Posts Tagged ‘Blue State’
Friday, March 28th, 2014
Will Franklin has a detailed piece up correlating homelessness with Democratic Party rule.
“It turns out that when it comes to mitigating homelessness, the blue state model is just as deeply flawed as the failed blue state model for job creation and economic growth.”
Substance abuse, broken families, or mental illness– tragedies all– often drive people to homelessness, but long-term unemployment and a general lack of economic vitality play a critical role in pushing people out of their homes (and keeping them out). Indeed, when it comes to reducing homelessness caused by economic hardship, we can chalk up another win for Texas and the red state model.
Snip.
California, with just under 12% of the nation’s population, has 22.43% of the nation’s homeless population, giving it a homelessness quotient of 0.88. Quite high, in other words. Almost double the number of homeless people one would predict, given its population.
Texas, which has roughly 8.2% of the nation’s population, only has 4.85% of the nation’s homeless population (meaning: Texas has a quite low homelessness quotient of -0.41).
Read the whole thing.
Tags:Blue State, California, economy, homeless, Red State, Texas, WILLisms
Posted in Economics, Texas | No Comments »
Friday, July 19th, 2013
Detroit went bankrupt. One stranger was acquitted for shooting another stranger. Which do you think the media spent more time covering?
“Progressive politicians, wonks, and activists can only blame big corporations and other liberal bogeymen for so long. The truth is that corrupt machine politics in a one-party system devoted to the blue social model wrecked an entire city and thousands of lives beyond repair. The sooner blues come to terms with this reality, the greater chance other cities will have of avoiding Detroit’s fate.”
The IRS scandal now leads to the chief counsel, one of only two Obama appointees at the agency.
“The Democratic Party is a machine for inciting grievances in order to consolidate its power.”
The Wall Street Journal makes the case for dismantling ObamaCare piece by piece.
Republican Insiders are very, very upset that Jim DeMint is exposing them for the RINOs they are.
My precious snowflake is extremely gifted. He’s also 29 and unemployed because so many jobs are unworthy of his Promethean talents. Matt Walsh: SMACKDOWN.
“The Democratic Party is a machine for inciting grievances in order to consolidate its power.”
Charles Barkley on the Zimmerman trial: “Just looking at the evidence I agreed with the verdict.”
A few facts about Marissa Alexander that may not be apparent from a two panel picture comparison with George Zimmerman.
“Reason for termination: Disabled veteran.”
“Negative perceptions of young black men are rooted in hard data on who commits crimes.”
Near empty New York hospital losing $3 million a week. Naturally, unions are demanding it stay open. (Hat tip: Dwight.)
Charles Murray on American exceptionalism.
Marco Rubio was riding high. Then he became a shill for amnesty, and now his life is all sad trombones. I haven’t seen a serious national political aspirant fall so far since Gary Hart went boating.
Today’s serial Democratic Party groper who felt-up at least six women and who the state party forced their members to cover up for comes to you from California.
Tags:Blue State, California, Detroit, Gary Hart, George Zimmerman Trial, Heritage Foundation, IRS, Jim DeMint, LinkSwarm, Marco Rubio, Obama Scandals, ObamaCare, vets, Welfare State
Posted in Military, Obama Scandals, ObamaCare, unions, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 20th, 2013
Time for another Texas vs. California roundup! Just imagine how the MSM would crucify Rick Perry if the head of, say, the Texas Teacher’s Retirement System were indicted on multiple counts of felony fraud…
Ex-CalPERS CEO and another board member (who just happens to be Ex-Mayor of Los Angeles) indicted for fraud.
A grand jury in San Francisco charged Federico Buenrostro Jr. and Alfred Villalobos, and they were booked and released on bond Monday after briefly appearing in court.
Buenrostro, 64, served as CEO of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System from late 2002 until June 2008. Villalobos, 69, served on the CalPERS board and is a former vice mayor of Los Angeles.
The indictment alleges the two conspired to fabricate documents that certified to federal regulators that Villalobos’ firm had obtained required “investor disclosure letters” from CalPERS to serve as a “transfer agent.” The indictment charges that the falsified documents allowed Villalobos to reap $14 million in fees for serving as a middleman between CalPERS and a prominent investment firm handling $3 billion in CalPERS’ money.
“The Wall Street public pension trough feeding frenzy has, unbeknownst to taxpayers and government workers participating in these funds, cost the nation trillions and is only getting worse.”
