CA is announcing ANOTHER issuance of $2 Billion in bonds for "building". CA spends a couple of billion per year on illegals. Rather than call them "infrastructure bonds" why don't they call them what they are "Bonds to give money, education (not) and Health Care to Illegal Aliens Bonds"?

Nonsense, Marv is on the mark for the most part, but Jim is still singing the same song he always does, unions never want anything but the best for their fellow man. Arnie never had a chance of doing anything. All the reforms he tried to make were shot down by the state employee unions, for purely altruistic reasons

The legislature has been in the back pocket of the unions since Governor Moonbeam gave them the keys to the kingdom. California has steadily gone downhill ever since.

The game is rigged; voting booth my ass, can you say gerrymander?

I hope to be working on that, but they want to know who all your relatives are, who they work for and where, and if they ever donated anything to anyone. I need to check with my family to see if they mind me giving up all their info to the state, just for the possibility of being on the commission doing the redistricting.

So all you're saying is you are powerless in CA. How utterly pathetic. Two choices lie on your horizon: Meg Whitman or moving out of state. Personally, if I felt as hopeless, I'd sell my practice and pack my bags since, as you say, "the game is rigged." SmileWavy

And to note: Arnie had his chance. I'm sure you voted him in as readily as I.

The problem is the same everywhere, though exponentially worse in CA. Nobody in office has the balls to make any CUTS. For most of us, when we are running low on money we stop spending. The govt simply raises taxes. Why? Because none of the scumbags in office are willing to risk their seat to do what's right.

A good friend of mine works at the KS legislative post audit office, last year they were tasked to audit all state agencies and determine where there was fat to be cut. The conducted a thorough 6 month investigation, interviewing leadership at every KS agency and determing where cuts could be made. Bear in mind, this was leadership at each agency suggesting which aspects had little/no value. After their investigation they presented their findings to the legislature, and without fail every suggested cut was resisted by at least one member of the legislature. No matter how worthless, nobody was willing to cut jobs that could affect their constituents and possibly their precious seat in the legislature. Ultimately their findings were discarded and equal cuts were made across the board.

THAT is the problem we face in this nation. 200 years ago our elected officials wanted to make America a better place. Today it's simply an issue of padding their pockets and doing as little actual work as humanly possible.

What about my situation? I'm a firefighter/paramedic for LA City I make good money at what i do, not get rich but stay with in my means and the family is ok. I worked for years to get hired, school and volunteer work, was lucky to get hired local. Trained as a paramedic to increase my skills and pay.The mayor comes out last year and demands a 10% reduction in spending to ALL city departments so our chief go proactive and comes up with a plan to reduce spending by closing some engines or trucks on a rotational basis and send the personnel to other stations to fill vacant spots it cuts $40 million out of the $56 the mayor wanted, they have closed any recruitment and training and other areas to try and meet the cuts. They are not talking layoff yet, but they want $96 million from the 2010-2011 budget so who knows.
Anyway one benefit in my job is the thought of a good retirement, we pay into a pension funds with each pay check as well as a Def. Comp each check. My retirement will not be 100% of my salary but again ok if stay within my means, the % goes up depending on years worked.
Is me paying into the pension system seen by others as taxpayer dollars? As well as the def. comp? It comes from my take home pay.

Depends. How much will you have put in by the time you retire? And how much will be paid out?

If the pension system is "balanced," i.e. it self funds itself, and only pays out from a pool of money that it takes in (and makes/loses through its investment of those funds), then no, you aren't taking taxpayer dollars for your pension payments.

But that's not the way it seems to work. If it did, pension payments could never be in a promised or guaranteed amount.

Interesting, honestly not sure but the percentage is what is promised depending on time served not a lump sum.
thanks

If you think Arnie ever had a chance you don't have an adequate understanding of how this state works.

Gerrymandered districts means that I am getting Senate and Assembly people who are on the same page as I, but will never be in the majority or have enough power to get anything done. I meet with my elected representatives, and they are every bit as frustrated as I am, or profess to be anyway. If I realized how badly the Democrats and their union overlords had fked things up, I might have stayed in Texas, but financial considerations were secondary to me then, as they are now.

At this point, given the current state of healthcare, and what I project the impact of "reform via reconciliation" will be, I probably could not get enough for my practice for it to be worthwhile. I am hosed either way, and if I stay I get to see my grandson often. The negative impact on him of my leaving is not acceptable to me. My son got married a few years ago and I suspect will be having kids soon too. A 15 minute drive to see the grandkids is far preferable to a 4 hour plane ride.

I am not quite ready to give this state or country up for lost. I don't have enough quit in me for that.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1268198488.jpg

Nice symbolism, the youngster throwing the fully squeezed orange into the trash bucket.