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I'm no fan of Jerry Brown, but he has brought a measure of fiscal sanity to the state--not nearly as much as I would like, but enough that all 3 rating agencies have upgraded the state's bond rating to AA- (the 4th highest possible). That's still a notch or two below the typical state, so it's nothing to brag about, but we've gone in a more positive direction than some other large states such as IL, CT, NJ, & PA which have all been downgraded in recent years, in the case of IL, quite severely.
I worry the next governor who's elected will be much more of a spendthrift than Jerry Brown. Hence I worry about all the issues about California that you've brought forth. Plus, I worry about earthquakes. Both NorCal and SoCal are long overdue for major earthquakes. Our federal government has racked up huge amounts of debt and racking up more to bail California out of a major earthquake or two is also pretty scary. The state's finances certainly aren't in a position to absorb such a financial hit, either.
For the most part, I don't think California's real estate market is overhyped. It's supply and demand. Supply in the form of new housing is severely restricted because the popular areas are built up and red tape and NIMBYs severely limit development; yet the demand is there, so prices skyrocket. There seem to be fewer crazy loans than there were in the 2003-2008 period, although I can't know that with absolute certainty.
I'd also argue that the U.S. has been operating under a faux democracy for most of the last 90 years as well. We just hide our corruption a little better. The Mexican people have no illusions about how their country operates, whereas Americans still do.
While I disagree with some of the details of your time bomb thesis, I believe your overall assessment is correct. I'd say the U.S. is a ticking time bomb in lots of ways. I've gotten closer to God because it's becoming increasingly clear to me that most people in America are not interested in doing the difficult things that would be necessary to put our country on a better track.
That may be why the words "In God we trust" is on all of our currency.
Somehow it's all turns out good until someone decides that we need to go to war and everyone believes that God is on their side.
But, the bottom line is always that there is a lot of room in heaven.
Location: Formerly Pleasanton Ca, now in Marietta Ga
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Unsettomati
Meanwhile, here in the real world - distinct from the feverish fantasies of the "Please, please, please let liberal California fail!" crowd - California sends a lot more $ to the federal treasury than it receives in return. Thus, California is one of the donor states upon which the weak and feeble states like Louisiana and Tennessee and South Dakota depend upon in order not to go belly-up.
And now, back to your regularly scheduled insisting that California must fail, just 'cause that's what your dogma say has to happen. Bummer how the real world just doesn't jibe with the way you really want things to be, though, isn't it?
That may be why the words "In God we trust" is on all of our currency.
Somehow it's all turns out good until someone decides that we need to go to war and everyone believes that God is on their side.
But, the bottom line is always that there is a lot of room in heaven.
If you know anything about who and how our money system is run, you'll think "In God we trust" is sickening. I try not to think about it. It's certainly not news that religion (along with politics, education, and pretty much every other institution on our planet) has been hijacked by sociopaths who crave ever more power and control. That said, when you have a personal relationship with God or a higher power, nobody can take that away from you. I am the first person to advocate a solid financial life, but when you really take a serious look at human institutions of any kind, you realize the things of this world are built on a very shaky foundation.
If you know anything about who and how our money system is run, you'll think "In God we trust" is sickening.
It's sickening because it is a plain endorsement of religion when the state is supposedly constrained from such a thing. In tolerating it, courts have had to insult God by punting to theories of a civil religion in which the word "God" is but a totem devoid of any discernible purpose or meaning beyond recalling (and inherently mocking) the primitive beliefs and superstitions of bygone eras.
And again, without a preconceived prejudice, I think it's important to learn a little more about how those figures were obtained.
Consider, for example, Mississippi -- which seems to be a favorite target. It has very little heavy industry, and agricultural and domestic employees weren't brought under Social Security until 20-30 years after the program began; many widows in rural area probably never worked outside the home, therefore contributed very little, if at all, and wound up on SSI.
Federal facilities, such as military bases, native reservations, and National parks, probably also exert an influence on the figures; Connecticut has very few, and North Dakota doesn't have much more.
No one should deny that Federal spending has a large potential for a distortive effect.
You seem to be claiming that backwater areas should not be cited for their usage of public resources on the grounds that they are after all backwaters.
That may be why the words "In God we trust" is on all of our currency.
Somehow it's all turns out good until someone decides that we need to go to war and everyone believes that God is on their side.
But, the bottom line is always that there is a lot of room in heaven.
Faith-based currency. Just pieces of paper not backed by anything.
Faith-based currency. Just pieces of paper not backed by anything.
They are backed by the full faith and credit of he U.S. Govt. clause which is the right to levy taxes and print money out of thin air.
It falls into the same category right up there with " Magic" and The Big Bang Theory of economics which is Quantitative easing (QE).
Ex nihilo "creation out of nothing"
For the rest of us, it's called the trickle down economics.
Somehow tangibles manifest themselves and our materialistic lives get better.
Ethics, morals, scruples.
They become empty promises as the tin can of debt keeps getting kicked down the road.
If you know anything about who and how our money system is run, you'll think "In God we trust" is sickening. I try not to think about it. It's certainly not news that religion (along with politics, education, and pretty much every other institution on our planet) has been hijacked by sociopaths who crave ever more power and control. That said, when you have a personal relationship with God or a higher power, nobody can take that away from you. I am the first person to advocate a solid financial life, but when you really take a serious look at human institutions of any kind, you realize the things of this world are built on a very shaky foundation.
Some of it is somewhat symbolic. US still has freedom of religion (although I'll acknowledge that unfortunately, only Christians, or at least those pretending that they are, are the only ones who can win the presidency). A documentary mentioned that Benjamin Franklin suggested that during the writing of the Constitution, they start each morning with a prayer. This suggestion was defeated.
Even though from a fictional movie, it still gave me a laugh when they were trying to prove man is indeed NOT Santa Claus, when a little girl hands the judge a 1 dollar bill. The "in god we trust" printed on the money got him to throw out the case since that itself wasn't taken at face value, so who were they trying to prove with this court case?
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