Author Topic: California  (Read 322708 times)

G M

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Re: california
« Reply #50 on: October 24, 2010, 12:30:18 PM »
http://city-journal.org/2010/20_3_california-economy.html

Joel Kotkin
The Golden State’s War on Itself
How politicians turned the California Dream into a nightmare

California has long been a destination for those seeking a better place to live. For most of its history, the state enacted sensible policies that created one of the wealthiest and most innovative economies in human history. California realized the American dream but better, fostering a huge middle class that, for the most part, owned their homes, sent their kids to public schools, and found meaningful work connected to the state’s amazingly diverse, innovative economy.

Recently, though, the dream has been evaporating. Between 2003 and 2007, California state and local government spending grew 31 percent, even as the state’s population grew just 5 percent. The overall tax burden as a percentage of state income, once middling among the states, has risen to the sixth-highest in the nation, says the Tax Foundation. Since 1990, according to an analysis by California Lutheran University, the state’s share of overall U.S. employment has dropped a remarkable 10 percent. When the state economy has done well, it has usually been the result of asset inflation—first during the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s, and then during the housing boom, which was responsible for nearly half of all jobs created earlier in this decade.

Since the financial crisis began in 2008, the state has fared even worse. Last year, California personal income fell 2.5 percent, the first such fall since the Great Depression and well below the 1.7 percent drop for the rest of the country. Unemployment may be starting to ebb nationwide, but not in California, where it approaches 13 percent, among the highest rates in the nation. Between 2008 and 2009, not one of California’s biggest cities outperformed such traditional laggards as New York, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia in employment growth, and four cities—Los Angeles, Oakland, Santa Ana, and San Bernardino–Riverside—sit very close to the bottom among the nation’s largest metro areas, just slightly ahead of basket cases like Detroit. Long a global exemplar, California is in danger of becoming, as historian Kevin Starr has warned, a “failed state.”

What went so wrong? The answer lies in a change in the nature of progressive politics in California. During the second half of the twentieth century, the state shifted from an older progressivism, which emphasized infrastructure investment and business growth, to a newer version, which views the private sector much the way the Huns viewed a city—as something to be sacked and plundered. The result is two separate California realities: a lucrative one for the wealthy and for government workers, who are largely insulated from economic decline; and a grim one for the private-sector middle and working classes, who are fleeing the state.

JDN

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Re: california
« Reply #51 on: October 24, 2010, 04:07:05 PM »
The mountain west is far more attractive than CA. LA is well on it's way to becoming Detroit with palm trees. But you should should definitely not consider moving, JDN.

The mountain West?  You must be kidding.  I'll freeze to death, or or I'll die of heat, and worse, I'll die of boredom.  It's a wasteland, albeit
in certain parts beautiful for a short visit.  Great places for a second home...

Don't worry about my moving; last year in January I went skiing early that morning, and sailing in the afternoon.  I can play golf year around (Doug, there are
some advantages here).  CA has a greater number of fabulous restaurants, art, music, and overall culture compared to almost any other location.  We probably have more quality colleges than any other state in the union.  Crime is less than most states.  And we have more computer startups and innovative companies.  Capital, investment and knowledge is abundant.  Among those doing well, almost everyone loves CA.  And if you are failing, well, run to Nevada and live in the desert.  Vegas is great to visit, but I just don't want to live there.  But if you are successful, almost nobody wants to leave CA and everyone wants to be here.

Don't worry too much about CA. 


Crafty_Dog

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Hot Air in CA
« Reply #52 on: October 25, 2010, 08:06:14 AM »
The Left Angeles Times, a.k.a. Pravda on the Beach (POTB) says this morning that Prop 23, which would suspend the state's global warming law until unemployment is 5.5% is trailing 48 to 32.

The clusterfcuk continues , , ,

G M

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Re: california
« Reply #53 on: October 25, 2010, 04:08:02 PM »
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/10/25/cbs-unemployment-situation-still-the-worst-since-the-depression/

Per CBS news, 22% unemployment in California. Think of how great that is for the environment!

DougMacG

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Re: california (or mountain west / top of the rockies)
« Reply #54 on: October 25, 2010, 11:43:44 PM »
"The mountain west is far more attractive..."

"I'll freeze to death, or or I'll die of heat, and worse, I'll die of boredom.  It's a wasteland"

"in certain parts beautiful for a short visit.  Great places for a second home"
--------
The natural beauty in California is amazing, see Crafty's hiking video for one thing, but to move there now one would inherit the man-made disasters with no solution in sight.  I for one won't be moving to any higher tax state or looking for a higher cost of living.  I have enough problems now.  

Must jump in regarding mountain west with what I discovered.  Found Lake County Colorado by accident, looking for an affordable place near the greatest ski resorts.  Roughly a half hour drive to Copper Mountain - the favorite of Denver skiers, Breckenridge - most popular ski resort in North America, Vail - most variety of any mountain according the current Ski magazine, Beaver Creek - a very high end resort and very beautiful, home of the 'Birds of Prey' steepest downhill on the world cup circuit, all high speed lifts and reasonable season passes, Turquoise Lake - google it for photos(!), Independence Pass, the seasonal shortcut to Aspen, two tallest peaks in Colorado, can hike trails to the peaks with no special gear, rafting the headwaters of 3 rivers including the nation's most popular whitewater river,snowmobile trails, world class golf at the ski resort towns, 10th Mountain manages a system of 29 backcountry huts in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, connected by 350 miles of suggested routes. (see huts.org).  Soft powder and warm sunshine - 300 days of sunshine. I came for the skiing, but discovered the summers.   Campgrounds everywhere.  Rainbow trout on every cast. Sailing on Lake Dillon.  90 minutes to a major metro and get frisked at DIA if you need that.

10,200 feet at the house, highest town in north America.  Great for conditioning, home of the 100 mile mountain bike race.  Or ride your bike to Steamboat if you have the energy.  The golf ball travels farther and curves less.  You tend to find zero obesity at the high elevations.

