Ever Wonder Why California is so Broke?

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[ NO surprise here. ]

[h=1]California's bullet train (and biggest boondoggle) is over budget by billions[/h][h=2].[/h]
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By Barnini Chakraborty | Fox News







[h=4]Billion-dollar cost hike for California bullet train[/h]New reports reveal California's bullet train construction project is costing $2.8 billion more than anticipated. What's happening now and what it could mean in the future.




It’s billions of dollars over budget and seven years behind schedule, and appears to have no plausible way of living up to its goal of getting riders across the state in three hours or less.
Welcome to what’s arguably the nation’s largest infrastructure project and California’s biggest boondoggle.
The highly hyped bullet train has been a challenge from the start. No one thought it would be technically, financially and politically easy, but the way the project has been mishandled has some Californians fed up and demanding answers.


Just this week, the California High-Speed Rail Authority, the organization charged with overseeing construction, reported that the cost of the first segment had dramatically risen – again.
“The worst-case scenario has happened,” admitted Roy Hill, lead consultant on the project.
Since its start, this hot-mess express of a project has been plagued by delays and has blown through every single budget estimate imaginable. And it’ll likely cost the state and taxpayers more in the coming months and years.
Much more.
“The so-called bullet train is a solution in search of a problem that is plagued by billions of dollars in cost overruns and fiscal mismanagement,” San Diego City Councilman Mark Kersey told Fox News. “The billions being wasted on this boondoggle could have been invested in our current infrastructure needs, such as water storage, flood control, highways and bridges.”
This week’s updated cost estimate -- to complete just the first phase - a 119-mile segment in the Central Valley - has ballooned to $10.6 billion. That’s a jaw-dropping 77 percent increase from initial estimates, 36 percent higher than forecasts from a year ago.
When California voters in 2008 narrowly approved $10 billion in bond as seed money for the high-speed rail development, they were told the total cost would be about $43 billion.
Fresh estimates put it now at $67 billion.
Brian Kelly, head of the State Transportation Agency, was appointed this week to run the High-Speed Rail Authority. He told The New York Times that even though the project has “mammoth opposition,” he has “never seen a single project that would have such a transformative impact as this one.”
Other supporters reason that the project should continue because billions of dollars have already been spent.
Critics, however, say the state should cut its losses and call it a day.
“The money is already wasted. There’s no way to unwaste it,” James Moore, director of the transportation engineering program at the University of Southern California, told Fox News.
He added that Californians have only “scratched the surface” when it comes to expenses, and said that estimates were “overtly deceptive.”
He described ridership forecasts as “fictional” and said the idea behind the state bullet train lacks logic.
“If you build a mode that is slower than an aircraft and costlier than gas, people aren’t going to ride it,” he said.
Kersey agrees.
“It’s far from certain that Californians would even utilize the proposed high-speed rail given the ease of air travel among California’s major cities,” he said. “It’s so easy to get in an airplane and fly anywhere you want to, (to) any of the big cities around the state.”
He also said that by the time the train is up and running – sometime around 2025 - it will be outdated.
“The ‘high-speed’ rail debacle is the technology of yesteryear and has no feasible plan for success,” he said, adding that Californians shouldn’t be forced to foot the bill for “pet projects for politicians.”
The four leading Democratic candidates for governor in California have offered various levels of support for the rail project.
The Los Angeles Times says current Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom -- the frontrunner in the gubernatorial race -- has dodged repeated requests for interviews on the bullet train for more than two years.
Newsom’s office also did not return multiple calls from Fox News seeking comment.
“This reticence to speak about a deeply troubled project might seem like smart political strategy, given its support by the governor and construction trade unions, a valued Democratic constituency,” The San Diego Union-Tribune wrote in a scathing editorial. “If the Democratic candidates don’t detail how they would salvage the most expensive public project in California history, there’s a better adjective: cowardly.”
Last February, California’s House asked the administration to block a pending federal grant until an audit of the project’s finances is completed.
The letter was signed by all 14 members of the state’s Republican delegation and was sent to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
As of now, there's been no movement on the request.


 
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[ Fucking idiots ]


"When California voters in 2008 narrowly approved $10 billion in bond as seed money for the high-speed rail development, they were told the total cost would be about $43 billion.Fresh estimates put it now at $67 billion."
 

