CA One Party System A Travesty That Defies Common Sense!

[dales]

Thomas Del Beccaro Contributor
I try to place politics in perspective.

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.


Opinion 2/22/2017 @ 1:01PM 53,510 views

CA: The Physical Collapse Of A Social State



Welcome to California. It is a state of a perfect set of laws – at least in the minds of those wedded to the legislative pursuit of social justice. Under the one-party Democrat rules, spending on fairness tops $100 billion every year. Meanwhile, the basic infrastructure of the state, so necessary for the economy long and short term, is collapsing.

The California legislature has been busy making the news these days. They are determined to fight President Trump tooth and nail – and they are putting the taxpayers’ money where the legislature’s mouth is.

California Democrat after Democrat has decried President Trump. The day after the election, a “Joint Statement from California Legislative Leaders on Result of Presidential Election,” issued in part by California Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León (formerly Kevin Leon), stated:

“While Donald Trump may have won the presidency, he hasn’t changed our values. America is greater than any one man or party. We will not be dragged back into the past. We will lead the resistance to any effort that would shred our social fabric or our Constitution.”

The legislature hired former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder as legal counsel for their fights with the federal government. Their new state attorney general, Xavier Becerra, was appointed “to protect California’s economy and our sensible policies on climate change, health care, civil rights and immigration,” – so said Governor Brown who made the appointment.

California, of course, is the front-line for Sanctuary Cities – so many of which have also pledged to fight Trump. Cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento prohibit law enforcement from cooperating with immigration authorities – Kate Steinle notwithstanding. They are all willing to risk millions of dollars in federal funds for their current residents essentially to provide social justice for those here now illegally and in the future.

Long before all of that, of course, California has led the way for its brand of social justice on social issues as well. When they have, they do more than talk about it – they spend money on it, including in the schools.

Finally, we cannot forget that California has the most stringent and expensive regulations in the world as part of its effort to fight “climate change.” Estimates run to over a billion dollars spent in California each year to change the world’s climate – or at least to prevent it from changing any more. Now Mr. de León wants to prevent the use of any fossils fuels in the state by 2045.

Of course, it is no small irony in an epic year of rain, those same Democrats continue to claim that because of a lack of social justice in the hearts of Americans, climate change is real and will result in prolonged droughts in California. Indeed, taxpayer funded NASA climatologist Bill Patzert predicted last year that “We are in a drought forever.” [current floods not withstanding ]

Mother Nature, of course, does not listen to politicians or predictions.

California has indeed had an epic amount of rain this year – far, far greater than anyone predicted. So much so that California infrastructure is being exposed for what it has been – ignored.

The biggest non-social justice headlines have gone to people fleeing Oroville Dam, which holds back Lake Oroville, the second largest man-made lake in California. For over a decade, despite many warnings, the social justice warriors have not only refused to build new water infrastructure to feed a population growing with the immigrants and now refugees they want to protect, they have also refused to spend money to protect the infrastructure they have.

It is said that California has over $77 billion in deferred road, highway and bridge maintenance. It showed this week with a sink hold in LA because of the rain they didn’t predict. There is also the collapse of part of one of its main highways in the North, Highway 50, from the rain they didn’t predict – not to mention the Oroville dam, the break in a Central Valley level and over-flowing dams causing flooding in places like the southern part of Silicon Valley.

Of course, there is the whole issue of the lack of water infrastructure in California. There is not enough of it to store and supply the water needed for its industry and residents. Indeed, the system was designed for half those living in California today. Keep in mind that, three years ago, even the EPA said California needs $44.5 billion to fix the infrastructure that it has.

Those numbers, as this last winter of damaged infrastructure, roads and dams have proven, are understated. All of which brings us to . . .

High Speed Rail. Gov. Jerry Brown wants to spend at least $70 billion to build high speed rail that really no one outside of a construction union and Sen. Diane Feinstein’s husband (his company “won” one of the construction contracts for $1 billion) wants. Jerry Brown doesn’t want the spending train to stop there, however.

Brown also wants to spend $15 billion to $25 billion (yes, the estimate range is that wide) on water tunnels of unknown value because they will be tied up in courts for years. Keep in mind that it would be far cheaper to simply direct water to the Central Valley instead of releasing so much of it to ocean, which global warming enthusiasts say is rising anyway.

