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!
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California Deathwatch
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.
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Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
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.
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.
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell
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.
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
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.
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell
No, that would be illegal.
Thank goodness stupid financial policies that are driving our school systems into bankruptcy aren't!!!
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell
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.
http://timelines.latimes.com/new-state-laws-2013/
One assumes they are not studying immigration law, since it doesn't seem to mean anything.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
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).
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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).
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New pension rules are bankrupting 6 CA counties.
http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2013....ounties
http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2013....ounties
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Like anyone'll notice.GORDON wrote:New pension rules are bankrupting 6 CA counties.
http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2013....ounties
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Cali's "State of the State" address.
Still, Brown urged caution as the state prepares for its first budget surpluses in years. California's progress, he said, relies on financial discipline.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Taxes are going up again in CA.
“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.”
“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.”
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.
http://www.city-journal.org/2013/23_1_calpers.html
And the hole gets deeper every day.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
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
Edited By Malcolm on 1361805517
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
State bailout from the feds, and nothing will get fixed.TPRJones wrote:Fixed.Such dubious practices have piled up a crushing amount of pension debt, which California residents—and their children—will <s>somehow have to repay</s> move out of the state to avoid repaying.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."