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California is toast (Page 3)
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hyteckit
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Aug 30, 2010, 09:32 PM
 
Originally Posted by smacintush View Post
My point was that if California (or Texas, or other states, or the Federal government…) were to respect peoples property rights as and reject the idea that it is the government's role and responsibility to take care of us, control us and manipulate the economy these budget problems wouldn't exist. They act as if it is their right to do whatever they want and our duty to cover the costs and the people support that by their constantly begging for more help, more "freebies", more control over "those other guys", more central planning etc..

It all comes back to the belief that government has the duty to care for us and that duty takes precedent over our rights.
Aren't most of the countries doing well economically right now communist and socialist countries?

China, Russian, India, Brazil.

BBC News - World economies rebound but China set for best growth

Canada is doing fine too.

Canadian Economy the Envy of the World - CBS News

The banks are stable because, in part, they're more regulated. As the U.S. and Europe loosened regulations on their financial industries over the last 15 years, Canada refused to do so. The banks also aren't as leveraged as their U.S. or European peers.

There was no mortgage meltdown or subprime crisis in Canada. Banks don't package mortgages and sell them to the private market, so they need to be sure their borrowers can pay back the loans.

In Canada's concentrated banking system, five major banks dominate the market and regulators know each of the top bank executives personally.
Both China and Canada kept the economy going because they regulated their banking and financial systems and inject a large enough stimulus to boost the economy.


US on the other hand was screwed because Republicans wanted to deregulate the banking and financial systems and kill off any stimulus money being injected into our economy.



Two times California economy got screwed in the last 15 years:
1. Deregulating the energy market by Republican governor Pete Wilson. Cause California to lose billions of dollars and random blackouts.
2. Deregulating the financial markets under a Republican congress. Cause our economic troubles we are experiencing right now. California left with a multi-billion budget deficit to fill.


Stop f*cking deregulating and screwing up the economy.
( Last edited by hyteckit; Aug 30, 2010 at 09:43 PM. )
Bush Tax Cuts == Job Killer
June 2001: 132,047,000 employed
June 2003: 129,839,000 employed
2.21 million jobs were LOST after 2 years of Bush Tax Cuts.
     
smacintush
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Aug 30, 2010, 09:42 PM
 
Originally Posted by besson3c View Post
Until you acknowledge my economic practicality counter-argument to this, I don't really see the point in continuing this particular conversation...
I thought I made my point clear, what did I miss?
Being in debt and celebrating a lower deficit is like being on a diet and celebrating the fact you gained two pounds this week instead of five.
     
besson3c
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Aug 30, 2010, 09:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by smacintush View Post
I thought I made my point clear, what did I miss?

You kind of pulled a Big Mac and just preached at me some different stuff without really addressing the point I made.
     
smacintush
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Aug 30, 2010, 09:54 PM
 
Originally Posted by besson3c View Post
You kind of pulled a Big Mac
**** you.

and just preached at me some different stuff without really addressing the point I made.
Like I said I thought I did. I guess not. I'd be happy to elaborate if you tell me what the hell I missed.
Being in debt and celebrating a lower deficit is like being on a diet and celebrating the fact you gained two pounds this week instead of five.
     
besson3c
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Aug 30, 2010, 09:56 PM
 
Originally Posted by smacintush View Post
**** you.


Like I said I thought I did. I guess not. I'd be happy to elaborate if you tell me what the hell I missed.

The part where I pointed out that safety nets can be economically practical?
     
smacintush
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Sep 1, 2010, 04:48 AM
 
Originally Posted by besson3c View Post
It was a sad, failed attempt at a jab at Big Mac. Nevermind.

The part where I pointed out that safety nets can be economically practical?
I didn't comment mainly because it is irrelevant. There may be some small, short-term benefit certain safety-net programs. On the whole however, they are more trouble than they are worth. They remove money from people that are productive (and thus the money is not used for productive purposes) in order to pay for those who aren't productive, they encourage risky behavior via the Peltzman Effect, and they foster an entitlement mentality over time.

None of this really matters to my argument however. Even if they were 100% effective and practical I wouldn't support them. Just because something works, that doesn't mandate its usage. An enforced curfew would go a long way to stop crimes like burglary and drunk driving wouldn't they? How about we use taxes to pay for my homeowners insurance? Rights must be respected. It is the governments first duty…and they SUCK at it.
Being in debt and celebrating a lower deficit is like being on a diet and celebrating the fact you gained two pounds this week instead of five.
     
