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Alaska also has a beauty that will take your breath away, and a terrific public education system. When we lived there, Anchorage had a range of public school choices from Back to Basics, Montessori, the British Open School model, ... as well as funds and support for homeschooling. They also have some chilly weather.
What does Oklahoma have?
You would think that if Alaska was so great, there would be more people living there.
I'll give you beauty though. Alaska is beautiful. Oklahoma is certainly lacking in the beauty department. But there are many states who are also lacking. And Oklahoma by no means is at the bottom of the list.
It also depends on where you live. For instance, Colorado has nice mountains, but most of the Eastern side of the state is just an extension of Kansas, but even uglier. Oklahoma has some pretty parts, and lots of lakes. But they tend not to be anywhere close to heavily-populated areas.
Oklahoma City has everything a big city has, but much better traffic. Everything is much cheaper. People tend to be nicer.
I actually would rank Alaska up on my list of nice states. Along with Montana, Wyoming, and a few others.
I don't honestly believe that any public-education system could be classified as "terrific". And from my experience, the apparent quality of an education system seems to vary from one city to the next, or even from one school to the next.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GotHereQuickAsICould
It's fine by me if you want to stay in a state that has gone all in with the Republican model of cutting taxes and going bankrupt.
It isn't running a deficit because it cut taxes. It is running a deficit because it cut taxes and then the price of oil plummeted.
It is basically the same reason Venezuela is running a deficit. Government-funding comes from revenue off the sale of oil and gas.
If gas prices go up, there will be a surplus. If gas prices go down, there will be a deficit.
Oklahoma isn't even doing that bad. Many many other states are doing far worse. And most of them are not Republican.
One issue that is not being addressed here is the constant boom or bust economy we have here in Oklahoma. And generally the economy here is inversely proportional to the nation as a whole. When oil prices are high, the national economy is usually sluggish and the economy here booms. Conversely, when oil prices are low, the national economy does well and Oklahoma struggles. I always chuckle because when Reagan was president, Oklahoma suffered it's worst economic downturn since the depression while the nation did well.
It's been that way since.............................. forever. While some of this can be blamed on the Republicans who are running things now a lot of the issues are simply due to the economy here at present.
California is only the most innovative place on the planet and the engine of the American economy.
If CA is "failed", then I want to be "failed too". There's no bigger gusher of prosperity on the planet, possibly excepting the Northeast Corridor.
CA does will despite the anti-business climate of the legislature. I do know small business owners in Cali that struggle with high costs and regulation. But if you are Apple or Google you have the deep pockets and teams of lawyers to deal with it all.
CA overall does well because of several very lucrative sectors that carry the rest of the state. Not because of its politics.
51% of school funding comes from the state in this state.
The combo of declining oil revenue and the .25 cut in state income tax has taken a toll on schools.
The state spends $1 billion less on education than it did a decade ago.
If the people are unhappy with outcomes, they can elect legislators who will increase property and/ or state taxes.
This is the road Trump and the GOP would have the entire country go down.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NOVA_guy
Yep. The crazy part is that those who will suffer the most are those in Trump Country.
Strange, eh?
What I always find odd is that the areas that voted for Trump only provide about a third of the economic activity of the nation.
They are being carried along by the areas that produce two thirds of the economic activity -- the areas that vote for Democrats.
As we switch from federal funding to state funding for many programs, we will likely see these states with the least ability to produce revenue endure the most hardships.
To paraphrase: a Republican controlled legislature that gave out deep tax cut is wrecking the state. Oaklahoma can't afford to pay teachers, state workers were told to only work four days a week, schools also are only open four days a week, Highway patrol were told to not fill up their gas tanks, some bureaucracies are completely shut down like those who revoke drunk driving licenses. Teachers are fleeing the state, and schools would give teaching licenses to anyone with a passing knowledge just so classes can stay open. One principal had to emergency certify his secretary to teach a class.
Healthcare cost in Oaklahoma is through the roof. Some state workers actually have higher insurance cost than their pay, which means they pay the government to work there.
But, you know. Blue states have high housing cost. So there!
.
Didn't Kansas just go through something like this?
You realize all those places are much more successful than OK, right? You wanna compare economic or health data somewhere like Chicagoland or Bay Area or NYC area with OK? I mean, seriously?
He mentioned, "Detroit, MI...Flint, MI...Trenton, NJ...Camden, NJ...Newark, NJ...St. Louis, MO,...Kansas City, MO,... Chicago, IL...Oakland, Ca, ...Baltimore, MD....etc. "
I would gladly compare Oklahoma City to any of those cities. And I would much much much rather live here than there.
CA overall does well because of several very lucrative sectors that carry the rest of the state. Not because of its politics.
I never said that CA does well "because of its politics". But I was responding to the claims that CA is a "failed state".
In reality, CA is one of the wealthiest and most innovative places on the planet. It also scores extremely well on safety and health compared to most states. It's possibly the biggest wealth center on the planet excepting the NYC area, and the Bay Area is probably the biggest innovation center anywhere.
Why is this a bad thing? Do you want us to be like Commiefornia or New York? Why in the hell would we want to be anything like them? A bunch of degenerates.
My stepfather was in the military, and I went to several schools across the country, and several here in Oklahoma. I can't say anything good about any school I've ever been in. Other than that some of the teachers were really nice.
Eh, the Earthquakes are kind of a joke. Most of the time you don't even feel them. Sometimes you feel them, but they are so weak, you aren't really sure what it is. Earthquakes in California are literally thousands of times stronger than our Earthquakes.
The tornadoes, I'll give you that. Although tornadoes affect a lot more than just Oklahoma. And Oklahoma doesn't even have the most major tornadoes per year, or the most EF5's. But for someone who isn't familiar with tornadoes, I can understand why they are so scary.
And yes, Oklahoma City is a very windy city. But, it isn't the windiest city.
Boston is actually a more-windy city than Oklahoma City. And it is much much much colder.
Buffalo is nearly as windy, and gets like 100 inches of snow a year.
This last time, we were living in Edmond and felt earthquakes OFTEN! Watched stone fall off the house and my husband’s boss showed us wall damage over the past five years. I would never buy a home there.
Groceries are ridiculous because they are taxed. We prefer better shopping and eating establishments- instead of Braums and Dollar General every couple of miles.
Last edited by Sharpydove; 02-07-2018 at 07:51 AM..
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