The State of California

[River_Dog]

My Lord, what a frigging mess! The state has a budget deficit estimated at $78 billion, people are moving out in droves as the cost of living is much greater than in red states like Texas and Florida, they've taxed the crap out of the wealthy and businesses forcing them to move out, they have 1/3 of all the homeless people in the country, they have an unemployment rate twice that of the rest of the country, 7 out of the 12 largest insurance companies have decided not to offer and/or cancel home owners insurance policies, rampant crime is forcing businesses to leave the cities, and yet there's talk that their governor might run for POTUS someday.

Now, their governments are grasping for straws. San Francisco is talking about passing a law that any grocery store gives 6 months' notice of a closure, and the state wants to levy an exit tax on the millionaires who are moving out, a proposal which sounds to me to be unconstitutional. Boy, that's sure going to attract businesses.

Is it any wonder why a narcissistic moron like Donald Trump resonates with so many people when this type of politics is the alternative?

[MackStrongIsMyHero]

My Lord, what a frigging mess! The state has a budget deficit estimated at $78 billion, people are moving out in droves as the cost of living is much greater than in red states like Texas and Florida, they've taxed the crap out of the wealthy and businesses forcing them to move out, they have 1/3 of all the homeless people in the country, they have an unemployment rate twice that of the rest of the country, 7 out of the 12 largest insurance companies have decided not to offer and/or cancel home owners insurance policies, rampant crime is forcing businesses to leave the cities, and yet there's talk that their governor might run for POTUS someday.

Now, their governments are grasping for straws. San Francisco is talking about passing a law that any grocery store gives 6 months' notice of a closure, and the state wants to levy an exit tax on the millionaires who are moving out, a proposal which sounds to me to be unconstitutional. Boy, that's sure going to attract businesses.

Is it any wonder why a narcissistic moron like Donald Trump resonates with so many people when this type of politics is the alternative?

Add the $20.00/hr minimum wage on top of all that.

It definitely helps Trump resonate with people, but I also say it makes it hard for the left to resonate with people.

To the main point about California, it's a real shame what's becoming of it. It's one of the most abundant states in the Union with all it has going for it. It's natural resources, geographic location, and climate make it an economic dream. Now they're loading up too much into the cart and the cart pullers don't want any part of it.

[Aseahawkfan]

I haven't been to California. So everything I hear is second hand. Frisco sounds pretty bad, but so does Seattle on the news. But when I'm actually in Seattle, it's fine during the day save for certain areas or egregiously ridiculous crime. I don't like the traffic or constant construction, but city seems better than during COVID when the protests and vandalism were terrible. Lots of businesses have shut down that operate at night or are targets for organized retail crime, which Dems don't seem to want to do much about for some reason.

So I don't know what to think of Cali. Lots of of their laws sound pretty stupid. A lot of people do like living there due to the climate. A lot of good food there I hear too. Definitely need to stay away from the homeless encampments or gang areas, but that was the case when I was young too.

Property prices in Cali are pretty nutso. It seems you are either very rich or very poor in Cali. Seems a hard place to be middle class.

It's Cali. Always going to have that Cali allure with Hollywood and such.

[River_Dog]

My Lord, what a frigging mess! The state has a budget deficit estimated at $78 billion, people are moving out in droves as the cost of living is much greater than in red states like Texas and Florida, they've taxed the crap out of the wealthy and businesses forcing them to move out, they have 1/3 of all the homeless people in the country, they have an unemployment rate twice that of the rest of the country, 7 out of the 12 largest insurance companies have decided not to offer and/or cancel home owners insurance policies, rampant crime is forcing businesses to leave the cities, and yet there's talk that their governor might run for POTUS someday.

Now, their governments are grasping for straws. San Francisco is talking about passing a law that any grocery store gives 6 months' notice of a closure, and the state wants to levy an exit tax on the millionaires who are moving out, a proposal which sounds to me to be unconstitutional. Boy, that's sure going to attract businesses.

Is it any wonder why a narcissistic moron like Donald Trump resonates with so many people when this type of politics is the alternative?