3 out of 4 roads out cross the continental divide.  Unbelievable views.  http://www.topoftherockiesbyway.org/  National forest in every direction.  Zero smog unless pine trees are emitting something.

Property taxes 1/20th of my taxes at home for same size, roughly same condition house.

Bored to death? JDN, you're a skier.  Just stay with us 1 day on the mountain for just 7 short hours, 9-4. Wear a helmet and carry a sandwich because we aren't stopping.  At the end I'll ask if you were bored.  :-)  
« Last Edit: October 26, 2010, 05:31:46 AM by DougMacG »

JDN

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Re: california
« Reply #55 on: October 26, 2010, 07:39:59 AM »
Sounds truly beautiful!!!

And I like the outdoors, skiing, biking, hiking, sailing, golf, etc.

Even I said, the mountain west is "Great place for a second home."
It sounds like a marvelous vacation recreation spot.
A wonderful place to visit...

But I assume you haven't moved there full time yet?  Still live in
Minneapolis?  Now that's a great city.  A great place to call home
albeit a bit cold. (I've lost my WI blood).


G M

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Know what California needs? More debt
« Reply #56 on: November 01, 2010, 12:10:01 PM »
http://www.businessinsider.com/calstrs-pension-vote-2010-11

Bombshell Pension Vote Is About To Sink California Hundreds Of Millions Deeper Into The Red


ccp

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Re: california
« Reply #57 on: November 01, 2010, 12:34:25 PM »
Wouldn't the riches of Buffett and Gates alone take care of California'a entire budget deficit.  Why don't we just take all their money and pay it down?

Isn't that what the progressives want?  Make the rich pay.  So here you go.  Between Clinton and Gore we could probably get another quarter billion easy.

Crafty_Dog

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Re: california
« Reply #58 on: November 01, 2010, 02:39:15 PM »
GM:

I would read that as saying that the official numbers would be taking a baby step towards greater honesty/accuracy.

DougMacG

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Re: california
« Reply #59 on: November 03, 2010, 09:12:25 AM »
Comments written by friends of powerlineblog.com from California while awaiting the results.  Interesting that while some may have favored Prop 19 from a libertarian perspective, having it on the ballot likely brought out the people, otherwise non-political, who give you 6 more years of Boxer and a state govt of fiscal madness.
------------
    "I expect both Brown and Boxer to win [handily]. This is based on my experience of living here all my life. The population is radically different from what it was in the 1970s. The public employee unions are ultra-powerful, the blacks are solidly Democratic, and the millions of Hispanics are led by leftists, even though the average folks are more moderate. Then you have the Silicon Valley elitists, the Hollywood crowd, and, finally, the gays, many of whom are one-issue voters and rabid liberals. As an aside, when I dropped off my absentee ballot this morning, I realized that, judging from the appearance of the some of the people in line, the heavy turnout in my precinct was likely prompted by Proposition 19, marijuana legalization."
----------------
Same conclusion based on different reasoning:

    "After watching (too much) TV, and the overwhelming number of Boxer and Brown ads, [my non-political wife] is convinced that Fiorina and Whitman have just spouted cliches without substance and that they are exploiters of the working class. Fiorina and Whitman have allowed the ads to define them negatively, the Brown ads (painting himself as a born-again Tea Partier) and Boxer ads (painting Fiorina as a ruthless, self-serving protiteer). Neither Whitman nor Fiorina have connected emotionally with the open minded voters."

G M

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Re: california
« Reply #60 on: November 03, 2010, 09:20:38 AM »
NOT ONE PENNY of federal money to bail out California. They made their fiscal bed, they need to lie in it.

Crafty_Dog

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Re: california
« Reply #61 on: November 03, 2010, 09:43:05 AM »
Whitman didn't vote for much of her adult life, and her schpiel was pretty much identical to our current disastrous governor-- and delivered as robotically as he read his lines as an actor.  No substance there that I could discern, nor much ideological integrity-- just like our current governor.

Fiorina let Boxer paint her with the job-offshoring and the profiteering labels; very stupid.  Also she looked pathetic about 10 days before the election when she was repeatedly asked by a FOX interviewer to name ONE spending cut and could not do so.

Amongst the many of our stupidities yesterday was to reject the postponement of our unilateral global warming law.

ccp

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Re: california
« Reply #62 on: November 03, 2010, 09:56:05 AM »
Doug,
What is your take with California?  The state that gave us Reagan in the 70's?

Rush was saying Fiorina and Whitman lost because they are "RINOS".

He actually believes a stricter conservative would have won.

I really doubt that but than again we did have Reagan.  Though as the above points out this state is defferent than the 70's.

I really don't think the country is massively shifting to libertarianism, conservatism as much as it is the pocketbook issue.  Again I reiterate that 50% of the US doesn't pay taxes.  Record people on payouts courtesy of those who pay up taxes.  Endless immigrant hordes who while conservatives like to point out their family values, religiousness as examples of their "conservatism" I would be very wary expecting that to compete with the DEM strategy of tax the earning class and dole checks out to them. 

Who do you think all these maids, grass cutters, nail hammerers, housekeepers, apple pickers are going to vote for?

Rand Paul.   :?

The Republicans have to have a better agenda IMO.  They need to propose conservative answers to this countries problems AND have the polticial salesmanship to turn the tables on duhbamster.  Instead of sitting aournd waiting for him to call them obstructionist, do nothings, the party of no, the Republicans need to lay out an agenda and when he fails to act, point the finger at HIM.

Savage lays out a proposal for repubs in his book though I haven't read it.  He says the new "contract" or whatever you want to call it is lame. I think he may be right.

Like it or not I don't think the independents are becoming resoundingly conservative just for ideology.   

DougMacG

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Re: california
« Reply #63 on: November 03, 2010, 08:36:27 PM »
"Amongst the many of our stupidities yesterday was to reject the postponement of our unilateral global warming law."

