The Starving Economist

California AB 750 ALERT

2011-08-22T00:43:00.000-07:00

AB 750, calling for a Task Force to study starting a state bank, will be heard later this week in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

This is not a controversial bill and simply asks for a task force to study a state bank.

A public bank will pull the state's money out of Wall Street and bring it home, where it will be used to partner with community banks to lend credit to small businesses so they can start hiring.

North Dakota has done this already.

California needs to get our economy going.

Please act on supporting this bill right away: today or tomorrow.

Call the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Christine Kehoe (San Diego), to urge passage:

916-651-4039.

Or email:

Asm. Hueso, author of the bill

assemblymember.Hueso@assembly.ca.gov

Approps. Comm. Chair

senator.kehoe@sen.ca.gov

Did you get what YOU wanted in debt deal?

2011-08-01T17:05:00.000-07:00

Poll on what WE wanted. Share this with your representatives.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/behind-the-numbers/post/polls-did-the-public-get-what-it-wanted-in-debt-deal/2011/07/12/gIQAD7cZnI_blog.html

Too Bad They Weren't Interested In Having Some Of The Top Corps Pay Their Taxes

2011-08-01T16:50:00.000-07:00

http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/01/ge-exxon-walmart-business-washington-corporate-taxes_slide.html

Bunch of whiners.

ACTION NEEDED NOW REGARDING NATIONAL BUDGET DEAL

2011-08-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

(Blogger is having a formatting problem. Please let me know if this post looks bizarre in any way! Contact me at starving.e@gmail.com)

On to the post...

UPDATE:

HAPPENING NOW:

If a deal becomes already done, we should still read the below and then take the action to give them the information they should have paid attention to. Damn it!

As for what's happening now

Call C-SPAN now at 1-292-585-3886.

You can follow what's going on, and also Twitter

http://www.c-span.org/Live-Video/C-SPAN3

http://on.msnbc.com/nvQ1mCand

We can contact the White House, and also Congressman Ryan--who, since he put forth his budget plan for the entire country, should hear from the entire country and not just his constituents.

UPDATE: Debt Ceiling bill passes House :( :( :(

What idiocy is going on.

One problem that seems to be affecting those representing us in Washington is confusion about the National Debt, the Deficit which contributes to it--

and, the Debt Ceiling. They do sound a bit the same. Such as Car and Car Seat. But would you try to drive a car seat down the freeway?

So you don't hold up raising the Debt Ceiling while you work on the National Debt/Deficit. They are not the same. They are not the same. Let Washington know. They need a clue.

Many people wish to make cuts in national government spending, which would reduce the Deficit which contributes to the National Debt. There should be DEBATE about which cuts to make, as well as when to make them.

Why? Because the public, we the people, haven't had much time to have the options explained to us, how the cut proposals would really affect us and the people we know, and how to then give our representatives OUR opinion.

In addition, WHEN to make the cuts is an economic issue. Cuts result in lost jobs. We are unfortunately in a period of high unemployment. Lost jobs mean those who lost their jobs have less money to spend. So they don't spend at all of the businesses which they did. before, right? The businesses have less income, and lay off people. This results in more and more unemployment.

Unemployment also means the government receives less tax revenues. So they make more cuts...it is a spiral. Circling the drain.

Cuts are thus dangerous in periods of high unemployment and a fragile economy. The time to make large cuts is when the economy is strong. It's not strong now.

There is no reason to address the National Debt and the Deficit at this exact moment. There is time which should have been given to you and me to become informed and to then let the representatives , who do work for US, know what we want! We should always be consulted!

Raising the DEBT CEILING, on the other hand, which expires tomorrow, would allow our nation to pay our current bills. Whether you pay your bills with cash, check or credit card, you must pay them on time. What if you don't pay them on time because you have decided to review your budget first and make personal changes in your spending and revenue? Wouldn't you sound like an idiot?

Do you tell your plumber to wait until you feel like paying your bill? What about your credit card payments? What happens to your reputation for paying your bills if you do this? What happens to your credit rating? Then what happens to your interest rates?

If our country loses our reputation for paying our current bills, other countries will lose confidence in us and this will cause us economic harm. If we do not pay what we owe on credit, our credit rating could be downgraded and our interest rates could increase.

Ironically this would make it HARDER to pay off our debts and reduce the Deficit and the National Debt. Harder, Washington. Listen and learn.

But: we can't (or should not have raised) raise the Debt Ceiling by forcing a bad deal through Congress which would make things worse, such as unemployment. We have more than enough unemployment.

So we must tell them we oppose or opposed a rushed, bad deal for the National Debt and Budget Deficit, and tell them to always give us time to respond to important proposals. But raising the Debt Ceiling should have been done a lot earlier so we could pay our bills and keep a good reputation! Sheesh, how hard is that? Why don't they get it?

Those who read this are not likely to have had a chance to register YOUR opinion, based on receiving information like what is written above, about any deal in the making.
Clearly this is not a good time for large cuts. Who wants more unemployment?

Also, the cut proposals seem mainly focused on discretionary social spending. This is more harmful to the economy than increasing revenues from billionaires and many profitable corporations (who now pay little or no taxes) would be. Hopefully I can write more on this later. We are being ripped off. In the meantime we don't need to harm our economy any more. Obvious.

We have to let our representatives know NOW that we oppose (d) any bad deal which is in the making or which has been made.

Call your own representative at the capital switchboard and tell him or her the same thing: (202) 224-3121.

You can tell them:

1) You should always stand up for THE PEOPLE, who have already sacrificed their jobs, homes, healthcare, and economic security. And by the way, cuts which only affect US, THE PEOPLE, are more harmful to the economy than if the superrich and the corporations who are practically drowning in profits--pay their fair share!!!

2) THIS IS A BAD TIME TO MAKE LARGE CUTS, INCREASE UNEMPLOYMENT, AND TO CONTRACT THE ALREADY FRAGILE ECONOMY.

AND YOU MUST SAY: I WANT (or wanted) YOU TO VOTE "NO DEAL" AND PASS A *CLEAN* DEBT CEILING BILL!

You may also tell the White House what you think.

None of this is not as hard as it looks and takes extremely little time! Please do this! Our country needs you!

We DESERVE to be heard. We want the economy to improve and we don't want anything more to stand in the way of a recovery. Anyone who thinks we are in a wonderful recovery, based on things like the DOW, is out of touch with most of us--aren't they? Are you doing well in this Great Recession/Depression?

If not, speak up to your employees in Congress.

