America

[Mick]

comparing the US to india is like comparing a nazi solider to a buddhist monk.

I grew up in detroit so those pictures are very nice compared to the areas I was in.

india has beautiful areas, not to mention ACRES of cannabis fields that grow natural without any fertilizer.

I like the us because its my home, the people although nice, are 90% fake bitches, this place has no soul, its simply a large show, controlled and monitored from Antarctica.

india I have never been, but cant wait to visit, I have a deep passion for that place and its culture. it seems untapped and left alone from modern technology which is exactly what I am looking for.

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Hey, you should go there. You'll have your world turned upside down, hopefully in a good way, but no guarantees If you can ride a bike I'd suggest hiring an Enfield and go exploring the country side. If you're staying for awhile, buy the Enfield and sell it before you leave. Cruising around India on a big Enfield is a trip.
You have to love and respect a culture that gives worth to the hidden meaning behind the hidden meaning, and its holy men smoke large amounts of cannabis.
I watched this amazing doco last night of a holy festival in the north. At about the 38 minute mark there's an 85 year old master going through some of the 86,000 asanas he's perfected.
Cheers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGvK_9ugecM

 

[vta]

Foolishness...is what runs this state. Their policies have devistating results...expect more homeless as Cali chases off more companies.

"Oh no...we can't let business keep more of their money...let's just take it!"


Calif. Dems Propose Amendment to Seize Half of Businesses’ Tax Reform Savings
By Craig Bannister

Democrats in California have proposed an amendment to take half of the tax savings businesses in their state get from the recently-passed federal tax cuts.

California would seize the savings via a proposed "tax surcharge" on any tax reform benefits, The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

"A proposed Assembly Constitutional Amendment by Assemblymen Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, and Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, would create a tax surcharge on California companies making more than $1 million so that half of their federal tax cut would instead go to programs that benefit low-income and middle-class families."

If successful, the plan will ensure that Silicon Valley companies will join the "hundreds of thousands" of taxpayers who have fled California due to its high taxes, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) President Grover Norquist told CNSNews.com in reaction to the Democrats' proposal:

"Having hiked income and property taxes to the point that hundreds of thousands of California Taxpayers have fled to lower tax states, the political 'leaders' of California are now looking to hike state business tax rates to ensure that Silicon valley—in order to stay international competitive—moves bit by bit across state lines."

 

[Capt.Ahab]

First they vote for the leaders that make the policies they dislike then they move to other states but bring their taxation/nanny state mindset to wherever they go.
Ive seen it more than once. Its like a spreading plague.

Foolishness...is what runs this state. Their policies have devistating results...expect more homeless as Cali chases off more companies.

"Oh no...we can't let business keep more of their money...let's just take it!"


Calif. Dems Propose Amendment to Seize Half of Businesses’ Tax Reform Savings
By Craig Bannister

Democrats in California have proposed an amendment to take half of the tax savings businesses in their state get from the recently-passed federal tax cuts.

California would seize the savings via a proposed "tax surcharge" on any tax reform benefits, The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

"A proposed Assembly Constitutional Amendment by Assemblymen Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, and Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, would create a tax surcharge on California companies making more than $1 million so that half of their federal tax cut would instead go to programs that benefit low-income and middle-class families."

If successful, the plan will ensure that Silicon Valley companies will join the "hundreds of thousands" of taxpayers who have fled California due to its high taxes, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) President Grover Norquist told CNSNews.com in reaction to the Democrats' proposal:

"Having hiked income and property taxes to the point that hundreds of thousands of California Taxpayers have fled to lower tax states, the political 'leaders' of California are now looking to hike state business tax rates to ensure that Silicon valley—in order to stay international competitive—moves bit by bit across state lines."

 

[trichrider]

Foolishness...is what runs this state. Their policies have devistating results...expect more homeless as Cali chases off more companies.

"Oh no...we can't let business keep more of their money...let's just take it!"


Calif. Dems Propose Amendment to Seize Half of Businesses’ Tax Reform Savings
By Craig Bannister

Democrats in California have proposed an amendment to take half of the tax savings businesses in their state get from the recently-passed federal tax cuts.

California would seize the savings via a proposed "tax surcharge" on any tax reform benefits, The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

"A proposed Assembly Constitutional Amendment by Assemblymen Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, and Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, would create a tax surcharge on California companies making more than $1 million so that half of their federal tax cut would instead go to programs that benefit low-income and middle-class families."

If successful, the plan will ensure that Silicon Valley companies will join the "hundreds of thousands" of taxpayers who have fled California due to its high taxes, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) President Grover Norquist told CNSNews.com in reaction to the Democrats' proposal:

"Having hiked income and property taxes to the point that hundreds of thousands of California Taxpayers have fled to lower tax states, the political 'leaders' of California are now looking to hike state business tax rates to ensure that Silicon valley—in order to stay international competitive—moves bit by bit across state lines."

humph...soon to be Cali-suela. keep shooting themselves in the foot.

