The Golden State

Lived there when I was a child and then a year as an adult.  pl

http://turcopolier.typepad.com/the_athenaeum/2015/05/httpwwwnytimescom20150503opinionsundaythe-end-of-californiahtml_r0.html

Comments

[William R. Cumming]

Movie to be released on May 29th with some interesting computer graphics titled SA ANDREAS!

[oofda]

Absolutely agree with the need for a massive desalinization system built with nuclear power. The Californians (and I lived there for 13 years) will have to decide between nuclear power- and water.

[Swami Bhut Jolokia]

Don't misunderestimate (thank you, GWB) the resilience of Californians. Solutions will be found!

[William R. Cumming]

IMO the choice is between nuclear power and earthquakes.

[Nancy K]

I agree with you. May be a good time to invest in desalination companies. I believe an Israeli company is building a plant or possibly already built a plant in San Diego

[Tyler]

SBJ,

Eventually you run out of middle class people to tax.

[Swami Bhut Jolokia]

Not to worry, Tyler. The so-called 'middle class' who complain about taxes rarely leave, and when they do they are welcome to do so. To replace then we have a great supply of immigrants who bring vitality and creativity to the State. Everything from labor in the fields, to engineers in Silicon Valley, to medical researchers in biotech and pharma. Good thing Prop 187 was found to be unconstitutional!

[Nancy K]

I think people from all over the country and world have historically and are presently immigrating to CA because of the weather, the open mindedness and sheer beauty in parts of it. This unfortunately has led to CA being overcrowded and expensive. My husband and I left 3 years ago, retiring to NC, where I really like living, however my heart will always be in CA, and I always hope only the best for it.

[Tyler]

SBJ,

You've got a good supply of whatever it is you're smoking over there. Your immigrants are H1-B code monkeys willing to work for 30K a year and live 12 to a 1000 sq ft house OR illiterates from south of the border. Glad to see your anti-white animus towards the country that took you in on display yet again.

At least Silicon Valley and Marin County will live well and apparently toke up well.

[Tyler]

SBJ,

Also why am I not surprised an immigrant from the subcontinent not only spits at the country that took him in but thinks rule via unelected mandarins is a "good thing".

Like your fellow traveler GCP would absolutely love to see the racial breakdown of your domicile.

[Will Reks]

Do you really believe that crap? There are liberal states without an income tax. There are conservative states without an income tax who simply nickel and dime taxpayers in other ways.

California was in constant fiscal crisis just a few years ago and has stabilized under one-party rule recently. They have serious long-term challenges but if you follow California politics at all, rather than rely on generalizations about progressive government, you'd know that Jerry Brown is far from a tax-and-spend liberal. The guy was pushing a flat tax when he ran for President.

[Tyler]

Will,

Sharing some of SBJ's stash I see?

Balanced budgets are not accounting gimmicks, which is actual crap that you seem to believe. Outside of Marin County, SV and a few other ultra rich zip codes (SD, Sac, Beverly Hills, etc) California is becoming harder to harder to make a living in while Governor Moonbeam chases the unicorn of high speed rail.

Guy was running for President back in what, the 70s? 80s? The Left then and the Left now are not the same thing.

Argument by assertion ("a flat tax five decades ago!") is not some sort of trump card. Please explain by what metrics conservative states "nickel and dime" people, TIA. I'm all ears to hear this inane metric.

[different clue]

Many years ago I was for a week a tourist on a tourist ship taking a tourist cruise in the Bahamas and nearby parts of the Caribbean. One day, much of the day was steaming between destinations. It was gray and steadily rainy for hours and miles. All that fresh water falling right back into the ocean it had been solar-distilled from to begin with.

A rough idea occurred to me. If only there were some way to invent super tough floating "lily pads" a quarter or half mile wide or some other optimum width for normal ocean waves-and-weather survival. If only they had some kind of lip around the outer perimeter high enough to keep out any salt wash or spray from those normal ocean waves-and-weather. Any rain falling on them could be run into tanks made part of the lily-pad design, and stored in those tanks for periodic pickup by huge water-tanker ships for transport and sale to regions which wanted water and were prepared to pay for it. The Bahamas alone must have a hundred thousand square miles of ocean-surface territorial waters. How much solar-distilled sky-water falling back down as rain could thousands upon thousands of such lily-pad rain-collectors gather and store, and how many hundreds of water super-tankers would be needed to move that water to wherever?

