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New York, 2:18 AM
Sun Dec 20
11 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/28/09
Between this and the knife incident, I think we New Yorkers can safely say to you Californians that your governor is a bigger goddamned fool than ours. And trust me, Paterson has set that bar pretty high. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/29/09
10/29/09
10/28/09
I can hardly wait to see who buys the office next. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
Ironic that the one who wasn't "man" enough to speak his mind was the Terminator.
He can still kiss my gay ass. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
I give him points for being cordial and coy while remaining blunt and demonstrating some wit.
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
But when you are bitching about how awful the politicians are, make sure that you place a healthy share of the blame on the voting population of California.
*The unworkable budget and tax situations can't be fixed because voters would freak.
*The state keeps adding spending mandates because the voters want them.
*The state can't raise revenue to pay for the spending mandates because the voters won't stand for it.
*The only reason that Arnie's in a position to make this gesture is because the voters recalled his predecessor, for the heinous crime of returning automobile registration fees to their previous level.
As Kent Brockman said, "Sometimes, democracy just doesn't work." #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
Um, aren't these elected officials supposed to represent us when it comes down to decision-making time?
I apologize for any redundancy... it just feels like a whole idiotic mess.
#arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
We vote into office people who excel at fundraising and manipulating their local political machines. (You might have noticed the slate cards in last year's elections, their endorsements, and the amount of time politicians spend pandering to the competing Democratic clubs of SF. That is an industry in itself, trust me.)
The people we elect are supposed to make educated decisions about the most pressing issues, but instead, they spend their time building up their campaign funds and pandering to their political bases, in preparation for the next level of office. That's because term limits (which I sincerely regret supporting) don't allow them time to learn the issues or develop coalitions that transcend party lines.
The initiative process in California is a very low barrier to putting whackadoodle ideas on the ballot, or to enacting them; witness the Prop 8 debacle. It is easily manipulated by people with the money to pay for signatures, which is how we wound up with Arnold as governor.
It has become easier for the Legislature to put items onto the ballot than it is for it to enact them on its own, in part because of the dysfunctional budgeting process.
The only thing that scares me more than the current state of affairs is the lunacy that we could get up to in the process of writing a new constitution for the state.
In short, our legislative branch has reduced itself to a talking-shop, and if there are terrorists armed with nukes, I hope that they set one off in Sacramento while the Legislature is in session. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
What I want to know is why there is such a low barrier for the initiative process? Was the entire concept (not citing specifics, just the general origin of props) created from money-filled special interest groups or was there a real, legit reason at first (like, you know, the reason for the democratic process in its most raw form)?
Oh, and it isn't like they'd be interrupting much.
#arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
To address why the barrier is so low, my only explanation is that people a hundred years ago assumed that the electorate would be increasingly better-educated and civic-minded, thereby being in a position to evaluate laws on their merits.
As you might have noticed, this is not how things turned out. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
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10/28/09
The idea is a good one, but there has to be some change to crush the advent of political hit men (both commercial and political) using paid sig gatherers to get things on the ballot. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
You're right that Johnson probably didn't expect that there would be paid signature gatherers, but given the explosion in the state's population over the ten years preceding his governorship, I don't think it takes much of a leap to assume that he expected the state to keep on growing by leaps and bounds. What I'm sure he didn't count on is the extension of citizenship (and thus, the franchise) to the degree that has happened.
I would be happy to see paid signature gathering outlawed, but I don't know if that would survive the inevitable challenges in both state and federal courts. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/28/09
Way to screw an entire state over pique, Arnold. Adult. Real adult. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
tim redmond:
UPDATE: Aaron McLear from the governor's press office just called. When I asked him if the Fuck You message was intentional, all he would say was "what a strange coincidence." He was clearly being sarcastic.
Tweedle, that pretty much confirms it -- these guys knew exactly what they were doing.
What. An. Ass. Fantastic that a bunch of Frat Asshats and their serial-molesting boss have the time to craft such nonsense while the state is burning (not literally, as of this moment - phew!), while screwing a major city and county of CA.
That's leadership! #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
In short, the state handed SF a mess of rotting piers, warehouses and seawalls, and told the City to have fun. Local government contributes nothing to the Port's operations (even if it had the money, which it doesn't), so the decay has continued, with the notable exceptions of the Ferry Building and Phone Company Park. Sure, Herb Caen Way... is pretty, but most of the piers are just a sneeze away from collapsing into the bay. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
10/28/09
unwarranted gossip creation by the so-
called "editors" at Gawker. This is the
kind of thing that demeans all blogs.
It's sad, but it is increasingly apparent
that this is the new standard here.