Add the $20.00/hr minimum wage on top of all that.

It definitely helps Trump resonate with people, but I also say it makes it hard for the left to resonate with people.

To the main point about California, it's a real shame what's becoming of it. It's one of the most abundant states in the Union with all it has going for it. It's natural resources, geographic location, and climate make it an economic dream. Now they're loading up too much into the cart and the cart pullers don't want any part of it.

The $20.00 minimum wage for fast food workers is absurd. They've made so many exceptions, the one that got Newsom into hot water, ie baking their own bread on site being one, that if there are less than X number of franchises nationwide, being another, that it's destroyed any moral justification for enacting the law. If the reason they're doing this is because they're so concerned about workers not making a livable wage, what's the difference if you work in a mom-and-pop burger stand or McDonald's or Panera Bread? And why just fast-food restaurants? Poor is poor, is it not?

One of the things that came to my mind was Teddy Roosevelt and his Fair Deal program that busted up the trusts, ie railroads, oil companies, etc. He said that the fact that they were large wasn't what he was concerned about, rather it was the uneven playing field they created that gave them a competitive advantage over the little guy, tactics like cutting prices below cost and take a loss knowing that they could outlast the little guy, force him to go out of business and get rid of their competition. I wondered what he would say if he saw how CA is targeting big companies with punitive wage requirements, penalizing them simply because they're big.

[Aseahawkfan]

The $20.00 minimum wage for fast food workers is absurd. They've made so many exceptions, the one that got Newsom into hot water, ie baking their own bread on site being one, that if there are less than X number of franchises nationwide, being another, that it's destroyed any moral justification for enacting the law. If the reason they're doing this is because they're so concerned about workers not making a livable wage, what's the difference if you work in a mom-and-pop burger stand or McDonald's or Panera Bread? And why just fast-food restaurants? Poor is poor, is it not?

One of the things that came to my mind was Teddy Roosevelt and his Fair Deal program that busted up the trusts, ie railroads, oil companies, etc. He said that the fact that they were large wasn't what he was concerned about, rather it was the uneven playing field they created that gave them a competitive advantage over the little guy, tactics like cutting prices below cost and take a loss knowing that they could outlast the little guy, force him to go out of business and get rid of their competition. I wondered what he would say if he saw how CA is targeting big companies with punitive wage requirements, penalizing them simply because they're big.

I'm more interested to see what past people would think of the new Democrat standard for gender and the way they're trying to shove the transgender ideology down all our throats. I think the economics of Democrats would be something past folks would understand, but the gender ideology is a completely whacked out modernism that is really allowing a guy like Trump to thrive. I even see many usual strongly Democratic supporting voting blocs going, "WTF are you talking about?" when it comes to gender ideology. Many Americans of African descent are really not on their side in that department. Homosexual most people are good with at this point. That's been around forever. This whole "Gender is whatever a person wants it to be thing" is really a major part of the Democratic crazy. When I look at the Democratic Party and they keep expanding letters on alphabet sexuality and shoving this gender dysphoria stuff down all our throats, I gotta spit up. It makes you go, "Hey buddy, is this gonna stop at some point? We're all onboard with the homosexuality, but you're going to really weird places with this gender/sexuality ideology. We're wondering when that is going to stop? I'm getting tired of having to remember another letter every time you add one." It's why I tend to chuckle when Democrats claim they aren't crazy. "Buddy, how do you not see that aspect of your party as crazy?" I don't know. It looks straight crazy to me.

No one is going to confuse me to as what a woman is. I don't care what some dude becoming a woman does with their money and free time. I"ll call them by whatever pronouns they ask for to be polite. But in my mind, my idea of a female isn't changing no matter what the Democrats try to shove down my throat or dictate to me. It ain't happening, man.

