State Budget Problems In The Us

[FCP Bob 1,312]

this american life did an episode on NYC's budget problems a few weeks ago. listen to it.http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-arch...social-contract

Short article on NYC budget.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-25/n...ins-police.htmlNYC budget is $63 Billion while State of Iowa Budget is $28 Billion

[FCP Bob 1,312]

I moved all these posts from the Obaba Scorecard thread since they work better in their own thread.

[AmScray 355]

Ronald Reagan balanced the budget of CA, and when his tax increases caused a surplus, he returned the money to the people in the form of tax rebates.

We will never have a man like Reagan again. He was a one-off sort of deal where a grounded, practical, right-thinking genius came off just dumb enough on the surface to garner popular support from the cheeze-wiz eating rabble. His intelligence type was not standard, but he was a master orchestrator of situations and people, which any good executive should be and is more important than ones aptitude for long-division anyway. Politicians now are either legitimately dumb (Bush), loftily academic (Hussein), an academic trying to appear 'down home' (John Kerry with a shotgun), or a clueless dolt trying to appear smart (McCain regurgitating economic talking points). None of them can coordinate shit from their own asses without a series of consensus sessions and puppeteering advisers telling them what to do and really, only exist in practice to foist their party line on the retards dumb enough to elect them in the first place. Yes, a second coming of a Reagan'ish sort of guy (who bent Austrian in his economic thoughts and a tad more unapologetically ornery than Ronnie ever was, and with less faith in the government than Reagan had) would be ideal, but we will never see such a man again. We don't make 'em like that anymore. With the election of Hussien, the parties have entered a race to the genetic bottom, which ultimately culminates in our 52nd president being inaugurated as the first Lesbian-Hindu-Aboriginal-Quadraplegic-Deaf-Midget-Amputee with downs syndrome and a hairlip seated to the executive.

[AmScray 355]

...

$6,500 for a tub of live bass. The state paid for fishing seminars and demonstrations using a 4,000-gallon, 40-foot long tank filled with live fish.

Approved. I'm totally OK with this sort of thing. Referring to a 4,000 gallon, fully stocked traveling educational aquarium as a 'tub of bass' is somewhat understated.

$10,000 for a Hollywood gala. Your tax dollars funded a star-studded party for “Dark Knight” director Christopher Nolan.

Veto.

$78,066 for quail promotion. The state is funding Quail Unlimited, which is “dedicated to the wise use and management of America’s wild quail, doves, upland game birds and other forms of wildlife.”

Approved. Wildlife management is not one of the things we can leave in the hands of commercial interests to take care of. The state partnering with relevant, private interest groups makes perfect sense in this spot and is a helluva lot more efficient than the ordinary Illinois Way, which would've been to create an Office of Quail Affairs staffed by 45 political canvassers, aldermen cronies , idiot-sons of big campaign donors and employees who no one has ever met since they don't really exist, save for their direct-deposit paycheck piped into an account somewhere in Grand Cayman.

$353,165 for car racing. The state is funding Raceway Associates, which partners with big-time races like the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500, as well as a massive construction grant for Atkinson Motorsports Park in northwestern Illinois.

Don't know enough about it, but sounds like an inside deal, so probably a veto here, however there are circumstances where states subsidizing certain projects can have hugely disproportionate economic benefits, so I don't know... The details would matter a lot here. If it's +ev, I say go.

[CaneBrain 95]

Well then, I'm really not sure how exactly you are using the term bankrupt -- states cannot use bankruptcy as far as I know (Cane?) nor have they tried to -- so I assumed you were using it in the colloquial sense rather than in the technical legal sense. So if you want to get technical, no states are bankrupt. I don't think any states have actually "collapsed" either.

As far as I know, states cannot declare bankruptcy. I think states that rely on property taxes the most are being the hardest hit which is not really a Dem or GOP issue.

[brvheart 1,752]

I moved all these posts from the Obaba Scorecard thread since they work better in their own thread.

I thought I was going crazy for a second.

[Balloon guy 158]

Actually I have already come up with the solution to this entire mess.I thought of it while smoking a cigar, which is where most great thoughts come from. Not sure if it's the actual smoke that gives it to you, or the moment when your mind and body are relaxed and partaking of an enjoyable exercise that brings complaints and whining from your more liberal idiots.I mean they complain about cigarette and cigar smoke, THEN try to get maryjuanda legal???? Where are you going to smoke pot? In a van down by the river?And PLEASE let's not start the whole should pot / all drugs be legal debate, because frankly I am completely and utterly bored with that debate and you inability to understand that POT IS A GATEWAY DRUG.So let's just leave that debate alone. Because who cares?Well now I'm too worked up to remember what my whole plan was, but it was really good.Really really good in fact.