And please pass on this post.

Note: proofreading welcome.

Don't make US debt harder to pay off

2011-07-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

The debt ceiling is, in a way, misnamed. And is an EMERGENCY! Americans must ALL take action now.

Everyone needs to call their representative in Congress, immediately. Not raising the "debt ceiling" actually means it could be much HARDER to pay off our debts!

An explanation: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/warning-to-washington-dont-mess-with-the-debt-ceiling/2011/07/12/gIQA5Q4ADI_story.html .

If this needs translation for non-financial types, let me know :)

The mainstream media has not explained this well. We've got to pass on this information ourselves. Find your rep and CALL: http://www.house.gov . Tell them you want the ceiling raised. And let the people you know, know this. Urge them to take action as well, sending something like this, or in your own words:

Let's not make it harder for America to pay off its debt! The debt is bad enough as it is. Please call your reps and ask them to raise the debt ceiling and to take the issue out of partisan battles. This is something that is important for all Americans. Give the people you know this information. The situation is not necessarily what it appears to be. It's complicated! It's got to do with bonds, and stuff like that! Info at: http://thestarvingeconomist.blogspot.com/2011/07/dont-make-us-debt-harder-to-pay-off.html

UPDATE:

The Coffee Party has a letter-writing campaign to join!

http://www.coffeepartyusa.com/cx-debt-ceiling-hostage-crisis

Don't make it harder to pay off US debt

2011-07-14T15:48:00.000-07:00

There was some sort of bizarre technical error with this post. Please go here: http://thestarvingeconomist.blogspot.com/2011/07/dont-make-us-debt-harder-to-pay-off.html and thank you for your patience.

Deregulators and Creating (really?) Jobs

2011-01-16T13:47:00.000-08:00

Interesting article (which does not absolve Democrats, by the way) claiming deregulation has a negative effect on job creation.

The Anti-Regulators are the "Job Killers" , by William K. Black.

The author was a regulator during the savings and loan crisis, which I remember vividly. My parents, middle managers for a bank and a title insurance company, were so badly affected by this crisis that our family was in financial trouble ever since. This put tremendous stress on my parents and may have made Dad die younger than he would have. It made helping me, one seriously ill woman, difficult, and probably had a bad effect on my disease course--hence my not being able to continue my education or have a career. How the actions of unethical people who head the financial industry harm so many us who are not in positions of power is something I believe is important to think about when we make collective decisions about regulation.

From the article:

"Deregulation, desupervision, and de facto decriminalization (the three "des") created the criminogenic environment that drove the modern U.S. financial crises. The three "des" were essential to create the epidemics of accounting control fraud that hyper-inflated the bubble that triggered the Great Recession. "

Another Split-Second Stop On The Runaway Hate Train

2011-01-08T17:31:00.000-08:00

I wish I were surprised. My heart is broken, my mind is sad, but the surprise button remains quiet and hiding in a dark corner.

Many in our country have been fueling fires. Advocating passions and politics of hate. And some of the haters have been moved to voice sometimes veiled, sometimes blatant, calls to arms.

If we were computers. If we could turn off our emotions and our prejudices and what we perceive, rightly or wrongly, to be our self-interests and/or the interests of our nation. Then we could clearly see that the farther we go in the direction of ignoring, sanctioning or even participating in what has become the demonizing of many of our fellow citizens, there will be people who decide to express the anger burning in their hearts by violent means.

Do any of us hate anyone for social or political reasons? Do we seek to fuel that hate, to spread that hate, or mandate that hate?

When we hate, we have complicity in tragedies like this:

U.S Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords shot...and six die...at shooting in Tuscon, Arizona

I will be writing more about this. But right now I have to allow myself to let my tears flow. My poor country. I wish I could put my arms around it, an angry and frightened child. To cradle it in my arms and whisper calming and loving words about community, safety, tolerance, compromise, coming together, moving to center, renewal and peace.

Anger is part of our human makeup. And it can be channeled in useful and important ways.

But what happened in Tuscon today is not the way.

Links (will update when possible)

Victims Of The Shooting Spree

Nine-Year-Old Girl Born On 9/11 Killed In Arizona Shooting

Chief Justice John Roll Dead In Shooting

Keith Olbermann's Special Comment, On Violent Speech and Action

Sarah Palin's "Target" Map

Senator Says Media Irresponsible For Bringing Up Sarah Palin

Did Vitriol In Political Rhetoric Play Part In AZ Shooting?

We Are Too Quick To Use Mental Illness As An Explanation For Violence

Arizona Shooting Suspect Charged

Oakland In Pain

2010-07-09T19:36:00.000-07:00

Below is a comment I made to this in the Los Angeles Times:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/07/bart-verdict-unrest-in-oakland-at-least-80-people-arrested.html

"I could not be more appalled at the blatant racism I read in some of these comments. I confess I do miss some of the years pre-Reagan, where racism was at least out of fashion enough that the haters would keep some of the vitriol to themselves.

And I love the way some of the "don't-tax-me-I-should-get-it-for-free" types are suddenly the buddies of cops, when cops have confrontations with African-American citizens.

You don't want to pay for anything anymore that would help kids who are born into our inner cities be safe enough, and healthy enough, and educated enough to be able to help turn things around in their communities as adults. Every good thing that was beginning to bud in blighted areas was hacked to death by budget cut after budget cut, year after year, in response to whiners who just yelled "cut, cut, cut!" instead of taking the time and effort to see WHAT should be cut. But these days, you don't even want to pay for your cops!

And you're going to get your wish, in a governor who has no experience in anything but amassing wealth for herself. As she privatizes everything, costing you far more while giving you far less that you would have got if you'd just stopped pissing on your own government instead of working to fix it, and her rich buddies profit from the privatization, enjoy your pricey rent-a-cops. If you can afford them.

Cities like Oakland need more, not less security to make their citizens safe from violence, whether locally-grown or imported. But how can they trust police who have the kind of racist attitudes which have been blasted on this board?

There needs to be a new kind of security for citizens which screens out idiots, racists, power-mad-on-testosterone types, and sadists. And people who can't tell the difference between a gun and a taser. If they are so similar ,than why doesn't someone make the feel of them very different? Make one have a bumpy surface or something. Not rocket science. Or are things so bad that the gun needs a voice which will activate and say "This is your gun. Do you really want me right now?"

Whatever happens, our country is losing our place in the world and many of the blessings we always took for granted at home. We have to start pulling together to make things better and that is not going to happen while we point fingers and hate based on race, class, politics, religion, or anything else.