A detailed, in-depth look at how financial legerdemain are used to hide the huge pension liabilities in various California counties, and how Moody’s new accounting rules will put an end to it. “Government financial statements for decades have very seriously understated pension expenses and failed to raise the alarm about the massive unfunded pension debt that was the result.”
So how does the city of San Bernadino deal with being bankrupt? By handing out pay raises.
How did Stockton go bankrupt? It might have had something to do with nearly one-quarter of workers on the city’s payroll getting more than $100,000 a year.
“At least some minority politicians are beginning to figure out that a party primarily devoted to preserving the jobs, automatic pay hikes and generous pensions of public employees is a party that’s not necessarily interested in what’s best for minorities.”
California comes up with a great fake justification for using cap-and-trade as a wealth redistribution program. Which, of course, has always been the real purpose of cap-and-trade anyway…
Texas pummels California in job numbers. “California has a civilian labor force of 18,591,111 while Texas has a labor force of 12,680,661. This means that California has a workforce that’s 47 percent larger than Texas’ but Texas created 19 percent more jobs in the past 2 years and 22 percent more jobs in the past year!”
Current proposals in the Texas legislature would outlaw capital appreciation bonds.
A strong majority of Texans surveyed agree that other states should be as awesome as we are. “Sixty percent of respondents agreed that other states should emulate how Texas state government looks and operates. Only 31 percent disagreed.”
We’re awesome, but we still need tax cuts.
Tags:bankruptcy, Blue State, Budget, California, San Bernardino, Stockton, Texas, unions, Welfare State
Posted in Budget, Economics, unions, Welfare State | No Comments »
Friday, January 4th, 2013
Judging from the Fiscal Cliff votes, the United States appears to be eager to follow in the footsteps of Greece and California, rushing to unsustainable spending, crushing debt loads and inevitable bankruptcy, rather than following the lead of Texas and the Red State model of debt-free limited government and free enterprise. So let’s see where the two states are, shall we?
Via Reason comes a link to the website Pension Tsunami, which contains much of interest for those charting California’s decline.
One method California cities are using to continue funding their heroin outrageous pension spending habit is issuing Pension Obligation Bonds, where they sell bonds to pay for pension obligations and then invest them. Indeed, some that got burned by the tactic in the 1990s (like Oakland) are trying again. “Bonds issued in 1997 were, on average, underwater in 2007, even before the stock market crash…’That’s like a compulsive gambler telling you that he has to bet it all on red to make up for his past losses.’”
“Bankruptcy is the best bet most cities have for getting out of their crushing health and retirement obligations to public workers….Government employee compensation, mostly for health and retirement, is at the heart of nearly all the current and looming municipal bankruptcies across the country.”
Federal judge to Calpers: No, you can’t rewrite bankruptcy laws to save outrageous union pensions. Not yours.
California: Pensions or Police? Pick one.
Stockton attempts to pull a Chrysler, attempting to screw its bondholders in a bid to leave outrageous union pensions untouched.
While California wonders how to fill it’s perpetual budget shortfall, Texas debates what to do with its surplus.
Over at TPPF, Chuck Devore wonders why Californians don’t stage a tax revolt. “In the meantime, Texas will be more than happy to receive into its welcoming arms people who want to work hard, invest, and create jobs.”
Want a glimpse of California’s future? Spain is running out of pension fund to raid.
Tags:Blue State, California, CalPERs, Chuck DeVore, Democrats, Fiscal Cliff, fraud, Greece, Spain, Texas, unions, waste, Welfare State
Posted in Budget, Democrats, Texas, unions, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »
Thursday, December 20th, 2012
I’m not a fan of the Texas Enterprise Fund, because I don’t think government should be picking economic winners and losers; let them succeed or fail on their own merits rather than getting a boost from the Aristocracy of Pull. Some liberal critics have accused the Enterprise Fund of being Rick Perry’s slush fund for donors, but in truth all federal business subsidies are slush funds, and I think the Texas Enterprise Fund is markedly less corrupt than the Obama Administration’s green energy pork for contributors, or its $25 billion Government Motors bailout gift to the United Auto Workers.
Given that the Texas Enterprise Fund does exit, I can think of at least one good use for it: Helping gun manufacturers relocate from Blue States to Texas.
After all, it’s obvious that Blue State sentiment is running (at least right now) against legal gun ownership by law-abiding Americans, and that pressure (legal and otherwise) will be brought to bear on them to stop manufacturing certain types of perfectly legal weapons, or to cease business entirely.