Christ in a Cadillac.

 

[vta]

 

[mean mr.mustard]

Yep... Delusional.

If the comic book costs five dollars and Johnny has two dollars and Jane has three....

Oh wait I see... Sharing isn't a policy after the age of five for many "adults".

Let me guess, some people are still wondering how Jane had more than Johnny.

 

[trichrider]

 

[packerfan79]

That's shit hole California for you. The president tries to jumpstart the economy, and schmuck California politicians can't let that go. They must stop any economic growth that way they have more poverty strickin Democrat voters. Funny how a state that spends more and gets less stays in power.poverty level is epidemic, as is the outer failure of the school system. Poor uneducated masses vote for ignorant, unethical politicians.

 

[mean mr.mustard]

Hence our shithole president.

 

[vta]

 

[Easy7]

There used to be more Government programs to find work. Meaningful work. But the war on people that don't buy into "drugs are bad" is creating some awful divides.

Social programs pretty much create more harm than good anymore. There are more dollars spent on prisons than education. More money spent on propaganda lies than truth.

 

[igrowone]

from agriculture to construction, what is the trend?
the trend is that it takes fewer people to produce the same output
on and on, more wealth created for less labor
and this is what we see, less labor and less employment

 

[Mick]

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How about America stops dropping bombs on Third World countries and brings all the troops that are scattered around the world home. In theory that would balance the books with maybe a little left over to help the less fortunate. But in reality, all that money would probaly eventually find its way into the pockets of the top few percent and nothing would change. Strange old world we live in.
Check out the debt clock in real time.
https://www.usdebtclock.org/

 

[NBE One !]

Americas Fab."Gives" More Aid Than Anyone

 

[CaptainDankness]

How about America stops dropping bombs on Third World countries and brings all the troops that are scattered around the world home. In theory that would balance the books with maybe a little left over to help the less fortunate. But in reality, all that money would probaly eventually find its way into the pockets of the top few percent and nothing would change. Strange old world we live in.
Check out the debt clock in real time.
https://www.usdebtclock.org/

Tell that bullshit to every NATO nation, they're just as bad. Just because 'Murica can stomp the British into moonshine, don't mean we are the only ones fighting for global domination.

You still got the far East Russia, China and all their buddies playing the other side of the chess board.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aDACorIaxNw

 

[CaptainDankness]

Hence our shithole president.

Name me one great president since the tyrannical civil war.

 

[troutman]

Name me one great president since the tyrannical civil war.

#1 Borat:

 

[Mick]

Tell that bullshit to every NATO nation, they're just as bad. Just because 'Murica can stomp the British into moonshine, don't mean we are the only ones fighting for global domination.

You still got the far East Russia, China and all their buddies playing the other side of the chess board.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aDACorIaxNw

We're talking about why "Murica is too broke to look after its own, not whether you can stomp the British into moonshine, whatever the fuck that means.

 

[vta]

We're talking about why "Murica is too broke to look after its own.....

We are not to broke to "look after our own". What gave you that idea??? Do you have any idea how much the USA gives to other countries?

Shit...the GDP of my state is twice that your whole country !

And yet...my state is the poverty capitol of the USA.

Since when does money solve problems? Especially when you put government in charge of said money ?? This isn't rocket science.



California, Poverty Capital — Why are so many people poor in the Golden State?


California — not Mississippi, New Mexico, or West Virginia — has the highest poverty rate in the United States. According to the Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure — which accounts for the cost of housing, food, utilities, and clothing, and which includes noncash government assistance as a form of income — nearly one out of four Californians is poor. Given robust job growth in the state and the prosperity generated by several industries, especially the supercharged tech sector, the question arises as to why California has so many poor people, especially when the state’s per-capita GDP increased roughly twice as much as the U.S. average over the five years ending in 2016 (12.5 percent, compared with 6.27 percent).

It’s not as if California policymakers have neglected to wage war on poverty. Sacramento and local governments have spent massive amounts in the cause, for decades now. Myriad state and municipal benefit programs overlap with one another; in some cases, individuals with incomes 200 percent above the poverty line receive benefits, according to the California Policy Center. California state and local governments spent nearly $958 billion from 1992 through 2015 on public welfare programs, including cash-assistance payments, vendor payments, and “other public welfare,” according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Unfortunately, California, with 12 percent of the American population, is home today to roughly one in three of the nation’s welfare recipients. The generous spending, then, has not only failed to decrease poverty; it actually seems to have made it worse.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, some states — principally Wisconsin, Michigan, and Virginia — initiated welfare reform, as did the federal government under President Bill Clinton and the Republican Congress. The common thread of the reformed welfare programs was strong work requirements placed on aid recipients. These overhauls were widely recognized as a big success, as welfare rolls plummeted and millions of former aid recipients entered the workforce. The state and local bureaucracies that implement California’s antipoverty programs, however, have resisted pro-work reforms. In fact, California recipients of state aid receive a disproportionately large share of it in no-strings-attached cash disbursements. It’s as if welfare reform passed California by, leaving a dependency trap in place. Immigrants are falling into it: 55 percent of immigrant families in the state get some kind of means-tested benefits, compared with just 30 percent of natives, according to City Journal contributing editor Kay S. Hymowitz.

