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Did Democrats Ruin California?

Did Democrats Ruin California?

  • Total voters
    70
  • Poll closed .
truthatallcost said:
Circa what decade?
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Prop 13 was 1978, at least from that date and prob a few year earlier to about 2012 was a steady decline in the quality of governance in the state, which all participated in, there are almost no heros in this story.

As of today government sucks big time, but it is off the floor a tad.
 
Newp. CA's doing just fine. Not ruined in the least. Life here is pretty damned good. And we don't prosecute many serious crimes? Nonsense. We do that every day.

Anyone who doesn't like it is free to leave.

Isn't freedom great?
 
reinoe said:
New York City is, and always will be a disgusting and filthy cesspool. So is most of the state of California. You should stop listening to the Politico.
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As a native Californian who came to know NYC in his late 20s due to business, I happy to inform you it's not like that at all.

It's a grand, diverse and wonderful city. The food? Just god DAMN is it good. Not up to LA standards, but it's a fine 2nd place.

I can see why you'd not only hate it there, you'd be in constant fear the entire time.

Have you tried, say, Topeka? It may be more to your liking.
 
Tanngrisnir said:
Newp. CA's doing just fine. Not ruined in the least. Life here is pretty damned good. And we don't prosecute many serious crimes? Nonsense. We do that every day.

Anyone who doesn't like it is free to leave.

Isn't freedom great?
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Considering that the state is just a few years off of being a basket case you might hold off on the rah-rah bit.

Gridlock Grips California Government | PBS NewsHour
 
truthatallcost said:
I didn't start this thread to ask what went wrong in Kansas. We aren't in Kansas anymore Toto.

The OP is about what happened to the hope and opportunity that was California's reputation.

Let's hear it fellers, what's your opinion about California .
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So now you can moderate your own thread? Really?
 
Tanngrisnir said:
LOL! November 2011?

Not to worry, my friend. We've kept it together since then. Republicans took it in the shorts and the state's been just fine for the past 6 years or so.

Thanks, Jerry!
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Brown has been great, but he is one guy, and he will be gone soon. There is every reason to think that Cali -Brown will be like Apple -Jobs, maybe we take a wait and see on this idea that California is fixed enough to work well for the first time in decades. Too many stories like the Oroville dam mismanagement, even worse the governments refusal to own up to their bad work, even worse stil the citizens refusal to demand better work from their government, leave me with doubts.
 
SMTA said:
Like the morons in D.C. are doing any better.
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Government and leadership sucks almost everywhere, but that is not a major relevant point in this thread I think.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
Prop 13 was 1978, at least from that date and prob a few year earlier to about 2012 was a steady decline in the quality of governance in the state, which all participated in, there are almost no heros in this story.

As of today government sucks big time, but it is off the floor a tad.
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Prop 13 merely kept homeowners from being taxed out of their own properties, as home values escalated due to overcrowding, and property taxes shot up. Without Prop 13, Californian home owners would probably be the highest taxed residents in the country.

The state went into serious decline after the 9th circuit Court rejected prop 187, which voters passed, and would have done a great job at keeping California from turning into the Nanny Sanctuary State that it is today.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
Government and leadership sucks almost everywhere, but that is not a major relevant point in this thread I think.
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It is exactly relevant for comparison to point out that CA is not the only problem.
 
Tanngrisnir said:
LOL! November 2011?

Not to worry, my friend. We've kept it together since then. Republicans took it in the shorts and the state's been just fine for the past 6 years or so.

Thanks, Jerry!
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I don't believe that you really live here, sorry. And if you do, there must be a trust fund of some kind that is the real source of your outlook.
 
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Tanngrisnir said:
As a native Californian who came to know NYC in his late 20s due to business, I happy to inform you it's not like that at all.

It's a grand, diverse and wonderful city. The food? Just god DAMN is it good. Not up to LA standards, but it's a fine 2nd place.

I can see why you'd not only hate it there, you'd be in constant fear the entire time.

