What is wrong with California?

[Uncle Ted]

My best friend from college announced his retirement last week. He has worked for a city in Northern California his entire career. He is in his early 50's and will retire with a pension that covers about 90% of his pre-retirement income. He is going to work a little part-time, but mainly he will just enjoy life keep mamma happy from here on out. Now his city (and the California taxpayers) will pay his pension at just about the same rate as his salary from last week and all of the salary of his replacement. I am happy for him, but that is just insane from a fiscal point of view.

Yep, California is our Greece. In Greece even hardressers retire with a full pension at age 50.

[Moliere]

I wouldn't get too excited. If this analogy is right your hometown is maybe Belgium.

Belgium is France's Canada.

Sounds a little scary. What if the city goes bankrupt and they wipe out the pension?

The likelihood of his pension being severely cut is about 0.00001%. He's probably part of a government workers union which wields a lot of power, not to mention the political fallout to the mayor who runs on a platform to slash pension payments for people currently retired. It's the same issue we face with SS in that we know the benefits should be reduced, but no one is dumb brave enough to do that given the size of the baby boomer voting block and the American mind set that can barely think out past the next one or two paychecks.

And I don't know bankruptcy laws, but I imagine that pensions are somewhat protected in such a case.

Yep, California is our Greece. In Greece even hardressers retire with a full pension at age 50.

The scoutmaster in the neighboring ward is from California. He retired at 55 after working some administrative position for the government. His pension is north of $100K per year plus full benefits. The month or so after he retired he moved to Texas because, in his words, "$100K per year goes a lot further in Texas than it does in California."

Now he has a nice house and a fat pension and he just does the retired thing everyday. I thank the hard working California taxpayers who's taxes go to pay his pension and ultimately end up in the Houston economy.

[Pheidippides]

Belgium is France's Canada.



The likelihood of his pension being severely cut is about 0.00001%. He's probably part of a government workers union which wields a lot of power, not to mention the political fallout to the mayor who runs on a platform to slash pension payments for people currently retired. It's the same issue we face with SS in that we know the benefits should be reduced, but no one is dumb brave enough to do that given the size of the baby boomer voting block and the American mind set that can barely think out past the next one or two paychecks.

And I don't know bankruptcy laws, but I imagine that pensions are somewhat protected in such a case.



The scoutmaster in the neighboring ward is from California. He retired at 55 after working some administrative position for the government. His pension is north of $100K per year plus full benefits. The month or so after he retired he moved to Texas because, in his words, "$100K per year goes a lot further in Texas than it does in California."

Now he has a nice house and a fat pension and he just does the retired thing everyday. I thank the hard working California taxpayers who's taxes go to pay his pension and ultimately end up in the Houston economy.

Hey, the guy across the street is the same!

[LA Ute]

Yep, California is our Greece. In Greece even hardressers retire with a full pension at age 50.

Fortunately, in CA it is still only public employees who get such deals. That's bad enough.

[Uncle Ted]

The scoutmaster in the neighboring ward is from California. He retired at 55 after working some administrative position for the government. His pension is north of $100K per year plus full benefits. The month or so after he retired he moved to Texas because, in his words, "$100K per year goes a lot further in Texas than it does in California."

Now he has a nice house and a fat pension and he just does the retired thing everyday. I thank the hard working California taxpayers who's taxes go to pay his pension and ultimately end up in the Houston Texas economy.

[bluegoose]

Maybe we wouldn't be in as much of a financial mess if you dishonest, non-deposit-payin' Nevadans and Arizonans would stay on your side of the state lines with your cans and bottles.

Estimated that our recycling program is losing between $40 million and $100 million annually due to fraud.

[Donuthole]

Maybe we wouldn't be in as much of a financial mess if you dishonest, non-deposit-payin' Nevadans and Arizonans would stay on your side of the state lines with your cans and bottles.

Estimated that our recycling program is losing between $40 million and $100 million annually due to fraud.

Thou hypocrite. First cast out the beam in thine own eye.

in addition California recyclers are claiming redemptions for the same containers several times over, or for containers that never existed.

[TripletDaddy]

My biggest problem with California is that I am not there.

[oxcoug]

I am tainted in that I lived in NYC, though, and California is generally viewed with an amplified level of the disdain that New Yorkers have for everybody.

That's odd given my experience - I find that there's a pipeline between New York and CA. Two of my company's co-founders are NYC natives who moved to Nor Cal and never want to go back to NYC to live. My ex-girlf grew up in the heart of NYC, her dad was born in the Bronx and her Mom on the LES and she - and her parents - were all interested in moving to CA.

I, on the other hand, am a Nor Cal native who moved to NYC and love both.

My next-door neighbor is an NYC native who has lived half of the last decade in NYC and half in SF and can't find an excuse to get back to CA fast enough. My counterparts at Conde Nast and other media groups have an unusual incidence of bi-coastals like me and all seem to love both places. There's a media pipeline between LA and NYC and a tech/biz/money pipeline between the Bay Area and NYC.