BZ

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[ Fucking idiots ]


"When California voters in 2008 narrowly approved $10 billion in bond as seed money for the high-speed rail development, they were told the total cost would be about $43 billion.Fresh estimates put it now at $67 billion."


Hey asshole- what's our deficit again? :):)

How about this- just focus on your shit hole of a state!
 

BZ

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[ Why anyone would want to live in this shithole is beyond me. That is unless you're a flaming liberal maggot like BZ]

California and the definition of insanity: Why do Democrats love tax hikes so much?

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By Chuck DeVore | Fox News







California lawmakers seek corporate repatriation tax

Two California lawmakers want companies who are bringing back billions from overseas as a result of the GOP tax cuts to pay billions more in taxes.




California is already seeing residents and businesses flee the state because of its sky-high taxes. Yet unbelievably, two Democratic state assemblymen have proposed to more than double the state business tax – hiking it from 8.84 percent to 18.84 percent on businesses with annual net incomes of more than $1 million. This would be the highest state corporate tax rate in America.
The rationale for the giant tax hike? Denying the companies tax savings from the federal income tax cuts recently signed into law by President Trump. Soak the rich! Billions in new tax revenue for the state! What could possibly be wrong with that?


In fact, a great deal is wrong with proposed massive tax increase. There’s no question it would only worsen the corporate exodus from California and make it even less likely that new businesses would be created in the state, which already has the second-highest state corporate income tax, after Alaska.


And guess who the tax increase would hurt? Everyone in California who needs a job. Fewer employers in the state mean there will fewer jobs for employees.
There’s an old saying: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” By that saying, it would be crazy for California to keep raising taxes in hopes of improving its economic position.
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2)]Video

Chuck DeVore warns against California tax hike proposal



Fortunately for Californians, the constitutional amendment proposed by Assemblymen Kevin McCarty of Sacramento and Phil Ting of San Francisco stands little chance going into effect, because it would require approval by a two-thirds vote in the state Assembly and Senate, followed by approval by state voters in November.
But the fact that the huge tax hike has even been proposed illustrates why California is losing out to low-tax states in the hunt for new businesses and economic growth.
The latest interstate migration data from the U.S. Census Bureau show a consistent pattern: Americans flee high tax states and move to states with lower taxes.
I’ve seen how this works from both high-tax California and low-tax Texas, which doesn’t have any state income tax.
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I was a Republican member of the California legislature for six years, including four years as vice chairman of the Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation. Now I’m vice president of national initiatives for the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
In the California Legislature, I’d hear from government union lobbyists, community organizing groups, and the majority of Democrats countless times that taxes have no effect on the California economy. This blanket assertion was especially deployed to counter the notion that people or businesses might be persuaded to leave the Golden State to escape high taxes and the heavy regulatory burden those high taxes financed.
Ironically, California Democrats voted for measures giving Hollywood big tax breaks, arguing that – you guessed it – without the tax credits, film and TV production would move elsewhere.
Every year the Census Bureau publishes estimates of state-to-state migration flows. For as long as I can recall, California has been a net exporter of people, along with New York, New Jersey and Illinois. What do these states have in common? According to the Tax Foundation, they are the highest-taxed states as a share of income among the 15 most-populous states.
Americans move about the nation, seeking opportunity and better lives for themselves and their families. Low-tax havens such as Texas, Florida and Arizona pull people from California and New York. But even high-tax New Jersey typically sees a net inflow from New York – its even higher-taxed neighbor.
California’s liberal defenders often tout that the state is still growing, albeit far more slowly than it did in the past.
The congressional reapportionment that takes place every 10 years allows California’s growth to be compared with that of the rest of the nation. As the result of the 1960 Census, California added eight seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1970, it added another five.
In 1980, just two seats were added, after the 1970s saw stagflation, oil shocks, and Jerry Brown’s first stint in the governor’s office. The 1990 Census added seven seats to California’s congressional delegation. But the 2000 Census increased the delegation by only one seat. And in 2010, for the first time since becoming a state in 1850, California received no new seats in the House.
California typically loses a net of more than 200,000 people every year, with the largest group moving to Texas. But natural growth and continued immigration from Asia and Latin America make up the difference.
While California has the highest personal income tax rate in the nation and, as a share of income, usually ranks in the top-five highest-taxed states, it’s still a relative bargain compared to many nations in Asia. This is especially true when broadening the comparison to include measures of the rule of law and political stability.
The huge national tax cut passed by Republicans in Congress and signed by President Trump is now law. The president has successfully cut bureaucratic red tape more than any modern president since Ronald Reagan.
Soon, because of President Trump’s tax cuts and sustained deregulatory push, we will not only see $2 trillion of overseas corporate earnings return home to the U.S., but also a renewed interest among the world’s most talented people to move to America. Pending changes to American immigration policy may place a higher priority on immigrants with skills and capital.
Just as California sends more of its entrepreneurs and big businesses to Texas every year, soon America may see a higher flow of creative and talented people to its shores for the same reason: more freedom and a chance to keep a little more of their own hard-earned money.
Low tax rates spark economic growth and job creation. High taxes do just the opposite. This have been proven true time and time again, yet big-spending Democrats still have not learned the lesson.