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Sep 1, 2010, 11:01 AM
 
Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post
Uhm, yeah, CA had estimated 37M population in 2009, TX est. 24.8M

So CA had 49% more people living there, which is coincidentally exactly 16% x 1.49 = 24%.

Bottom line: both states had about the same per capita "burden" of illegal immigrants.

-t
I bet that Cali ends up doing MORE for illegals than Texas does. I don't know that for sure, but that's what I'd expect.
     
turtle777  (op)
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Sep 1, 2010, 11:19 AM
 
Safe bet.

-t
     
ShortcutToMoncton
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Sep 1, 2010, 12:11 PM
 
Wow. Sounds amazingly like an uninformed "blame illegals for x" argument, doesn't it?

greg
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Sep 1, 2010, 12:25 PM
 
Originally Posted by smacintush View Post
It was a sad, failed attempt at a jab at Big Mac. Nevermind.
Such attempts are doomed utterly to failure, but my people forgive in this month so I forgive you.

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
turtle777  (op)
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Sep 1, 2010, 12:32 PM
 
Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton View Post
Wow. Sounds amazingly like an uninformed "blame illegals for x" argument, doesn't it?
Quite the contrary, we all know that illegal immigrants are a constant source of inflowing wealth and positive contributions to the general society through paying taxes, medical insurances etc.

-t
     
ebuddy
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Sep 1, 2010, 06:33 PM
 
Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post
Quite the contrary, we all know that illegal immigrants are a constant source of inflowing wealth and positive contributions to the general society through paying taxes, medical insurances etc.

-t
You've done this well turtle. The trick is to employ sarcasm so that you never ever never say anything that might be construed as the least bit negative so others would pin the racism tag on you.
ebuddy
     
turtle777  (op)
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Sep 1, 2010, 09:04 PM
 
Rats, you noticed

-t
     
hyteckit
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Sep 2, 2010, 03:19 AM
 
Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post
Rats, you noticed

-t
Did you just call ebuddy Rats?
Bush Tax Cuts == Job Killer
June 2001: 132,047,000 employed
June 2003: 129,839,000 employed
2.21 million jobs were LOST after 2 years of Bush Tax Cuts.
     
hyteckit
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Sep 2, 2010, 03:21 AM
 
Carly Fiorina, the Republican Senate candidate, wants to outsource more California jobs and wants to pass a guest worker program so more foreigners can take more jobs away from California residents.

Carly Fiorina, another Republican corporate whore who is more concern for the corporate bottom line than creating jobs in California.
Bush Tax Cuts == Job Killer
June 2001: 132,047,000 employed
June 2003: 129,839,000 employed
2.21 million jobs were LOST after 2 years of Bush Tax Cuts.
     
ShortcutToMoncton
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Sep 2, 2010, 07:46 AM
 
Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post
Quite the contrary, we all know that illegal immigrants are a constant source of inflowing wealth and positive contributions to the general society through paying taxes, medical insurances etc.

-t
That being said, I was looking for something a little more substantial. Not the "I know with my gut that illegals cause State deficits because they don't pay taxes" substantial, but "this data shows that the numbers of illegals in a State follows a trend of corresponding with deficits" substantial.
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turtle777  (op)
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Sep 2, 2010, 10:08 AM
 
Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton View Post
That being said, I was looking for something a little more substantial. Not the "I know with my gut that illegals cause State deficits because they don't pay taxes" substantial, but "this data shows that the numbers of illegals in a State follows a trend of corresponding with deficits" substantial.
Oh, sorry, I didn't know facts were welcome in the PWL, since they are absent from most discussions.

Are we allowed to post common sense, or do we need to attach peer-reviewd research to back it up?

-t
     
ShortcutToMoncton
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Sep 2, 2010, 12:02 PM
 
Nothing wrong with common sense. I approve of it heartily.

On the other hand I tend to find sweeping conclusions based on "common sense" rather unreliable. You know, the whole "clearly the sun must rotate around the earth because if we were moving we'd feel it" sort of bit; or the "black people must not be as smart because white people have all the money" bit; or the "metereologists said it would rain this afternoon but it didn't, so clearly they don't know anything about global warming" bit; or the "California has a larger number of immigrants so therefore their deficit is larger than Texas" bit.

