Political Posts

[Gregmal]

10 minutes ago, Red Lion said:

 

To further that point, many of these same companies and employees are leaving the state, or at a bare minimum diversifying. Just look at Reno, Austin, etc. to see the tech flight to more favorable jurisdictions. 

 

Also, all the $300k tech bro jobs are gone, and that's been a serious hit to the economy in California particularly. The red tape for personal/business/real estate/investment in California is out of control, and hip high earners have plenty of other options today that didn't even exist 10 years ago. 

Exactly. But the argument people are trying to make would still conclude that California is better than Reno or Austin because of GDP lol. Politics really rots the brain. 

[dwy000]

28 minutes ago, Gregmal said:

Exactly. But the argument people are trying to make would still conclude that California is better than Reno or Austin because of GDP lol. Politics really rots the brain. 

That wasnt the point of the post. That was your response. The point of the point was to show that the states contributing more than they receive in federal funding are largely blue states and the states that take the most are largely red states. There was no suggestion of better or worse and no suggestion of why.  Its just the fact. 

[Gregmal]

Just now, dwy000 said:

That wasnt the point of the post. That was your response. The point of the point was to show that the states contributing more than they receive in federal funding are largely blue states and the states that take the most are largely red states. There was no suggestion of better or worse and no suggestion of why.  Its just the fact. 

Yes, high density city centers will have more jobs and more tax payers than smaller cities and rural areas. Those areas are almost always blue by nature. To demonstrate, here in NJ, our highest density and employment areas are places like Trenton, Newark, Paterson…total dumps that no one with a positive net worth would want to live in. 
 

It’s almost irrelevant in every aspect of what everyone was talking about(people and businesses fleeing California because it’s turned into a shithole). But was mentioned by a bunch of people as evidence that California hasn’t significantly deteriorated and it was even oddly stated that people and businesses aren’t leaving and that those that are are returning lol 

[dwy000]

2 minutes ago, Gregmal said:

Yes, high density city centers will have more jobs and more tax payers than smaller cities and rural areas. Those areas are almost always blue by nature. To demonstrate, here in NJ, our highest density and employment areas are places like Trenton, Newark, Paterson…total dumps that no one with a positive net worth would want to live in. 
 

It’s almost irrelevant in every aspect of what everyone was talking about(people and businesses fleeing California because it’s turned into a shithole). But was mentioned by a bunch of people as evidence that California hasn’t significantly deteriorated and it was even oddly stated that people and businesses aren’t leaving and that those that are are returning lol 

Reminds me of the Yogi Berra quote "nobody goes there anymore, its too crowded"

[Gregmal]

22 minutes ago, dwy000 said:

Reminds me of the Yogi Berra quote "nobody goes there anymore, its too crowded"

As has been mentioned in other threads, great locations without jobs dont work for most. Most people are slaves to a job and where there's work. That's just life. 

 

In terms of desirability, migration numbers are really all that matters. Florida, Arizona, Carolinas and Texas have been straight lines literally for decades. California was the same thing for decades, until the last 8-10 years or so. Some people either dont know this, or are lying about it. There is almost a direct correlation between some of these states adopting pro criminal, lawless, racist policies, and said exodus. There's even probably a legitimate argument to be made that the high taxes by themselves are not necessarily the issue. Many wealthy folks dont even mind the taxes provided they feel protected from the masked colorful sneaker crowd. 

Edited June 11, 2025 by Gregmal

[dwy000]

1 minute ago, Gregmal said:

As has been mentioned in other threads, great locations without jobs dont work for most. Most people are slaves to a job and where there's work. That's just life. 

 

In terms of desirability, migration numbers are really all that matters. Florida, Arizona, Carolinas and Texas have been straight lines literally for decades. California was the same thing for decades, until the last 8-10 years or so. Some people either dont know this, or are lying about it. There is almost a direct correlation between some of these states adopting pro criminal, lawless, racist policies. There's even probably a legitimate argument to be made that the high taxes by themselves are not necessarily the issue. Many wealthy folks dont even mind the taxes provided they feel protected from the masked colorful sneaker crowd. 

Okay.  But it doesnt change the fact that California continues to be the largest net contributor to the federal tax coffers. Which was the only point he seemed to be making. 

[Gregmal]

8 minutes ago, dwy000 said:

Okay.  But it doesnt change the fact that California continues to be the largest net contributor to the federal tax coffers. Which was the only point he seemed to be making. 