So, what is an impoverished California to do? It’s not an academic question. California leads the nation in poverty when cost of living is factored into the equation.

According to Brown and the Democrats, the answer is: fight for future immigrants, refugees, sanctuary cities, social issues and global warming. Social justice for all – in other words – served on high speed rail.

Perhaps one day, the Brown and his Democrat friends will understand as Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan did that there is no social justice without a job – but don’t count on that any time soon

[BoSoxGal]

Yeah, but the beaches are great!

[rubato]

Another bucket of warm horseshit gets dumped out. Fact-free. He posits an imaginary conflict between "social justice" and everything else and lies so implausibly as to claim that a desire to address climate change is caused by the beliefs in the hearts of Americans. Pure idiocy.

Code: Select all

 Democrats continue to claim that because of a lack of social justice in the hearts of Americans, climate change is real and will result in prolonged droughts in California.

Now that Democrats can pass legislation without needing Republican votes our budgets are all passed on time and with a surplus and the legislature can actually pass legislation; govern, in other words. When the Republicans were able Calif. was so dysfunctional and broken that the Calif. GOPs proudest achievement was defeating their OWN governors legislative agenda.

California has led the world on reducing automobile pollution which is wholly a good thing. Leading on reducing greenhouse gas production is also wholly a good thing.

And when someone tells you the costs of something and fails to tell you the benefits they are almost always right-wing liars. Reducing pollution makes people healthier and reduces medical costs.


http://equitablegrowth.org/equitablog/s ... alifornia/

Should-Read: Kevin Drum: Charts of the Day: If Only Every State Could Be As “Out of Control” As California
by Brad DeLong February 18, 2017
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Should-Read: Kevin Drum: Charts of the Day: If Only Every State Could Be As “Out of Control” As California: “I feel like someone ought to defend the honor of California against our president, so why not me? Here you go…
Cursor and Charts of the Day If Only Every State Could Be As Out of Control As California Mother Jones

Since the state GDP series started in 1997, California GDP has grown 12 percent more than the country as a whole. The number of workers has grown 7 percent more. If only every state could be as out of control as California.

UPDATE: I’ve gotten a bit of grief from folks suggesting that this difference is just because California’s population has grown faster than the rest of the US. Not so: between 1997 and 2015, California’s population increased about 20 percent while total US population increased about 18 percent. If the difference were bigger I would have gone to the trouble of calculating GDP and employment per capita, but there wasn’t much point.

I can see why your thinking is so confused and disordered; you do not have a working bullshit detector. This kind of think is intellectually valueless but emotionally satisfying to people who will accept a screed which bashes people they don't like and never know the difference.

PS Climate scientists have been saying that climate change is driving more EXTREME weather as well as higher temperatures.


yrs,
rubato

[dales]

Now that Democrats can pass legislation without needing Republican votes our budgets are all passed on time and with a surplus....

Gov. Jerry Brown predicts a $1.6-billion deficit as he unveils state budget

Less than four years after declaring California’s budget was balanced for the foreseeable future, Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday said the state is now projected to run a $1.6-billion deficit by next summer.

"The trajectory of revenue growth is declining," Brown told reporters at the state Capitol on Tuesday as he unveiled the state's budget.

The $179.5-billion plan seeks to resolve the budget shortfall by slower-than-expected growth in public school funding and through rolling back a series of one-time expenses discussed during last year's budget negotiations.

http://www.latimes.com/politics/essenti ... story.html

In the meantime.............our roads have been rated the worst in the nation.......the infrastructure is crumbling as we post.

[Crackpot]

Bullshit. Your roads don't come close to Michigan

[dales]

Bullshit. Your roads don't come close to Michigan

You're right, none of our roads come close to Michigan. Some of our roads come close to AZ,NV,OR, and Mexico.

For your edification:http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/1 ... ons-worst/

http://www.mercurynews.com/2013/07/01/c ... he-nation/

[rubato]

BAY AREA ROADS are mostly not state roads. They are built and maintained by counties and cities. Having driven through most of the western states and east to New Orleans the hwys maintained by Cal Trans are quite good and many are built in very challenging terrain like the Sierra Nevada mountains.

If facts matter.



yrs,
rubato

[dales]

If facts matter.



yrs,
rubato

LMAO!

rube: for your edification (not that it would do any good).


