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California Is Leading From Behind
Townhall.com ^ | December 31, 2015 | Victor Davis Hanson

Posted on 12/31/2015 6:52:39 AM PST by Kaslin

California has given us three new truths about government.

One, the higher that taxes rise, the worst state services become.

Two, the worse a natural disaster hits, the more the state contributes to its havoc.

And three, the more existential the problem, the more the state ignores it.

California somehow has managed to have the fourth-highest gas taxes in the nation, yet its roads are rated 44th among the 50 states. Nearly 70 percent of California roads are considered to be in poor or mediocre condition by the state Senate. In response, the state Legislature naturally wants to raise gas taxes, with one proposal calling for an increase of 12 cents per gallon, which would give California the highest gas taxes in the nation.

Because oil prices have crashed, state bureaucrats apparently believe that the public won't notice the tax increase in their fill-up costs -- even though special California fuel mandates already help make gas prices 25 percent higher than the national average.

Consider California's upside-down logic.

The state wanted to discourage driving and promote hybrid vehicles by upping taxes on carbon fuels. It worked, though it cost the public dearly. People drove less and bought more fuel-efficient cars. But now, because less gas is burned, fewer taxes are collected. So the state wants to reward motorists for their green sacrifices by raising their taxes even higher to make up for missing revenue. If state motorists drive even less and cram into two-seat commuter cars, will California further reward them with even higher gas taxes?

(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; US: California
KEYWORDS: gastax; illegalimigrants; infrasracture; naturalresources; obesity; vdh; victordavishanson
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1 posted on 12/31/2015 6:52:39 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: DuncanWaring; bestintxas; COBOL2Java; EXCH54FE; ExTexasRedhead; FreedomPoster; Kennard; Hojczyk; ...

Victor Davis Hanson Column


Please Freepmail me if you want to be added, or removed from the ping list

2 posted on 12/31/2015 6:54:28 AM PST by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Kaslin
California has given us three new truths about government.

One, the higher that taxes rise, the worst state services become.

Two, the worse a natural disaster hits, the more the state contributes to its havoc.

And three, the more existential the problem, the more the state ignores it.

Perfect definitions of the Democrats Party.

3 posted on 12/31/2015 6:55:27 AM PST by trebb (Where in the the hell has my country gone?)
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To: Kaslin

Jerry Brown has been far worse than Obama in that he’s been governor here for a total of 16 years. Now, during the second major drought oveer which he has “presided,” there are again signs saying “If it’s Brown, flush it!”


4 posted on 12/31/2015 6:56:45 AM PST by vette6387
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To: Kaslin
California somehow has managed to have the fourth-highest gas taxes in the nation, yet its roads are rated 44th among the 50 states.

Roads don't vote Democrat in return for money.

5 posted on 12/31/2015 6:57:05 AM PST by Steely Tom (Vote GOP: A Slower Handbasket)
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To: Kaslin

For those of us old enough to know, California was once the leading state in the nation, NUMBER ONE, in just about every metric we typically use. This was forty years ago, before the idiot liberal voters gave the state away to the liberals. Yes, under a CONSERVATIVE government, it was a shining example. I remember back then when I saw a headline in the newspaper that the state legislature and the governor were fighting over how to RETURN A SURPLUS OF OVER A BILLION DOLLARS back to the people. Yes, a surplus of money. No debt. Best schools. Best roads. No HUGE problem with feeding, educating, medicating and housing ILLEGAL ALIENS. It really was once the Golden State.


6 posted on 12/31/2015 7:00:00 AM PST by EagleUSA
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To: Kaslin

Will CA drive off the cliff and crash? Or just devolve into 3rd world status?


7 posted on 12/31/2015 7:02:57 AM PST by umgud
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To: EagleUSA

I left CA a decade ago. Best decision of my life. Everything is expensive there, high taxes, red tape is crazy and the traffic is horrendous.

I’ll never live there again.


8 posted on 12/31/2015 7:04:00 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: goldstategop

I left NY more than a decade ago. Same conclusions as you.


9 posted on 12/31/2015 7:06:00 AM PST by Lazamataz (It has gotten to the point where any report from standard news outlets must be fact-checked.)
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To: Kaslin

Ah, Mexifornia, where liberalism has met a culture which perfectly matches it.


10 posted on 12/31/2015 7:08:24 AM PST by Da Coyote
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To: umgud
"Will CA drive off the cliff and crash? Or just devolve into 3rd world status?"