So why not invite them to relocate to Texas? We have a skilled and highly educated non-union workforce, a broad and deep manufacturing base, a thriving economy, a culture that appreciates firearms ownership and their place in American history, stautory protection against frivolous lawsuits against firearms manufacturers, and no state income tax. While it’s a pain in the ass to move a manufacturing facility, doing so now could both increase a firearms manufacturer’s profit and prevent political pressure and legal harassment further down the line.
Companies that might be targeted include:
Colt Firearms of Connecticut
Kimber Manufacturing of New York
Smith & Wesson of Massachusetts
Springfield Armory in Illinois
Among many, many others.
Texas could gain millions of dollars worth of economic boost at the expense of state that don’t appreciate firearms manufacturers anyway.
Worth considering.
Tags:Blue State, gun control, Guns, Kimber .45, Rick Perry, Texas, Texas Enterprise Fund
Posted in Guns, Obama Scandals, Texas | 3 Comments »
Monday, November 19th, 2012
Another quick update on the respective fates of our nation’s two biggest states:
In case you didn’t notice, California Democrats now have a super-majority in the legislature, which means they can raise taxes to their heart’s content. That should only heighten the difference between California’s Blue State model and Texas’ Red State model.
California spends far more money on its welfare state that Texas, but has greater income inequality.
The election California voters helped accelerate the state’s economic decline.
America is becoming California…and California is becoming Greece.
The California city of Atwater backs away from bankruptcy after winning concessions from unions.
Texas added 36,600 total nonfarm jobs in October, dropping unemployment down to 6.6%.
Tags:Atwater, Blue State, Budget, California, Red State, Taxes, Texas
Posted in Budget, Texas, unions | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, October 24th, 2012
With the election less than two weeks away, time for a roundup of how the champions of their respective political models (Texas for Red States and California for Blue States) are doing:
Why is gasoline so expensive in California? Because Californian politicians have made it that expensive. (Hat tip: Dwight.)
California is getting ready to shovel more benefits to public employee union members. Because retiring at age 50 with 90% of their salary just wasn’t enough.
Bankrupt San Bernadino stops paying into the CalPERS pension fund. (Previously.
Moody’s: “we expect…more bankruptcy filings and bond defaults among California cities, reflecting the increased risk to bondholders as investors are asked to contribute to plans for closing budget gaps.”
It’s all part of California’s Fifty Shades of Golden electoral masochism. “Not surprising, the most productive of California’s citizens are leaving in droves. For those who want to prosper, the safeword is “Texas.'”
The guy from California who under-reported unemployment to make the numbers look better? Obama donor. This is my shocked face.
California has actually carried out some pension reforms (like capping annual benefits at $132,000), but its pension plans are still underfunded by $165 billion.
California got $411 million in the National Mortgage Settlement. So how much of that actually went to help people with their mortgages? None of it. “Think of California’s persistent budget deficit as a great white shark devouring every source of cash in its path.”
Might California voters finally be reaching a tipping point against big government? Answer cloudy, ask again later.
Texas continues to add jobs.
Moreover, they’re not low wage jobs either:
The total personal income (TPI) in Texas reached $1.07 trillion dollars in the second quarter of this year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. That’s an increase of 71 percent from the state’s corresponding total 10 years earlier, $626.7 billion.
Here’s another way of looking at it: Texas accounted for 8.02 percent of the nation’s TPI this year, up 1.10 percentage points from 6.92 percent in 2002.
That’s nearly five times larger than the runner-up, Florida, which increased its share of national TPI by 0.23 points in a decade. Just four other states registered gains better than a tenth of a point.
Texas has the best unemployment rate among the five biggest states, at 6.8%. California, at 10.2%, has the worst.
Texas’ tort reform has attracted medical specialists to the state at a rate outstripping population growth.
Texas added 262,700 private sector jobs over the last year.
And Dwight, as usual, has more on the goings-ons in Golden State locales like Oakland and Bell.
(Hat tips for many Texas items: WILLisms’ Twitter feed.)
Tags:2012 Election, Blue State, Budget, California, CalPERs, Democrats, Elections, fraud, gas prices, Oakland, San Bernardino, Texas, waste, Welfare State
Posted in Budget, Democrats, Texas, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012
Time for another Texas vs. California roundup. First up: The man who moved from one to the other:
Chuck DeVore examines the differences between California and Texas. Scariest takeaway? “With one-eighth of the nation’s population, California has one-third of America’s welfare recipients.”
