Liberal Paradise

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[_Brackite]

When I first read the title of this Thread, I thought that this would be another Thread about California. California is indeed a Liberal Paradise now.

[_schreech]

Something tells me that you guys live in sh$$%y places...sorry that your lives suck. The rest of us are happy to deal with the negatives since we get:





































I can see why simpleton, insecure, "conservative" homebodies would disparage California - its the only way they can justify their sad, paranoid, shut in lives while some of us actually live in and take advantage of a place that millions of people head to for vacation...There have been a number of times I have woken up, surfed, headed out for a mountain bike ride and then grabbed the family and headed into the mountains to ski for the evening...Feel free to visit anytime as I understand how sucky other places can be as I have lived all over the country....

eta...you can actually see my house in one of those :)

[_Brackite]

Is that nice view from Santiago Peak?

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[_krose]

And people think Ben Stein is smart? Wow.

But that is worse than just dumb. Literally NONE of it is true.

[_Quasimodo]

And people think Ben Stein is smart? Wow.

But that is worse than just dumb. Literally NONE of it is true.

Truth is something that conservatives find an annoyance. It gets in the way of making their points. It's always better to make something up than have to deal with some pesky realities.

[_krose]

Don't know if California is a liberal paradise. Yes, it's mostly liberal now, but many of the problems there are caused by conservative anti-tax measures that linger like a bad hangover.

There are certainly many places in the state that I think border on paradise, and where I would love to live.




By the way, has that golfer moved away yet, as he threatened?

[_Quasimodo]

Don't know if California is a liberal paradise. Yes, it's mostly liberal now, but many of the problems there are caused by conservative anti-tax measures that linger like a bad hangover.

There are certainly many places in the state that I think border on paradise, and where I would love to live.

California is a patchwork of liberal and conservative. It all depends on where you live. I live on the north end of Orange County. Around here it's pretty liberal. Other parts of Orange County are very conservative, but like you said, that is changing.

I live very close to the coast, so the climate is almost perfect. I do not have air conditioning in this house because it's almost never needed (I do have a window air conditioner in the bedroom for those very few nights when it is a little warm).

Right now it is one of the warmer days we have had this year. The high was 78. The really great thing about So. Cal. is that if you are tired of the climate and terrain, you can drive for a short while and be in a completely different environment.

By the way, has that golfer moved away yet, as he threatened?

My apologies, krose. I don't understand the reference. I'm chalking that up to my own ignorance.

Unfortunately, it seems that Romney is still planning to stay in La Jolla.

[_Brackite]

Don't know if California is a liberal paradise. Yes, it's mostly liberal now, but many of the problems there are caused by conservative anti-tax measures that linger like a bad hangover.

There are certainly many places in the state that I think border on paradise, and where I would love to live.

The Problems of Fiscal Liberalism in California:

Today was a bad day. After meeting with my tax accountant, I am now cutting a very large check to the State of California, all of which resulted from Proposition 30 and the “retroactive tax” that was levied on my 2012 income.

This despite the fact that I already paid my 2012 taxes back in September.

While the law stipulates that I must surrender this money, I refuse to acknowledge this as a tax at all. This is not a tax. This is an asset seizure plain and simple. The term “retroactive tax” is a despicable euphemism. It is no different than when Hugo Chavez used the benign-sounding “nationalize” to describe his seizure of private property in Venezuela.

Now before I go any further, let me tell you what I am not.

I am not a Tea Party member. I am not even a Republican. Twice I have voted for Barack Obama, and I was supportive of his tax compromise earlier this year. I am not a person who opposes paying taxes, even higher ones. I am a very reasonable person who respects the great opportunity that America has given to me.

But there is a very clear and unambiguous line between taxes — regardless of how high they are — and asset seizures. The State of California has taken money from me. Money that I already earned and paid taxes on, and I will not tolerate this act of theft.

So what am I doing about it, other than speaking up?

Well, I am moving my new company — which is now closing a round of venture funding from world-class investors — to the East Coast. Because my last company created almost 200 jobs, most of which were in San Francisco, this is not good news for the State of California.

As I write this, I am hiring people on the East Coast who might otherwise have been hired in California. Some have already been hired. My California employees will be relocating to New York by early next year.

I will also be leaving California next year and de-establishing residency to be with my new company. No more 13.3 percent of my income for you, California. How does 0 percent sound? That sounds good to me.

viewtopic.php?p=714175#p714175

The Atlantic recently published a quintessential “puff piece” about Governor Jerry Brown that talks in depth about the man and offers a primer about the state itself. Because it is a long article, I will summarize it here:

First, the state of California is unwieldy due to several deeply-ingrained political peculiarities, such as (a) direct democracy, (b) a weak legislature, and (c) a widespread defeatist sense that the state is ungovernable.

Second, the state suffers two fiscal issues which are (a) limits on property tax and (b) extreme public sector union expenses. The author more or less ignores these problems in favor of discussing the issues enumerated above.

Third, the Governor is such a seasoned and self-cultivated statesman, that he has used pragmatism and deep understanding of the state’s politics to delicately navigate the situation — ultimately culminating in a positive annual budget.

viewtopic.php?p=714201#p714201

Back in 2005, some 1,841 retirees pulled down more than $100,000 a year in pension checks from the California Public Employees Retirement System.

By 2009, this so-called "$100K club" had more than tripled, to 6,133 members.

And by the end of 2012, membership more than doubled yet again, to 14,763, according to data from CalPERS.

That's up 700 percent in less than a decade. The rate of inflation over the same period was 38 percent.

"Unbelievable!" said Marcia Fritz, a certified public accountant and head of the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, which champions pension reform (and wrested that first database of retirees from CalPERS back in 2005).

The exponential growth of the $100K club over the last decade is largely a function of higher salaries and more generous benefit formulas for executive managers, CalPERS said, and the club will continue to expand for some time.

Consider: In 1999 – the year before more generous retirement formulas started snowballing statewide – there were 16,071 retirements, and the average benefit was $20,532 per year, according to CalPERS figures.

In 2012, there were nearly twice as many retirements – 33,330 – and the average annual benefit had almost doubled, to $36,468.

CalPERS doesn't think that the large increase in the number of retirements has much to do with more generous formulas – it's a function of the baby boom generation hitting retirement age, and the natural growth of the work force, said spokeswoman Amy Norris. Average retirement age is 60, and has held steady for years.

The large increase in the average annual benefit? That is clearly a function of those more generous formulas.

http://www.ocregister.com/taxdollars/ci ... -club.html



The Democratic Party has controlled both the State Assembly and the State Senate in California since 1996.