Friday, January 9, 2015

On Jerry's Assertion that California Has a Well-Managed State Government

I'm going to have to give this sucker a mostly, "not true" a) They have one of the highest poverty rates in the country. b) They have one of the poorest highway systems in the country (L.A.'s roads being particularly crappy). c) They have some of the very poorest student test scores (math AND reading) in the country (not that I'm a big proponent of standardized tests, mind you). And d) the claim that they're currently running a budget surplus is wholly false (the fact that they are leaving out the massive debt obligations of the state's two largest employee pension funds; CalPERS and CalSTRS, which together are underfunded by a whipping $100 BILLION). I mean, I know that Jerry despises conservatives (and I actually agree with him when it comes to neocons and socons), idolizes liberals, and thinks that the government can orchestrate the economy better than individual citizens but, CALIFORNIA, yeah, I'm thinking that maybe he needs to plant his flag elsewhere    -    .http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-worst-roads-20131003-story.html    -    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/07/california-highest-rate-of-poverty_n_4233292.html    -    http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/calif-students-rank-bottom-national-test-13385  

4 comments:

dmarks said...

I'd be interested in your take on the Kansas budget.

Liberals have been trumpeting the state budget problems there as a reason we need much authoritarian control and confiscation of money by the government. I'm sure there has to be another side, perhaps from the point of view of the ruled rather than the rulers.

BB-Idaho said...

They seem to be doing OK .

Jerry Critter said...

California is certainly in much better shape than Kansas.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Kansas has lost 3.4 billion in AGI since 1992 but they're losing wealth at a slower rate since that crazy Obamacare lady left.