& yadda

greg
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turtle777  (op)
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Nov 3, 2010, 12:49 AM
 
Muahahaha

Are you Californians nuts ?
You just elected Brown for Governor ?

Muahahaha

You're SO going f*cking broke.

-t
     
hyteckit
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Nov 3, 2010, 12:49 AM
 
Yeah, Jerry Brown!

Meg Whitman would've gotten nothing done.
Bush Tax Cuts == Job Killer
June 2001: 132,047,000 employed
June 2003: 129,839,000 employed
2.21 million jobs were LOST after 2 years of Bush Tax Cuts.
     
Lint Police
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Nov 3, 2010, 01:10 AM
 
Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post
Muahahaha

Are you Californians nuts ?
You just elected Brown for Governor ?

Muahahaha

You're SO going f*cking broke.

-t

cause we're not quite "the fuzz"
     
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Nov 3, 2010, 01:42 AM
 
Californians are so stupid they voted against pot decriminalization.
     
hyteckit
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Nov 3, 2010, 02:46 AM
 
Originally Posted by lpkmckenna View Post
Californians are so stupid they voted against pot decriminalization.
Nah, I voted to legalize marijuana. I think it's because the pot heads are too lazy to go to the polls.
Bush Tax Cuts == Job Killer
June 2001: 132,047,000 employed
June 2003: 129,839,000 employed
2.21 million jobs were LOST after 2 years of Bush Tax Cuts.
     
Buckaroo
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Nov 3, 2010, 03:09 AM
 
I left California and will never move back. They are going to go so broke, you have no idea. Companies have been leaving like crazy.
     
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Nov 3, 2010, 05:55 AM
 
Originally Posted by hyteckit View Post
Okay.

Thanks Pres. Bush, Republican Congress, and Republican California governor for outsourcing all our manufacturing jobs.

President Bush had no power to effect the outrageous public sector employment policies that are helping to doom California, nor their insane policies in regards to social services where California taxpayers where paying for Cruise trips and Casino gambling for those thought to be too poor to make it on their own.

No, California has been run into the ground with a majority Democrat control for years and they are going to pay the price for just backward thinking. Sometimes, you have to learn the hard way.
     
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Nov 3, 2010, 12:36 PM
 
Originally Posted by Buckaroo View Post
I left California and will never move back. They are going to go so broke, you have no idea. Companies have been leaving like crazy.
Tell me about it. They are doing nothing to keep business here. A lot of friends in the gaming/film industry are scared shitless. Hell, with all the production going overseas or to Canada Hollywood might be a distant memory.

Brown? Meh. Whitman would've been worse, but both choices sucked this time around. Considering Arnold spent two terms fighting with congress and the unions, didn't get anything done, and I think we'll see more of the same. I mean, we haven't passed a budget on time in years. Government may be slow, but at least in most states they do something. The CA government is useless.

Not to mention that the public employees won't let us cut benefits or pensions, or anything, so all of the cuts continue to come from infrastructure and education. Ugh. The list just goes on and on.
     
hyteckit
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Nov 3, 2010, 01:08 PM
 
Originally Posted by Brien View Post
Tell me about it. They are doing nothing to keep business here. A lot of friends in the gaming/film industry are scared shitless. Hell, with all the production going overseas or to Canada Hollywood might be a distant memory.

Brown? Meh. Whitman would've been worse, but both choices sucked this time around. Considering Arnold spent two terms fighting with congress and the unions, didn't get anything done, and I think we'll see more of the same. I mean, we haven't passed a budget on time in years. Government may be slow, but at least in most states they do something. The CA government is useless.

Not to mention that the public employees won't let us cut benefits or pensions, or anything, so all of the cuts continue to come from infrastructure and education. Ugh. The list just goes on and on.
We can't pass a budget on time because California requires a 2/3 majority vote on the budget.

We just eliminated the 2/3 majority vote requirement yesterday.
Bush Tax Cuts == Job Killer
June 2001: 132,047,000 employed
June 2003: 129,839,000 employed
2.21 million jobs were LOST after 2 years of Bush Tax Cuts.
     
Brien
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Nov 3, 2010, 01:20 PM
 
Yes, that will help. That's not really the point, though.
     