Have you tried, say, Topeka? It may be more to your liking.
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I've lived in large cities most of my life, primarily in L.A. You claim NY isn't a cesspool when it has the most corrupt police force in the Western world and that's not even taking account the suffocating stranglehold the unions grip the city. The politics of the city itself, Dem and Rep alike, are authoritarian. I may indeed enjoy living in Topeka but not for the reasons you imply.
 
SMTA said:
It is exactly relevant for comparison to point out that CA is not the only problem.
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So if people start up on all the ways SMTA sucks is your response "Why are you picking on me, HAWKEYE sucks too"?

I say that you need to own your failures.

I want to talk about California's issues.

Washington is a different thread.
 
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truthatallcost said:
Prop 13 merely kept homeowners from being taxed out of their own properties, as home values escalated due to overcrowding, and property taxes shot up. Without Prop 13, Californian home owners would probably be the highest taxed residents in the country.

The state went into serious decline after the 9th circuit Court rejected prop 187, which voters passed, and would have done a great job at keeping California from turning into the Nanny Sanctuary State that it is today.
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The intent of the measure was that Cali Citizens did not want to pay for Cali government, and the result has been lies and shams and bad planning and lots of ad hoc efforts to work around the fact that Cali citizens dont want to pay for Cali government to the extent that they voted yes on Prob 13.

In my estimation this was the beginning of the great fall, and make no mistake, the state is still trying to deal with the ramifications of prob 13, it was never solved, because in California over decades rarely did anything get fixed, it was always doing something to get to next year...short of fixing the problems.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
So if people start up on all the ways SMTA sucks is your response "Why are you picking on me, HAWKEYE sucks too"?

I say that you need to own your failures.

I want to talk about California's issues.

Washington is a different thread.
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Who died and left you a mod?
 
reinoe said:
I've lived in large cities most of my life, primarily in L.A. You claim NY isn't a cesspool when it has the most corrupt police force in the Western world and that's not even taking account the suffocating stranglehold the unions grip the city. The politics of the city itself, Dem and Rep alike, are authoritarian. I may indeed enjoy living in Topeka but not for the reasons you imply.
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Not as corrupt as LA police by a far cry.
 
truthatallcost said:
California is known as the Golden State and was once considered a promised land of opportunity for Americans, as well as foreigners. But these prosperous times came during California's period of being a mostly Republican state.

Something drastic has changed.

From 1900-1988, California voted for Republican Presidential candidates 16 times, and for Democrats only 7 times.

Since the 1992 election, a Republican presidential candidate has never won CA.

Just a few facts about the state of California in 2017:

• Most populated state, with 40 million residents.

• 11 of the top 25 most polluted cities in the country are in California.
Most Polluted Cities | American Lung Association

• 6th highest taxed state out of 50.
The 10 States With The Highest Taxes | Bankrate.com

• California's budget is running a $1.6 billion deficit.
Gov. Jerry Brown predicts a $1.6-billion deficit as he unveils state budget - LA Times

• Prison overpopulation is so bad, that the state is letting violent offenders out early, while not prosecuting many serious crimes.
Officials unveil controversial guidelines for the release of more inmates to relieve prison overcrowding - LA Times

• California's corporate tax rate is amongst the highest in the nation.
https://taxfoundation.org/state-corporate-income-tax-rates-brackets-2017/

• Unemployment here is at 6.2%, which is in the Top 10 States for Unemployment.
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/jobs-careers/states-with-highest-unemployment-rate-2.aspx

• 34% of people in California are on welfare, yet California's overall population is 12% of the country.
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com...re-capital-of-the-us-2012jul28-htmlstory.html

• Unfunded pension liabilities for government employees stands at $60 billion.
http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-calpers-funding-20170604-story.html

• California has the highest poverty rate, when factoring in the cost of living.
http://www.politifact.com/californi...alifornia-has-nations-highest-poverty-rate-w/
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California was a red state when I left in 1989. What changed it was a comprehensive immigration bill that handed out amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. Those millions plied with welfare entitlements tend to vote democrat. That's why the democrats are in such a hurry for another such comprehensive immigration bill. They want to repeat their California success in other coastal states in the southwest, especially Texas. They dream of gradually changing the demographics to the point where they can gain and hold onto power into perpetuity. Their target demographic is poverty stricken and poorly educated peasants whose votes can be bought with government entitlements.
 
