California is broke - Lets spend more and raise taxes!

Daaaaaamn, when you're down....double down???

California really confuses me. Especially their educational changes and reforms recently confuse me.

Well, socialists keep telling us that tax cuts does not work. I guess raising them will.

Obviously, the reason tax cuts had no great effect is because the governement borrows the money to afford it. The problem is, now the gov have to pay back the principal (bring taxes back up) + the interest (raise taxes even more vs pre-tax cut level - or they can just print money/inflation, wich is a hidden tax).

Just look at Detroit. It's a war zone.

Dude, somebody has to pay for illegal aliens with no insurance to spend a year in the hospital and get a dozen surgeries:

http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/01/03/2669593/man-will-leave-fresno-hospi…

You think that lettuce picks itself?

How is spending UP 7.2% this year?

The US needs California so we can point to them and show everyone how worthless socialism is. If the big one hits I won't donate a dime to help.

And no, the lettuce won't pick itself. Too bad Democrats support Mexican SLAVERY instead of pushing farmers to invest in John Deere equipment which would make ILLEGAL SLAVE LABOR unnecessary in a couple years.

I'm in CA now and seriously thinking about leaving the state. Personal income tax and sales taxes are through the roof!

How the party of minorities can be for illegal immigration is beyond me. Whenever someone questions it, Democrats respond "but who will pick our vegetables for such a low price".

Lets have some fun.

Instead of vegetables, substitute cotton. Bang.

I hate liberal policies. It is simply an excuse to control one group and steal from another.

As a native Californian I cannot help but to be so proud of the infinite amount of stupidity running in that state.

They're actually convinced the federal government is going to bail them out.

"California (STOCA1) Governor Jerry Brown proposed $92.6 billion in spending for the year starting in July, an increase of about 7 percent, which will count on voters approving $7 billion of higher taxes in November."

I see what you did there.....

Paulson - exactly. Unfortunately for me, I went from California to Illinois, which is in competition for being the more poorly run state.

politicians are running this country into the ground......how are americans so stupid to let this go on?! we live in a twilight zone

Liberal states, gotta love 'em.

Liberalism is basically an economic cancer. You destroy it in every institution before it metastasizes and destroys the entire state and eventually country.

Ole Commiefornia. Hopefully my aunt, uncle, cousins and grandmother leave that POS before it breaks off into the ocean.

speaking of socialist this is why the fail!!!!!

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no... one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all). After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.. The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F. As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. It could not be any simpler than that. Remember, there IS a test coming up. The 2012 elections.

These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment: 1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. 2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. 3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. 4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it! 5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment: 1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. 2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. 3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. 4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it! 5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

God Bless you Ambition!

I'd be okay with this if they at least agreed to deport all the bums

God bless you too ANT. Cali needs to get its act together, kinda sucks that its still such a gorgeous state. I still sometimes feel like I want to move back to SF/LA when I have a family, but the fucking govt just sucks ass there.

lets go texas

true texas has the same perks that cali has, plus the limo service there is incred. TPG PE all the way.

Some men just enjoy watching the world burn.

Gotta love that, as ANT pointed out, school budgets would have to be cut if we don't raise taxes. Way to scare people into feeling like higher taxes is the only way. They had some lady on the local news yesterday saying something to the effect of "well, like...yeah, of course I don't want to pay more taxes. But we can't let our kids, you know, down like that. I don't want there to be cuts to education."

I don't know why my brother insists on staying in CA...I even offered him a one-way ticket home to TX.

He just wants to stay in Crapifornia.

I'm kind of enjoying our ruin, it's like watching the Walking Dead and the voters are the "walkers." WSO will have to be one of the survivor camps.

What I don't understand is how one state can have 1.5 MILLION people on welfare.

I personally invite everyone in this thread to Texas, except coach.captain. He can sink with Commiefornia.

well if people start-ups fail then..... they live on welfare simple as that. :D, then there are all the actors that fail too

Everyone makes fun of Perry for being a dumb ass, come and see whats hes done here. Yes you did see what I did there.

lmao, really wow haha, speaking of drug dealing..........