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[ Vile Scum ]

[h=1]California Democrats Want Businesses to Turn Over Half Their Tax-Cut Savings to the State[/h]Rachel del Guidice / @LRacheldG / January 23, 2018 / comments



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“They're driving business out of the state quickly and efficiently, and this latest move will continue to do just that,” commentator Ben Shapiro says of California state legislators. (Photo: Rolf Schulten /Imagebroker/Newscom)

Democrat state lawmakers in California say they want some businesses to give half their tax-cut savings from congressional Republicans’ tax reform package to the state.
That’s no way to create jobs and raise pay, conservatives fire back.
“It’s typical that Democrats in California see every dollar back in taxpayers’ pocket as a dollar they can steal,” commentator Ben Shapiro, himself a Californian, told The Daily Signal in an email.
“They’re driving business out of the state quickly and efficiently, and this latest move will continue to do just that,” Shapiro said.
Americans need an alternative to the mainstream media. But this can't be done alone. Find out more >>
State Assemblymen Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, and Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, propose a tax surcharge on companies in California “making more than $1 million,” SF Gate reported. This would force the companies to give half of their federal income tax cut to state government programs for middle-class and low-income families.
“Trump’s tax reform plan was nothing more than a middle-class tax increase,” Ting said in a written statement. “It is unconscionable to force working families to pay the price for tax breaks and loopholes benefiting corporations and wealthy individuals.
“This bill will help blunt the impact of the federal tax plan on everyday Californians by protecting funding for education, affordable health care, and other core priorities.”
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The Republican tax reform package, which President Donald Trump signed into law Dec. 22, caps the state and local income tax deduction at $10,000, allowing taxpayers who itemize instead of taking the standard deduction to deduct from federal taxable income any property and income taxes paid to state or local governments.
Adam Michel, a tax policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal in an email that the two Democrats’ proposal to commandeer some companies’ tax savings would harm California’s businesses.
“With more business taxes, they are claiming to tax the rich, but instead hurting wage growth and job creation,” Michel said. “With the other policy, they are actively seeking a way to cut taxes for the richest Californians by looking for SALT [state and local tax] workarounds. It is interesting that they want it both ways.”
McCarty and Ting propose their measure, ACA22, as an amendment to the state Constitution, which means they need yes votes from two-thirds of California’s legislature.
McCarty defended the measure in a statement provided to The Daily Signal.
“I’ve seen enough billionaire justice in the first 11 months of this presidency to last my lifetime,” McCarty said. “At a time when reckless federal tax policy favors billionaires over middle class workers, ACA 22 will help ensure that California can continue to grow and support middle class families throughout the state.”
Among other things, the tax reform package lowers rates on individuals, repeals Obamacare’s mandate for individuals to buy health insurance, increases the $1,000 child tax credit to $2,000, and reduces the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent.
More than 165 corporations, banks, and other businesses have announced new investments, bonuses, wage hikes, and employee benefits since Congress passed the tax reform bill.
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise’s website tracks the trend, estimating that 2 million workers “and counting” are seeing the benefits of tax reform.

 

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Hey asshole- what's our deficit again? :):)

How about this- just focus on your shit hole of a state!


I don't know how you make it through the day in California. You must be a sheltered liberal.
 

my clock is stuck on 420 time to hit this bong
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All I can say is Jerry brown . Born loser. Funny how history always gets rewrote.
 