[CaneBrain 95]

Actually I have already come up with the solution to this entire mess.I thought of it while smoking a cigar, which is where most great thoughts come from. Not sure if it's the actual smoke that gives it to you, or the moment when your mind and body are relaxed and partaking of an enjoyable exercise that brings complaints and whining from your more liberal idiots.I mean they complain about cigarette and cigar smoke, THEN try to get maryjuanda legal???? Where are you going to smoke pot? In a van down by the river?And PLEASE let's not start the whole should pot / all drugs be legal debate, because frankly I am completely and utterly bored with that debate and you inability to understand that POT IS A GATEWAY DRUG.So let's just leave that debate alone. Because who cares?Well now I'm too worked up to remember what my whole plan was, but it was really good.Really really good in fact.

go pour yourself a metamucil and calm down.

[Balloon guy 158]

go pour yourself a metamucil and calm down.

It's funny how really dumb jokes calm me down. I guess it's the soothing moments of contemplation of how anyone would commit to a joke that dumb, causing me to empathize with them, to feel bad for their plight in life if this is what they consider funny.So onto the plan.See we need to start a new school, a university that only teaches one thing: Politics.Then the only way you can be elected is to have gotten your degree from this one university.If you want to run, you have to post your transcripts from your classes.I mean think of how great the entire political campaign season would become if we could cut it down to just 3-4 days of : "Hi, I'm Balloon Guy. I received a B+ in ethics, a A in economics, and a F in government growth, Vote for me"Then we just have teachers with real life experience.You want to take the class on economics?Great, Here's the first question for you to see if you have what it takes:Q. If the government brings in $6 trillion a year, how much should you spend?A. More than $6 trillionB. Less than $6 trillionC. Way more than $6 trillionD. exactly $6 trillion.Okay who's first? Okay you, Mr. Carter?What? You said A? Sorry that's wrong. Next? Okay Mr. Bush jr your turn?What? you also said A? Sorry still wrong. Okay how about you Mr. Obama?What? C? No that's a fail answer, please leave the class now.Okay..does anyone say B? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? I will accept D as well. Anyone?We of course would film all of this and broadcast it on a late night insomnia channel to allow people like Scram to keep an eye on them.It's pretty much fool proof, and as such will never be tried.So I will vote for Palin then as a protest.

[LongLiveYorke 38]

Q. If the government brings in $6 trillion a year, how much should you spend?A. More than $6 trillionB. Less than $6 trillionC. Way more than $6 trillionD. exactly $6 trillion.[/i]

E. Not enough information, obviously. Am I President yet?

[Balloon guy 158]

E. Not enough information, obviously. Am I President yet?

You will probably be appealing to the "intellectual people who can't make a decision and try to pass it off as thoughtful contemplation" target audience.Although this currently will not win you any elections, because most of these people never vote.

[LongLiveYorke 38]

You will probably be appealing to the "intellectual people who can't make a decision and try to pass it off as thoughtful contemplation" target audience.Although this currently will not win you any elections, because most of these people never vote.

Yeah, those moronic academics never vote:No High School 38 % Some High School 43 High School Graduate 57%Some College 66%College Grad 79%Post-Graduate 84%(via Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout#cite_note-16 )

[Balloon guy 158]

Yeah, those moronic academics never vote:No High School 38 % Some High School 43 High School Graduate 57%Some College 66%College Grad 79%Post-Graduate 84%

Let's look at the numbers:CharacteristicTotal populationTotal citizen Totalcitizen Reported registered Reported votedNumber Percent90 percentC.I. (±)1 Number Percent90 percentLess than 9th grade. . . . . . . . . . . . 12,894 8,784 4,655 53.0 1.6 3,454 39.3 1.69th to 12th grade, no diploma . . . 20,108 17,801 9,235 51.9 1.1 6,758 38.0 1.1High school graduate or GED . . . 66,339 62,426 39,869 63.9 0.6 32,749 52.5 0.6Some college or Associatedegree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,308 52,800 38,700 73.3 0.6 33,339 63.1 0.6Bachelor’s degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,254 30,063 24,619 81.9 0.7 22,661 75.4 0.7Advanced degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,706 14,492 12,472 86.1 0.9 11,865 81.9 1.0Little less impressive when you see the tiny numbers involved. Your so called smart people have less votes than people with no high school diploma, just a higher percentage.If you throw in high school and GED people, you're smarty pants make up less than 1/5th of the votes.So sit down in the back of the bus and whine that the stupid people are running the show while you idiots beg for more money from the government to lament your lack of political gravitas.