To me money is a drug. Investment bankers raise money work/ work on DEALS. therefore Investment banking = drug dealing!

ANTJerry Brown (D), governor of Crapifornia wants to increase spending by 7% and increase taxes. Yeah, makes complete sense. I mean California is broke, the economy sucks, unemployment is high and home prices are still descending.

How about this. How about things hurt, spending gets cut and people get laid off. Sucks, I know, but you cannot continue to spend and increase taxes, especially when there are lower cost states nearby.

If I get some time today I will take a look at his entire budget. For some reason I think there is other stuff to cut before you attack school budgets. Either way, NO MORE TAXES! From Brown Seeks 7% California Spending Boost

People should stop referring to government in the first person plural. It is nothing more than a parasite feasting on the hard work of people. How will they be able to raise the money?

Wonder how long it takes cali to break the 60% total income tax threshold? The truely ironic thing is, the more they raise it the more people leave, the bigger the gap the more they have to raise it. Liberals refuse to see simple math and causation.

http://www.mydesert.com/article/20120106/NEWS10/201050353/Gov-Jerry-Bro…

So basically he is holding a gun to California's head and saying pass this or we will cut education for your children.... nice.

If the state is starting to cut its deficit and increase revenues slightly why in the hell are they increasing spending? Once you pay it off come back and we'll talk.

I agree that CA should not be raising taxes, but where did all the talk about socialism and welfare come from? It states in the article that Brown's plan calls for "$4.2 billion in cuts, mostly to welfare and programs for the poor."

Ron Paul 2012

This is getting ridiculous. Assuming Brown's taxes pass, a person earning $250,000+ residing in LA can expect to pay: - 11.3% state income tax - 8.84% state general corporation tax - 8.75% state sales tax - 2.35% insurance tax - 0.65% vehicle licenses tax - an additional 31.73% tax on tobacco products passed to the consumer

And perhaps the most insidious, malign, unforgivable part is the $0.20, $0.30, and $3.30 per gallon tax on beer, wine, and spirits respectively. Seriously fuck you.

The bottom-line is no matter how much they raise taxes people are still going to want to live in California. Hollywood, Silicone Valley, thousands of other big businesses, and the state's natural beauty create an environment that is tough to leave. And no, I don't work for California's Department of Tourism.

Hopefully California gets a republican governor (or a governor that has more sense) next so public workers will stop getting paid $100,000 to $200,000 with benefits when they retire at 48

A Republican governor will not do any good. Look at Arnold. The legislature is extremely liberal, thus allowing the republican governor to do very little.

We had a saying when I lived in San Diego: "There is no life east of I-5."

If you're not right on the beach and absolutely fucking slaying it money-wise, there is absolutely no reason to live in California.

biggest beneficiary of illegal immigration is agri-tycoons. illegals are human beings and have the same hopes and needs as any other american family, which includes medicine, education, and sometimes, jailing. the true cost - the coolie wages paid to them = what is dumped on the other california taxpayers (of which i used to be one). a few years back wrecks would remain on the highways for a few days because caltrans was on furlough. third world here we come.

it's too bad. year round beautiful weather, scarcity of fatties (i hate fatties), fine nightlife.

hate to disillusion all of your GOP partisans but no governor can fix this mess. the office is made constitutionally weak so our last Austrian strongman couldn't get the state's shit back in one sock. and given the recent history of the lengths to which Austrian strongmen will go to attain their goals, that should give you pause.

Culver City? Are you fucking kidding me? When you have to buy your Big Macs through bulletproof glass, you're not living comfortably.

ok culver city is slipping. westwood was still awesome when i left it.

nm

BTW those prices for the housing is ridiculous as is but that doesn't even take into consideration property tax which is the huge killer a lot of home buyers dont think about.

The fact that the Midwest is having one of the mildest winters on record has to be killing you Nobama hahaha

Dont get me wrong its still fucking cold, and the Mississippi isn't the Pacific, but the only 10 beers are at the ballpark.

