Wednesday Open Thread
Spill it.
If you have time, you really should read this article on California. (I’m not sure why a British newspaper is writing this article, where are the U.S. papers on this?) Is California’s economic crisis so big that it needs a bailout?
But the state that was once held up as the epitome of the boundless opportunities of America has collapsed. From its politics to its economy to its environment and way of life, California is like a patient on life support. At the start of summer the state government was so deeply in debt that it began to issue IOUs instead of wages. Its unemployment rate has soared to more than 12%, the highest figure in 70 years. Desperate to pay off a crippling budget deficit, California is slashing spending in education and healthcare, laying off vast numbers of workers and forcing others to take unpaid leave. In a state made up of sprawling suburbs the collapse of the housing bubble has impoverished millions and kicked tens of thousands of families out of their homes. Its political system is locked in paralysis and the two-term rule of former movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger is seen as a disaster – his approval ratings having sunk to levels that would make George W Bush blush. The crisis is so deep that Professor Kevin Starr, who has written an acclaimed history of the state, recently declared: “California is on the verge of becoming the first failed state in America.”
[…]
But it is no laughing matter. One in four American mortgages that are “under water”, meaning they are worth more than the home itself, are in California. In the Central Valley town of Merced, house prices have crashed by 70%. Two Democrat politicians have asked for their districts to be declared disaster zones, because of the poor economic conditions caused by foreclosures. In one city near Riverside, a squatter’s camp of newly homeless labourers sleeping in their vehicles has grown up in a supermarket car park – the local government has provided toilets and a mobile shower. In the Los Angeles suburb of Pacoima, one in nine homeowners are now in default on their mortgage, and the local priest, the Rev John Lasseigne, has garnered national headlines – swapping saving souls to saving houses, by negotiating directly with banks on behalf of his parishioners.
Tags: Open Thread
This isn’t the first time California has used IOU’s to pay it’s bill’s. CA has a political problem, the state legislature insists on spending more money than they have in tax revenue.
hmmm looks like Ayers is now claiming/admitting he wrote “Dreams” and not Obama….
From National Journal:
Inside Washington
Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009
Who actually wrote Dreams From My Father? The book cover says Barack Obama, but one corner of the right-wing blogosphere thinks Obama had a ghostwriter—and that it was Bill Ayers, onetime Weatherman, current academic, perpetual radical. National Journal caught up with Ayers at a recent book festival where he was exhorting a small crowd of listeners to remember that they are citizens, not subjects. “Open your eyes,” he said. “Pay attention. Be astonished. Act, and doubt.” When he finished speaking, we put the authorship question right to him. For a split second, Ayers was nonplussed. Then an Abbie Hoffmanish, steal-this-book-sort-of-smile lit up his face. He gently took National Journal by the arm. “Here’s what I’m going to say. This is my quote. Be sure to write it down: ‘Yes, I wrote Dreams From My Father. I ghostwrote the whole thing. I met with the president three or four times, and then I wrote the entire book.'” He released National Journal’s arm, and beamed in Marxist triumph. “And now I would like the royalties.” —Will Englund
Um, RICO…tell me you are only trying to embellish the easily apparent sarcasm of Ayers here.
Please tell me you’re not that F-ing stupid. Even from what you copy/pasted there, it’s very obvious that if the exchange ever took place, Ayers said it as a joke. And if even one moron took it at face value, it was a pretty funny joke.
But if you are posting it just as a funny Ayers anecdote, then thanks. It was amusing.
RICO, please learn how to post a link. (Simply copy and paste, DL will do the rest.)
BTW, when did Republicans become this dumb?
Pandora, was that a rhetorical question, or are you proposing a post topic? This could end up being a chicken/egg thing. Or better yet….”It all began in the heady days of the late 1990’s. A scrappy young governor from the Lone Star State dreamt (usually at his desk) of bigger things….”
It’s RICO, people, and he is that f*ing stupid.
This is the same clownshow who got snowed by that dumb list of talking points of scary stuff that wasn’t in the bill.
An interesting this to keep in mind is that new York was in close to failed state status back in the 70’s too.
What amazes me is that there isn’t much of an effort to make changes to the governing structure of CA that keeps them at risk for financial ruin when the economy goes south. Another instance of politicians not asking people to step up and do the right thing.
Hmmm, Scott, I think I’ll write something up. 🙂
One of the big problems for California is the much-adored proposition system. The people can propose, and vote in, any measure, without determining how it will be paid for. Then the legislature must find the money to support the new proposition without adding any debt.
This has created a nightmare of proposition mandates, completely unfunded by anyone.
Combined with a dysfunctional legislature, an education system that’s falling apart, the continued effects of both Prop 13 and the recession, and a population out-flow, California’s in deep trouble.
New York is not far behind.
pandora,
I think that post will be too long to write.
GO PHILS!
BE CHAMPIONS!
it’s so nice to hear “high hopes” and harry’s voice at the end of every game… this season is for HK
corny but cool.
reminds me of some of the songs English soccer fans sing at matches.
after game two i say we sing this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBniebL55bw&feature=player_embedded
Delaware Unemployment Trends – August 2009
Delaware Unemployment Trend Heat Maps:
A map of Delaware Unemployment in August 2009 (BLS data)
http://www.localetrends.com/st/de_delaware_unemployment.php?MAP_TYPE=curr_ue
versus Delaware Unemployment Levels 1 year ago
http://www.localetrends.com/st/de_delaware_unemployment.php?MAP_TYPE=m12_ue