Once again, more trust in government than in people.  People can choose more efficient cars.  Companies can choose to build more efficient factories.  Families can make older homes more energy efficient.  Anybody can buy a solar panel or a wind turbine on eBay any day of the year. None of these voluntary steps cost you more than living under oppressive government.  I don't even know the details of the law, but I can tell from what is described that the people of California put their trust in a big, failed government over the free will of the people to do the right thing.  Not exactly what the colonists fought for.

Crafty_Dog

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Re: california
« Reply #64 on: November 03, 2010, 09:20:02 PM »
Not quite sure I see it that way in this case.  In my analytical framework, pollution is an external diseconomy and as such is a violation of the natural laws of the free market, hence an area where government action is permissable.

The problem here is:

a) the science of the purported injury is quite dubious,
b) the proffered solution won't have any effect on the problem, and
c) it will destroy a lot of economic activity.

JDN

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Re: california
« Reply #65 on: November 03, 2010, 09:27:59 PM »
I don't know much about "global warming";  I don't think many CA voters do.
Hot one day, cold the next.  One "expert" says this, another says that.

But I do remember how the smog in CA 20 years ago would almost choke a horse until CA began
very strict air pollution laws.  Clean air (maybe not equal to rocky mountain states) is priceless.

I think that is why CA voted as they did.  Clean air is a big issue here.

And I respectfully disagree; individual free people do not always do the right thing.
But the will of the collective free people voted on this one.

Body-by-Guinness

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Re: california
« Reply #66 on: November 04, 2010, 05:32:59 AM »
Quote
But the will of the collective free people voted on this one.

And, in doing so, accelerated toward a budget precipice.

DougMacG

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Re: california
« Reply #67 on: November 04, 2010, 07:05:50 AM »
AGW is not smog.  Smog has a direct link to the tailpipe. You can see it, you can follow it, you can measure it.  Human caused global warming is closer to the establishment of religion than it is to smog.  Crafty, your economic externality point is exactly right if this were smog and the link was established. Since the link between this law and global temperature is not established, the wish to do something good or right in your mind should start with individual free will.  We are talking about carbon dioxide, what plants (and oceans) breathe and what animals exhale.  And we are talking about 1990s levels.  If the link was established, why wouldn't we go back to 1840s levels?  Economic curtailment is not an indirect effect of the law, it is what is being directly curtailed, by a thin majority, based on faith.

Will of the collective free people? Good grief. If 51% don't need more than a Prius, is it okay to mandate the Prius - by 'collective free will'? No, it would tyranny of the majority, not collective free will.  If 51% are Christian, is it ok to mandate Christianity? No. That would be establishment of religion; we wouldn't allow a 98% majority to do that. But why not? If a majority support it and believe it, why isn't that good enough?  Ask a fundamental Christian, they know what is best for you - just like a prop 23 voter.  Let's vote. If 51% live within 5 or 10 miles of work, is it okay to limit daily driving to 20 miles for all? No.

The law reeks of unequal protection. Will Californians be restricted from fossil fuel based air-travel, a.k.a. criminal activity that often crosses state lines?  Let's end out of state flights and flights to Asia, ban airlines from flying over California too.  What about from buying a products made in China while you close your factory in California - and 'decrease California emissions'?  End foreign trade, then check in again on unemployment levels.  And CO2 levels.

Calif. AB32: http://www.ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Text_of_California_Assembly_Bill_32_%282006%29

No honest scientist on earth can say AB 32 will change CO2 levels or global warming beyond any margin of measurement error.  It is all about faith in a link and a majority favor government placing limits on productive economic activity - and trips to visit Grandma, youth soccer tournaments, boy scout camps, etc.  I oppose it.

Closing down 90% of state and federal government operations in California would have a larger effect on emissions without tromping on the freedoms of your fellow citizens.  If that was what mattered.

G M

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Re: california
« Reply #68 on: November 04, 2010, 07:32:05 AM »
But the will of the collective free people voted on this one.


70% of the voters in OK in the last election voted for the sharia ban. Funny how your reverence for the will of the people is less than consistent. 

DougMacG

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Re: california
« Reply #69 on: November 04, 2010, 07:46:27 AM »
Trusting California voters is different than trusting Oklahoma voters.  Can't you see the difference.   :-)

G M

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Re: california
« Reply #70 on: November 04, 2010, 07:59:51 AM »
Of course.  :wink:


California unemployment rate: 12.4%

Oklahoma: 6.9%



JDN

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Re: california
« Reply #71 on: November 04, 2010, 08:05:50 AM »
I said,
"I don't know much about "global warming";  I don't think many CA voters do.
Hot one day, cold the next.  One "expert" says this, another says that."

and

"I think that is why CA voted as they did.  Clean air is a big issue here."

My point was I don't think the collective California voters understood the issue here; they only focused on
pollution and clean air.  And on that basis they voted....




But the will of the collective free people voted on this one.


70% of the voters in OK in the last election voted for the sharia ban. Funny how your reverence for the will of the people is less than consistent. 

The collective free people can vote how they want, but as been pointed out, the courts will give it careful scrutiny.

And I predict the Courts will toss it.
It's a "joke".






G M

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Re: california
« Reply #72 on: November 04, 2010, 08:09:45 AM »
And what legal standing would you argue that the muslim brotherhood's US front has to litigate this constitutional amendment?

Crafty_Dog

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Re: california
« Reply #73 on: November 04, 2010, 08:27:46 AM »
1) Lets keep the OK Sharia C'l amendment issue on the Sharia thread or the C'l issues thread on the SCH forum.

2) Doug:  My intended point was not that AGW is an externality, rather that the structure of the analysis needs to be based around that concept.  As I noted

"a) the science of the purported injury is quite dubious,
b) the proffered solution won't have any effect on the problem, "

I think we are on the same page here.

G M

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Let's see how uncivil this gets
« Reply #74 on: November 06, 2010, 07:21:37 PM »
http://city-journal.org/2010/eon1103fs.html

Indebted and Unrepentant
New York and California stand virtually alone against the rest of the country.

