Phoenix's budget plan: tax more & spend more (home, safe area)

[Coop01]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

<snip>..... Removed a lot liberal nonsense and lecturing ..............<snip

I seemed to have missed your reasons for moving from Minnesota to Arizona. It seems to me that a person who is so attached to the political system of Minnesota (I was raised there.) would want to remain and continue to contribute to it's success.

A significant number of relatives and friends that are still living in the Twin Cities are looking to bail out of Minnesota.

It's not Lake Wobegon any longer where “all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.” but you apparently noticed that.

BTW - I'm also an electrical engineer. Educated in parochial schools paid for by parents of modest means and I EARNED my education paid by the GI BILL and working weekends.

As a recent immigrant from MN and more lately from that "economic powerhouse" called Southern California, I am proud to have adopted Arizona as my new home. Some minor tweaking might be in order but for the most part, I like it the way it is.

You appear to be unhappy with Arizona. I hope you haven't sold your show shovel.

[Java Jolt]

What I always found to be odd is the majority of people here are somewhere in the middle politically and favor more funding for schools, at least the ones I have met.

Voters in Phoenix usually approve funds for schools, mass transit, and other civic improvements.

The legislature is full of anti-tax ultraconservatives who gut public education and chip away at personal freedoms.

All they care about is their party loyalty and special interests, they certainly don't represent the majority of people.

This tells me a minority of registered voters who tend to be very conservative are actually voting and electing the legislators to represent the majority of us while the rest of the voters aren't participating in the process.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by Coop01

I seemed to have missed your reasons for moving from Minnesota to Arizona. It seems to me that a person who is so attached to the political system of Minnesota (I was raised there.) would want to remain and continue to contribute to it's success.

A significant number of relatives and friends that are still living in the Twin Cities are looking to bail out of Minnesota.

It's not Lake Wobegon any longer where “all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.” but you apparently noticed that.

BTW - I'm also an electrical engineer. Educated in parochial schools paid for by parents of modest means and I EARNED my education paid by the GI BILL and working weekends.

As a recent immigrant from MN and more lately from that "economic powerhouse" called Southern California, I am proud to have adopted Arizona as my new home. Some minor tweaking might be in order but for the most part, I like it the way it is.

You appear to be unhappy with Arizona. I hope you haven't sold your show shovel.

Being in favor of stronger schools is now a liberal issue? I personally am a product of Arizona public education all the way through graduate school. I wish our schools were stronger and more competitive. They sure used to be. Our universities used to provide competitive education at reasonable costs. Now they are unaffordable. Education is an important piece to economic health, our economy is in large a reflection of our collective education.

You can be happy somewhere but still find issues. Especially the more obvious ones.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by ScottsdaleMark

The 15/hour thing is just making California more California. It's always been a tough place to make a living and this will just make it harder for entry-level folks to get a job, although in theory they will be much better off if they can get one. Unemployment will go up, but those who do have jobs, will in theory be receiving less government support than they do currently.

Commiefornia is going down the drain because of the high cost of living & all the ridiculous legislation, and this is only the latest ploy to see that it happens at a faster rate. Businesses are already abandoning CA for more affordable states like Nevada, Arizona, and Texas. My guess is that this will encourage more business to leave CA, which might be good news for us because Arizona is one of the main states getting the disgruntled Californians.

If I had my way, there wouldn't even be a minimum wage. Employers should pay people for what they're worth. Employees who earn the bulk of their income from tips or commissions are basically exempt from the wage laws anyway ... this includes many restaurant workers. The funny thing is you don't hear many people who are based on tips/commissions and earning a $3 per hour salary pushing for a minimum wage increase. It's mostly politically motivated as far as I'm concerned.

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

Being in favor of stronger schools is now a liberal issue? I personally am a product of Arizona public education all the way through graduate school. I wish our schools were stronger and more competitive. They sure used to be. Our universities used to provide competitive education at reasonable costs. Now they are unaffordable. Education is an important piece to economic health, our economy is in large a reflection of our collective education.

Being in favor of strong schools isn't necessary liberal, but expecting the government/taxpayers to pay for schools falls in the leftist/socialist category. I definitely agree with you that schools should be stronger and more competitive, and that's exactly why I want the government out of education. If private enterprise took over, it would be just like any other business entity: the worst schools would eventually be weeded out, and the better ones would remain.

Also, if parents paid for their children's education out of their own pockets, that would encourage them to be more involved in what their children are learning. Under the current taxpayer funded system, many parents use the schools as a free babysitting service to plunk their kids for half a day. Having kids should never be a free ticket because it's a personal choice ... the same as having a pet.

[Java Jolt]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

Being in favor of stronger schools is now a liberal issue? I personally am a product of Arizona public education all the way through graduate school. I wish our schools were stronger and more competitive. They sure used to be. Our universities used to provide competitive education at reasonable costs. Now they are unaffordable. Education is an important piece to economic health, our economy is in large a reflection of our collective education.

You can be happy somewhere but still find issues. Especially the more obvious ones.

Very well-written.

I don't think education can be fairly classified as a liberal or conservative issue, it's an American issue.

If we don't pay taxes for good schools now we'll be paying more taxes later for prisons and rehabilitation.

[raindance maggie]

Originally Posted by Java Jolt

Very well-written.

I don't think education can be fairly classified as a liberal or conservative issue, it's an American issue.

If we don't pay taxes for good schools now we'll be paying more taxes later for prisons and rehabilitation.

This is such a farce.
Public tax money already pays for prisons and rehab, and it pays for education. Even the best schools have students that drop out and get in trouble with the law. Our taxes paid for their education but they wasted it, and later on we pay taxes for their prison sentences, probation, and becoming whole again.
I fail to see your point.

[Marv101]

CA has been an ineptly run state for over two decades, which explains why net inmigration has slowed to a crawl, so that when you add to that a decline in the percentage of children under 14 years of age for over over four decades to a cades to a plunging birth rate on top of a rapidly aging population, financial Armageddon is on the way, which explains why companies such as Occidental Petroleum, Toyota and now Carl's Jr are heading eastward in droves.

[kell490]

City's need to get rid of their employee unions so people who work there have to perform to keep their job. Government unions cost tax payers money creates a system where you just can't get rid of poor performing employees. You can have someone who does a minimal job performance but he keeps getting raises because raises are not based on job performance. Private sectors have long gotten rid of their old style retirement programs where employee hangs around long enough even if he does a poor job ends up with 50% of his salary for life. These retirement programs end up costing tax payers lot of money when they end up being underfunded.

[CodyW]

A lot of misconceptions about city employment in this thread.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by CodyW

A lot of misconceptions about city employment in this thread.

That never stopped anybody from being an expert on the topic.