The past few weeks have seen the angst and regurgitated fake talking points spewed out of every politician with an agenda, no matter the agenda. The liberal governor of California has gotten into the act with his imitation of all Hollywood's diaper-fewer children when he said that his state will take their ball and go play with someone else. I personally am still waiting on the call from all the so called celebrities who need help moving to that other country when Trump got elected. Governor Jerry Brown spoke up, sounds like woke up doesn't it, and said that "we" don't need the federal government. "We" can go it alone. "We" pay more in taxes to the government than we get back. Got delusions?
I'm going to concede the point that CA just might pay more in federal taxes than they get back in return. I'm also going to concede any point that Democrats just might know how to run things efficiently on a state and/or federal level, despite any real evidence, because politics isn't about efficiency. It's about getting re-elected and that was something DNC members were good at, until lately. Mr. Brown, in his best comedian imitation joked that "we might have to build a wall around California to defend ourselves from the rest of the country". He has been on a roll lately with the states increases in minimum wage, extended family leave, ballot initiative on the high speed rail, giving drivers licenses and every other benefit to illegals all with a projected 2Bilion dollar deficit.
The ASCE (American Society of Engineers) warned in 2013 that the state of CA had a $65 billion infrastructure investment deficit in providing even an adequate level of support for public infrastructure. Spending on infrastructure went from 20% of the state budget (nations best) to 3.4 percent (nation’s worst) in the span of a few years. In defending himself from the rest of the US and new federal policies Mr. Brown has neglected to tell the story of the little boy with his hand in the dike. State and local governments owe $1.3 trillion for bonds, loans, debt guarantees, unfunded public pensions and post-employment benefits, a debt of 52% of GDP. Maybe we should help him build the wall there first instead of the border.
The Oroville Dam has made much news these past few weeks. The structural integrity of the 3.5 million acre foot lake dam, itself 770' high, is and has been in question for years. The orgy of federal liberalism of the past 8 years has encouraged liberal governors to kick the can down the road in favor of balloons and coloring books for everyone. Taking liberties with the national law like giving sanctuary to criminals and harboring every lost cause of the past 200 years has affected the CA budget adversely to the point of criminality, just like national one. While accounting practices become things only a lawyer would love people are placed in danger, Mr. Brown has asked for federal help and actually blamed the US government for their troubles. Opinions are sharply divided over whether this is a federal problem or not. It's my opinion that if you want to budget your money on trinkets then the results are your problem. Until next week. ags