JDN

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Re: california
« Reply #75 on: November 06, 2010, 08:33:26 PM »
http://city-journal.org/2010/eon1103fs.html

Indebted and Unrepentant
New York and California stand virtually alone against the rest of the country.

Perhaps, but New York and California combined hold some good cards to play...

G M

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Re: california
« Reply #76 on: November 06, 2010, 08:35:30 PM »
What cards would those be?

Crafty_Dog

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Re: california
« Reply #77 on: November 07, 2010, 05:16:45 AM »
Tangentially I note that Prop 19, (for which I voted) garnered more votes than either Whitman or Fiorina.

The City-Journal article cited by GM notes the , , , changing demographics of CA.  The simple political fact is that the strong Republican support (especially Gov. Pete Wilson) several years ago of Prop 187 (for which I voted, which passed, and which was voided by the Federal Courts) has made the Latino vote a lock for the Democrats.

As we are currently discussing in "The Way Forward" thread, we of the American Creed persuasion need to find a way to connect with the natural aspirations of the hard-working entrepeneurial Latino American people.

G M

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Moonbeam powers: Activate!
« Reply #78 on: November 07, 2010, 09:07:01 AM »
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-19/california-pension-promises-may-top-taxes-by-fivefold-milken-study-finds.html

California Pension Promises May Top Taxes by Fivefold, Milken Study Finds
By Michael B. Marois - Oct 19, 2010 11:22 AM MT

   
California, which has the largest U.S. public-pension fund, faces liabilities that may exceed its annual state-tax revenue fivefold within two years unless lawmakers rein in benefits, according to a study.

To keep their promises to retirees, the California Public Employees Retirement System, the biggest plan, the California State Teachers Retirement System, the second-largest, and the University of California Retirement System may have combined liabilities of more than 5.5 times the state’s annual tax revenue by fiscal 2012, according to the study released today by the Milken Institute. Levies are forecast to reach about $89 billion in the year that began July 1.

Debts to government retirees including those in California, the biggest state by population, have grown into a national crisis as pension plans strive to meet obligations to more than 19 million active and retired firefighters, police officers, teachers and other state workers. Fewer than half the plans had assets to cover 80 percent of promised benefits in fiscal 2009, according to data compiled for last month’s Cities and Debt Briefing hosted by Bloomberg Link.

“California simply lacks the fiscal capacity to guarantee public-pension payments, particularly given the wave of state employees set to retire” in future years, said researchers Perry Wong and I-Ling Shen in the Milken report. “Structural shifts, coupled with the financial design and the accounting practices of state pension funds, all point to the fact that reform is imperative.”

G M

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ANY WONDER WHY CALIF. IS GOING BROKE?
« Reply #79 on: November 08, 2010, 09:25:35 AM »
http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/archives/15764-California-state-agencies.html

Tuesday, November 2. 2010
California state agencies

ANY WONDER WHY CALIF. IS GOING BROKE?

California Academic Performance Index (API) California Access for Infants and Mothers California Acupuncture Board California Administrative Office of the Courts California Adoptions Branch California African American Museum California Agricultural Export Program California Agricultural Labor Relations Board California Agricultural Statistics Service California Air Resources Board (CARB) California Allocation Board California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority California Animal Health and Food Safety Services California Anti-Terrorism Information Center California Apprenticeship Council California Arbitration Certification Program California Architects Board California Area VI Developmental Disabilities Board California Arts Council California Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus California Assembly Democratic Caucus California Assembly Republican Caucus California Athletic Commission * California Attorney General

Those are just the As. The rest are below the fold.

California Bay Conservation and Development Commission California Bay-Delta Authority California Bay-Delta Office California Biodiversity Council California Board for Geologists and Geophysicists California Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors California Board of Accountancy California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology California Board of Behavioral Sciences California Board of Chiropractic Examiners California Board of Equalization (BOE) California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection California Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind California Board of Occupational Therapy California Board of Optometry California Board of Pharmacy California Board of Podiatric Medicine California Board of Prison Terms California Board of Psychology California Board of Registered Nursing California Board of Trustees California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians California Braille and Talking Book Library California Building Standards Commission California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education California Bureau of Automotive Repair California Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair California Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation California Bureau of Naturopathic Medicine California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services California Bureau of State Audits California Business Agency California Business Investment Services (CalBIS) California Business Permit Information (CalGOLD) California Business Portal California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency California Cal Grants California CalJOBS California Cal-Learn Program California CalVet Home Loan Program California Career Resource Network California Cemetery and Funeral Bureau California Center for Analytical Chemistry California Center for Distributed Learning California Center for Teaching Careers (Teach California) California Chancellors Office California Charter Schools California Children and Families Commission California Children and Family Services Division California Citizens Compensation Commission California Civil Rights Bureau California Coastal Commission California Coastal Conservancy California Code of Regulations California Collaborative Projects with UC Davis California Commission for Jobs and Economic Growth California Commission on Aging California Commission on Health and Safety and Workers Compensation California Commission on Judicial Performance California Commission on State Mandates California Commission on Status of Women California Commission on Teacher Credentialing California Commission on the Status of Women California Committee on Dental Auxiliaries California Community Colleges Chancellors Office, Junior Colleges California Community Colleges Chancellors Office California Complaint Mediation Program California Conservation Corps California Constitution Revision Commission California Consumer Hotline California Consumer Information Center California Consumer Information California Consumer Services Division California Consumers and Families Agency California Contractors State License Board California Corrections Standards Authority California Council for the Humanities California Council on Criminal Justice California Council on Developmental Disabilities California Court Reporters Board California Courts of Appeal California Crime and Violence Prevention Center California Criminal Justice Statistics Center California Criminalist Institute Forensic Library California CSGnet Network Management California Cultural and Historical Endowment California Cultural Resources Division California Curriculum and Instructional Leadership Branch California Data Exchange Center California Data Management Division California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission California Delta Protection Commission California Democratic Caucus California Demographic Research Unit California Dental Auxiliaries California Department of Aging California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control California Department of Boating and Waterways (Cal Boating) California Department of Child Support Services (CDCSS) California Department of Community Services and Development California Department of Conservation California Department of Consumer Affairs California Department of Corporations California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation California Department of Developmental Services California Department of Education California Department of Fair Employment and Housing California Department of Finance California Department of Financial Institutions California Department of Fish and Game California Department of Food and Agriculture California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) California Department of General Services California Department of General Services, Office of State Publishing California Department of Health Care Services California Department of Housing and Community Development California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) California Department of Insurance California Department of Justice Firearms Division California Department of Justice Opinion Unit California Department of Justice, Consumer Information, Public Inquiry Unit California Department of Justice California Department of Managed Health Care California Department of Mental Health California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) California Department of Personnel Administration California Department of Pesticide Regulation California Department of Public Health California Department of Real Estate California Department of Rehabilitation California Department of Social Services Adoptions Branch California Department of Social Services California Department of Technology Services Training Center (DTSTC) California Department of Technology Services (DTS) California Department of Toxic Substances Control California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVets) California Department of Water Resources California Departmento de Vehiculos Motorizados California Digital Library California Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Certification Program California Division of Apprenticeship Standards California Division of Codes and Standards California Division of Communicable Disease Control California Division of Engineering California Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control California Division of Gambling Control California Division of Housing Policy Development California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement California Division of Labor Statistics and Research California Division of Land and Right of Way California Division of Land Resource Protection California Division of Law Enforcement General Library California Division of Measurement Standards California Division of Mines and Geology California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) California Division 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G M