[River_Dog]

I haven't been to California. So everything I hear is second hand. Frisco sounds pretty bad, but so does Seattle on the news. But when I'm actually in Seattle, it's fine during the day save for certain areas or egregiously ridiculous crime. I don't like the traffic or constant construction, but city seems better than during COVID when the protests and vandalism were terrible. Lots of businesses have shut down that operate at night or are targets for organized retail crime, which Dems don't seem to want to do much about for some reason.

So I don't know what to think of Cali. Lots of of their laws sound pretty stupid. A lot of people do like living there due to the climate. A lot of good food there I hear too. Definitely need to stay away from the homeless encampments or gang areas, but that was the case when I was young too.

Property prices in Cali are pretty nutso. It seems you are either very rich or very poor in Cali. Seems a hard place to be middle class.

It's Cali. Always going to have that Cali allure with Hollywood and such.

You don't have to be there in order to take account of facts: Highest gas prices in the nation (thanks to the same carbon tax law WA has). Unemployment rate twice the national average. 7 of the 12 largest insurance companies getting out of the homeowner's/umbrella insurance business. $78 billion budget deficit. Over 150,000 homeless, about a third of all the homeless in the country. Free medical care for illegal aliens. A net migration of minus 2 million people. A cost of living that is 42% higher than the national average. $20 minimum wage for some, but not all, fast-food workers. Those are the points I am speaking to.

I wouldn't hold my breath about the Hollywood allure making California a desirable place. There aren't going to be too many people wanting to visit San Francisco with the problems they're having.

[River_Dog]

The $20.00 minimum wage for fast food workers is absurd. They've made so many exceptions, the one that got Newsom into hot water, ie baking their own bread on site being one, that if there are less than X number of franchises nationwide, being another, that it's destroyed any moral justification for enacting the law. If the reason they're doing this is because they're so concerned about workers not making a livable wage, what's the difference if you work in a mom-and-pop burger stand or McDonald's or Panera Bread? And why just fast-food restaurants? Poor is poor, is it not?

One of the things that came to my mind was Teddy Roosevelt and his Fair Deal program that busted up the trusts, ie railroads, oil companies, etc. He said that the fact that they were large wasn't what he was concerned about, rather it was the uneven playing field they created that gave them a competitive advantage over the little guy, tactics like cutting prices below cost and take a loss knowing that they could outlast the little guy, force him to go out of business and get rid of their competition. I wondered what he would say if he saw how CA is targeting big companies with punitive wage requirements, penalizing them simply because they're big.

I'm more interested to see what past people would think of the new Democrat standard for gender and the way they're trying to shove the transgender ideology down all our throats. I think the economics of Democrats would be something past folks would understand, but the gender ideology is a completely whacked out modernism that is really allowing a guy like Trump to thrive. I even see many usual strongly Democratic supporting voting blocs going, "WTF are you talking about?" when it comes to gender ideology. Many Americans of African descent are really not on their side in that department. Homosexual most people are good with at this point. That's been around forever. This whole "Gender is whatever a person wants it to be thing" is really a major part of the Democratic crazy. When I look at the Democratic Party and they keep expanding letters on alphabet sexuality and shoving this gender dysphoria stuff down all our throats, I gotta spit up. It makes you go, "Hey buddy, is this gonna stop at some point? We're all onboard with the homosexuality, but you're going to really weird places with this gender/sexuality ideology. We're wondering when that is going to stop? I'm getting tired of having to remember another letter every time you add one." It's why I tend to chuckle when Democrats claim they aren't crazy. "Buddy, how do you not see that aspect of your party as crazy?" I don't know. It looks straight crazy to me.

No one is going to confuse me to as what a woman is. I don't care what some dude becoming a woman does with their money and free time. I"ll call them by whatever pronouns they ask for to be polite. But in my mind, my idea of a female isn't changing no matter what the Democrats try to shove down my throat or dictate to me. It ain't happening, man.

I'm with ya on some of this transgender stuff, things like allowing biologically born males to compete in female sports, allowing minors to have sex change operations w/o parental consent, and so on. But it's not going to be the deciding factor in how I vote. It's much like the abortion issue in that regard. If the Dems could show that they can run a hot dog stand without f-ing it up, I'd vote for them regardless of some of their social positions, especially when you contrast them with the hard right Republicans like MTG and Matt Gaetz.

