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When government starts looking to China for infrastructure, something is broken.
http://247wallst.com/special-report/2011/11/28/best-and-worst-run-states-in-amer- ica-an-analysis-of-all-50/6/
Yep, the bureau’s “Supplemental Poverty Measure” numbers, culled from 2011 stats, say that
California has a whopping poverty rate of 23.5 percent, meaning that nearly one in every four of us is straight up poor.
The Golden State ranks number one in poverty, then, beating out all comers (Washington, D.C. came close with a 23.2 percent rate); Florida ranked second among states.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/12/02/is-california-really-americas- -poorest-state/
In fact, that article shows that CA has 14.5% of it's population under the poverty line which is 21st highest.
The second article you post is talking about the supplemental poverty rate which takes cost of housing into account. In a state the size and diversity of California might throw things off as well. The numbers are based on the state but perhaps the high cost of housing in LA, San Jose, and bay area make it seem worse. I'm sure that housing in Stockton is more affordable than in San Francisco.
All the numbers come from the Census Bureau:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_poverty_rate
Nice try at spinning away the facts. Fact is CA is the poorest managed state in the Union.
All the numbers come from the Census Bureau:
Yes and the CB has CA the highest poverty in the Nation. DC is the only place higher. I think CA has passed even DC up from what I am reading. The only way to figure poverty is based on the COL to income. CA also has 35% of all the welfare cases in the USA. The word is out. Come to CA hang out at the beach and collect Food Stamps and other handouts.
Our illustrous Moonbeam also signed a law making it illegal to use E-Verify when hiring. So illegals are flooding the state taking most of the construction work. UNION JOBS that pay $30+ per hour are now being taken by illegals for $10-$12 per hour with the blessing of the state legislature and governor.
New California law bars E-Verify requirement for employers
The measure has upset activists against illegal immigration who got some cities to require that businesses check the legal status of workers.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/16/local/la-me-e-verify-20111017
The only sane people in the state live South of the LA/OC border. We are outnumbered 2 to 1 by illiterates. We should form a giant Union to fight against the Evil North.
It's too bad the Bethlehem Steel mill in Bethlehem, PA that forged much of the steel in the Golden Gate Bridge, and much of the NYC skyline, is a hulk that's been rusting away since 1995.
Steel Rods: The Latest Metal Sourcing Debacle for SF-Oakland Bay Bridge
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that “at least 30 of the giant bolts that hold together the new, $6.4 billion eastern span of the Bay Bridge have snapped,” and “as a result, Caltrans is considering replacing all 288 of the bolts on the new bridge before it opens” after Labor Day this year.
The hitch is that the 17-foot-long steel bolts (rods) were made in the US.
http://agmetalminer.com/2013/03/28/steel-rods-the-latest-metal-sourcing-debacle-- for-sf-oakland-bay-bridge/
http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxfoundation.org/files/docs/propertytax_county_b- ytaxespaid_average2006-08-20091027.pdf
What you will notice is, as you say actual tax dollars are tops. Top in Ca. is Marin County. Median property tax bill is $5233 per year. 23 highest. Yet, as a percent of home value, it is .57%, or 1309 in rank. BOTTOM 50% Median home value: $912,000!!!!!
Top one I see for Kentucky is Oldham County. Median tax bill is $2115. But, Median home value is $229,000. Median tax bill is .92%, or almost DOUBLE Marin County's.
Another thing that has to be taken into account is the services you get for the tax bill. I recall reading about one school district in Texas wanting to arm their teachers (after Newtown Ct) because if they had a similar situation happen there, police response could be 30 MINUTES becaiuse of the vast area involved!!!
I know I wouldn't want to live where police response was 30 minutes away for a dire emergency
Nor would I. I followed the Sandy Hook massacre very closely. It took the cops 20 minutes to respond to that emergency. The police station that recieved the calls was only 2.1 miles from the school. And this was not a poor community. CT has very high taxes. My guess is the cops were on a Union donut break.
Top one I see for Kentucky is Oldham County. Median tax bill is $2115. But, Median home value is $229,000. Median tax bill is .92%, or almost DOUBLE Marin County's.
The $450k home we are considering in KY will have a tax bill of about $3400 per year. Just half of what we pay the state to live in our home in San Diego. The same home in CA would cost a minimum of $2 million, with a $20,000 tax bill at least.
What that chart does not mention is the fact that many people in CA are paying property taxes based on prop 13. So if their home was worth $100,000 in 1970 they are only paying property tax on a fraction of the actual worth. So your neighbor who bought last year and paid $912,000 is paying multiple times more than the homeowner that has lived in a comparable home for 40 years. Plus that does not include bond issues etc. We just paid $6500 property tax on our home appraised at $540,000. So that is well over 1%.
As you pointed out a person has to be cognizant of county and city add-ons when considering a place to retire. I would not recommend CA unless you are very rich or dirt poor and able to get on the welfare roles.
I'll also add that Prop 13 was passed by the voters and that's the ONLY reason we have somewhat reasonable property taxes in CA. The CA legislature and governor HATE the fact that they can't easily jack up the property taxes at will - it takes a 2/3rds majority of the legislature.