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Re: ANY WONDER WHY CALIF. IS GOING BROKE?
« Reply #80 on: November 08, 2010, 09:26:30 AM »
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The Tao

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Re: california
« Reply #81 on: November 08, 2010, 11:58:41 AM »
And now I know why I pay about $2000.00 a month in taxes. Obviously, the larger portion is Federal, but even still, last year was the first year that I got nothing, save $2.00 back from state.

G M

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California: The Lindsay Lohan of States
« Reply #82 on: November 08, 2010, 03:05:33 PM »
Sacramento is headed for trouble again, and it shouldn't expect a bailout.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703506904575592612400443370.html

Crafty_Dog

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Prager! CA & the Titanic
« Reply #83 on: November 09, 2010, 03:44:26 PM »
How Do California and the Titanic Differ?

By Dennis Prager



OK, riddle fans, here's a toughie: What's the difference between California voters and the passengers on the Titanic?

The passengers on the Titanic didn't vote to hit the iceberg.

Most Americans understand that California is sinking. What is almost incredible is that it has voted to sink.

On Election Day, 2010 Californians voted Democrats into every statewide position (one is still undecided). This is the party that singlehandedly has brought one of the world's greatest economies to near ruin. There may well be historical parallels to what Californians did — but I cannot think of any.

A listener called my radio show two days after the elections to tell me that his business is booming — thanks to Californians. His occupation? He's a real estate agent in Phoenix, Ariz.

The middle class has begun to leave California. It is, of course, impossible for most members of such a large group to leave a state; few people leave their family, their friends, their job and their home except under the most dramatic circumstances. But this fact makes all the more noteworthy the exodus from California that has been taking place.

You have to wonder how many businesses and individuals would leave California if their friends and family could also leave, if they could find a comparable job elsewhere and if they could sell their homes without losing money. What you don't have to wonder about is who would stay under those conditions. The state of California would eventually be left largely with those groups who voted Democrat in this election: rich liberals (such as those who live in Nancy Pelosi's Marin County, in the bay area and in West Los Angeles); state and municipal workers (who vote Democrat in as direct a pay-for-vote scheme as a law-based society allows); those who rely on state and city governments for entitlements; and those Latinos who either fall into the last category or who unfortunately identify the Republican Party with anti-Latino sentiments because it opposes illegal immigration.

Those who believe in individual responsibility, the free market and personal liberty are a minority in California. We greet each other as Americans would greet each other meeting in a foreign country.

We watch as one of the greatest places in the world — with its extraordinary natural beauty, almost uniquely beautiful weather and agricultural abundance — wastes all of this as a result of having become a left-wing experiment. What is particularly saddening is to see a state whose success was achieved because it was a Mecca for the adventurous in spirit do everything possible to crush that spirit and drive away those who have it.

There is a silver lining here: clarity. Americans living elsewhere need not elect liberal Democrats to know what will happen if they do. They only need to look at California if they want to see what happens to a state governed by the left (and, for that matter, they can look at Texas to see what happens to a state's finances when governed by the right).

The left and its teachers unions have ruined public education in California. The left and its public service unions have saddled the state with $500 billion in unfunded pension liability. California's left-governed cities have set themselves up as "sanctuary cities" for those who have come into America illegally. And the left passes more and more rules governing the behavior of California citizens. Two examples: San Francisco just banned McDonald Happy Meals because they come with a toy and therefore entice children to eat fattening food; and the Democratic legislature has made it illegal for a California employer — even in a retail operation — to ask a male employee who comes to work wearing a dress to wear men's clothing while at work.

And to render the Titanic analogy even more accurate, Californians voted to retain a law that was described by George Will as one "that preposterously aims to cool the planet by requiring a 30 percent reduction of carbon emissions by 2020."

That law will ensure that California taxes energy use more than any other state. That, in turn, is guaranteed to increase unemployment and the cost of living in the state — one more reason businesses and productive individuals are leaving, but rarely moving, into California.

Environmentalist true believers have free reign in California. They have convinced a majority of the state's voters to believe the increasingly absurd notion that human carbon dioxide emission is heating up the planet to temperatures so high that humanity and the earth will suffer cataclysmic consequences.

To return to our Titanic metaphor, the great difference between that ill-fated ship's crew and California's crew (its voters and the California Democratic Party) is that the Titanic's crew did everything possible to avoid hitting the iceberg; California's crew did everything possible to hit it. Perhaps they believe global warming will melt it before they get there.