Posted by: The Starving Economist | July 09, 2010 at 07:31 PM"

Oh NO! I have no right to be blogging here!

2010-06-28T17:47:00.000-07:00

According to one economist, I should not be blogging about economics. Despite the fact that it affects day-to-day life. The reason? I don't have a Ph.D.

See Salon.com's "Economist to bloggers: Shut up, fools."

I wonder if it's even worse that I freely admit that I don't have a Ph.D. And that I never pursued my education beyond a B.A. due to (wait for it) ECONOMIC reasons!

Something I guess I have no right to talk about. Damn.

Social Insecurity

2010-05-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

I personally don't believe we should all trust on our investing luck and skills to finance our retirement years. It's easy to be the one who picked the wrong investment, isn't it? Social Security has worked very well as a safety net for people who have worked hard and deserve to at the very least have food and shelter after they reach the age where it is often hard to work, or if you are still strong and able, even harder to get work than it is for people in their prime working years.

Social Security is also what keeps you from trying unsuccessfully to live in a cardboard box under a freeway overpass if you become disabled due to illness or accident. Not if you decide to just be lazy, radical right propaganda notwithstanding.

I remember a time when most politicians seemed to respect Social Security. Then I lived to see the GOP attack it strongly enough for anti-Social Security to be reported often in the media.

I did not expect a real zinger of a blow to come from a Democratic President...one who is, ironically, often accused of being "socialist" and a "radical liberal" by his opponents.

But the political world today truly is turned upside down and sideways.

An article which comes from The Nation brings the bad news. I read it on Michael Moore's website:

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latest-news/whacking-old-folks

Spill, Baby, Spill...

2010-05-06T00:22:00.000-07:00

photo by Tom, at "A Pacific View." Used with permission.

It seems like just a blink of an eye ago the battle cry heard round the world was "Drill, baby, drill."

After Presidential candidate John McCain and Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin used that phrase as a slogan, chant and mantra in the 2008 U.S. electoral campaign, I certainly found myself encountering it over and over again, ad nauseam. Even while doing my best to ignore some offensive online commenters repulsively discussing drilling in a sexual manner with relation to Ms. Palin, the words gave me unease.

I was not comfortable with the concept of drilling for oil where it might harm environmentally sensitive areas. As a Santa Barbara County, California, resident, I had heard much about the disastrous oil spill which took place off of the coast Santa Barbara in 1969.

I love to swim. And so I always found it very upsetting to have to plan on cleaning my feet with turpentine and my hair with cold cream in order to get oil "tar" off of me after a dip in the ocean. I was told the presence of this tar was due to natural oil seepage, nothing to do with the 1969 spill--and that could be true, for all I know. But it was a constant reminder that oil can be very, very messy, difficult to clean up, and not very compatible with the biology of Earth's life forms.

So I was personally dismayed every time a new oil platform appeared off of the Santa Barbara coast. For years they had been kept to a minimum, but then it seemed that they reached some sort of jumping-off point--was it in the '80s? when they began to multiply more rapidly, like some sort of fecund sea monsters. Sometime in which memories of oil spill damage began to fade in the national consciousness, local protests began to be ignored, as the nation's voracious appetite for oil continued to average out to a rapidly upward course--and the beast had to somehow be fed.

I've been waiting since President Jimmy Carter spoke to the nation, in the summer of 1979, regarding the U.S.'s problem with dependence on foreign oil, to see some truly powerful political momentum going towards getting this nation to create some significant alternatives to oil. But Carter's warning was mocked, and dubbed "the malaise speech." Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan benefited by characterizing himself as a more positive, upbeat choice.

At the time, as is seen in Carter's speech, one of the biggest concerns for those who were actually worried about U.S. oil dependence were the (correct) predictions that we would end up getting more than half of our oil from countries in unstable parts of the world. Places where anti-Americanism became rampant. And that this could become a threat to national security.

But many of us hoped, as the years went on and more was learned about what some of the unanticipated consequences of an oil-based economy might be, that there would also eventually be serious attention given to ALL of the looming oil-based disasters. These would include the national security problem, but also the potential dangers of spillage, of the possibility that the theory of peak oil is correct, and of the currently debated climate crisis.

The oil platforms off of the coast of the Santa Barbara area can look beautiful when lit up in the dark, as in the photo above. But I think these lights are more like the lures of duplicitous sirens of the sea, than lamps leading the way to President Reagan's oft-quoted "shining city."

As for spilling, baby...

we've had a lot more spillin' goin' on since Santa Barbara, CA, 1969. Although there have been many larger oil spills around the world, we in the U.S. probably heard the most about the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. Ironically, this took place off of the coast of Alaska, the home state of "drill baby" Sarah Palin.

Now we are watching what happens as a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico breaks against coastlines in the south. There are news updates every day, so at least some of the links below could be soon outdated. But no matter what the outcome, this spill has been big news and has sparked discussion about the safety of drilling for oil off of coastlines as well as in deep water.

However, since we haven't exactly been working feverishly on safe alternatives to oil since the days of the prescient Jimmy Carter (unfortunately), it would be quite a challenge to quickly find a replacement for oil. We could certainly do a lot better than we are doing now on conservation, but that would be only a stopgap (no pun intended...) What we have to remember is that we put ourselves into this quagmire and so it truly is up to us to find a solution that works, not only for us, but for the habitat we need for our long-term survival. A habitat which we share with Earth's other residents, and on whom our lives also depend.

Some Linkage:

Deepwater Horizon Incident, Gulf of Mexico. NOAA

US Oil Spill Explained, Al Jazeera (animated)

The Science Of Spills, IncidentNews

Underwater Footage Of Oil Spill In Gulf Of Mexico, BBC

Louisiana Oil Spill 2010 Photos, Huffington Post

Oil Spill Reaches Wildlife Refuge, BBC

Gulf Oil Spill: More Fishing Areas Closed, Los Angeles Times

Gulf Oil Spill Could Threaten Human Health, Healthday

BP Sends Giant Box To Contain Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill, BBC

Special Report: Will The Cleanup Make The BP Oil Spill Worse? Reuters

Lessons From The Exxon Valdez Disaster, Reuters

Focus: Oil Disaster, Al Jazeera

The Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill: Black Storm Rising, The Economist

Oil Spill Clouds Future Of Energy Legislation, msnbc

BP Oil Spill Halts US Oil Drilling Permits For Now, Christian Science Monitor

Gulf Oil Spill: Did Big Oil Run Roughshod Over Regulators? , Christian Science Monitor

BP's Outlook Raised To Negative By Standard And Poor's (Update 1), Bloomberg Businessweek

Obama's Crude Awakening? 350.org

Built To Spill, Crosscut

Was The Gulf Oil Spill An Act Of War? You Betcha, Truthout

Lions and Tigers and Bears...Oh My!