So in summary, in CA:
Property taxes - reasonable, due to Prop 13
Gasoline taxes - among the highest in the country
Sales tax - >9% depending upon county, usually 10% or above; among the highest in the country
Income tax - top marginal tax rate is 13.3%, more than 2 percentage points higher than the next highest state, Hawaii.
I don't think we have much UAW here any more, either...
My bet is GM and Toyota were happy to get out of CA. The 4500 UAW members in the Fremont area are probably on the welfare roles to survive. The smart ones took the settlement and got the H*** out of CA. Now the UAW wants a bite of Tesla pie.
The United Auto Workers has set up an organizing committee at the Tesla Motors plant in Fremont, CA, but says it is meeting with resistance from management despite CEO Elon Musk’s pledge to let the workers decide whether they want union representation.
UAW President Bob King tells WardsAuto his group is actively looking to recruit workers at the Tesla factory, which is building 400 battery-electric vehicles each week. The plant employs about 2,000 people, but not all are production workers the union is targeting, he says.
“It’s growing fast,” King says of the support for the committee. Establishing a pro-union committee is only the first step in any UAW organizing drive.
The UAW has met with Musk, and King says the Tesla founder was “very open and said he would respect what the workers wanted. But his operating management has done the opposite. The operating management has taken a very anti-union stance.
Musk has hired a union avoidance specialist (union buster) to head HR. He has also rehired former NUMMI managers (non-union) to be used to keep out the union. Rehiring the managers is a classic union busting move. They know who the pro-union workers were and who were the "scabs". They will hired based on a certain profile.... unquestioning obedience.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023735861
That a BS number. CNN erroneously reported that it took 20 minutes and the conservative blogs and web sites ran with it. In reality Newtown police were on site in under 3 minutes and inside the school in under 5. Even examiner.com - Anschutz's conservative website - reports a short response time based on the actual timeline.
http://www.examiner.com/article/dispatch-release-911-calls-of-connecticut-shooti- ng-at-sandy-hook-elementary
Union cops are less than reliable cops. Public employee unions should be banned as FDR believed.
I know from my experience with getting our local sheriff to respond, you are better off armed and ready to take on intruders.
There's a big difference between living way out in the county and having to rely on a sheriff. Newtown is a small, suburban town and had 14 officers on duty that day. It takes less than 7 minutes to get across that town with blue lights flashing.
This will be my last post on this as it's way off topic.
The UAW is like cancer trying to get into your body.
I don't think it was over the top for GM and Ford and Chrysler. The costs, benefits, and "job banks" were a union run amuck, holding the companies hostage to be able to produce product if they didn't get their way. It wasn't about working conditions, it was about "give me more...". Not the same thing at all.
If Tesla is following all applicable laws, then the employees are certainly free to quit and find another job. That's how the free market works. If there are people ready to fall in line and take those jobs for the same pay, then I'd say that's quite ok. There are certainly lots of other jobs that are unpleasant in various ways, yet employees don't unionize or get ridiculously militant as the UAW has been in the past. Heck, I type a lot for a living and I got a sore index finger joint. I suspect I should have a union protecting me!
That is actually not a bad analogy. The UAW and most unions are NOT all that interested in helping people have a better life. They are interested in building up their ranks and power. I have been in the middle of many campaigns to get people to sign cards and force an election. It is reminiscent of a feeding frenzy by a pride of lions over some poor critter. There are groups of employees that are exploited by corporate greed. Many times that same group become exploited by Union greed.
I don't think Unions should be allowed to actively recruit people in any business. If the employees feel they are getting a raw deal they should get together and discuss it. Then find a Union they feel will treat them right.
Court rules Michigan right-to-work law applies to state workers
The UAW is the bargaining agent for 17,000 Michigan state employees and was a lead plaintiff in the lawsuit challenging the right-to-work bill. The contract covering Michigan state workers is the union’s fourth largest after Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. The unions are considering an appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court.
The ruling was another setback for the unions, which have proven incapable of mobilizing mass opposition to the right-to-work legislation. Instead, they have limited opposition to legal appeals.
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/08/17/mich-a17.html
“These are bullying tactics unions have chosen to use and obviously an investigation should be launched,” said Annie Patnaude, deputy state director of Americans for Prosperity-Michigan. “Unfortunately, a lot of this has been going on, explicit and implied threats if workers exercise the new freedom.”
http://freebeacon.com/guards-allegedly-forced-into-union-day-before-right-to-wor- k-implemented/
If you are a CA tax payer it is the PE Unions that bully the tax payers. Time for a revolt against the Union corruption controlling too many states.
I think that would be the Service Employees International Union.
I'd use a UAW analogy more akin to wearing 30 lbs track shoes in a marathon race.
You mean like the UAW killing GM and C? This country became the most powerful on earth with unregulated capitalism. Regressive regulations has it killed the entrepreneurial spirit that made this the greatest country on earth. Now we are on life support from our enemies. While Unions like the UAW made it smarter to use foreign labor. GM is still on Chemo paid for by the tax payers thanks to the UAW. Of course the Feds picking corporate winners and losers with cash infusions has not helped at all.