G M

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Budget analyst: California deficit reaches a staggering $25.4 billion
« Reply #84 on: November 10, 2010, 03:21:24 PM »
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2010/11/california-budget-.html

Budget analyst: California deficit reaches a staggering $25.4 billion
November 10, 2010 | 12:22 pm

California faces a far-larger budget shortfall than state officials were projecting only weeks ago. The deficit over the next year and half has soared to $25.4 billion, the state’s chief budget analyst said on Wednesday.

The startling figure means the state faces an even tougher budget challenge than it did leading up to the passage of the current spending plan, which was historically late, as lawmakers wrangled over how to close the gap for 100 days into the new fiscal year. The projected deficit is the equivalent of about 29% of this year’s general fund budget. It projects California continuing to struggle to raise enough revenues to fund basic services as the state experiences a "painfully slow economic recovery."

One main reason the deficit remains so large is that the spending plan signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and approved by legislators 33 days ago relied on billions in accounting gimmicks, rosy assumptions and unlikely handouts from Washington, according to the report from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office.

The new $25.4-billion shortfall will confront governor-elect Jerry Brown from the moment he is sworn into office in January.

Brown is vacationing this week and was unavailable for comment. The day after his election, the Democratic former and future governor acknowledged the budget gap was “very daunting,” even before the latest report.

“This will take all the know-how that I said I had and all the luck of the Irish as I go forward,” Brown said at the time.

You can read the LAO analysis here.

-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento

DougMacG

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California's Destructive Green Jobs Lobby - George Gilder, WSJ
« Reply #85 on: November 17, 2010, 11:07:33 AM »
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2010/11/16/california039s_destructive_green_jobs_lobby_245841.html

California's Destructive Green Jobs Lobby
Silicon Valley, once synonymous with productivity-enhancing innovation, is now looking to make money on feel-good government handouts.

By GEORGE GILDER

California officials acknowledged last Thursday that the state faces $20 billion deficits every year from now to 2016. At the same time, California's state Treasurer entered bond markets to sell some $14 billion in "revenue anticipation notes" over the next two weeks. Worst of all, economic sanity lost out in what may have been the most important election on Nov. 2—and, no, I'm not talking about the gubernatorial or senate races.

This was the California referendum to repeal Assembly Bill 32, the so-called Global Warming Solutions Act, which ratchets the state's economy back to 1990 levels of greenhouse gases by 2020. That's a 30% drop followed by a mandated 80% overall drop by 2050. Together with a $500 billion public-pension overhang, the new energy cap dooms the state to bankruptcy.

Conservative pundits have lavished mock pity on the state. But as America's chief fount of technology, California cannot go down the drain without dragging the rest of the country with it.

The irony is that a century-long trend of advance in conventional "non-renewable" energy—from wood to oil to natural gas and nuclear—has already wrought a roughly 60% drop in carbon emissions per watt. Thus the long-term California targets might well be achieved globally in the normal course of technological advance. The obvious next step is aggressive exploitation of the trillions of cubic feet of low-carbon natural gas discovered over the last two years, essentially ending the U.S. energy crisis.

The massive vote against repeal of the California law—62% to 38%—supports an economy-crushing drive to suppress CO2 emissions from natural gas and everything else. In a parody of supply-side economics, advocates of AB 32 envisage the substitution of alternative energy sources that create new revenue sources, new jobs and industries. Their economic model sees new wealth emerge from jobs dismantling the existing energy economy and replacing it with a medieval system of windmills and solar collectors. By this logic we could all get rich by razing the existing housing plant and replacing it with new-fangled tents.

All the so-called "renewables" programs waste and desecrate the precious resource of arable land that feeds the world. Every dollar of new wages for green workers will result in several dollars of reduced pay and employment for the state's and the nation's other workers—and reduced revenues for the government.

Most destructive of all is the bill's stultifying effect on America's and California's most important asset: the venture capital industry, which accounts for the nation's technological leadership, military power, and roughly a fifth of GDP.

Led by Al Gore's investment affiliate, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers, the campaign to save AB 32 raised $31 million—more than three times the $10 million that the oil companies raised for repeal. Pouring in millions were such promethean venturers as John Doerr and Vinod Khosla of Kleiner Perkins, Eric Schmidt and Sergei Brin of Google, and the legendary Gordon Moore and Andrew Grove of Intel. The campaign even managed to shake down a contribution from the state's public utility, Pacific Gas and Electric, and gained the backing of the GOP's eBay billionaire gubernatorial candidate, Meg Whitman.

What is wrong with California's plutocratic geniuses? They are simply out of their depth in a field they do not understand. Solar panels are not digital. They may be made of silicon but they benefit from no magic of miniaturization like the Moore's Law multiplication of transistors on microchips. There is no reasonable way to change the wavelengths of sunlight to fit in drastically smaller photo receptors. Biofuels are even less promising. Even if all Americans stopped eating (saving about 100 thermal watts per capita on average) and devoted all of our current farmland to biofuels, the output could not fill much more than 2% of our energy needs.

In the past, Kleiner Perkins funded scores of vital ventures, from Apple and Applied Materials to Amazon and Google. But now Kleiner is moving on to such government- dependent firms as Miasole, Amyris Biofuels, Segway and Upwind Solutions. Many have ingenious technology and employ thousands of brilliant engineers, but they are mostly wasted on pork catchers.

Other venturers plunged into solar panel manufacturer Solyndra, which received some $500 million in federal subsidies and a campaign visit from Barack Obama before laying off 17% of its work force and giving up on a new factory that was supposed to create 1,000 green jobs.

Many of these green companies, behaving like the public-service unions they resemble, diverted some of their government subsidies into the AB 32 campaign for more subsidies. Virtually every new venture investment proposal harbors a "green" angle that turns it from a potential economic asset into a government dependent.