Perhaps we're talking about different posts. Yes @changegonnacome mentioned the issue about sending vs receiving, which is pretty plainly straight forward. Prior to that, there was a somewhat different discussion about Cali being a dumpster fire and the "gotcha" retorts claiming it wasn't were basically "GDP" and "net sender".

Edited June 11, 2025 by Gregmal

[Blake Hampton]

As a guy who’s primarily focused on energy, I’ve never seen a place as dysfunctional in this regard as California.

 

And the problem is almost entirely political. Stupid legislation and politicians who make operating in the state nearly impossible.

 

You think Trump is bad? Just you wait until Newsom gets his turn. As business owners, you really ought to fear this idiot.

[Blake Hampton]

And for the record, I think Trump is one of the worst presidents in U.S. history.

 

However, hurting business in the way that California repeatedly does, on a national scale, might just ruin one of the last remaining great aspects of our nation.

 

Edited June 11, 2025 by Blake Hampton

[Red Lion]

1 hour ago, Blake Hampton said:

As a guy who’s primarily focused on energy, I’ve never seen a place as dysfunctional in this regard as California.

 

And the problem is almost entirely political. Stupid legislation and politicians who make operating in the state nearly impossible.

 

You think Trump is bad? Just you wait until Newsom gets his turn. As business owners, you really ought to fear this idiot.

+1

[John Hjorth]

1 hour ago, Blake Hampton said:

As a guy who’s primarily focused on energy, I’ve never seen a place as dysfunctional in this regard as California.

 

And the problem is almost entirely political. Stupid legislation and politicians who make operating in the state nearly impossible.

 

You think Trump is bad? Just you wait until Newsom gets his turn. As business owners, you really ought to fear this idiot.

 

17 minutes ago, Red Lion said:

+1

 

Eventually, even dumb law makers and dumb regulators will get it right, simply because long term, it will be evident what is the right thing to decide and do. Reason always prevails long term, or somebody won't be reelected, and others will be fired.

 

But it all takes so fr*gging long time, and goes on at a high level, like production of elephants, and none of us has the sufficient patience.

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

The same thing is going on in Europe, and it's all a bloody and frustrating mess. Despite that, one has to be observant of the direction in developments. If that is right, things will eventually work out.

 

It's now long time ago, I simply capitulated on the space, basically.

[whiskybravo]

Just look at the California refinery situation to see how preposterous it can be.  
 

When Amazon was floating the idea for an additional headquarters in New York, not a single democrat thought it was a good idea.  There were tax breaks on the order of $3B or so proposed.  These Dems said that money could be better spent elsewhere, as though it was sitting in a bank account rather than that it would be generated by future economic activity.  They completely missed all the future economic benefits including future tax dollars that would come in.  

[DooDiligence]

I give the nation another month or two tops.

 

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/06/11/bragg-soldiers-who-cheered-trumps-political-attacks-while-uniform-were-checked-allegiance-appearance.html

 

===

 

There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile,

He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile;

He bought a crooked cat which caught a crooked mouse,

And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

 

Edited June 11, 2025 by DooDiligence

[cubsfan]

1 hour ago, whiskybravo said:

Just look at the California refinery situation to see how preposterous it can be.  
 

When Amazon was floating the idea for an additional headquarters in New York, not a single democrat thought it was a good idea.  There were tax breaks on the order of $3B or so proposed.  These Dems said that money could be better spent elsewhere, as though it was sitting in a bank account rather than that it would be generated by future economic activity.  They completely missed all the future economic benefits including future tax dollars that would come in.  

 

You can't fix stupid.

[thepupil]

much of this thread reminds me of this article re the SuperZips (which are pretty much all in blue states). it's an old article, but still relevant. 

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204301404577170733817181646

 

Quote

If you are invited to a dinner party by one of Washington's power elite, the odds are high that you will be going to a home in Georgetown, the rest of Northwest D.C., Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Potomac or McLean, comprising 13 adjacent ZIP Codes in all. If you rank all the ZIP Codes in the country on an index of education and income and group them by percentiles, you will find that 11 of these 13 D.C.-area ZIP Codes are in the 99th percentile and the other two in the 98th. Ten of them are in the top half of the 99th percentile.

Similarly large clusters of SuperZIPs can be found around New York City, Los Angeles, the San Francisco-San Jose corridor, Boston and a few of the nation's other largest cities. Because running major institutions in this country usually means living near one of these cities, it works out that the nation's power elite does in fact live in a world that is far more culturally rarefied and isolated than the world of the power elite in 1960.

