Feb. 25 2013,10:28)
QUOTE
QUOTE
Such dubious practices have piled up a crushing amount of pension debt, which California residents—and their children—will somehow have to repay move out of the state to avoid repaying.
Fixed.
State bailout from the feds, and nothing will get fixed.
Call their bluff. Encourage every other state to go in the red and get similar treatment. Ponies for all. Fuck that. Unicorns for all.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 19 2013,09:29
California cancels a tax break used by businesses in their state.Retroactively.
Five years retroactively.
And charges interest on all the delinquent bills they created.
< http://www.foxnews.com/politic....estnews >
Another good day for the Texas state business recruiting department.
Posted by Malcolm on Mar. 19 2013,09:56
Retroactive taxes? That's different from extortion how?
Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 19 2013,10:15
Taxes are extortion anyway. This is just more blatant about it.QUOTE
"Going backward in time and changing the rules innocent taxpayers relied upon violates the very essence of the rule of law."
Nah, the modern essence of the rule of law is to grow government tax bases as much as possible. I'd classify this is a groundbreaking advance of the modern essence of the rule of law.
Posted by Leisher on Apr. 01 2013,10:06
< They want to make red light camera tickets like parking tickets. >That means you cannot fight them, and they'd be mandatory to pay.
Posted by Malcolm on Apr. 01 2013,10:28
QUOTE
Supporters of the bill, however, argued that the objective is not to punish drivers, but to stop motorists from running red lights.
“Last year in California, probably 600 pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents,” said David Grant, of California Walks, an organization that advocates for safer walking communities. “Half those people would be alive today if we actually enforced the laws we’ve got.”
Less than 40 percent of red light camera photos result in citations, Grant said.
“The current system just doesn’t work,” Grant said.
“Last year in California, probably 600 pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents,” said David Grant, of California Walks, an organization that advocates for safer walking communities. “Half those people would be alive today if we actually enforced the laws we’ve got.”
Less than 40 percent of red light camera photos result in citations, Grant said.
“The current system just doesn’t work,” Grant said.
Other than your last sentence, everything you said is full of shit. Don't even play that is for the protection of pedestrians or saving lives, you fucking lying bastard who deserves to have a nest full of angry wasps shoved up his rectum. If your goal is less death from traffic violations, I think you can find something that tops 600 deaths a year that people aren't fined $500 each for.
QUOTE
Grant said that the problem is running red lights and committing “rolling stops.”
Interesting, because most of my traffic problems come from excessive placement of stop signs and too many traffic signals not properly timed to handle the flow of traffic they see on a daily basis. Funny how the problem is always, "The people aren't following the rules," instead of, "These rules are fucking retarded."
Posted by Leisher on Apr. 01 2013,10:33
QUOTE
Funny how the problem is always, "The people aren't following the rules," instead of, "These rules are fucking retarded."
I could not agree more.
Posted by Malcolm on May 02 2013,10:34
< A prankster's dream >.
Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 21 2013,10:27
< Transit strike in the People's Republic of San Francisco >. How that worker's paradise has any job-related ills is beyond me.
Posted by Leisher on Oct. 21 2013,10:32
(Malcolm @ May 02 2013,13:34)
QUOTE
< A prankster's dream >.
Put all other stuff aside, and explain to me how a parent is responsible for their child, BY LAW, until the age of 18, yet this is ok to do without the parent's permission.
It makes no sense.
(Although, I do encourage birth control for kids.)
Posted by Malcolm on Nov. 07 2013,10:16
< California >, highest teacher salaries in the country, lowest reading and math scores.
Posted by Paul on Nov. 09 2013,12:23
The results suck, but there are more factors than the teachers in test scores.A large portion of the Los Angeles community come from cultures where education is not a high priority, but having a lot of kids is. Often the parents don't speak English, which makes things even more difficult.
Teachers can only work with what they have.
When you hear the stories about the brilliant principals who turned a school around, the part they usually skip in the story is when they got rid of the bad kids and setup magnet programs to get the good kids.
Posted by TPRJones on Nov. 09 2013,19:18
While everything you say is true, Paul, there are some real shit teachers out there as well. About 20% are total shit through and through, and another 75% had potential at one time but the system has beaten it out of them. Leaving only 5% as being worth a damn.I don't blame the teachers for that, though. That's just long-term government management at work.
Posted by Malcolm on May 24 2014,11:20
< Serial rapist set for release >. Don't worry, though...QUOTE
Doctors there recently concluded he was fit for release...
Oh, so he's ready to put back into society now. I'm sure he's paid his debt.
QUOTE
He admitted raping and assaulting about 40 women between 1971 and 1982, when he was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Police believe the number of victims to be closer to 100.
That's 0.4 years per rape. Unless you believe the 100 number. But hey, I'm sure he learned his lesson.
QUOTE
Released on parole in 1990, he was arrested two months later for a new attack and returned to prison until 1996...
Awesome legal system this country has.
Posted by Malcolm on Jun. 10 2014,12:24
< Union of teachers bitching >. Which is usually a good sign.QUOTE
Judge Rolf M. Treu ruled, in effect, that it was too easy for teachers to gain strong job protections and too difficult to dismiss those who performed poorly in the classroom.
The union immediately responds.
QUOTE
"This decision today is an attack on teachers, which is a socially acceptable way to attack children,” said Alex Caputo-Pearl, the president-elect of the Los Angeles teachers union. Instead of providing for smaller classes or more counselors, “you attack teacher and student rights.”
What a fucking tool.
Posted by Malcolm on Jan. 30 2015,10:31
< Psychotic > bill would make smoking illegal unless you're 21.
Posted by Malcolm on Mar. 16 2015,10:46
< A bit of a drought > could be in store.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 16 2015,12:27
Anasazi.
Posted by Malcolm on Mar. 19 2015,10:26
< Fast food restrictions > had no effect on public obesity.
Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 19 2015,11:12
QUOTE
"We never said this ordinance was the silver bullet" to solving the obesity problem, said Gwen Flynn of the Community Health Councils. "As long as we can make sure people have more options, that's the important thing."
Emphasis added. Stupidity included in original.
How in the world does limiting the number of restaurants lead to more options? Retarded much?
All this sort of law really leads to is more money spent on gas to drive somewhere else for food.
Posted by Malcolm on Mar. 19 2015,11:21
QUOTE
Rand researchers reviewed permits issued by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, which inspects food outlets. There were no licenses for stand-alone fast-food restaurants, but chains opened 17 new outlets in strip shopping centres and food courts in South Los Angeles from 2008 to 2012.
Almost half of the new food permits were for convenience stores that sell soda and junk food, the study found.
Almost half of the new food permits were for convenience stores that sell soda and junk food, the study found.
This looks more like a "screw you if you're not a corporate chain" law.
Posted by Malcolm on May 21 2015,10:19
< $15/hr > minimum wage in LA. Policymakers are calling it the largest raise for the unique actor-director-writer-busboy industry in the city as a whole in its entire history.
Posted by Malcolm on Oct. 12 2015,10:12
< Cali > bans word.QUOTE
California became the first state in the nation to pass legislation prohibiting the usage of a term that many Native Americans consider a racial slur.
Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday approved the measure but vetoed a separate bill that would have barred public properties from being named after individuals associated with the Confederacy.
Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday approved the measure but vetoed a separate bill that would have barred public properties from being named after individuals associated with the Confederacy.
Posted by Paul on Nov. 09 2015,19:52