A partial solution is a suit by four attorneys general outside of California. They argue that the California law violates the Constitution's interstate commerce clause because of the limits it places on electricity generated by out-of-state, coal-fired power plants. But ultimately the new Congress must act. The Center for American Progress has found that 50 out of 100 or so new Republican congressmen elected earlier this month are "climate-change skeptics." But Republican leaders such as incoming Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor show dangerous gullibility in the face of environmentalist claims.

Co-sponsoring a disgraceful bill introduced in September to force utilities to expand their use of "renewable energy" to 15% by 2021 are Republican Sens. Sam Brownback and Susan Collins. Republican politicians are apparently lower in climate skepticism than readers of Scientific American, which recently discovered to its horror that some 80% of its subscribers, mostly American scientists, reject man-made global warming catastrophe fears.

Republicans may delude themselves that the U.S. can undertake a costly, inefficient and disruptive transformation of the energy economy, estimated by the International Energy Agency to cost some $45 trillion over 40 years, while meeting our global military challenges and huge debt overhang. But the green campaign wastes scarce and precious technological and entrepreneurial resources indispensable to the nation's future. Now it is debauching America's most precious venture assets. It must be defeated, not appeased.

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Re: california
« Reply #86 on: November 18, 2010, 06:53:41 AM »
There is something wrong with this logic....

Californians object to increasing taxes in order to pare the state's massive budget deficit, and instead favor closing the breach through spending cuts. But they oppose cuts—and even prefer more spending—on programs that make up 85% of the state's general fund obligations, a new Los Angeles Times/USC Poll has found.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-poll-20101118,0,1496673.story

Crafty_Dog

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Re: california
« Reply #87 on: November 18, 2010, 08:13:02 AM »
JDN:  Exactly.

Rarick:  Isn't Vegas even more fornicated than we are?  Isn't gambling the epitome of discretionary spending?

The Tao

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Re: california
« Reply #88 on: November 18, 2010, 05:03:05 PM »
Guro Crafty, I couldn't agree with your statement that "We greet each others as Americans greet each other in a foreign country." That is exactly how I feel living in this state.

Crafty_Dog

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And so it goes , , ,
« Reply #89 on: November 19, 2010, 08:41:46 AM »


Around the Nation: Latinos Now Majority in CA Schools
Thanks to an immigration influx and a higher Latino birth rate, the state of California announced last week that Latinos are now an absolute majority among California public school students. That news was greeted by advice for Latino parents by UC-Berkeley professor of education and public policy Bruce Fuller: Their influence will only grow as they realize the schools they attend are underfunded. Leave it to a UC-Berkeley professor to forget, conveniently, that California schools just received an extra infusion of $1.2 billion from the federal government prior to the start of the school year. It's also worth pointing out that only around 60 percent of those Latino parents are currently able to vote, since many are here illegally with their children now attending public schools.

Add in the fact that illegal immigrant children are able to attend California's public university system for just the cost of in-state tuition, and it's small wonder that outgoing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who promised to terminate the $15 billion deficit he was handed in 2004, is leaving behind a budget hole that's grown to more than $25 billion. Of course, it could also have something to do with this list of California agencies sucking the state dry.

Given the state's fiscal disaster and high unemployment, perhaps the main reason Latinos are now the majority in the state's schools is that 5,000 legal American citizens are fleeing the state each week. It's a trend that shows few signs of abating.


ccp

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Economist: governator a success, sort of
« Reply #90 on: November 19, 2010, 09:59:07 AM »
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Rage against the machine
A case of right man, right ideas, wrong time, wrong voters?
Oct 7th 2010 | sacramento

Did they deserve him?NOWADAYS fewer than one in three Californians think their governor is doing a good job. That puts Arnold Schwarzenegger almost in the same territory as Gray Davis, who was recalled in 2003. During debates his fellow Republican, Meg Whitman, has politely stressed how different she would be, while Jerry Brown argues that bringing in well-meaning amateur politicians, even rich and famous ones, does not work. The left moans that the Governator cut spending, the right that he did not cut taxes enough.

If Mr Schwarzenegger is depressed, he does not show it. Few politicians anywhere exude optimism more physically. Sure, Californian politics is impossible (“There is maze you have to go through, then a minefield, then an obstacle course: you become an athlete”) but from behind his cigar he reels off a set of achievements, from reforming state workers’ compensation to making schools better and building levees. He has managed to keep spending rises below inflation. His main regret is not building more things: he waxes lyrical about visiting South Korea and counting the cranes on the skyline.

So there is a record to defend. The problem has to do with unmet expectations, probably including his own. Back when Mr Schwarzenegger bulldozed his way to the governorship alongside Mr Davis’s recall, the hope was that this cyborg ex machina could change the world’s least governable big economy. It was not just that his celebrity guaranteed him an audience; his brand of hedonistic Republicanism was close to the state’s moderate centre, unlike the partisan, gerrymandered legislature.

Related topics
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Politics
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Since then, as even Mr Schwarzenegger’s friends admit, the system won too often. But was it his fault? California’s governorship is a pretty weak one: the state’s government is a mess of competing districts, counties and cities, with much of the budget mandated by ballot initiatives. The Governator relied on using that referendum system to bypass the legislature. But those centrist voters soon let him down: a series of reforms were easily defeated by the big public-sector unions in 2005. The governor was soon in the sort of slow slugfest his foes excelled at. One Democrat calls him “a Hollywood negotiator”, better at dividing up the spoils than settling down for lengthy line-by-line brawls.

Against this, Mr Schwarzenegger still managed to win re-election in 2006, and he has doggedly clung to the centre. On prisons, for instance, he has defied right-wingers by repeatedly making the case that California locks up too many people. He has kept going on public-sector pensions and this month won a victory of sorts. There is talk of him setting up an institution to campaign for reform. “He doesn’t give things up,” observes one ally.