[AmScray 355]

Congrats. You've proven that uneducated people outnumber educated people, in aggregate (although education has nothing to do with IQ)The correct system is to set the IQ bar at the top 10%, with those people allowed to keep the other 90% as pets.(and yes, I'm up deep into the night. The reason for this is there are more Asians and French playing on stars during these hours and I get to take away their chips. Sometimes, when I'm bored and there are no good games running, I'll single out msnl Korean math grinders and abuse them, just because I hate gold farmers and enjoy knowing that somewhere out there in the world, thousands of miles away on the continent of Asia, blankly staring into a screen sits a frustrated and sad Korean- all because of me)

[El Guapo 8]

I don't know about other states, but here in Ca we spend over 50% of our general fund on education. So of the 100 Billion, roughly 50 Billion is paying for K-12 education and ancillary education programs, whatever that means.There are a little over 6 Million kids in CA school. So that means it's roughly $8,000 a year to educate one of them. This is the biggest issue as far as funding shortages go and it's a not so hidden dirty little secret. The biggest lobbyist group with the most power is the Ca Teacher Union. Teachers are very well paid contrary to popular belief. I have many retired teachers as clients. Not only did they make 60 - 80K a year, when they retire they have a pension equivalent to almost the same + medical benefits.We spent 100 Million dollars building a High School in the town next to mine. I am all for my kids having nice schools, but that is just ridiculous.

[strategy 4]

I know a few younger people who went into teaching. None of them make more than 35 as far as I know. One is lucky enough to be tenured because he was one of those useful math/science hybrids. Why anyone would choose to go into teaching is beyond me. I should tip them off re: CA!

[FCP Bob 1,312]

here in Ontario starting salaries for teachers is around $35K-$37K per year and maxs out around $75K-$80K per year for a teacher with over 10 years experience and a Master's Degree plus other upgraded qualifications.Edit: Actually I think my max number is low and they can get get quite a bit more than $80K.

[CaneBrain 95]

yeah, there are teachers who make a lot but at first you make nothing. After 20 years, you make a lot and get a great pension. It's basically a reward for staying in the system forever.

[El Guapo 8]

Sorry I didn't want to make this an issue over what teachers make. I actually think they are fairly compensated.The problem is with all the waste.

[strategy 4]

Sorry I didn't want to make this an issue over what teachers make. I actually think they are fairly compensated.The problem is with all the waste.

Yeah, like all the money they waste on teacher salaries.

[Jeepster80125 0]

Isn't a major issue with funding pensions the fact that they are mostly defined benefit, instead of defined contribution?

[JoeyJoJo 18]

Why anyone would choose to go into teaching is beyond me.

Summer vacations!Alternatively: For the children!I would totally teach if it wasn't for the money and if I liked kids and if I didn't have a problem talking in front of a bunch of people who don't want to listen. Really I'd just be in it for the vacations.Percentage of posts in this thread read by me: 20.

[El Guapo 8]

Isn't a major issue with funding pensions the fact that they are mostly defined benefit, instead of defined contribution?

That is an issue, but a good portion of the teachers salaries go to fund them.

[CaneBrain 95]

Sorry I didn't want to make this an issue over what teachers make. I actually think they are fairly compensated.The problem is with all the waste.

WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN????There is a bunch of waste in the upper levels of Florida Public School bureauacracy though that is for sure.

[brvheart 1,752]

I know a few younger people who went into teaching. None of them make more than 35 as far as I know. One is lucky enough to be tenured because he was one of those useful math/science hybrids. Why anyone would choose to go into teaching is beyond me. I should tip them off re: CA!

Teachers usually start around there, but ELG specifically mentioned the wage when they retire. My brother-in-law's mom was making 75k in Ohio when she retired and she worked an extra 2 years so that she could be at like 90% for her pension. Also: Teachers work 9 months.