The Disintegration of the Golden Era in the Golden State

NY TIMES ^ | 2/9/03 | ANDRÉS MARTINEZ

[Liz]

......Californians helped to get their state into this fix. Since the 1978 triumph of Proposition 13, which signaled the rise of a grass-roots antitax movement.........populist initiatives have been an impediment to sound, long-term policy making in the state.....

Figures. Blame the people for wanting less government, and for wanting to hold on to some of their hard-earned money.

Phooey on politicians. They are not off the hook by any means. They shoulder most of the blame for Big Government, tax-financed handouts to curry favor with selected voting blocs, and the huge, costly patronage system.

[Liz]

....ping.......

[snopercod]

"I could have solved this problem in 20 minutes by raising electricity rates..."

--Gray Davis

[snopercod]

On Thursday, California state officials were in Manhattan, trying to convince skeptical credit-rating firms that the state is making progress in getting its finances in order.

[Liz]

Cali's problem could not be any clearer: graydavis.

[snopercod]

Cali's problem could not be any clearer: graydavis.

I would go to a more proximate cause: The socialist philosopy held by the majority of the people there.

How's the recall drive coming?

[Brian Allen]

<< Proposition 13 has starved California of "needed investment capital." >>

What absolute crap!

And what a demonstration of economics ignorance sans par!

Allowing California's citizens to keep their own money freed the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars that have fueled that state's enviable prosperity.

But too bad that -- and the huge contribution of some of the world's most creative, innovative, productive and industrious minds -- was overtaken by the abject corruption of decades of thieving, lying, looting co-serial-rapist-supporting state-and-local-gummint "DemocRATs" having their unsupervised hands on the check books and their totally irresponsible willingness to borrow and spend sums of money that most of them couldn't even spell and write down -- let alone earn and/or understand -- and generations of parasitical criminal alien and other parasites' vote buying -- all on borrowed and fantasized money.

No-one was ever taxed into prosperity and California's creative innovative productive and industrious base was not about to be used as the example to prove the rule.

So it went to Denver and to Phoenix and to Seattle and to Portland.

Good luck with the recall battle, GrayOut.

Good luck California "DemocRATS."

/sarcasm

[But, to put it to yah gently, I'd say, "You're f****d, Buddies!"]

[Redleg Duke]

All the years of giving illegal aliens full rights and benefits, purely for the reason of feathering the nests of the sociology majors and empire builders have led to this.

California has demonized the entrepenures who created the economy. They have killed the goose that laid the gold eggs for a brief feeding frenzy of cooked goose. Now they are left with a picked-clean carcass and the illegals demanding more!

[Liz]

Dummycraps gonna sic the taxdog on overburdened Californians.

[Liz]

The rank pandering by Dumbocrap politicians for voting blocs (hyphenated Americans) at the expense of the paying populace has been the ruination of our culture.

Pandering pols have divided the Nation and created a balkanized America with voting sects (defined by their own special interests as opposed to the culture's general well-being).

These hyphenated Americans compete against each other to see who can get the most freebies. And the taxpayers must foot the bills.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Stupid is as stupid does.

California's budget deficit is larger than the other 49 states combined. The State has been led by the left for well over a generation and there is no sign of a shift to the fiscally conservative right.

The problem isn't tax revenues - it's spending.

[RKV]

California is the 6th highest state in tax revenue per capita. That is quite enough to do the job. The NYT hates Prop 13, that's all. The question I believe we should be asking at this time is "What is government doing that we should not or should be done elsewhere?" As a for instance, it takes time and money to enforce the plethora of regulations the state has, do we really need a state license for cosmetology? I think not. Do we need any of the unconstitutional guns laws (and almost all gun laws are)? No. Its not enough to cut taxes (which is a good thing in and of itself), how about we remove the structural cause of expensive government by repealing laws and eliminating useless functions?

[snopercod]

You are speaking of the blacks and latinos, of course. Immigrants from Asia and elsewhere have assimilated themselves and become productive members of American society.

I can't recall seing a Vietnamese with a "Viva la Raza" [Long live our race] bumper sticker, for example. You never see gangs of Asians hanging out on street corners (at least I never have).

[RKV]

California has not been liberal for a generation. We had RINO governors like Dukmejian and Pete Wilson (gun-grabbers both, but at least they could balance a budget). Remember Prop 187? No, what we have here is a runaway legislature. The teachers and public worker unions are hogs at the trough, that's what is driving the spending. That and the combined regulatory overburden of the feds, cities, state and counties, which is driving away business. Add several million illegals with their hands out and you have a real disaster - no way you can cover your share of taxes at $7/hour.

[cgbg]

All the years of giving illegal aliens full rights and benefits, purely for the reason of feathering the nests of the sociology majors and empire builders have led to this.

Isn't it intreesting that "The most important newspaper in America" failed to mention the impact of immigration (legal and illegal) on California's budget?

If you refuse to even discuss the most critical issue in California because of political correctness then it is impossible to be coherent on this subject.

California officials should be in Washington DC demanding a ten year moratorium on legal immigration and military defense against illegal immigration.

Until that day comes anybody on Wall Street who loans them money deserves the default they will get.

[goldstategop]

They think the wealthy will stay to pay the increased taxes huh? If I had that much moolah, I'd move to Nevada, Texas or Florida. Any state without an income tax sounds pretty good to me.

[Liz]

Take a look at the Democrap party's makeup and their party platform. There are any number of officially recognized hyphenated-groups. They are all encouraged to organize and lobby for their own special interests.

[ErnBatavia]

This is what we call the "Taj Mahal"...the Desert Sands Unified School District Administration building(and this shot probably only shows half of it); the schools should be half so nice.

[Liz]

The government is living too good.......and it's all at the people's expense.

[glockmeister40]

Proposition 13 has starved California of needed investment capital.

You beat me to it. How the hell can a cap on taxes erode investiment capital? WHEN PEOPLE KEEP MORE OF THEIR MONEY, THEY WILL HAVE MORE TO INVEST!