Self-interest in the social-services community may be at work here. If California’s poverty rate should ever be substantially reduced by getting the typical welfare client back into the workforce, many bureaucrats could lose their jobs. As economist William A. Niskanen explained back in 1971, public agencies seek to maximize their budgets, through which they acquire increased power, status, comfort, and job security. In order to keep growing its budget, and hence its power, a welfare bureaucracy has an incentive to expand its “customer” base—to ensure that the welfare rolls remain full and, ideally, growing. With 883,000 full-time-equivalent state and local employees in 2014, according to Governing, California has an enormous bureaucracy—a unionized, public-sector workforce that exercises tremendous power through voting and lobbying. Many work in social services.

Further contributing to the poverty problem is California’s housing crisis. Californians spent more than one-third of their incomes on housing in 2014, the third-highest rate in the country. A shortage of housing has driven prices ever higher, far above income increases. And that shortage is a direct outgrowth of misguided policies. “Counties and local governments have imposed restrictive land-use regulations that drove up the price of land and dwellings,” explains analyst Wendell Cox. “Middle income households have been forced to accept lower standards of living while the less fortunate have been driven into poverty by the high cost of housing.” The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), passed in 1971, is one example; it can add $1 million to the cost of completing a housing development, says Todd Williams, an Oakland attorney who chairs the Wendel Rosen Black & Dean land-use group. CEQA costs have been known to shut down entire home-building projects. CEQA reform would help increase housing supply, but there’s no real movement to change the law.

Extensive environmental regulations aimed at reducing carbon-dioxide emissions make energy more expensive, also hurting the poor. On some estimates, California energy costs are as much as 50 percent higher than the national average. Jonathan A. Lesser of Continental Economics, author of a 2015 Manhattan Institute study, “Less Carbon, Higher Prices,” found that “in 2012, nearly 1 million California households faced ‘energy poverty’—defined as energy expenditures exceeding 10 percent of household income. In certain California counties, the rate of energy poverty was as high as 15 percent of all households.” A Pacific Research Institute study by Wayne Winegarden found that the rate could exceed 17 percent of median income in some areas. “The impacts on the poorest households are not only the largest,” states Winegarden. “They are clearly unaffordable.”

Looking to help poor and low-income residents, California lawmakers recently passed a measure raising the minimum wage from $10 an hour to $15 an hour by 2022—but a higher minimum wage will do nothing for the 60 percent of Californians who live in poverty and don’t have jobs, and studies suggest that it will likely cause many who do have jobs to lose them. A Harvard study found evidence that “higher minimum wages increase overall exit rates for restaurants” in the Bay Area, where more than a dozen cities and counties, including San Francisco, have changed their minimum-wage ordinances in the last five years. “Estimates suggest that a one-dollar increase in the minimum wage leads to a 14 percent increase in the likelihood of exit for a 3.5-star restaurant (which is the median rating),” the report says. These restaurants are a significant source of employment for low-skilled and entry-level workers.

Apparently content with futile poverty policies, Sacramento lawmakers can turn their attention to what historian Victor Davis Hanson aptly describes as a fixation on “remaking the world.” The political class wants to build a costly and needless high-speed rail system; talks of secession from a United States presided over by Donald Trump; hired former attorney general Eric Holder to “resist” Trump’s agenda; enacted the first state-level cap-and-trade regime; established California as a “sanctuary state” for illegal immigrants; banned plastic bags, threatening the jobs of thousands of workers involved in their manufacture; and is consumed by its dedication to “California values.” All this only reinforces the rest of America’s perception of an out-of-touch Left Coast, to the disservice of millions of Californians whose values are more traditional, including many of the state’s poor residents.

California’s de facto status as a one-party state lies at the heart of its poverty problem. With a permanent majority in the state senate and the assembly, a prolonged dominance in the executive branch, and a weak opposition, California Democrats have long been free to indulge blue-state ideology while paying little or no political price. The state’s poverty problem is unlikely to improve while policymakers remain unwilling to unleash the engines of economic prosperity that drove California to its golden years.

Kerry Jackson is the Pacific Research Institute’s fellow in California studies.

This article was originally published by City Journal Online

 

[troutman]

California, Poverty Capital — Why are so many people poor in the Golden State?

Not everybody who gets off a bus from Parts Unknown can become a Hollywood movie star?