"Even the roar from Congressional critics about assembly line largesse seemed to miss the fact that (according to the UAW) labor costs account for about 10 percent of the cost of producing a vehicle; the remaining 90 percent includes research and development, parts, advertising, marketing and management overhead." (CBS)
"And the most recent hourly unit labor cost per new car is about fifteen percent."
Change in Car Production Costs: the Effects on Dm, Dl, Oh (articlesbase.com)
Nobody killed GMC, unless that emblem I saw on a 2013 pickup yesterday was an aftermarket item.
If a UAW job is so cushy, maybe you'd be tempted?
Of course, labor is the first thing slashed when profits fall (except executive compensation of course - you know, the people supposedly guiding the company to higher glory).
To quote Mr. Iacocca, if you can find a better number, link it.
"Labor costs" btw, typically include wages, taxes and benefits. (businessdictionary.com)
Entrepreneurs the world over still flock to the US to get things going. Maybe not to overpriced poorly managed southern CA, but they come to the US no less.
If you want low regulation, move to China, see how you like it. Unregulated capitalism surely did not make the US the envy of so many.
Life support? It's still the most stable place in the world. They don't want to park their often blood covered gold anywhere else.
So much hyperbole.
Who said cushy? Many LOW EDUCATION jobs are hard work. Ditch digging is harder work and I have done that. I was smart enough to go do something else.
Pure unshackled capitalism is rapacious and always leads to disaster. Ask a Native American looking for a buffalo.
The country did fine without regulations on capitalism or interference by the Feds. Why don't you ask the Indians why they ran herds of buffalo off of cliffs. Lots of stupidity and waste back then.
The worst part is the regulation got really going during the FDR presidency. And who did he pick to make the rules? One of the biggest criminal capitalist in US history. Most of the regs help the rich and hold back capitalism. Now we are bogged down with too big to fail. All resulting from over regulation and federal meddling.
This isn't a free market, for another thing.
I'm not thinking tha the UAW was a big boost for morale, either. In the more recent years it was a club to maximize extraction of money from the company while limiting flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions.
Contrary to some recent posts, most of us who are critical of the union are also critical of the management, too. Not at all the hyperbole that management is not being held accountable. But this is a union thread, not the "D3 Management" thread. In that hypothetical thread we would also focus on the management stupidity as a primary topic.
I thought it a given most management are a waste of money and Oxygen. I can count on one hand the competent managers I worked for in my 46 year career. And have some fingers left over. Many when approached by me with a comment on their inability to manage, would tell me I could have the job. I would always ask them if I looked that stupid to take a job in management. I can never remember a time I did not make more than my boss with a little OT. And no, I don't give any credit for that to the Unions I was part of. And to be fair IF I was starting a company I would not hire 90% of the technicians I worked with. The 10% could do as much work and make me money as all the losers combined. My biggest complaint of Union workers is the rut they fall into with the job protection provided by the contracts.
So, what you are really saying is that the union managers are smarter than the company managers, and are able to negotiate contracts more favorable to the workers than to the company.
Makes sense - the workers plan to be there for decades while the managers only worry about the next quarter.
If you want to play that game. it's a UAW thread, not a "let's find one side to blame for D3 woes and never once mention the other" thread, a game played by a couple of old crones in particular. It's a UAW thread, not a blame thread. In that hypothetical thread, one could blame and blame as they wished.
Is management being held accountable? Is it being bashed as much as workers? Really? Seriously? No hyperbole - on a nationwide level, the eroding socio-economic climate shows that workers are being punished for something. It also shows that "leadership" are being rewarded more than ever. From what I can see, there are companies with workers more organized than the UAW, and those companies are more successful than the D3. They have much better leadership. They also often aren't located in the US, where calling out someone with a higher salary is seen as some kind of class warfare. It's that simple. For every UAW excess there is at least one leadership failure. The UAW has long been declining in power and influence - but the dumb "leadership" seems as strong as ever.
Nice try. I think most sensible people would agree that both the D3 management and the UAW were an incestuous and tumultuous dysfunctional relationship that helped the D3 focus on anything but making good vehicles. And they spiraled down into the grave as a reluctant team.
When it comes down to it though, in my eyes, the leader is supposed to lead. D3 leadership didn't. Execs make the big bucks to not be distracted and to think ahead. They failed, as they do in so many other industries too. I suspect if the workers who build AMG engines and Rolls bodywork volunteered to work for free making so many of the D3 problem child vehicles, the situation would be no better than it is now.
"If you take too many chips out of the poker game, the game stops".
I would agree that prop 13 is a big problem. Could be why property values are so high (less incentive to sell, as you get a great "deal" on taxes by living in the older home)
My point would be what you just said; that a $450K home in Ky is comparable to a $2 MILLION home in Ca. I don't knowwhat County SD is in, but according to that table the $2mil home would have a median prop tax of $11,400 in Marin Co. the $450K home; $2565
In Oldham Co, a $450K home would pay $4140, as opposed to $18,400