From the above SJ Mercury URL:

California’s highways continue to rank among the worst in the nation — a sorry distinction the state has held for more than a decade.

The Golden State’s highway system is ranked 47th among the 50 states in overall highway performance and efficiency in the latest annual highway report by the Reason Foundation. That is a slight improvement for California, which ranked 48th in the two previous studies and has ranked in the bottom 10 every year since 2000.

[Long Run]

And the article didn't even get to the giant sucking sinkhole of Cal-PERS with its $170 billion dollar unfunded liability, which is going to eat up more and more of every tax dollar.

[datsunaholic]

In 2014 I drove all the way around the country. That included the Bay Area (Richmond, Alameda, San Fransisco, Oakland, etc). Roads were fine- far better than the Interstates in Washington State. I-5 had a few problem areas north of Sacramento, but not bad. Traffic itself sucked, but Chicago was worse.

Michigan... The Interstates looked like they'd been subjected to heavy artillery bombardment. I've seen overpasses undergoing demolition in better physical condition. Potholes you could swim in. But the secondary roads in rural areas weren't bad at all.

[Crackpot]

Southeast Michigan and Chicago have the same problem they are in an area that freezes and thaws multiple times (often daily) each winter greatly decreasing the lifespan of roads (especially when built with inferior materials by the lowest bidder. Northern parts of the state don't suffer so badly as there is far less traffic and once things freeze the tend to stay that way.

[Lord Jim]

The Golden State’s highway system is ranked 47th among the 50 states in overall highway performance and efficiency

And wowsers, that means that at least 30 of those states with better highways than California are run by...gasp!...REPUBLICANS

This has to be the case, since 33 states have Republican governors...

(Don't bother trying to figure it out rube; it involves basic math, which we all know ain't your forte...)

[rubato]

Being a better and more intelligent researcher than you I found the source of that item which was quoted by the MN. it is a right-wing "think tank" called the Reason Foundation and while their entire methodology is not spelled out in detail they weight heavily "cost effectiveness" and "congestion" so that flat states with little urban area will rank higher as will states with crappy roads which little is spent on.

So states which are some combination of flat and low population are heavily biased in favor of, which you can see from the list.

http://reason.org/studies/show/22nd-ann ... way-report

And BTW the number the Reason Foundation gave was [42 nd] for those of you hoping to improve your math skills.

So what you cannot learn from this group is what is the quality of the roads, engineering and maintenance, and what is the quality versus the type of terrain and engineering challenges (like keeping Hwy 1 open south of Carmel and North of Jenner Calif.)

And what we have learned from several of you is that you are suckers for misinformaton.

By several measures of highway safety Calif. is well into the better half:

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/gener ... e-overview


yrs,
rubato

[dales]

And BTW the number the Reason Foundation gave was [42 nd] for those of you hoping to improve your math skills.

I don't know about your math skills (your posting here has shown that they are often deficit) but I suppose 42 out of 50 might seem like a success to some!

[Econoline]

The point was that 42nd is better than 47th, and that the methodology used to arrive at that figure is suspect.

And Crackpot is exactly right about the reason for poor roads in the upper Midwest. I would also add Indiana (hi, Mike Pence!) to the areas he mentioned--especially northwest Indiana, where the roads are noticeably worse than either Illinois (Bruce Rauner, R) or Michigan (Rick Snyder, R).

[BoSoxGal]

I've lived in one of those 'fiscally sound' states - which has one of the highest suicide rates in the country and terrible social services, poorer schools, healthcare systems, etc. I'd rather live someplace that makes reasonable commitments to caring for the 'least of these' among us.

[Lord Jim]

Being a better and more intelligent researcher than you

LMAO

Yeah, like the better and more intelligent research that led you to post this:

Fast, quiet, efficient, safe and no annoying security checks. Hop out of a cab, validate your TGV ticket at the station, hop on the train and it takes off. No checkin, no security checks. Voila!

yrs,
rubato

To name just one of many, many, many examples...

I found the source of that item which was quoted by the MN. it is a right-wing "think tank" blah blah blah...

LMAO X2

Says the king of dodgy sources...

Rube criticizing others for poor fact checking or using questionable sources is exactly like Trump criticizing others for spreading lies or using unnamed sources...

He is the greatest practitioner of both...

Donald J. Rube strikes again...