LOL. If global warming takes over and winters are this mild every year, I may just have to make that move!

A big LOL to the guy that said you can live in LA for 50K . . . yeah right! I grew up in LA and left it because I couldn't lead the life I wanted to and I was making over 70K at the time! Rents in LA are still through the roof. Worked in WeHo for a long time and you can't find anything for less than $1500/month. When you factor in the high income taxes and COL, 70K and $1500 rent with a modest car note doesn't leave room for a ton of other things. You can live on 50K but with 2 roommates and in a slightly shady area. And since I'm a grown man - roommates? Homey don't play that . . .

I'd also like to modify Eddie's statement just a little bit - the desert in CA is also attractive. It's no Hermosa Beach but I live in Palm Springs and it's gorgeous out here with great people and world-class golf. Lower COL and nowhere near as much traffic as LA. If it wasn't for this area, I wouldn't be in CA at all. Once I leave this area (work or otherwise), I'm out of CA.

the life i wanted to live was to be banging three chicks in weekly rotation and cruising as a grad student with a side income for a business i was running on autopilot. you can do that on 50K.

born and bred. i had a roommate in west LA. 2000 for a 2BR not findable in 2007? you're not looking hard enough. right off santa monica blvd near century city. i had a cheap cellphone. i had a low bandwidth internet connection with no TV. 100 for utilities is plenty realistic if you are almost never home and are splitting with another person who is almost never home (euro chick, didn't tap it but gooood eye candy).

i was able to live some fucking sweet years in LA because i knew how to do it. don't hate. just emulate.

and to the guy above: i ain't yer son, bitch.

You are not living in a desirable area of a major city for 1K in a nice 1 bedroom. Maybe tastes are different.

And an all cash side business? Hahah. I didn't realize this was drug dealer oasis. Yeah, set your standard of living base off an illegal, tax avoiding and unstable side job. Sounds smart.

I am confused as well.

Rent: $1,000 Utilities: $100 Car Payment: $300 Insurance: $100 Food: $ 500 Drinking: $1500

Total: $3,500

I guess you never had to put GAS in your car, buy any form of health / vision / dental insurance, or buy anything other then food and alcohol ever (movie tickets, furniture, clothes, co pays, etc). You also have no retirement plan, or emergency fund, or any $ to pay off your student loans (assuming you have had them thru grad school / undergrad).

Looks like you are running a huge deficit to me every month when you take into account your actual, real expenses. Oh, did I mention its not like you are blowing models and bottles every night.... you live in a crappy apt with a roommate as a SINGLE, CHILDLESS male, just barely scraping by.

Dont feel bad because you are doing a lot better then a ton of people in LA. You are a prime example of why California has to get shit in order. Its absurd there.

But back to the point of the OP. California asking for more of your money to pay the leeches and send illegals to the public schools and then off to the public universities. A person making $60K a year is doing so well, you can afford to pay a little more.

When you are a grad student all the insurance is paid for. And as a hard science grad student you don't pay a dime of tuition, they pay you. I had to fill my car twice a month because I drove an Illini style japanese gas sipper. Take out $50 from my good time charley fund. i buy almost nothing else except essentials. how often do you replace your clothes because they really wear out? most people replace it when it goes out of fashion. i never ran a balance on my credit card the whole time i was there. not even once.

Not all of us want the 2.5 kids and stepford wife in our mid-20s. I'd say that people rushing into THAT prematurely is what's got california and the country in big trouble. I was living well within my means, and as a student, my priorities were chasing tail and finishing my degree, that's it. I'm not saying that blowing your whole stipend is a good idea. I made a conscious decision to have no cushion because I knew I'd never get these years back and I wanted to get the most out of them doing what is important to me: scoring and drinking. And that can be easily done with 50K a year in a nice part of LA.

I think the fact that you made 50k a year but lived paycheck to paycheck with a roommate and without health insurance or a retirement fund is a prime example of how outrageous the COL is in LA.

^^^ He more likely takes home around $60-$65K a year...

$50,000 you would have a take home pay of around $2900, not the $3500 he said he takes home.