As a reader and California native, it
really saddens me to see all of the
new, innovative ideas our Gov. has
introduced to help our state grow and
excel be lost under your faux-scandals. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
10/28/09
What exactly has Der Governator accomplished in the last six years? I can't think of a single thing. That said, Ammiano is a toad who got where he is because of identity politics, and he got what he deserved. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
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10/28/09
"Suck it Arnie" didn't escalate matters, and I suspect he is doing other things with his time than reading Gawker, like Sudoku or Jumble, or shopping for a Bluetooth headset for Maria. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
Which is weird, because governor Gray really did suck, and many of the Governator’s ideas for reform were not bad. I guess it’s lilke how Republicans in Washington want Obama to fail? Even though reforms can be good for Republicans too? Sometimes politicians put political games before the best interest of the people. Dastardly!
Say what you will, Schwarzenegger’s caustic acrostic has more art to it that Ammiano’s tired-ass gay appropriation of a tired ass-phrase.
10/28/09
Seriously: he's done the same stunts as Gray did, only Davis had the $billion-dollar Enron theft as an excuse and at least he tried to balance the budget by rescinding the temporary recess the "car tax" enjoyed during those dot-com bubble days.
Arnold was/is an AWFUL manager whose budgets are more full of smoke & mirrors than Willie Brown could have imagined on his most devious days.
But hey, he's a Republican and he was in a few movies, so I guess he's full of Teh Awesome, huh? #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
10/28/09
The paragraph lead message gambit was reported this day in the overground press, so it must be true, and that practice also preceeds the Goobenator. I remember it occurred in the sixties, possibly a campus newspaper by someone who later became famous for even more daring and creative exploits. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
10/28/09
@Dr. Nick: I just made that up. But thank you for introducing me to a band I’d never heard! #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
I won't lie, I would LOVE to see how that would have worked out in a parallel-universe scenario. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
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10/28/09
Failus Trans Boardus. =) #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
We've voted for modest increases in the sales tax, but property taxes are damn near untouchable. This leaves California depending on income taxes, capital gains taxes and sales taxes for flexible sources of revenue. In a near-depression, all three of those have not delivered as expected.
The root of the annual budgeting crisis is that budgets have to be passed by a two-thirds vote of the legislature. The GOP caucus has taken a blood oath to obstruct any increase in any tax, and there are just enough of them to hold the budget hostage. Thanks to the gerrymandering of safe districts for both parties, we've painted ourselves into a corner.
The problem is not with bonded project like high-speed rail, it is about meeting simple operating expenses of the state and local governments, since cities and counties depend on the state for flexible sources of revenue, courtesy of Prop 13. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
10/28/09
The problem with California, as you do mention, is our stinking love for propositions, which no one outside of those with a legal degree can ever understand the full repercussions of yet they are all over the ballot each year like flies....
(I for one want the high speed train, but I also want prop 13 recalled, pot legalized and taxed really high and a monorail going down Wilshire Blvd...) #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
10/28/09
@snugbug: I was not allowed to listen to popular music growing up! I am still catching up! #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
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10/28/09
On the other hand, I completely agree that the Proposition system is unbelievable stupid and out of hand. Why elect representatives to introduce and pass or fail legislation and then completely by-pass the system? I always think of this as the uneducated dupe's revenge against the educated.
High speed train requires hiring state workers to do the environmental impact studies. Okay with me but I know that 3 biologists have quit since the furloughs (13% pay cut) started so the high speed train won't be on the fast track.
Legalizing and taxing weed? What could be smarter and more lucrative? NOTHING!!! Plus maybe it will save our National Parks from being turned into wall to wall illegal weed farms and keep our government from dissolving into chaos a la Mexico. Oh wait! We'd have to legalized meth, too to keep that from happening, but I'm with you still on legal pot. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
First off, the state doesn't collect property taxes, local governments do. Tying the revenue stream to property values has its downside, but the receipts from property taxes are nowhere near as erratic as the take from income (earned as well as capital gains) or sales and use taxes, as we have seen in the current crunch.
The state government is stretched thin, but cities and counties and school districts (which since 1978 have depended on the state to make up the difference that they can no longer collect through property taxes) are up Manure Creek.
Yes, there needs to be a brake on residential property taxes, but the problem is that the 2% cap enshrined in Prop 13 is outstripped by inflation in most years, so that a city or county that isn't growing by leaps and bounds loses the purchasing power of that revenue over the passage of time.
This means that a "core city," such as San Francisco or Oakland, that has limited room to expand will also have a somewhat more stable base of property tax receipts, as contrasted with an "edge city," which is more likely to face a complete collapse in property values when the pool of mortgage-based capital dries up.
The problem with keeping Prop 13 intact is that under it, commercial property taxes are frozen along with those for residential property. That needs to change, and soon.