We're really screwed. No matter who's running the show, we're f**ked. It's the worst political situation I've seen in my lifetime, and I'm beginning to wonder about the future of our democracy. I'm almost thankful that I won't be around to see its inevitable demise. I feel bad for the world we brought my grandson into. We're handing off the country to our successors in terrible shape.

[curmudgeon]

Newsom has that Presidential appeal……

[Aseahawkfan]

I'm with ya on some of this transgender stuff, things like allowing biologically born males to compete in female sports, allowing minors to have sex change operations w/o parental consent, and so on. But it's not going to be the deciding factor in how I vote. It's much like the abortion issue in that regard. If the Dems could show that they can run a hot dog stand without f-ing it up, I'd vote for them regardless of some of their social positions, especially when you contrast them with the hard right Republicans like MTG and Matt Gaetz.

We're really screwed. No matter who's running the show, we're f**ked. It's the worst political situation I've seen in my lifetime, and I'm beginning to wonder about the future of our democracy. I'm almost thankful that I won't be around to see its inevitable demise. I feel bad for the world we brought my grandson into. We're handing off the country to our successors in terrible shape.

It won't affect how I vote either, but I just can't believe the Democrats can't see how crazy they look right now while they are telling me to my face that the Trump supporters are more crazy. It's why I completely believe the Democrats created this monster with their insane crap where Republicans will practically vote for anyone against the Dems because their platform looks so terrible for the country. Trump personally is a complete jackwad, but his Republican platform is pretty much by the book barring the personal crazy. A lot of people will take that over the Democrats telling them what they're going to shove down all our throats.

But the Dems are just a mess right now with the transgender stuff, the do nothing immigration policy even when Blue States are having problems, the bad economics where they keep spending with no regard for the deficit, the anti-Israel faction that is literally allowing "Death to America" chants and anti-Semitism disguised as freedom of speech, the do nothing about crime policies, and the like. Yet they look me in the face and tell me how crazy the Republicans are for voting for Trump while they pretend their platform and policies are somehow all sensible and sound.

Right now if you were buying crazy in America, it would be cheap given the oversupply and lack of demand. Majority of Americans don't want this crazy, but they got it in both parties. It's come at a real bad time for America and the world it seems given all the fires going on around the world needing a little more fuel to really blow them up. I'm literally waiting for a major terrorist attack on our soil again over this Israel war. I'm not even sure how this situation is going to affect the voting, but could be bad for the Dems and the country in general. Given the massive immigration of Muslims into America in recent years, it's only going to get worse as long as Israel is a contentious issue. I don't think it's going to end well when both sides have pretty much decided death to one side or the other is the only final solution to the problem.

Clearly the worst presidential election in my lifetime on top of a pretty bad geopolitical situation.

[River_Dog]

It won't affect how I vote either, but I just can't believe the Democrats can't see how crazy they look right now while they are telling me to my face that the Trump supporters are more crazy. It's why I completely believe the Democrats created this monster with their insane crap where Republicans will practically vote for anyone against the Dems because their platform looks so terrible for the country. Trump personally is a complete jackwad, but his Republican platform is pretty much by the book barring the personal crazy. A lot of people will take that over the Democrats telling them what they're going to shove down all our throats.

But the Dems are just a mess right now with the transgender stuff, the do nothing immigration policy even when Blue States are having problems, the bad economics where they keep spending with no regard for the deficit, the anti-Israel faction that is literally allowing "Death to America" chants and anti-Semitism disguised as freedom of speech, the do nothing about crime policies, and the like. Yet they look me in the face and tell me how crazy the Republicans are for voting for Trump while they pretend their platform and policies are somehow are all sensible and sound.