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[ The fact that this bullshit lawsuit would even be entertained is a fucking travesty. ]

[h=1]California Woman Sues Walmart for Racism over Products in Locked Cases[/h] 26657






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Screenshot/Getty

by Warner Todd Huston27 Jan 2018Perris, CA15,078
[h=2]A California woman is suing Walmart, claiming that the store’s policy to lock certain products subject to a higher rate of shoplifting inside glass cases is racist.[/h]Essie Grundy is taking a Walmart in Perris, California, to court, saying she felt like a second-class citizen because items popular with black customers were locked behind glass doors, CBS Los Angeles reported.
Grundy explained that she originally bought a small comb in another Walmart outside her neighborhood and wanted to get more as gifts, but when she went to the location near her, she found the 50-cent items inside locked glass cases.
“I noticed all of the African American products was locked up under lock and key,” Grundy said at a press conference spearheaded by activist lawyer Gloria Allred.


Grundy claimed she confronted the local Walmart manager and asked to have the lock-and-key policy changed, but the manager refused the request.
The mother of five children said she feels African Americans are being treated like thieves and criminals by having their most sought-after products locked up.
Grundy wants an apology and wants the courts to force Walmart to stop its secure stocking practice.
Walmart said it would review the woman’s complaint but also noted that the shelving policy is in place for a legitimate reason.
“We’re sensitive to this situation and also understand, like other retailers, that some products such as electronics, automotive, cosmetics, and other personal care products are subject to additional security,” Walmart spokesman Charles Crowson said.
“Those determinations are made on a store-by-store basis using data supporting the need for heightened measures.”
In a further public comment, Walmart said:
We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind at Walmart. We serve more than 140 million customers weekly, crossing all demographics, and are focused on meeting their needs while providing the best shopping experience at each store. We’re sensitive to this situation and also understand, like other retailers, that some products such as electronics, automotive, cosmetics, and other personal care products are subject to additional security. Those determinations are made on a store-by-store basis using data supporting the need for the heightened measures. While we’ve yet to review a complaint, we take this situation seriously and look forward to addressing it with the court.
 
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[ Liberalism is a mental disorder. These snowflake maggots need to be locked up in a mental institution. Legislation to fine people for
handing out plastic straws? That's what the maggot liberal left has become in this country. ]


[h=1]California Bill Would Jail and Fine Waiters Who Offer ‘Unsolicited’ Plastic Straws[/h] 2815






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AP File Photo/Andrew Selsky

by Tom Ciccotta26 Jan 20182,935
[h=2]A group of California legislators wants to punish waiters who offer “unsolicited” plastic straws to customers with a six-month jail sentence and a $1,000 fine.[/h]Democratic California Assembly Majority Floor Leader Ian Calderon has introduced a bill that could put waiters in jail for offering their patrons a plastic straw without them asking for one.
“This bill would prohibit a food facility, as specified, where food may be consumed on the premises from providing single-use plastic straws to consumers unless requested by the consumer,” the bill reads. “By creating a new crime and imposing additional enforcement duties on local health agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.”
“Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, a person who violates any provision of the code to be guilty of a misdemeanor with each offense punishable by a fine of not less than $25 or more than $1,000, or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding 6 months, or by both,” it states.


Calderon estimated that Americans use 500 million plastic straws per day. A report on the bill from Reason revealed that the estimate came from a 2011 survey conducted by then 9-year-old Milo Cress. Cress calculated the number by calling straw manufacturers.
In a press release, Calderon explained that the bill is motivated by a push to create greater awareness about the effects of plastic straws on the environment.
“We need to create awareness around the issue of one-time use plastic straws and its detrimental effects on our landfills, waterways, and oceans,” Calderon said in the release. “AB 1884 is not ban on plastic straws. It is a small step towards curbing our reliance on these convenience products, which will hopefully contribute to a change in consumer attitudes and usage.”
After intense scrutiny, Calderon issued a series of tweets that contradict with the text of his bill. Calderon claims now that the bill would not make serving plastic straws a crime. “I’d like to clarify that #AB1884 (Straws Upon Request) is (a) NOT a ban; (b) should it become law, it will NOT make it a crime for servers to provide plastic straws,” he wrote. “My intention is simply to raise awareness about the detrimental effects of plastic straws on our environment.”
 

Rx Normal
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Liberal Shithole:

Diseased Streets

An NBC Bay Area Investigation reveals a dangerous concoction of drug needles, garbage, and feces lining the streets of downtown San Francisco. The Investigative Unit surveyed more than 150 blocks, including some of the city’s top tourist destinations, and discovered conditions that are now being compared to some of the worst slums in the world.