That said, I am so in favor of legalizing marijuana. While we're at it, let's extend the closing time for liquor licenses to 4am on weekdays and 5am on weekends. It's a terrible sacrifice, but one I am willing to make for the greater good. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
Correct me if I'm wrong, because I don't live in California (except in my dreams), but didn't Reagan and Orange County Republicans pass laws in the 1970's that you couldn't raise taxes unless you had a 51% majority? Since Republicans are 1/3 of the vote in California they've consistently voted to not raise taxes. That would be fine if Republicans hadn't been busy for the past 30 years incarcerating a million people in California for mostly drug offenses, at massive cost to taxpayers. It's a myth that Republicans don't like to spend money, they just LOVE to spend it on shit that doesn't benefit anyone other than them (see Jails, Iraq, War on Drugs, Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska, etc...) Wasn't Orange County also the originator of the exotic mortgages that allowed the Poors to bring this country to it's knees? I've been visualizing an East Coast/West Coast bankster feud as I type this. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/28/09
10/28/09
10/29/09
My own suburban city is 99% built out at this point and our crooked city council members are slavering to sell the last large remaining property they have before they all leave office. Of course this is our property and they want to sell at a low price in a bad market to their friends.
I agree that property tax is paid to local entities, but it doesn't by any means really stay there. The state decides to subsidize this or that and in times like this when they pull back, the cities and counties have to rely on their own resources, so the money does go to the state ultimately.
The separation of corporate and residential tax could be disastrous because that would allow enormous corporate tax breaks for huge pieces of property that will be made up for by average residential taxpayers under the influence of politicians claiming that people will get jobs in the corporation. Maybe so, maybe not.
Also corporations don't tend to move around as much as residential taxpayers do so every time a new property is purchased the taxes go up.
I have been interested in looking at the situation in Oregon where housing prices are comparable to here (Portland) and there is no sales tax. But property taxes are 3 or 4 times what we are paying here. Apartments cost more than they do locally and believe me the apartment market in my city is high because we have no plain old apartments -- they are are luxury units. If I had to pay 4x the property tax that I pay here then the lack of sales tax would be moot because I wouldn't be spending any money on anything but my house.
One thing we left out, though, is the logical step of taxing churches. I know churches that own huge amounts of property in my city--acres and acres and they pay nothing on that. We have a lot of megachurches down south here and they are making out like bandits in the property game.
Then we also have the problem of stagnant salaries outside of the core cities. My husband works for the Cal State U system as an administrator. He moved into administration from being a professor, has the title of "Director" and his salary is laughable by private industry standards even before the 10% pay cut he took this year. He had not had a COLA in five years before he got this position. He got one raise before the current disaster. I can't complain too much because he has PERS retirement which we hope is too big to fail.
Legalizing drugs of all kinds is always something I'm in favor of. Taxing them and using the money to help the addicts we have anyway makes tremendous sense to me. And the change in liquor laws you propose makes sense too.
What I'm really after is an anti-viral drug called valgancyclovir. Know where I can get it cheap? #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/29/09
Also I remember back in the '70s when Prop 13 was passed (I voted no) and the inflation of the 70s buffered the consequences of it for a long time. Now we are looking at them and they are not pretty.
Thanks for your very civil discussion even though it's clear you disagree with me vehemently. It's nice to have someone correct one without being called a "dipshit" for example. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/29/09
10/29/09
I'm against taxing churches as a matter of principle, as long as the land is clearly being used for non-profit (charitable, educational, or religious) purposes.
I'm not terribly well-informed on Oregon's tax structure, but if I'm not mistaken, the corporate tax burden is very light. This is probably one reason why Intel and Nike are there.
Separating the commercial and residential property tax rolls is only disastrous if it's allowed to be. If it's done right, residential taxes would rise much less than speculative/commercial parcels over time. Remember that commercial properties would be reassessed whenever there's a substantial change in ownership, such as a buyout, a merger, or a spinoff.
Good luck to you and Mr. Tart; I imagine PERS is going to take a big hit in the mid-future. You see, it used to be that public employees didn't get paid as much but received honking great benefits. The pay gap between public and private employment has narrowed, if not gone in the other direction, and I'm not sure that taxpayers are willing or able to pay for the packages that have become the norm. #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/29/09
Oh, and with regard to terrorists, nukes, and the Big Tomato: in the immortal words of Foghorn Leghorn, "it's a joke, son. Get it?" #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/29/09
10/29/09
The reason the Jarvis tax revolt passed so overwhelmingly in '78 carried two features: (1) property taxes arrived at about the same time as (2) reports of a state surplus. Though he shuffled to jump onboard later, our Governor Moonbeam was asleep at the wheel during taxpayer uprising.
Extra Irony quiz: Who is the poll leader for gubenator to succeed Ahnold? #arnoldschwarzenegger
10/29/09
10/29/09
Thank you, that's what I was trying to get across, that the majority is held hostage by the minority in California. I knew it was some dumb proposition that Reagan and company had passed in the 1970's that had basically not allowed California to raise property taxes even when property values were soaring. I live in the South, and I constantly hear "see how the liberals ruined California." Grrrr. #arnoldschwarzenegger
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