Right now if you were buying crazy in America, it would be cheap given the oversupply and lack of demand. Majority of Americans don't want this crazy, but they got it in both parties. It's come at a real bad time for America and the world it seems given all the fires going on around the world needing a little more fuel to really blow them up. I'm literally waiting for a major terrorist attack on our soil again over this Israel war. I'm not even sure how this situation is going to affect the voting, but could be bad for the Dems and the country in general. Given the massive immigration of Muslims into America in recent years, it's only going to get worse as long as Israel is a contentious issue. I don't think it's going to end well when both sides have pretty much decided death to one side or the other is the only final solution to the problem.

Clearly the worst presidential election in my lifetime on top of a pretty bad geopolitical situation.

Yeah, it's amazing to me how this state won't let a 17 year old buy alcohol or cigarettes but that they'll allow them to get something as permanent and irreversible as a sex change surgery without their parents' consent. And the Dems have the gall to call anyone who disagrees with them a "hateful bigot."

Washington state will now allow children 13 and older to get gender “reassignment” surgery without parental consent, 770KTTH reported.

States have traditionally not allowed the surgery at all, but even in our more progressive time they have still required parental consent for minors to receive the radically life-altering surgery.

SB 5889, the bill pushed by Washington Democrats, forces insurers to cover gender dysmorphia treatment for minors. It also forces insurers to cover “gender-affirming care” for minors, without parental consent.

Democrats in Washington state proudly denounced the bill’s detractors as hateful bigots.

It's a good example of one of the many reasons why I'll never vote for a Democrat except when they're running against Trump or one of his disciples. Man, am I ready for a third party.

[Aseahawkfan]

Yeah. I can't vote for that in good conscious. Allowing minors to mutilate themselves and take hormone modifying drugs is pretty insane. I'm surprised enough Democrats support this to push it through like this, but I guess they do.

America certainly isn't the country it was when I was young. I don't feel particularly positive about America's future. We look like a big joke in much of the world.

[River_Dog]

Yeah. I can't vote for that in good conscious. Allowing minors to mutilate themselves and take hormone modifying drugs is pretty insane. I'm surprised enough Democrats support this to push it through like this, but I guess they do.

America certainly isn't the country it was when I was young. I don't feel particularly positive about America's future. We look like a big joke in much of the world.

Isn't it ironic that just a couple months ago in MI they convicted a mother of a 15-year-old who committed a mass shooting of involuntary manslaughter (a decision I agreed with) and faces up to 15 years in prison yet here we are in WA telling parents of 15-year-olds that they can't intervene when their son/daughter wants a sex change operation.

[Aseahawkfan]

Isn't it ironic that just a couple months ago in MI they convicted a mother of a 15-year-old who committed a mass shooting of involuntary manslaughter (a decision I agreed with) and faces up to 15 years in prison yet here we are in WA telling parents of 15-year-olds that they can't intervene when their son/daughter wants a sex change operation.

Democrats are hypocrites like everyone else. If it suits their agenda and gets votes, they will push it. Appeasing that alphabet sexuality voting bloc apparently has a lot of power.

I always wonder what they would do if I said, "My son feels very masculine and wants to be a bodybuilder, so he asked me if he could take roids. I said ok because we let kids take whatever drugs suit their young decisions because kids really know what they want at these ages." If another kid wants to do heroin because they want to be like Kirk Cobain or Jimmy Hendrix, we let that happen too.

I don't know where the no button is. It doesn't seem to exist anymore for a lot of people. It's causing me to disengage from American politics.

I don't even enjoy the right wing gun nuts. I'm a pro 2nd Amendment guy and believe it to be a necessary freedom and protection, but to the right it's a gun hobbyist amendment now allowing people to buy 50 guns because "No one can tell them what to do." To me that is not what the 2nd Amendment was for either. Thus you get no headway on any sensible gun legislation to protect kids and people from these crazy shootings.

I hate being in crazy land. It's annoying. These right and left wing extremists just sicken me and pushing for the ruination of this country. I despise these politicians who pander to these extremists. It's not right. It shouldn't be allowed. I guess it's a clear sign that Democracy truly does erode into crazy selfishness if your leaders are pandering for votes to groups that don't want good things for your country.