Of course they are anecdotes - but I find they are representative of the general attitude and movement between the coasts. I've never noted any special animosity for NY'ers towards CA, only just that a lot of them think of it as the other place they'd like to live in the US - but I've certainly noticed amped up disdain for Texas and and indifference toward what most of what people in the NYC/CA nexus refer to as flyover country.

So maybe all of it's anecdotal. But I'm surrounded by people who have lived in both and the balance of them prefer CA to NYC (though I personally prefer NYC at the moment).

Postscript: Of course the Dodgers and the Giants are ultimate illustration of the NYC-CA nexus and mirrored what is now generations of NY'ers tripping into CA's cities and then filing back.

[bluegoose]

Thou hypocrite. First cast out the beam in thine own eye.

Easily explained. Those are native Nevadans that move here to take advantage of our numerous entitlement programs and generous recycling fund.

Besides, Our governor has a fool proof plan to put an end to the waste and abuse.

To help identify people bringing cans into California, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law last month that will require those importing more than 25 pounds of aluminum or plastic or 250 pounds of glass to declare at the border what their purpose is and the source and destination of the material.

Self identification. Criminals will be bound by law to confess their intent to the CA border patrol.

[TripletDaddy]

That's odd given my experience - I find that there's a pipeline between New York and CA. Two of my company's co-founders are NYC natives who moved to Nor Cal and never want to go back to NYC to live. My ex-girlf grew up in the heart of NYC, her dad was born in the Bronx and her Mom on the LES and she - and her parents - were all interested in moving to CA.

I, on the other hand, am a Nor Cal native who moved to NYC and love both.

My next-door neighbor is an NYC native who has lived half of the last decade in NYC and half in SF and can't find an excuse to get back to CA fast enough. My counterparts at Conde Nast and other media groups have an unusual incidence of bi-coastals like me and all seem to love both places. There's a media pipeline between LA and NYC and a tech/biz/money pipeline between the Bay Area and NYC.

Of course they are anecdotes - but I find they are representative of the general attitude and movement between the coasts. I've never noted any special animosity for NY'ers towards CA, only just that a lot of them think of it as the other place they'd like to live in the US - but I've certainly noticed amped up disdain for Texas and and indifference toward what most of what people in the NYC/CA nexus refer to as flyover country.

So maybe all of it's anecdotal. But I'm surrounded by people who have lived in both and the balance of them prefer CA to NYC (though I personally prefer NYC at the moment).

Postscript: Of course the Dodgers and the Giants are ultimate illustration of the NYC-CA nexus and mirrored what is now generations of NY'ers tripping into CA's cities and then filing back.

This has been my experience, as well. My mom, aunt, and uncle...born and raised in the Bronx, moved to SoCal, never wanted to move back. My cousins that are still there love coming out West in the same manner that we love visiting the city.

I have found that NY and LA are the one place that the other place will begrudgingly admit is cool.

[Pelado]

That's odd given my experience - I find that there's a pipeline between New York and CA. Two of my company's co-founders are NYC natives who moved to Nor Cal and never want to go back to NYC to live. My ex-girlf grew up in the heart of NYC, her dad was born in the Bronx and her Mom on the LES and she - and her parents - were all interested in moving to CA.

I, on the other hand, am a Nor Cal native who moved to NYC and love both.

My next-door neighbor is an NYC native who has lived half of the last decade in NYC and half in SF and can't find an excuse to get back to CA fast enough. My counterparts at Conde Nast and other media groups have an unusual incidence of bi-coastals like me and all seem to love both places. There's a media pipeline between LA and NYC and a tech/biz/money pipeline between the Bay Area and NYC.

Of course they are anecdotes - but I find they are representative of the general attitude and movement between the coasts. I've never noted any special animosity for NY'ers towards CA, only just that a lot of them think of it as the other place they'd like to live in the US - but I've certainly noticed amped up disdain for Texas and and indifference toward what most of what people in the NYC/CA nexus refer to as flyover country.

So maybe all of it's anecdotal. But I'm surrounded by people who have lived in both and the balance of them prefer CA to NYC (though I personally prefer NYC at the moment).

Postscript: Of course the Dodgers and the Giants are ultimate illustration of the NYC-CA nexus and mirrored what is now generations of NY'ers tripping into CA's cities and then filing back.

Pretty odd that her mom would be born on a stadium. Is that still an option?

[venkman]

Another good one from VDH.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articl...is-hanson?pg=2

Open borders, redistributionist socialism, therapeutic and politicized public schools, and public-employee unions finally are proving a match even for Apple, Google, Facebook, the Napa Valley wine industry, Central Valley agribusiness, Hollywood, Cal Tech, Stanford, and Berkeley. In California, it is a day-by-day war between what nature and past generations have so generously bequeathed and what our bunch has so voraciously consumed.

On any given day, beautiful weather, the Pacific Coast, and the majestic Sierra Nevada are trumped by released felons, $5-a-gallon gas, and a 1970 infrastructure crumbling beneath a crowded 2012 state.

There are many lessons from California. One is that the vision of the present administration is already here — and it simply does not work.

[MarkGrace]

Hair metal.

[New Mexican Disaster]

Hair metal.

Wrong thread. That is for the What's right with California thread.