In retrospect, this supremely lucky man was unlucky in his timing—on two scores. First, his successor will have the advantage of several political reforms he did push through—open primaries and an end to gerrymandering in the state legislature—that should make politics in the near future less loopily partisan. Second, the mood has changed. Seven years ago Californians were furious enough to elect him but not to follow through. Now more of them may realise what a mess their state is in.


DougMacG

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California - Ahnold
« Reply #91 on: November 19, 2010, 10:50:33 AM »
He is a failure, but no one could be a success with that legislature and those voters.  From a couple of posts back (Crafty/Dennis Prager):

What's the difference between California voters and the passengers on the Titanic?

The passengers on the Titanic didn't vote to hit the iceberg.

Our state MN is a similar Blue State, similar voters in terms of well meaning white elites, white blue collar and heavy Dem inner city vote, similar problems on a smaller scale, but a different border.  Just elected a complete loser from the left to be Governor (still in recount).  What no one noticed or expected with all the governor race polling was that both chambers of the legislature swung from 60% Dem to similar margin to the R.  Now we will have a reverse of the divided government we were getting used to.  Nothing can get solved, but we can slow the rate of new damage done.

Our voters partially get it that you can't border on states that are advertising for our businesses and have no income tax and keep going up and up and up with penalties on production.  But there is no momentum to reduce a huge state government burden either.

Calif voters had the marijuana crowd, the open borders crowd and I assume the gay marriage crowd out in force up against an unfocused Republican message.  A note to the libertarians among us.  You may not like your political partnership with the conservatives very well, but when you partner with the liberals to try to get things done on so-called social issues, the results on everything else (big government) are not something to crow about.

ccp

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Re: california
« Reply #92 on: November 19, 2010, 11:44:08 AM »
"The passengers on the Titanic didn't vote to hit the iceberg."

good analogy.

NJ has a lot of the liberal stuff of California, and the union stuff.  Gov Christie has been able to get past it.  I wonder if he would have had a chance in Kalifornia.
Except for her money Whitman was a weak candidate.  I can't even say she was a good CEO as much as she had a winning company with a winning idea.

I am definitely a Republican not a Libertarian.  I could be a strict conservative but I just don't think it possible in this country of entitlements.  I hope I am wrong.

We are fighting a cancer.   

G M

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California Nightmare
« Reply #93 on: November 27, 2010, 05:52:10 PM »

G M

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Great news: California to adopt cap-and-trade
« Reply #94 on: December 16, 2010, 04:38:51 PM »
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/12/16/great-news-california-to-adopt-cap-and-trade/comment-page-1/#comments

Great news: California to adopt cap-and-trade

posted at 3:36 pm on December 16, 2010 by Ed Morrissey


California’s unemployment rate has soared to 12.4%, third highest in the nation.  For the sixth straight year, it has a net loss of population to other states as employers look to escape the onerous regulatory regimes and high tax rates in the nation’s most populous state.  What better time to make energy more expensive and give government even more command control of the economy? 

**Invest in U-Haul!**

Crafty_Dog

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VDH: Two Californias
« Reply #95 on: December 16, 2010, 06:30:39 PM »

G M

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Re: california
« Reply #96 on: December 16, 2010, 06:46:27 PM »
So, rather than bailing California out, can we constitutionally eject it from the US?

G M

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A California Bankruptcy, Dictatorship, and the Guarantee Clause
« Reply #97 on: December 17, 2010, 11:50:24 AM »
http://www.professorbainbridge.com/professorbainbridgecom/2010/12/a-california-bankruptcy-dictatorship-and-the-guarantee-clause.html

A California Bankruptcy, Dictatorship, and the Guarantee Clause

Incoming California Governor Jerry Brown has gotten a look at the state budget and concluded that "We've been living in fantasy land. It is much worse than I thought. I'm shocked."

It got me thinking about what would happen if California went bankrupt.

In the absence of a statute, presumably the federal government would conduct some sort of bailout combined with a restructuring. If so, however, who would run the state during the proceeding?

In a commercial bankruptcy, there are two possible approaches. First, there is the bankruptcy trustee. S/he is appointed to liquidate the business and may be empowered to operate the business for a limited period of time. Second, there is the debtor in possession. In the latter case, the debtor remains in charge of the business while the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding goes forward. For reasons that should be obvious, but which I'll come to in a minute, this would be my least preferred analogy for how to run a state bankruptcy.

In a municipal bankruptcy under Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code, neither the federal government nor the bankruptcy court can order the appointment of a trustee to take over running the municipality. A state, however, can insist upon the appointment of a receiver or trustee as a condition of authorizing the municipality to file for bankruptcy. Indeed, when Orange County went belly up, California consented to the filing of a Chapter 9 proceeding only on condition that a trustee be appointed with all the powers of the Board of Supervisors if the county failed to meet certain conditions.

JDN

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Re: california
« Reply #98 on: January 06, 2011, 07:07:38 AM »
California isn't broken
Critics have suggested the state will default on its debt payments, that it is addicted to spending and that it has a hostile business climate. Not true.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-lockyer-california-outlook-20101220,0,3727492.story

DougMacG

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Re: california
« Reply #99 on: January 06, 2011, 10:39:07 AM »
**California isn't broken...the state will [not default on its debt payments,is [not] addicted to spending and [does not have] a hostile business climate**

That is good news for everyone.  How did they fix it or was it all just a big misunderstanding? lol.

It seems that these expert statisticians cherry pick categories (venture capital funding, not employment, for example) and time frames (GDP rise from 1999 to 2009, not the last 2 years) to make a nice writing and present all the positive data as a percent or comparison to something else.

"...the state's unemployment rate is above the national average, but that is largely due to a bleak time for the construction industry"

Above average? That's it?? It is at 12% of the labor force!  Construction down is unique to California? Unemployment is 6.4% in Minnesota with construction stopped, 2.8% in North Dakota where energy production is legal.  I can think of other, large factors causing 'above average' unemployment in Calif.  Comparing to other states understates the problem when the nation is sick and your fever is among the worst.

Funny what words carefully chosen can do, it is also true that the Great Depression was a period of above average unemployment.