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Nov 3, 2010, 01:26 PM
 
Originally Posted by BadKosh View Post
Do you even realize how stupid you sound with your non-informed assumptions?
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Nov 3, 2010, 01:49 PM
 
Originally Posted by CRASH HARDDRIVE View Post
And of course, California represents UNCHECKED liberalism without any stops. In other words: a complete train wreck which is no longer even just a future certainty, but a present REALITY. Laugh now, but for the rest of the nation: you're only so far behind us with whatever level of liberalism you've got pulling you down.
So, what about Texas and its unchecked conservatism?
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turtle777  (op)
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Nov 3, 2010, 03:01 PM
 
Originally Posted by olePigeon View Post
So, what about Texas and its unchecked conservatism?
Yes, what about it ?

-t
     
sek929
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Nov 3, 2010, 04:31 PM
 
Originally Posted by hyteckit View Post
Nah, I voted to legalize marijuana. I think it's because the pot heads are too lazy to go to the polls.
As an avid pot-head who worked 9 hours yesterday and went directly to the polls you can eat me. The main problem is the lingering mis-information about marijuana from the 50s that people still take as fact.

Legalize it, tax the shit out of it and profit. I can tell you that anyone who wants to smoke weed does so despite it's illegality already so every state is losing out on a ton of money. Not to mention once you take drug dealers out of the equation you have reduced crime and less people being thrown in jail for ridiculous reasons.

Decriminalization passed here in Mass by an overwhelming amount, I am confident we will repeal those ridiculous racist-inspired laws of the 50s once the vote gets here.
     
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Nov 3, 2010, 04:58 PM
 
Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post
Yes, what about it ?
OK.

Texas has an $18 billion deficit. That's the same as California.
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hyteckit
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Nov 4, 2010, 03:19 AM
 
Originally Posted by sek929 View Post
As an avid pot-head who worked 9 hours yesterday and went directly to the polls you can eat me. The main problem is the lingering mis-information about marijuana from the 50s that people still take as fact.

Legalize it, tax the shit out of it and profit. I can tell you that anyone who wants to smoke weed does so despite it's illegality already so every state is losing out on a ton of money. Not to mention once you take drug dealers out of the equation you have reduced crime and less people being thrown in jail for ridiculous reasons.

Decriminalization passed here in Mass by an overwhelming amount, I am confident we will repeal those ridiculous racist-inspired laws of the 50s once the vote gets here.
I agree with you on the reasons for legalizing it.

But stoners don't vote. Voting for the age group 18-29 is down 20% from 2008.

As found on reddit.

Bush Tax Cuts == Job Killer
June 2001: 132,047,000 employed
June 2003: 129,839,000 employed
2.21 million jobs were LOST after 2 years of Bush Tax Cuts.
     
Big Mac
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Nov 4, 2010, 03:23 AM
 
As a native Californian I have to agree with the thread title: The state is toast. But then again so is the rest of the country, because of the bessonites and their allies. California just leads the way. How a tard like Boxer and a failure from a different era, Brown, can get reelected is truly bewildering.

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Nov 4, 2010, 08:22 AM
 
CA needs the nanny state as their failing public schools sure hasn't prepared folks for reality.
     
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Nov 4, 2010, 11:06 AM
 
Originally Posted by olePigeon View Post
OK.

Texas has an $18 billion deficit. That's the same as California.
It'll be interesting to see if Turtle et al manage to come up with a legitimate comeback to that.

OAW
     
turtle777  (op)
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Nov 4, 2010, 11:25 AM
 
Originally Posted by OAW View Post
It'll be interesting to see if Turtle et al manage to come up with a legitimate comeback to that.
Well, shit, no need for a comeback.

I never said that California is going to be the ONLY state to go bust.
And we all know that there are plenty for irresponsible Republicans that are just as bad as Democrats.

Btw, talking about apples and oranges, the $ 18B Texas shortfall is for their 2 year budget cycle.
So with 24.8M population (Wiki), the Budget shortfall per capita per year is $ 363

Let's look at California: Budget shortfall 19B for 1 year budgte cycle, 37M population.
Makes a per capita / year shortfall of $ 515.

Not the same.