[Jack]

Will
Will

One reason for the fiscal stabilization is the huge amount of receipts from capital gains over the past 3 years. This is not sustainable unless the stock market keeps levitating forever.

[Jack]

Will

One reason for the fiscal stabilization is the huge amount of receipts from capital gains over the past 3 years. This is not sustainable unless the stock market keeps levitating forever.

You are correct that Jerry Brown does not fit the stereotype of a tax & spend liberal. However he is also prone to boondoggles like the high speed rail project that is currently estimated at $50 billion significantly higher than when proposed. This money could definitely fund desalination projects instead. The fiscal issue that California will face in the next two decades are consequence of pension assumptions of their government retirement funds. The biggest issue for California is however the cultural divide between the coastal urban population and the rural population living further east. Right now the coastals dominate due to their numbers.

[Will Reks]

Brown ran for President in 1992. Conservative (and liberal) states are big into nickel and diming by way of raising fees on anything they can. Drivers licenses, hunting licenses, hotel rooms, cell phone bills, etc. Not sure why this is news to you. It has the same effect of raising revenue as income tax policy does but spares hurting the feelings of the wealthy.

High speed rail has no current impact on fiscal policy in California. It's just a talking point you throw out there because you happened to read about it somewhere.

[Will Reks]

Jack,

I'm sure that's a factor with the economy improving. I credit ending of gridlock as well which led to the legislature getting some stuff done. I don't care what the specific policy looks like whether it's raising of taxes or cutting spending or both.

[optimax]

WR

Washington has no income tax.

Oregon has no sales tax.

The Portland Costco, just across the river from Washington, is their busiest store in the US.

[Tyler]

Will Reks,

How does a multi billion dollar boondoggle in a state relying on accounting gimmicks to claim a "balance budget" not effect fiscal policy? Ahaha this guy talking about "read about it somewhere" when he's quoting HuffPaint post by line and verse.

I pay $12 for a license in AZ. I'm not quite being nickel and dimed here. Maybe you'd like to look at where the places with the most fiscal inequality are? I'll give you a hint: C-------a is one of them. Fill in the blanks and look it up.

LMBO off at you still arguing by assertion. Keep it up.

[Will Reks]

Right, my original comment was just about how lazy conservatives can be in their analysis of progressive government. As if accounting gimmicks haven't always been used in every state.

California has some hard choices to make. I think high speed rail may well end up being a boondoggle but its a distraction when using it to comment on current fiscal conditions. It has not been built yet so this $50 billion is simply a projection and it will likely cost much more than that.

CA absolutely has to fix the pension mess. I think that's a bigger issue than the cultural divide. The coastals will never agree to dividing the state and the rurals will just have to suck it up.

[Tyler]

Will,

"rurals will just have to suck it up. "

And glad to see the egalitarian mask has dropped. Yeah! Who are those stupid rurals to dictate terms to San Fran and Marin County!

[Jack]

Will

The high speed rail boondoggle is spending taxpayers money right now. Construction Package 1 has been awarded. This is for a 29 mile section between Madera and Fresno county. I am willing to bet that if its ever completed with some rail cars running, it will be a white elephant requiring ever more infusions of taxpayer funds with ridership pathetically low.

[Will Reks]

You're too emotional. It's the reality that they don't have enough political power. I bet the Hispanics and the hippies in Bisbee and Tuscon are real happy about Arizona government. Weak stuff, Tyler.

[Will Reks]

Jack,

Ah, I didn't know they had broken ground already. I read that tickets will be pretty expensive. The yuppies and business class types will ride it but I agree that ridership levels may be a problem.

I lived there for about 2.5 years. There's just too many people and they'll be spending just as much if not more on highways. Highways certainly don't pay for themselves and I don't expect that from high speed rail.

[HankP]

Col. Lang -

I don't think desalinization is the answer yet, the economics of it just don't work out. I think a better solution (no pun intended) is for a west coast pipeline from BC to Mexico. Canada gets to sell fresh water (of which they have an enormous supply), and the US and Mexico get to allocate water more efficiently. But it will likely never happen, the US is no longer interested in large scale public works projects.