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https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Diseased-Streets-472430013.html
 
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[ Liberalism destroys everything in it's path. 300 piles of shit on the sidewalks. What a fucking cesspool ]

[h=1]Report: Downtown San Francisco Littered with Drug Needles, Piles of Feces[/h]
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eric molina/Flickr

by KATHERINE RODRIGUEZ20 Feb 20183,596
[h=2]One of the most expensive U.S. cities to live in is on track to become one of the dirtiest cities in the world, an investigation revealed.[/h]Journalists with NBC Bay Area released a report which surveyed 153 blocks in downtown San Francisco and found some shocking results: more than 300 piles of feces and 100 drug needles lined the streets of downtown San Francisco, including in areas near upscale hotels and government buildings.
The report brought so much attention to the issue that one website displayed an interactive poop map to shed light on homelessness in San Francisco.
One infectious disease expert told NBC Bay Area that the streets of San Francisco are on par with or worse than those of developing countries.
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“The contamination is … much greater than communities in Brazil or Kenya or India,” said Dr. Lee Riley, a UC Berkeley professor.
Riley added that the slums in developing countries often have long-term housing for the poor, who make attempts to maintain their surroundings. He argued that the poor in San Francisco do not feel the need to clean up after themselves because of a lack of long-term housing.
City officials, however, say the solution to the problem is not through long-term housing, but short-term housing for the homeless.
City Supervisor Hillary Ronen said that the city needs to add more temporary housing in shelters for the homeless to combat the problem instead of using resources to find permanent housing solutions for the homeless.
“We need to find a source of revenue,” said Ronen. “Whether that’s putting something on the ballot to raise business taxes or taking a look at our general fund and re-allocating money towards that purpose and taking it away from something else in the city.”
 
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[ Liberals destroy everything in their path. ]

[h=1]California has worst 'quality of life' in US, study says[/h]
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By Gregg Re, Christopher Carbone | Fox News







[h=4]California ranked dead last in 'quality of life' study[/h]California has worst quality of life among U.S. states according to study by U.S. News.




Awards season is in full swing in California, and the Golden State just took home a booby prize of its own.
California ranks dead last among U.S. states in quality of life, according to a study by U.S. News, ranking behind New Jersey (49th) and Indiana (48th).
The ignominious honor reflects California's low marks in the sub-categories of environmental quality and social engagement. The latter category measures voting participation and community bonds.


Californians scored poorly in part because they're simply insufferable, U.S. News suggested.
"In addition to a healthy environment, a person's quality of life is largely a result of their interactions with those around them," the magazine wrote in a blurb accompanying the results.
One way to measure quality life is whether residents can even afford to have a roof over their heads, and by that standard, California is failing.
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Karen Souza, 55, poses for a portrait with her dog Handsome by the tent in which she lives, under a freeway on a street in Los Angeles. (Reuters)


POST-BANKRUPTCY CALIFORNIA CITY TESTS 'UNIVERSAL' INCOME FOR RESIDENTS
A 2017 Harvard University report said that one-third of renters in the Los Angeles area are "severely rent burdened," meaning they spend at least half their income on housing. The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles County has increased 67%, according to Zillow's Rent Index, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Homelessness has surged a stunning 75 percent in the last six years, the Los Angeles Times reports, and there are now at least 55,000 homeless people in the county.
U.S. News ranked each state in seven other areas, which were weighted based on a survey that determined their importance to the public: health care, education, economy, opportunity, infrastructure, crime and corrections, and fiscal stability.
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A homeless man reads the Los Angeles Times in the window of the building of Los Angeles Times newspaper in Los Angeles. (Reuters)


Regarding its budget, California does have a balanced budget under Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, but the Standard & Poor's rating agency recently warned that the good times won't last.
"California's finances are roaring back," the agency's report said. "History would suggest, however, that any fiscal renaissance will be temporary."
If the stock market shifts from gains to losses, Standard & Poor's said, the budget could be negatively impacted in a major way because about half of the state's revenue comes from the wealthiest 1% in California.
California finished No. 43 in fiscal stability, No. 46 in opportunity, and No. 38 in infrastructure. It posted relatively high marks in health care (11th), economy (4th), and crime and corrections (28th).
California ranked No. 32 among all U.S. states overall, behind New York (25th), New Jersey (19th), and Florida (15th).
Which state has the best quality of life?
Iowa, which scored highly in infrastructure and health care, took the top spot overall.


 

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