2010-04-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Everyone who has known, or even just sensed, that the same economy which determines whether or not we get a new iPad or just food on the table or an eviction notice for unpaid rent (or my personal favorite, thousands of dollars of medical costs on a credit card to pay off) is actually based on a whole lot of behind-the-scenes shell games is, of course, totally correct.

Yes, your life and mine are routinely gambled with by our good friends The Masters of the Universe.

Here's a good description of some of the mortgage shenanigans -- just for some light reading! Put on your detective hat to follow these trails of fraud and other low-ethics kinds of dubious financial practice.

Shocking Fraud from Financial Scum

Promoting Excellence in California State Parks

2010-03-26T23:25:00.000-07:00

Our parks need your help--please take the time to take this survey!

Promoting Excellence in California State Parks

Roundup: This Week's Historic Legislation On Health Care

2010-03-25T23:06:00.000-07:00

I haven't written a post of my own yet about the bill because I'm still researching it. I don't want to be talking about provisions that aren't there any longer or make other easily avoidable mistakes. I'm sure I'll be able to come up with my own personal set of mistakes AFTER researching the bill! ;)

One thing that I truly believe, though, is that any problems with the bill are the fault of both the Democratic and the Republican parties, for a number of reasons. I can hear the Republicans screaming from here :) But refusing to negotiate in good faith, and being unwilling to consider compromise, has consequences, just as does authoring and passing legislation.

The party A vs. party B situation is especially odd in this case. A significant segment of the Democratic base is angry about the bill precisely because it incorporates so many proposals and practices endorsed by Republicans in the past, at the expense of even serious consideration of what these Democrats were advocating. Those who wanted to see Medicare For All but were persuaded to accept some kind of "public option" as a compromise, didn't get a compromise (yet), so are unmoved by angry Republicans who seemingly got so much of what they had once asked for and yet didn't cough up a single vote.

A bitterly divided government may not govern all that well, and a bitterly divided nation can conquer and destroy itself.
Both parties. BOTH of you are responsible... for what gets done, and for what fails to get done.

Anyway, reaction to the bill is pouring in, and with it comes some information about the bill. I've posted links to some articles of interest below.

Btw, one major reaction, by the Republican Party, was to send the bill back for amendments.

The amended bill, however, did go through:
Congress Passes Amended Health-Care Law

And just fyi, a source of info on the health reform right from the White House is at HealthReform.gov

---

Christian Science Monitor: What Obama's New Health Care Bill Means For Us

Fact Check dot Org: A Final Weekend of
Whoppers?

Huffington Post: Health Care Bill Passes: What You Need To Know

CNN: Health Care Reform Anger Takes A Nasty, Violent Turn

The Guardian: Democrats face death threats and vandalism over new health care bill

New York Times: Going To Extreme, by Paul Krugman

economicprincipals.com: The Hidden History of the Health Care Bill

The Economist: the health care squeeze

Esquire: What President Obama didn't say, by Dennis Kucinich

Huffington Post: Jodi Jacobson, The Health Care Bill And Women's Health: Wins, Losses, And Challenges

NOW: Health Care Reform Victory Comes With Tragic Setback To Women's Rights, by NOW President Terry O'Neill

Huffington Post: Fact Sheet, The Truth About The Health Care Bill, by Jane Hamsher

From The Network Of Spiritual Progressives
Reaction To The Health Care Debate

---

Not meant to be an exhaustive list. It is I who am exhausted! More will have to come later.

So What Did We End Up With?

2010-03-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

In the coming days and weeks I know that more information will be forthcoming regarding the details of the historic health care bill which President Obama signed and which Republicans, none of whom voted for the bill, already oppose.

I can certainly understand anyone's concern about this bill, as it is most certainly imperfect. My problems with the Republican opposition are:

1. This bill happens to include many provisions which were originally proposed by Republicans. It can even be looked upon as a huge effort to compromise with Republican interests, in its rejection of Progressive proposals such as Medicare For All and in the sweeteners it gives to private insurance companies.

2. If there is a Republican plan which would help more Americans get access to health care than this bill will, I have yet to see it.

That said, I, like many people, have questions about the bill. A few of mine are:

Does the bill truly eliminate the life-threatening "doughnut hole" gap in coverage in Medicare Part D (prescription drug plan for seniors/disabled; many disabled have no other choice but this plan) ? If so, how does it do this, and when?

What is the actual amount of the much-discussed fine for people who do not purchase health insurance (for whatever reason) ?

Is the expansion of Medicaid now to cover people whose incomes are 133% of the poverty level? What happens if a state does not go along with this, since Medicaid is a federal/state program?

Do the promised achievements in lowering the deficit come at the expense of Medicare? taxes?

What does this bill and/or an executive order signed by the President do to women's rights to an abortion?

How does it (supposedly) eliminate discrimination re pre-existing conditions? What is the exact mechanism of this? What if the policies offered are unaffordable?

What goes into effect immediately?

Ok admittedly I have a lot more questions! But I'm researching a few at a time. After all, I'm ill myself, and right now in a huge mess because I can't afford my Medicare copays (a problem I do not think this bill addresses is the lack of access of the disabled under age 65 to Medigap policies.)

Support The Medicare You Can Buy Into Act

2010-03-22T12:40:00.000-07:00

The health care bill? Well...it's complicated. I hope to get some sort of compilation of info up on this blog today. In the meantime. for the legally educated or the simply courageous: you can read the bill here.

And I'm hoping Congressman Grayson won't mind me copying a mass mailing I received from him which makes an appeal for expansion of Medicare:

In 1968, a ten-year-old boy had to go to the hospital four times a week for treatment. Without that treatment, he had trouble breathing, and he felt like he was suffocating. Because he was suffocating.

His health care was covered by his parents' health insurance. But then they lost their jobs. They were worried about how they would pay the rent. He was worried about whether he would live or die.

How can we let a 10-year-old think about such things? Whether you are Democratic or Republican, left-wing or right-wing, liberal or libertarian, you know in your heart that that's wrong. And it's what you know in your heart, your empathy, that makes you human.