And the isolation is only going to get worse. Increasingly, the people who run the country were born into that world. Unlike the typical member of the elite in 1960, they have never known anything but the new upper-class culture. We are now seeing more and more third-generation members of the elite. Not even their grandparents have been able to give them a window into life in the rest of America.

 

 

[dwy000]

3 minutes ago, thepupil said:

much of this thread reminds me of this article re the SuperZips (which are pretty much all in blue states). it's an old article, but still relevant. 

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204301404577170733817181646

 

 

 

Is it suggesting the power elite come from these rarified zips and stay there?  I would have thought it was because anyone who becomes successful and joins that elite moves into one of those zip codes.  Like moving from the lower east side to the upper east side to Greenwich as your career and income take off 

[thepupil]

It’s both, but it’s more about how the moneyed mostly liberal elite are increasingly isolated along many dimensions 

[dwy000]

21 minutes ago, thepupil said:

It’s both, but it’s more about how the moneyed mostly liberal elite are increasingly isolated along many dimensions 

Gotcha. Although it would honestly be weirder if they gathered all that money and power and still chose to live in the 5th floor walk up with noisy pipes in a bad neighborhood. But point taken. 

[Parsad]

On 6/10/2025 at 4:12 PM, ourkid8 said:

On June 10, 2025, Canada, alongside the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway, imposed sanctions on Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, accusing them of inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. These sanctions include asset freezes and travel bans, marking a significant shift in Canada's foreign policy towards Israel. 

 

 

 

Those are just two ministers.  Geez, I would ban like 10 from the U.S. like MTG, Noem among others.  Cheers!

[Parsad]

On 6/10/2025 at 4:26 PM, cubsfan said:

 

That is so wrong.

 

POTUS has the absolute right to take action in such situations. He has full authority to send in troops, as did Eisenhower, JFK, Lyndon Johnson, George Bush, etc when he feels it is necessary to restore or keep peace.

 

No one wants to see a repeat of the summer of 2020 when Americans witness 100+ days of rioting, cities burning, murders, etc.

 

 

No one definitely wants that...especially where a kid with an illegally acquired semi-automatic rifle killed one unarmed guy and maimed another, then got off when he was charged.  We definitely don't want that!  Cheers!

[Parsad]

On 6/10/2025 at 4:42 PM, Red Lion said:

 

Skid row has been growing like a cancer all over the state. 

 

This is not unique to California...almost every major metropolitan area in North America has been experiencing this ever since the Pandemic.  And actually, this has been happening globally in many countries as well.  Cheers!

[DooDiligence]

Most GOP lawmakers plan to skip Trump’s big parade

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/10/trump-parade-congress-republicans-00398774

 

Just in case the coup doesn't pan out and they actually need votes in 2028.

 

Won't be too long before Agent Orange starts showing up for parades in a military uniform.

 

[Parsad]

On 6/10/2025 at 6:12 PM, DooDiligence said:

The AI's are eating the cats.

 

 

Apparently only in El Salvador mega prisons now.  The cats are safe in Springfield!  

 

But donuts aren't!  Cheers!

 

[Parsad]

14 hours ago, cubsfan said:

 

Don't confuse these guys with the facts.... it messes with their TDS

 

She didn't decline support, but for any additional support to follow protocol and ensure that MPD was informed of their addition...otherwise they might shoot or confront each other.  The day before that letter, she had just engaged the DC National Guard and a chemical weapons team was brought in.  She was very concerned about any potential violence.  Check the date on this CNN story...this was the day before that letter and two days before January 6th!  But don't let the facts get in the way!  Cheers!

 

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/04/politics/muriel-bowser-dc-national-guard-protests

[Parsad]

12 hours ago, Libs said:

 

 

 

Oh the irony.......badly run, big-city blue states with high taxes, crime, and crumbling infrastructure. But they tax the living hell out of their citizens so they can send money to that redneck on the couch in Kentucky! I love it!

 

I live in CA where we have 1/7 of the country's population but 1/3 of the country's welfare cases. Plus astronomical energy prices. Potholes in the roads, terrible schools. Homeless problems. Yes, the Dems are doing a bang-up job here!

 

 

 

 

You guys have no idea what astronomical energy prices look like.  Take a quick look around the world or even in North America like Canada...many parts of the world pay way more for energy on a cost/liter basis.  And in terms of potholes in the roads, terrible schools, homeless problems...that's not unique to California, and depends a lot on where you live as well.  Like Vancouver as well, I'm sure this isn't the case as you head into the suburbs...the further out you go, the less it is of an issue.  Cheers!