A review of the book Crazifornia. Pay special attention to the California bridge tester who couldn’t test bridges because he was up on child sex crime charges.
More on how California has underestimated their debt obligations. By an order of magnitude.
“City College of San Francisco is perilously close to bankruptcy, in part because it employs nearly twice as many faculty as similar colleges and pays them better – yet educates no more students on average, says a new financial analysis of the state’s largest public school. The college got into trouble because, unlike other colleges, it failed to make the budget cuts necessary to keep up with reductions in state funding, never set aside money for its growing retirement obligations, and ‘has provided salary increases and generous benefits with no discernible means to pay for them.'” So it’s like the State of California in miniature. Bonus: Its current budge assumes the passage of Proposition 30.
And speaking of propositions, Prop 37, requiring the labeling of genetically modified food, will be a windfall for trial lawyers.
Atwater is the latest California town having layoffs and considering bankruptcy.
The city manager of Stockton explains why the city had to declare bankruptcy. It’s filled with special pleading for vested union interests: “Nor can we leave the CalPERS state pension system. CalPERS should be reformed, but if Stockton didn’t offer an industry-standard pension plan, we simply would not be able to staff an already challenged police department. It is unrealistic for creditors to posit that Stockton reject existing pension obligations.” Attention anyone thinking of buying California bonds: When it comes to paying you or paying union cronies, you’re going to get the short end of the stick, no matter what the law says.
What other California cities could declare bankruptcy? How about San Diego and Los Angeles?
More signs the Texas economy is outpacing the rest of the nation.
Texas bonds are outperforming the rest of the nation.
Texas adds more construction jobs than any other state.
Texas cuts crime more than the rest of the nation.
(Hat tip: Willisms, City Journal, others.)
Tags:Blue State, bureaucrats, California, Chuck DeVore, Democrats, Red State, Texas, unions
Posted in Budget, Democrats, Regulation, Texas, unions, Welfare State | 1 Comment »
Friday, September 21st, 2012
Time for another Texas vs. California round-up of how the Lone Star State is kicking the not-so-Golden State’s ass in just about every measure except signing NBA free-agents.
You know how bad California’s debt was? Well, it’s worse than that. A lot worse. Try “at least $167 billion and as much as $335 billion.”
California may see more bankruptcies. (Gee, ya think?) And Jerry Brown’s desperate hunt for money is pushing more cities that way.
Texas continues to outperform the rest of the nation in export growth.
Is Democrat-run California broke because it’s corrupt? “The governor and Democratic leaders are no more serious about reforming pensions than they are about shuttering state parks. The goal they are serious about is raising taxes.”
Bankrupt San Bernandino eliminates almost 100 jobs.
You know how some claimed California beat Texas in job growth? Yeah, not so much.
How bad has it gotten? Minor league hockey team has “Our City Isn’t Bankrupt Night” to taunt rival Stockton.
Texas’ tort reforms worked, doubling the number of Texas doctors between 2000 and 2005.
Tags:Blue State, Budget, California, Democrats, Red State, Texas
Posted in Budget, Democrats, Texas | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 5th, 2012
The City Council of San Bernardino, California failed to pass budget cuts at their meeting Tuesday, despite the city already being in bankruptcy.
After a meeting that lasted more than nine hours and stretched past midnight, the San Bernardino City Council failed to pass a plan for drastic budget reductions, an initial step in the city’s bankruptcy proceedings.
The proposed “pre-pendency plan” included $22.4 million in cuts, achieved by measures including slashing more than 100 jobs and closing three of the four city libraries. It would not cover the entire $45.8-million budget shortfall, but city staff called the plan a necessary first step.
Proposed cuts to the Fire Department became an irreconcilable sticking point. Twenty positions in the department were slated to be eliminated without layoffs, and the plan included an option of rotating closures at fire stations.
Instead of voting on the budget plan as a whole, Councilman Chas Kelley made a proposal to vote on an alternate plan for the Fire Department that was backed by the firefighters union, and to direct staff to seek bids on a proposal to contract out some of the city’s trash services.
The vote, taken after midnight, passed 4 to 3 but was promptly vetoed by Mayor Pat Morris, who had called that plan “irresponsible” and an “almost slavish adoption of a union proposal without any analysis.”
Maybe they can delay things long enough that repo men are actually carting furniture out of the council chambers before they vote…
(Hat tip: Dwight.)
Tags:Blue State, Budget, California, Democrats, San Bernardino
Posted in Budget, Democrats | 2 Comments »