5/18 Thank you Gray Davis, who increased state employement by 30%, and
who rewards his primary contributor, the Prison Unions, with fat
pay raises.
Vehicle-tax plan praised - Fee hike would spare drastic local cuts
http://www.recordnet.com/daily/news/articles/051803-gn-4.php
\_ I'm really tired of all this budget bullshit. Is there not a
single state that believe in fiscal responsibility? Any state
that require balanced budget in their constitution?
\_ The last time California ran budget surpluses during a boom
time, we had a "taxpayers revolt" and ended up with Prop 13.
We get what we deserve here. Every recession is like this.
Remember Pete Wilson's big round of tax increases?
\_ No, we had prop 13 because people were losing their houses.
I was here and I remember it.
\_ People were not losing their homes. That was all
bullshit.
\_ Idiot. I was there. Get out of the ivory tower and
join the real world where real people are hurt or helped
everyday by the real decisions real politicians make.
\_ I was there too. Everyone wants to pay
less taxes, but the money for things like schools
has to come from someplace. School quality in
California, which had been in the top 10% of
the country, plummeted and has stayed low since.
How old were you when this happened? No way can
you remember what was really going on. If you
go back and look at the newspaper archives, you
will find one or two people on fixed incomes who
supposedly lost their homes, out of a state with
a population of 20M. You live in a fantasyland.
\_ Yeah all the neighbors who put their houses up for
sale and left the state were just figments of my
deranged and aged mind. CA has many reasons for
being at the bottom of the school rankings, not
teaching the "three Rs" anymore is the primary
reason.
\_ And now people are losing their houses because they can't
afford the property tax that's subsidizing the people who
are benefitting from prop 13. Irony is delicious. Munch.
\_ The problem with prop 13 is that while it was
motivated by a need to protect a primary residence
from fluctuations in the real estate market, it
was written to include *all* property. For humans,
frozen contribution rates on a primary residence
are a good way to apportion the total tax burden
over the life of the taxpayer. For coporations and
other entities that never die, Prop 13 is a nightmare
that has only just started crushing our economy.
\_ Actually it's been crushing it a while. Each
economic downturn just emphasizes it. When the
economy recovers, it'll be forgotten again. After
you finish the cookie, you'll feel right as rain.
\_ Can someone explain what prop13 is?
\_ Quickie version: In 1978, property taxes
assessed according to 1976 prices with a max
+2% change until prop sold. Then it's
reassessed and taxed at current price. Note 2%
is below COLA and certainly way below real
estate increase. Plus, to raise taxes takes
2/3 vote of the legistlature.
\_ Only because we learned the term "double
digit inflation" under Jimmy Carter. In any
sane world, the COLA would be about 2%.
\_ Communist!
\_ Ford invented double digit inflation.
Carter just carried on the tradition.
\_ Ford? Oh pleeeeeaaaaase. It's the
only thing the news talked about for
his entire term. Oh yeah, that and
the Hostage Crisis. |