I vote devolve because Brown will ask for Federal bailouts and continued transfer payments sufficient to keep the leaky ship afloat until the present lunatics running the show are safely retired or dead of old age. Plus, that makes the rest of us pay for the California madness.

11 posted on 12/31/2015 7:13:55 AM PST by Truth29
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To: EagleUSA
I graduated from HS in California in 1972. AFAIK, CA was #1 in education, or at least very near the top. I tested at a 12th grade reading level when I was in 6th grade, and I'm sure most of my peers were at the same level.

Nowadays, people moving to Texas receive a shock shortly after their arrival. If they have kids in high school, they discover their children are 1-2 years behind their peers.

They also learn that, at least in North Texas, everything is taken seriously: academics, sports, band, etc. Texans, in general, love to compete, and they play to win. Outsiders may not like how we do things, but they can KMA.

My two oldest children have long since graduated from high school, and I know their HS experience was far superior to mine. My son was in band for 4 years, while my daughter was on drill team for two. Our band (Coppell) is one of the best in the state, and has been to all of the big parades, to include Dublin, Ireland.

My youngest son enters HS next year. He loves football and there will be plenty of opportunity to compete. Last year, there were two freshman teams and two JV teams, in addition to the varsity. I'd never heard of that before coming to Texas. I would not be surprised if there are three freshman teams next year, based on over 200 boys playing 8th grade football this year.

I could go on, forgive the rant. It's not perfect here in Texas, but I can't think of living anywhere but here.

12 posted on 12/31/2015 7:15:31 AM PST by Night Hides Not (Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad! Remember Mississippi! My vote is going to Cruz.)
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To: Kaslin
And three, the more existential the problem, the more the state ignores it.

I believe this third assertion is incorrect (or at least imprecise) and the next paragraph proves my point. They don't ignore the problems, they respond to them, but like the parable about the drunken many looking for his keys by a lamppost ("because the light is better here") they typically attack the symptoms, not the root cause.

The roads are bad in California (just like the roads are bad in Washington) not because they aren't sufficiently funded, but because the funds are misspent and squandered on liberal feel-good crappola.

13 posted on 12/31/2015 7:21:25 AM PST by rockrr (Everything is different now...)
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To: goldstategop
I left CA a decade ago. Best decision of my life.

Seven years for me. I miss the California I grew up in...but it isn't there any more.

14 posted on 12/31/2015 7:21:30 AM PST by Mr. Jeeves ([CTRL]-[GALT]-[DELETE])
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To: Kaslin

The good new is that when the ‘Big One’ hits, the parts of the state with the most liberals will be the part that sides into the sea ... and then CA will regain its collective senses.


15 posted on 12/31/2015 7:30:04 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: Mr. Jeeves

Left Ca also. My brother in law just retired renting a place in San Diego. North county for $1500 a month here in Missouri where I live on 11 acres in 1400 sq ft home it costs me about $987 for taxes a year, my heating and cooling are cheaper than his. My groceries are cheaper,transportation is cheaper no problem understanding the grocery clerks.I can have as many guns I want and neighbors are great. Yet his desire is to pay higher amounts for everything for the weather and then can’t afford to do anything extra in his retirement.


16 posted on 12/31/2015 7:42:25 AM PST by DocJ69
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To: trebb

It is the history of leftist governing throughout world history....


17 posted on 12/31/2015 7:52:29 AM PST by C. Edmund Wright (WTF? How Karl Rove and the Establishment Lost...Again (Amazon Best Seller))
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To: vette6387
Now, during the second major drought over which he has "presided," there are again signs saying "If it's Brown, flush it!"

Originally, that was,

"If it's yellow, let it mellow.
If it's Brown, flush it down."

18 posted on 12/31/2015 7:56:19 AM PST by Carry_Okie (Despotism to liberalism: from Tiberius to Torquemada, and back again.)
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To: C. Edmund Wright

Gov. Brown just signed a law that emulates the federal earned income tax credit for CA residents. Another welfare boondoggle.


19 posted on 12/31/2015 8:04:25 AM PST by Signalman
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To: Carry_Okie

“iginally, that was,

“If it’s yellow, let it mellow.
If it’s Brown, flush it down.””

Yes, but Anti-Brown Bumper Stickers leave off the first part!


20 posted on 12/31/2015 8:06:45 AM PST by vette6387
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