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Gold/Mining/Energy : Big Dog's Boom Boom Room -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bearcatbob who wrote (184043)	5/24/2014 3:41:25 PM
From: Sam	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 206156

As I am sure you know I think politicians in California are nuts and my only hope is that they are left to deal with their fiscal idiocy all by themselves Bob, California politicians *are* dealing with their "fiscal idiocy"--see article below. I suspect we disagree on what that idiocy was--IMO, the real idiocy for the last several decades was that they required a 2/3 majority in the legislature to raise taxes--it was only when Democrats got that majority and Jerry Brown was elected governor that they were able to do that and finally get their budget in surplus. Yes, I know, that has created another set of issues, but they have enough resources to deal with those issues as well, in time they will. My guess in the near term is that some services will be restored and some of that surplus will be put into a "rainy-day" fund (ironic term in the context of CA--perhaps it should instead be called a "drought fund" or an "earthquake fund.)" As for those who do not want a straw put in the Great Lakes - well that is a political problem we have here. It is an issue totally without reason. The way I see it is that the local politicians think if a company or whatever needs water - let them come here. It is seen as an asset we have to exploit that someday may lead to migration of industrial activity to our region. I don't understand the above paragraph. On the one hand, you seem to say that people who want send Great Lakes water elsewhere are "totally without reason." But then you say it is an asset that at some point "may lead to migration of industrial activity to our region." I think that the latter is true, in fact have thought that for some time now. It is a reason for guarding the water in the Great Lakes, not exporting it to places that won't confront the fact that they live in a desert and shouldn't depend on other parts of the country to create an artificial oasis. As long as the answer of California's agricultural sector to water shortages is "Just give us more water", they won't change their wasteful habits. And it is CA agriculture that is a large part of their water problems, even given the current drought. EDIT: Wait, I think I see what you are saying now--that it is the politicians who see the water as an asset to save for the future, not you. Well, we disagree on that score, in part for the reason I give in the latter half of the paragraph. California Voters Back Use of Surplus for Debt, Poll Says By Alison Vekshin May 22, 2014 12:00 AM ET California’s likely voters prefer using a projected budget surplus to repay debt and build reserves, rather than restore funds to social-service programs, according to a poll released today. With an excess $3.9 billion predicted for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 57 percent of likely voters would rather pay down debt and build a rainy-day fund, while 39 percent favor restoring some social-service money, the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California said. Governor Jerry Brown, a 76-year-old Democrat, boosted his proposed budget for the most populous U.S. state to $107.8 billion for the fiscal year that begins in July. The 7 percent increase in general-fund spending, which pays for most core operations of state government, comes as Brown seeks an unprecedented fourth term. The poll found a political divide on the surplus, with 59 percent of Democrats backing restored services, while 76 percent of Republicans preferred debt payment. “Californians are deeply divided along party lines when it comes to the tradeoff of paying down debt versus restoring funding for services,” Mark Baldassare, president and chief executive officer of the San Francisco-based institute, said in a statement. The telephone poll of 1,038 likely voters was conducted May 8-15 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points. To contact the reporter on this story: Alison Vekshin in San Francisco at avekshin@bloomberg.net bloomberg.com