I was that 10-year-old boy. And I haven't forgotten.

That's why I support universal, comprehensive and affordable health care for all American. For you. For me. And for sure, for my five young children, and yours, too. The supposed "sins" of joblessness, homelessness and poverty, those "sins" of the parents, should never descend on the children.

I'm fighting for a decent life for all, especially our children. That's why I voted yes on today's health care reform bill. It's an historic first step. Historic.

But we're not done. The framework for a comprehensive health care system is in place. Now we must finish the job.

Our Medicare You Can Buy Into Act now has over 80 cosponsors in the House and over 40,000 citizen cosponsors at WeWantMedicare.com. It's a simple bill, to let you and me buy into Medicare. You want it, you buy it, you got it.

www.wewantmedicare.com

Let's do it,

Rep. Alan Grayson

[ Paid For By The Committee To Elect Alan Grayson
http://www.graysonforcongress.com ]

Calling All Californians Tired Of Endless State Budget Crises

2010-03-12T12:39:00.000-08:00

It is now too easy for a minority to hold up passage of budget/revenue bills. The wasted time results in enormous costs to the taxpayer as well as bringing chaos to the state economy. Majority rule is normal, fair, and efficient. Requiring 2/3 to agree for budget passage is a burden shared by only a very few other states (Arkansas and Rhode Island), states whose budgets are nowhere near the size and complexity of California's.

Go HERE, to Californians For Democracy, to help get budgeting sanity on the ballot.

We have one of the highest-paid legislatures in the nation. It's time we have them doing more than bicker and stalemate.

How The Other Half, Oops I Mean The Top 400, Live

2010-02-25T20:32:00.000-08:00

Their income goes way up while their taxes go way down. What I don't understand is why about half of the U.S. is cheering this ripoff and begging for more. Frankly, I don't think a lot of people know about this and other economic indications of their being trampled upon. It's not on Fox News--Rupert Murdoch isn't hurting for $ so why should he care?

"Move Your Money"

2010-01-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

Many years ago, my father worked in a bank. After he died, my mother worked in banks for many years. So I didn't grow up seeing bankers as evil...and certainly not necessarily wealthy! The greedy overpaid mess that Wall Street became was pretty far removed from our middle class life, which started to become struggling middle class when the savings and loan crisis hit in the '80s.

Anyway, this was an interesting discussion regarding banks of today and I thought I would post it here.

People--A Liability?!

2009-12-22T22:41:00.000-08:00

I remember my stepfather telling me once, when we were discussing business economics, that as a manager he had to look at the people who worked with and for him as liabilities to the company. Their salaries and benefits were on the red side of the accounting ledger. But he remembered when he first started working in the 1950s or so, when a different attitude prevailed here in the U.S.--you tried to keep your people, even in an economic downturn. You didn't want to lose the investment you had in them: the resulting decision to hire them in the first place after an process of elimination taking up staff time, the on-the-job training and experience they received from you, the expertise they acquired during their time with you, the value of having a team used to working with each other and having found ways to be productive as a team...losing all of this has costs to the company. Costs that are not often listed in the ledger.

Another important business asset is goodwill. When you have a good reputation this increases demand for your products or services. Once lost this can be difficult to replace. I believe that goodwill is harmed when a business or other hiring entity discards its trained and experienced staff like ballast during economic downturns. People take note that the company or industry is not safe to work for and does not value its investment in the human beings who work there. Given enough publicity it can drive away customers or result in difficulty in finding people to hire with the level of expertise you used to have when times become good again--you have scared them away; they do not trust you; good luck getting them back.

In the past two decades or so I believe there has been a dangerous economic trend which considers people not only to be expendable but encourages "lean and mean" hiring practices. So now we go into stores and have to walk miles to find a cash register. Transactions which were once pleasant are now horrific as we line up to what used to be 9 work stations at a bank, or a governmental body, and only 3 people are working there. The costs are not calculated but result in customers losing time, patience, goodwill towards the place. The customers' time could have been put towards their own productivity. Like inefficient traffic lights, the aggregate of the individual costs add up to a large loss for the economy as a whole, in gasoline and the value of people's time.

Shipping jobs overseas where labor costs are extremely low may make economic sense for an individual firm in the short run. But for a national economy in the long run it is a flirtation with disaster. Every job lost at home is a person potentially unemployed or underemployed. These people can no longer spend at their prior level which is a lost customer for businesses. How brilliant...to work together to make many of your customers unemployed. A way to grow the economy...with voodoo economics.

The lost tax revenue from the jobs the people no longer have also contracts government money. And then the government cuts. More lost jobs. Yes I'm dizzy, now. Can this mean that slowly the economy is doomed to spirally contract until somewhere a weak link in the economic chain can no longer function and starts a domino effect of collapse? In the wake of The Great Recession...I wonder.I'm probably expressing myself badly. I am so tired tonight. But hopefully some of you out there will understand what my words are trying to say!

There are so many people here in California who are angry at the economic state they now find themselves in, with our high costs of living and now-high unemployment. The call is for the government to cut programs and services and thus taxes. On paper this sounds like it could stimulate the economy. But in periods of high unemployment, recession or the "D Word"..do you really want the government to contract and LAY PEOPLE OFF? Let's say you do what supposedly we did and cut your government spending about 20% with reduction in government size. You have people who were once served who are no longer served. People who were getting benefits who now are in trouble and can't buy groceries. Aha, government saved money. But did they? No one thinks of the effects this might have on grocery store owners.

Laying people off means those people must contract their spending. This affects the businesses of which they were formerly customers. These people also now pay less taxes, as do the businesses who have lost them as customers and now have less business revenue. The loss in tax revenues puts the government back in a deficit...and the response is to further contract government spending? Can this work in bad economic times? Or do we get into a spiral of cuts-layoffs-reduced revenue-cuts and around and around we go, where it stops nobody knows?

At the root is that the many roles people play in the economy have been forgotten. The investment in people is not on the balance sheet.

Government cuts in education are a current concern for California. Our "brain trust" was what attracted businesses here. Now that is threatened and there will be jobs which go to other places which continue to invest in education for their residents.

I found this letter interesting. It is from scientists explaining to our governor that savings from cuts to salaries in higher education may not be as helpful as might seem at first glance. But the message seems to have not been received by the public or the government. If you don't pay your good people enough then they will leave the state. And all of the jobs the research generated go with them. The current fad of extremely short-run thinking would make it seem like money would be saved by the cuts. But if one takes the longer view, looking at several years into the future and examining all of the jobs related to the research which now might go elsewhere, there could very well be a large net loss to the state economy. And it is in economic terms, rather than personal passions, which I believe have not been fully explained to the public and which are simply not understood.