-t
     
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Nov 4, 2010, 11:27 AM
 
Originally Posted by sek929 View Post
I can tell you that anyone who wants to smoke weed does so despite it's illegality already so every state is losing out on a ton of money.
Murderers kill people despite it's illegality. Should we also legalize it and tax it as well? Murder licenses maybe?

Not to mention once you take drug dealers out of the equation you have reduced crime and less people being thrown in jail for ridiculous reasons.
I remember this type of argument used in the abortion debate. It was said that legalizing it was necessary to prevent unwanted deaths. Of course, we know that the results wasn't simply the people who would normally have gotten an abortion getting one legally, but rather a boom in the numbers performed causing untold numbers of "deaths" to those who could ill afford to protect themselves.

The assumption of course is that because there are some people who can handle being able to recreationally engage in drug use and not have a problem, that such is the same with most people. If there's a drug problem and marijuana is a "gateway" drug, and all the stoners that I know of that are lazy burdens to society can continue to do what they do without fear of legal reprisal and the burdens and the problems grow, I don't think that the increases in tax collection will justify the increases in damage to society that this will cause.

Normally, legalizing something doesn't either make less of that thing, or really solve the problems in question when that thing had already been the subject of a long-term ban or a source of derision by most of society.
     
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Nov 4, 2010, 11:42 AM
 
Originally Posted by stupendousman View Post
Normally, legalizing something doesn't either make less of that thing, or really solve the problems in question when that thing had already been the subject of a long-term ban or a source of derision by most of society.
Nice way of trying to preemptively weasel your way out of a comparison to alcohol.

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Nov 4, 2010, 11:56 AM
 
Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post
Well, shit, no need for a comeback.

I never said that California is going to be the ONLY state to go bust.
And we all know that there are plenty for irresponsible Republicans that are just as bad as Democrats.
No you didn't. But you also failed to address the point that was made ...

Originally Posted by Hyteckit
How is the situation in California unique? It's not.

It's the economy stupid.

Many states are incurring massive deficits. US is becoming a service oriented economy. Our manufacturing industry is practically gone and has been outsource to countries like China.
Then you go on to say that the election of Jerry Brown is going to make the state go broke ... when the reality is that it is already broke. Primarily as a result of the economic downturn. Just like Texas. And a whole lot of other states.

OAW
     
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Nov 4, 2010, 12:00 PM
 
Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post
I never said that California is going to be the ONLY state to go bust.
I was looking for CRASH to respond. He seems to think unchecked liberalism is the only reason California is screwed. Texas isn't faring much better with its unchecked conservatism.

Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post
Btw, talking about apples and oranges, the $ 18B Texas shortfall is for their 2 year budget cycle.
So with 24.8M population (Wiki), the Budget shortfall per capita per year is $ 363

Let's look at California: Budget shortfall 19B for 1 year budgte cycle, 37M population.
Makes a per capita / year shortfall of $ 515.
I believe it's more like meyer lemons and oranges. California's debt shortfall is roughly 20% of its GDP; while California compiles its budget on a yearly basis, California brings in nearly twice as much money as Texas. Texas' budget shortfall is also roughly 20% for their GDP. So even though Texas' budget is compiled every 2 years, their budget shortfall is the same.

Texas is doing better fiscally in terms of credit, though.
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osiris
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Nov 4, 2010, 12:11 PM
 
Judging from the thread's title, I thought Prop 19 passed and the entire state was celebrating.

Sadly, I was wrong.

Carry on, denizens of the PL.
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Nov 4, 2010, 02:48 PM
 
Originally Posted by stupendousman View Post
Murderers kill people despite it's illegality. Should we also legalize it and tax it as well? Murder licenses maybe?
When you murder someone, you're taking away their rights. Whose rights are you taking away by smoking a little pot?

If there's a drug problem and marijuana is a "gateway" drug, and all the stoners that I know of that are lazy burdens to society can continue to do what they do without fear of legal reprisal and the burdens and the problems grow, I don't think that the increases in tax collection will justify the increases in damage to society that this will cause.
Well, at least your stoner friends would be contributing more to society by paying taxes!