Kobie said:
California is the only state in the union that could reasonably function as its own country. California is way better off than the vast majority of states.



They bless the rains down in Africa.
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I am going to assume that you have never lived in California. More then half of the state is a concrete jungle built on mountains and deserts and is highly dependent on at least seven other states for water through a massive aqueduct system. And roughly one third of it's population is on food stamps. It's power grid is on life support mainly because politically correct environmentalists have held up the construction of many of the new power plants. For California to become a country and survive on it's own, it would have to grow up politically and lose much of it's socialist leanings.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
Brown has been great, but he is one guy, and he will be gone soon. There is every reason to think that Cali -Brown will be like Apple -Jobs, maybe we take a wait and see on this idea that California is fixed enough to work well for the first time in decades. Too many stories like the Oroville dam mismanagement, even worse the governments refusal to own up to their bad work, even worse stil the citizens refusal to demand better work from their government, leave me with doubts.
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Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown is an idiot. Before I left California, Brown had nearly destroyed the state's agricultural industry for the sake of political correctness regarding the fight against Mediterranean fruit fly. Half of California's problem is that Brown much like Hillary just never completely goes away.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
The intent of the measure was that Cali Citizens did not want to pay for Cali government, and the result has been lies and shams and bad planning and lots of ad hoc efforts to work around the fact that Cali citizens dont want to pay for Cali government to the extent that they voted yes on Prob 13.
Click to expand...

Nonsense. I've already stated why Californians supported 13- an influx of new residents drove up the value of property, and it was low income or modest home owners who were going to lose their homes due to the yearly tax on property.

Since the 90's, Californians vote for every tax hike that gets put on the ballot; nearly every proposition that would raise taxes in the state has passed for the pass 10 years.

Then they complain that taxes are too high. :shrug:



In my estimation this was the beginning of the great fall, and make no mistake, the state is still trying to deal with the ramifications of prob 13, it was never solved, because in California over decades rarely did anything get fixed, it was always doing something to get to next year...short of fixing the problems.
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So what's the supposed answer to prop 13? Force home owners to pay even more than they do already?

The Democrats that run state government can't run the state adequately, despite collecting huge tax revenues!

Gas Tax in California Ranks Among the Highest in the Country, But it's Roads are Among the Worst in America
Gas tax in California ranks among highest in country; but its roads are among the worst in America – Orange County Register
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This is just one example of dozens.
 
One of the biggest single causes has been allowing public unions to get involved in politics. That put them basically at both sides of the bargaining table. When you have termed out legislators, they couldn't care less what happens after they are gone. Now most cities have two work forces one working, one retired.

Second is over regulation and a hostile business climate incentivizing companies to leave. The state makes no overtures for them to say. We recently lost Aerojet General. The state's reaction, "meh".

Third is the UC system is very expensive and supported by taxes and student loans, but students get educated here then leave for jobs.

Fourth is the excessive cost of social programs. Illegal aliens have the same right to work as an able bodied citizen, and are often better employees because they will work nights, weekend, on the books, off the books, just f'ing pay me. Then they send millions of dollars back to Mexico where it bypasses the state economy so it acts like a tax - it may as well be pulled out of the economy and burned.

Fifth Cost of housing is two pronged, One is the excessive fees to build a house tacked onto the purchase price, second is the difficulty to get tracts of land approved for housing where the businesses are. San Francisco is hugely expensive, because the city fathers have choked off any redevelopment that may increase availability. As soon as you leave SF you find rolling hills suitable for building but the state will not allow that land to be used for housing.

Sixth crime and drugs. The criminals are incarcerated for appx 1/3 of their sentence, then cut loose on parole. 1/3 of those vanish off the books into gangs.

California is running the biggest Ponzi game in town. Budgets are raided by taking the money, and replacing it with state bonds you can't cash without making an application to do so.
 
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