Again, tossing people out in which investment has been made has consequences. A truly dispassionate computer would be able to calculate whether the long-term loss makes the short-term gain worthless. But the computers can be used by those who already have their preconceived notions about what is best to do, often based on ideology instead of dollars and cents adjusted for inflation or deflation please...and the answer is corrupted, flawed, false, fool's gold.

In another post I commented on what is going on right now within a part of the science budget in the UK. For whatever reason, such as short-term thinking instead of a fair and balanced long-term assessment, the UK government is choosing to leave this budget in chaos rather than correct a bookkeeping error which happened a few years ago when a new council was formed. Now these scientists seem to be divided against each other in arguing their case for the now-limited funds available. Divided...conquered. I believe the economically oriented voice would be saying: "The bookkeeping error must now be fixed (adjusted for inflation.) The government must simply find a way to replace these lost funds. There are surely many places where this money can be found. If it is not found, the investment in people--the training, the research, the hard-won expertise--is thrown into the garbage dump AT AN UNCALCULATED COST TO THE TAXPAYER." In addition they risk seeing enthusiasm for going into the sciences affected being wiped out after seeing what has happened to those who put their trust in this government for their careers and livelihood and who are being treated as though...people don't matter.

People matter. Even more than things. This is how we build a good economy and a good community. Once people are seen as only a liability the downward spiral begins. Here in chronic deficit-land, where we have people dying from losing their health care and children hungry who are no longer being fed and jobs disappearing like open fields in the wake of housing developments I think we are learning that forgetting what people contribute to the economy as a whole, whether as producers or consumers, is an accounting error which builds on itself until a Roosevelt comes along and spends the way out of the mess.

We're waiting for you, FDR. Where is that reincarnation when you need it? Do I approve of everything he did as President? Of course not. But he knew not to try to cut his way out of a deflationary spiral.

The Personal Is Political, As We All Said Back In The Day

2009-12-16T18:43:00.000-08:00

I just received some rather unpleasant personal health news. Which only makes this the more poignant for me, someone who has been wearing my knees out praying for meaningful US health care reform for at least 22 years now.

I'm sure the Dems will find the mandate to purchase health insurance, punishable by a hefty fine, with no visible mechanism for assuring affordabilty of policies, a real vote-winner. I think they fell into a Republican trap. Egg them on to "compromise" and then don't sign YOUR name onto the mess...right, Repubs?

Not Shocked At All, Mr. President. Just Sad.

2009-12-16T09:48:00.000-08:00

I was thrilled when Obama won the election. He had some very positive things to say in his campaign speeches. He is intelligent and an excellent speaker. But most of all, he was the viable alternative to Raging McCain and Unqualified Palin. If the latter had been elected I think many horrific nightmares could have come to life.

But I always thought Obama was center-right, not center, and certainly not "liberal." It always amazes me to see how bitter and angry the far right is when they get lucky and either don't realize it or don't care because they would rather be bitter and angry. Obama COULD have been a liberal, but he's not. He's bent over backwards to accommodate the right. They just give him no credit for it whatsoever.

Rolling Stone has "Obama's Big Sellout" as the title of this informative piece. But I'm not sure if Obama sold out; I wonder if he was simply seen by many progressives with their rose-colored glasses on to begin with. Understandable, IMHO, given how far the country has shifted towards right-wing extremists since c. 1980. That's a long time to be waiting for a pendulum to begin moving back.

Yes, yes, there was Clinton, but we are still paying dearly for his failure to enact meaningful health care reform, for that horrific Telecommunications Bill, as well as his anti-welfare actions, NAFTA, the cuts to capital gains taxes for the wealthy, and his sexual peccadilloes which, while albeit absurdly focused upon (rather than his policies) by the media, effectively cast a pall over the Democratic Party and any hope for some time of getting center-right leadership again instead of extremist-right.

Anyway. On health care reform...I still cannot support what is floating around the Senate right now. The best I can do is give pros and cons and ask people to judge for themselves. I do hate to stop the momentum for health care reform, and am very concerned we might not get this momentum back again, after so many years of working and waiting for it. OTOH--this is a bad bill in so many ways. Robert Reich is a good read right now on the subject, although I disagree re expansion of Medicare...I think that would be our way out of the darkness if it were eventually applied to everyone. I'm certainly open to a private rather than public solution, but none has been proposed that is cost-effective and covers everyone decently. If there is one, I'm all ears, and here I'm talking to YOU, Party of "No."

Idiocy Overseas

2009-12-16T01:28:00.000-08:00

I've been so steeped in US health care reform madness. Who would have thought we would end up with a mandate for individuals to purchase insurance, w. noncompliance punishable by a hefty fine, with no public option or any other mechanism for ensuring that at least some policies will be priced low enough for people to afford? It's an insurance exec's wet dream, IMHO, and I cannot believe our citizens aren't screaming for campaign finance reform NOW in the face of what I frankly consider to be corruption, putting lobbyist $$$ ahead of the 45,000 per year who are slain by our health insurance "system."

So I'd almost forgotten that other countries are out there, facing the Great Recession as well, and making really stupid decisions in the face of it. IMHO one example of blatant incompetence in an economic sense is being perpetrated by none other than the UK. We kind of look up to them, don't we? It's the accent or something. But they are busy tossing some of their world-renowned science, and much of their past investment in such, out the door rather than restructure some of their government funding. Talk about inertia. Their astronomy program appears to be particularly hard-hit. Interesting way to close 2009, the International Year of Astronomy.

It's almost as if, somehow, democracy has ceased to function. Perhaps having The People Rule when The People are too tired from being exploited by their multinational employers to learn anything about what their own government is really doing is something our revered forefathers did not foresee.

For more info on the UK happening:

A Pacific View

To The Left Of Centre

SarahAskew

The E-Astronomer

STFC Funding Crisis: Astronomy

In The Dark

Orbiting Frog

Canspice.org

Twitter: #stfc

Historic Health Care Bill Passes The House

2009-11-10T01:15:00.000-08:00

This is an historic moment, despite the complexity of the legislation and the confusion about it and the emotions stirred by it...and yes, I'm calmer now since my last post !

But I didn't find it possible to sift the information and opinions I've come across in the past two days into anything slick and succinct without feeling like that would be unfair. This is a time for intelligent deliberation, not more one-liner sound bites and misleading partial quotes.