Normally, legalizing something doesn't either make less of that thing, or really solve the problems in question when that thing had already been the subject of a long-term ban or a source of derision by most of society.
Well then it's a good thing that the objective of legalization isn't to make less of it.
     
sek929
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Nov 4, 2010, 03:29 PM
 
Originally Posted by stupendousman View Post
Murderers kill people despite it's illegality. Should we also legalize it and tax it as well? Murder licenses maybe?
Got any more retarded comparisons? Drunk drivers kill people all the time, drunks start fights, drunks rape women. Care to find me any stats on how much more dangerous pot is than booze? Wanna compare death rate annually of Nicotene to marijuana?

Originally Posted by stupendousman View Post
Normally, legalizing something doesn't either make less of that thing, or really solve the problems in question when that thing had already been the subject of a long-term ban or a source of derision by most of society.
Making something illegal (see Prohibition and organized crime) doesn't discourage the user at all. Now you have criminals in charge of something that I could easily grow in my backyard by throwing some seeds on the ground. Now charge me 150 dollars every two years of so for a pot growing license and I am smoking a fresher product just as frequently as I smoked something smuggled across the boarder by hardened criminals.

Once you make pot legal, and hand out grow licenses the Mexican cartels that deal mainly in weed will be dissolved nearly overnight. Do cartels sell us illegal booze, do the cartels smuggle cigarettes over the boarder? No, because the free market drops the price down to a point where criminals are no longer interested. The best thing this country ever did for the drug cartels was to start the War on Drugs. Idiotic.

Edit: Also what are the 'problems' associated with smoking weed? Last I checked eating a lot of food and being lazy weren't exclusive only to people who light up and if that is the best you got then it's no wonder most people think weed being a criminal activity is ludicrous. I went through the same thing with Badkosh a while back. He was trying to convince me that potheads are criminals because they lay around watching TV and don't get jobs. Yeah, throw em in jail! Not to mention everyone I smoke pot with is the following: HS teacher, Librarian with her Masters, artist who just bought his first house, Merchant Marine employed by Conoco Philips that makes 6 figures. Yep, deviant criminals, the lot of em, how dare they prefer weed over booze for their night and weekend unwind. Don't they know it is better to drink yourself into a coma?
( Last edited by sek929; Nov 4, 2010 at 03:41 PM. )
     
lpkmckenna
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Nov 4, 2010, 09:54 PM
 
Originally Posted by stupendousman View Post
Murderers kill people despite it's illegality. Should we also legalize it and tax it as well? Murder licenses maybe?
That's the stupidest counter-argument I've ever heard in my whole life. Congrats.
     
Wiskedjak
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Nov 4, 2010, 10:07 PM
 
I could never understand what the Big Bad was with marihuana ... I mean, aside from the fact that hemp was a superior product to nylon.
( Last edited by Wiskedjak; Nov 4, 2010 at 10:14 PM. )
     
Eug
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Nov 4, 2010, 10:32 PM
 
Originally Posted by sek929 View Post
Got any more retarded comparisons? Drunk drivers kill people all the time, drunks start fights, drunks rape women. Care to find me any stats on how much more dangerous pot is than booze? Wanna compare death rate annually of Nicotene to marijuana?
I'd almost rather see cigarettes banned. I hate the damn things. I'm just glad that it's illegal to smoke in bars and restaurants here now.

And drunks piss me off to no end, despite I've been one from time to time in the past.

BTW, although in truth I'm rather neutral on the issue of the legalization of pot, I also think it's foolish to think that smoking weed isn't very bad for your health. It might not be worse than smoking cigarettes, but smoking cigarettes is TERRIBLE for your health.
     
SpaceMonkey
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Nov 5, 2010, 12:00 AM
 
Originally Posted by sek929 View Post
Edit: Also what are the 'problems' associated with smoking weed?
You shouldn't be smoking, you have a mortgage!

"One ticket to Washington, please. I have a date with destiny."
     
besson3c
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Nov 5, 2010, 12:22 AM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
I'd almost rather see cigarettes banned. I hate the damn things. I'm just glad that it's illegal to smoke in bars and restaurants here now.

And drunks piss me off to no end, despite I've been one from time to time in the past.

BTW, although in truth I'm rather neutral on the issue of the legalization of pot, I also think it's foolish to think that smoking weed isn't very bad for your health. It might not be worse than smoking cigarettes, but smoking cigarettes is TERRIBLE for your health.

This one time this drunk threw a beer mug at a guy in a band I was playing in, and it caused a bar fight!
     
 
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