CA-SurveyUSA: Gov. Brown's approval rating takes major hit

[Torie]

It didn't help Jerry that the deficit (which is illegal, but I digress) suddenly ballooned up to 16 billion from 9 billion, and now Jerry wants more taxes on top of the ones he already proposed while public employees remain overpaid, sometimes grossly so, and the prisons remain full of druggies, so the overpaid prison guards can have more folks to slap around. And then there is that super train thing, a very expensive white elephant.

It is all very interesting, because states cannot declare bankruptcy. I suspect CA will be going to the Feds soon to ask for money.  I suspect the reception it gets will not be a very friendly one.

It's an effing mess in short, a major cf. The state is being looted dry.

[Torie]

It didn't help Jerry that the deficit (which is illegal, but I digress) suddenly ballooned up to 16 billion from 9 billion, and now Jerry wants more taxes on top of the ones he already proposed while public employees remain overpaid, sometimes grossly so, and the prisons remain full of druggies, so the overpaid prison guards can have more folks to slap around. And then there is that super train thing, a very expensive white elephant.

It is all very interesting, because states cannot declare bankruptcy. I suspect CA will be going to the Feds soon to ask for money.  I suspect the reception it gets will not be a very friendly one.

It's an effing mess in short, a major cf. The state is being looted dry.

It's almost enough to make you want to spend exactly 183 days a year in Florida or some other state with no income tax, huh, Torie?

I would rather be broke or dead than have to live in Florida half the year. Ditto Nevada. No, if I flee, it will be to the San Juan islands in Washington or something. Pity I can't take my real estate "empire" with me. Anyway, unlike most, I am in a position where government cannot really affect my life style and what I do, no matter what it does (assuming opebo is not in charge ). I feel very sad however about the future of your generation, and those following. It looks rather grim really.

[Torie]

I've always found it somewhat amusing that Gray Davis of all people won an election in 1994. But does the Lt. Gov. of California actually do anything?

To answer your question, the answer is no, the LG office is the null set. The LG theoretically runs the state however when the governor is out of state, which sometimes can lead to mischief.

[Torie]

They're all bad, but the GOP is less bad. I'd like to hear more of Torie's doom and gloom, seriously, but CA, please don't cut the HSR!

Yeah, how about they spend a few more dozen billion over 20 years without a single millimeter of track being laid down for something that nobody even wants to use anyway.

I would love to use it, actually. LA to SF in under 3 hours? Yes, please.

The only train like this that would be remotely justified is a BoWash one, and that is primarily because that area is literally running out of air space. One storm in the area, and the air lanes get clogged, and chaos ensues. In any event, if one wants to experiment with super trains, that is the place where the first one should be built. Why have a train from SF to LA, when you can fly there for 80 bucks in an hour from a host of airports - LAX, John Wayne, Ontario, Burbank, Long Beach in the south, and San Jose, SF and Oakland in the north?  And the air lanes are not clogged over CA.

Anyway, CA is flat ass broke.  If it is built, the Feds will need to pay for this white elephant (training is going to cost more than flying in this instance).