What I was able to put together is here: http://donaldburr.com/healthcare.pdf

and thank you Donald Burr for putting it up on your server for free! (Starving Economists love it when we have things done for us for free...)

Health care has been such a third rail for so long, and our nation's problems with delivering it affordably have been the root of so much suffering which often appears unnecessary, that it is unsurprising so many passions have been stirred. Including my own. Thank you to those who have been bearing with me.

We shall muddle through...

Kucinich Amendment Drop Kick

2009-11-06T23:38:00.000-08:00

And here is the crushing blow.

Trying not to use the b*-word.

No, not "bitch."

Betrayal.

---

Look, those of you who are viscerally opposed to having anything like Medicare for yourselves, ok. Your state would not have been forced to adopt such a system. But this quote of Senator Kucinich from the above article is still an important point to ponder, my friends:

"...As long as there are for-profit health insurance companies, there will be no effective way to protect consumers against ever escalating premiums, co pays and deductibles, unless the insurance companies know that people at a state level will always have a choice to reject the insurance companies and establish a single-payer not-for-profit system.

"That is why the Kucinich Amendment must be put back in the health care bill, not just to protect the rights of states to pursue single payer, but to protect the rights of consumers to be free of the economic death grip of the insurance companies."

Think about it.

"State's Rights!" -- oh, no, wait a minute...

2009-11-01T18:56:00.000-08:00

Remembering Reagan's speech where he indicated his support for state's rights...a position he stuck with despite charges of racism...I tend to associate the Republican Party with state's rights advocacy in the current political era. Certainly many Republicans have strongly articulated a similar position to Reagan's on the subject.

But when it comes to corruption, that is, the outrageous level of influence a moneyed and powerful industry such as the health insurance industry has on our elected officials, it seems anything goes. I'm not seeing a powerful Republican repudiation of Nancy Pelosi's sudden betrayal of all who have been working to see, at the very least, the chance of individual states to enact efficient, cost-effective, and fair health care systems, despite the toxic mess the federal bills are threatening to become.

There is time to speak out against the removal of this right for the states, but the deadline is 2 pm Pacific time tomorrow! So please see this action alert for information on what to do.

It's hard to get a good night's sleep these days, knowing that as you rest, some politician somewhere is contemplating doing something really horrific. Maybe they need to sleep more.

San Quentin Fiscal Insanity

2009-10-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

It is truly amazing that there are so many places in our society where common sense is drowned out by ideology and our flawed political system. In an era of vicious partisan sniping as well as sound-byte-size news coverage and the high cost of purchasing one's own media time, our politicians do not dare risk being labeled "soft on crime." "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me" isn't true for them...any strong negative branding can cost them their effectiveness in their jobs as well as re-election.

Thus we end up with boondoggles such as a proposal to build facilities for more death row inmates. The facilities would be costly. More people receiving the death penalty would be incredibly costly.

So while we are killing citizens by denying them health care, denying our children and young adults the education they need to function in the 21st century economy, shrinking our government in a time of severe recession and ending up with less tax revenues and even more deficit to cope with, making other horrific decisions all in the name of needing to save government money...we yet somehow can be forced to endure a big waste of this money?

The first thing we need are better-informed voters, to put the kibosh on projects which make no sense whatsoever.

Never Understood How There Can Be A "Jobless Recovery"...

2009-09-19T00:06:00.001-07:00

when there is high unemployment. Because then it's not REALLY a "recovery", is it?

The highest unemployment in the U.S. right now is in Michigan, Nevada, Rhode Island, and California. The news today is that California hit 12.2 % in August, setting another record. "New postwar high!" What war are they talking about...WWII?

I'm Too Sick To Write...So Here's A Pointer To Something Worth Reading :)

2009-09-04T22:30:00.001-07:00

Ugh, I hate having a chest cold-thing when it's summer weather...AND a holiday weekend!

The only advantage is that I have the chills while everyone is complaining of the heat.

Anyway, this interesting piece reminds me of why I don't always feel like doing any writing in public when I'm not feeling well...at least, not with so many really pissed-off people around to send me hate mail.

It's not even very creative hate mail.

On another subject, if you're in the US or from the US, Happy Labor Day weekend!

Ok, wages have been flatlined for years now and jobs have been sliced and outsourced to death and unemployment hit a 26-year high today I think but: do NOT let me spoil the party, since I'm just jealous that I'm stuck in bed!

The last rays of the summer sun are starting to vanish... Enjoy them while they are there.

PETITION: Dr. Dean Keeping Up The Fight For The Public Option

2009-08-18T12:55:00.000-07:00

Stand With Dr. Dean ! Nothing good will happen if we don't keep asking for it.

Health Care: Something For The "I've Got Mine Who Cares About You" Group

2009-08-18T11:18:00.001-07:00

The middle class may find paying for health care harder and harder if health care reform fails.

DONATIONS NEEDED: End the CA Budget Crisis Once And For All: George Lakoff Plan!

2009-08-18T03:38:00.001-07:00

Pass This On!

------------------------------------------------------------
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE FAR AND WIDE
------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Our budget process is failing California. Right now, a small minority of legislators (1/3 plus 1) of either the assembly or senate can block the will of the majority. This is undemocratic. It has led to the closing of our state parks, public libraries, andfire departments. It has decimated our educational system and social safety net. It is now time to ACT.

We have an opportunity to pass a proposition in November 2010 to overturn the 2/3 requirement to pass the California budget and raise revenue. Our proposition is simple - one sentence, 14 words:

"All legislative actions on revenue and budget must be determined by a majority vote."

The CA Majority Rule campaign is dedicated to making this happen. This is your chance to change California history with one simple sentence.

In order to run an effective campaign, we first need to conduct a public opinion poll to aid in our message strategy. Author and Professor George Lakoff has drafted questions and we are in the process of hiring a reputable polling company. We need to raise money to conduct this unique poll.

If we don't act now, we may lose the opportunity to pass this initiative.

To DONATE, click on the link below:
http://www.actblue.com/page/georgelakoffmajorityrulepoll

Please donate what you can. If each of our supporters donates just $35, we can reach our $35,000 goal quickly and entirely with grassroots support!!

The West L.A. Democratic Club has offered to accept funds for the poll through this special Act Blue page. With your support, WE WILL WIN in November 2010.

Sincerely,
Deana Igelsrud
(digelsrud@yahoo.com)
:)

------------------------------------------------------------
Help fund the George Lakoff Poll go to:
http://www.actblue.com/page/georgelakoffmajorityrulepoll

To learn more about CA Majority Rule
visit our website: (www.CAMajorityRule.com)
------------------------------------------------------------

Man Of The Hour: Thom Hartmann

2009-08-18T02:08:00.000-07:00

Thom Hartmann: let us buy into Medicare.

(photo from the web)

Why is Medicare confined to the elderly and the disabled/chronically ill...the most expensive health care users? Why do the private companies get exclusive rights to the healthier population they carefully cherry-pick for maximizing premium collections vs. potential claims? We tolerate this, which lets many of our citizens remain uncovered or undercovered, and also comes with at least 18,000 fatalities ANNUALLY...for what reason?

Could the extremists sit down and shut up so the rest of us could get some health care?

Medicare is not perfect (nothing is) but with what we are paying for our crazy "system" now, we could afford to fix its problems with $$$ left over. Oh, maybe a few bloated executive wallets might suffer, but I can live with that. Can't you?

CALL FOR BOYCOTT: Whole Foods

2009-08-13T23:29:00.000-07:00

I thought I would be shopping at the new one coming to my area. I was wrong!

Their CEO does NOT need my barely-enough food money. I'm not going to fund his propaganda.

Progressive Caucus in San Luis Obispo this weekend

2009-08-13T16:12:00.001-07:00

I only just learned about it, so apologies for the short notice! http://www.progressivecaucuscdp.org/home.html

Cuts That Bleed...

2009-08-01T23:07:00.001-07:00

Domestic Violence Shelters

No, I don't know how any policymaker of any political persuasion could have in good conscience slashed all of the funding for the above. I have not figured out how this happened, in the early part of the 21st century.

See Stop Family Violence to take action.

The California Budget, as signed in July 2009

2009-08-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

California is still suffering from high unemployment (a shout-out here to my own household and to so many friends who have also lost their jobs) and shows other indications of economic weakness. So the hope was for something less contractionary than the current all-cuts budget, with the cuts affecting mainly the poor and the middle class. Isn't this a classic way to fuel demand destruction?

In addition, from a humane, common sense, let's-get-out-of-the-short-term-thinking-trap point of view, this budget is the nightmare many of us prayed we would not see in real life. It is needlessly cruel and dangerous to many vulnerable citizens, such as the sick, the disabled and children. It takes from education, thus eroding the pool of talent our state needs to both attract and keep businesses here and to cope successfully with the new economy of the 21st century.

This budget is not a permanent solution to the deficit problem, and adds new debt. For those of you concerned with the cost vs. benefits of the presence of illegal immigrants in our state, this budget does not address that issue in any way. The closure of our parks will take away more than 2 dollars from our economy for every 1 dollar saved. The cuts to firefighting allocations, from the point of view of someone who was recently close to the Jesusita Fire, the Gap Fire, and the Tea Fire, simply take my breath away.

There WERE other alternatives--so why these and other terrible furies leashed upon us? It is as if the leaders were trying to punish the citizens of this state. Is that a crazy thought? Or is it perhaps something real, such as retribution for those who did bother to vote having voted a big NO on the ballot propositions of last May, in a special election which was to help balance the budget -- with the one YES vote from the electorate going towards prohibiting increases to legislators' salaries during times of budget deficit...?

I cannot say for certain what produced this horrific end product of months of tortured negotiations. But it is interesting to note that once again, a minority successfully held the majority hostage, delaying the signing to the point where the state began to issue IOUs instead of paying obligations, delay which once again wasted a great deal of money and time.

As a former Republican, I keep calling on the California GOP to please move back towards the moderate center, where the majority of us are sitting on the Confused Couch, wringing our hands. No one I know, Republican or Democrat or Other, refused the entire idea of more taxes to help balance the state budget. People don't want their money wasted. They want to see government, including politicians, sharing in the sacrifice we all must make to get the books permanently in order. But only extremists are ok with ripping health care from sick citizens, leaving disabled people without care, taking away education and health insurance and funding for necessities of life for children, closing our parks, reducing our firefighting capabilities, and in other ways attacking our communities.

Most of us just want common sense. So naturally questions begin to be asked, such as why is California the only oil-producing state which does not have an extraction tax (as opposed to such commie pinko liberal hangouts such as Alaska and Texas) ? Why were there recent tax cuts for corporations in the billions of dollars? What was so wrong with the proposed FIFTEEN DOLLAR PER YEAR fee to be added to the vehicle license fee which would have kept the parks open? I'm very low-income and yet I could have come up with that, and would have gladly contributed to something so important to our state.

Now the silent sane majority, who would have stayed quiet had this 2009 budget been a rational product of sincere negotiation, are now going to have to join some of the passionate advocates for reform of some of the provisions which were slipped into Proposition 13, many years ago. At that time people were voting to help homeowners who were losing their homes due to rapidly rising home values and the accompanying too-rapidly rising property taxes. This was the famous "Tax Revolt," which was to usher in an antitax national rebellion. If it in any way contributed to Ronald Reagan's election, perhaps it did do some of that ushering. But that was thirtysomething years ago and our economy has changed dramatically in those years.

The voters who proudly voted back in '78 to keep property taxes on homes from rising too fast were not also vocally championing keeping taxes on commercial property artificially low as well: but that's what 13 gave them, thus making the state heavily dependent on income tax revenue, which varies wildly in "boom" and "bust" years. 13 also slipped in a mandatory requirement for 2/3 of the legislature being needed to agree before a tax could be passed, before a tax cut could be repealed, and for a budget to be passed. 2/3 is hard to get in a large state with strong political divisions. In fact the only other states who require a 2/3 vote to get a budget passed are Arkansas and Rhode Island. California does not have much else in common with these states, AFAIK. I know Rhode Island pretty well, actually. Have ancestors there going back to the state founder. Arkansas, I need to rely on others to tell me about.

Anyway, for 30 years this state has had trouble getting any needed revenue increases passed as well as getting budgets passed on time. And we scratch our heads and wonder where these deficits come from.

Some information and current campaigns:

California Budget Project analysis

Health Access: State Budget

Courage Campaign: Override The Cuts

California State Parks: Stop The Closures

Seeking California's Elusive Oil Tax

Close The Prop. 13 Loophole

The photo, btw, is from what was a fireplace a friends' home before the Tea Fire came.

Hello Out There

2009-08-01T18:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the upgraded version of this blog!