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Tuesday, October 23, 2007

No fair share for California

If you're looking for the Tuesday Hotsheet, it's here, a couple of posts back. Excuse me for ducking in....

As you know, rarely do banks do any kind of critical thinking well, and so often their timing is just plain bad---but yesterday, against the backdrop of a dry, smouldering Southern California, City National put out a press release that should make the southland's leaders burn a little hotter too.

I'll quote in part:
An overwhelming majority of California voters disapprove of the fact that the state's taxpayers send $52 billion a year more to Washington, D.C. than they receive in federal benefits, according to a statewide poll commissioned by City National Bank. The results released today also show that California voters want presidential candidates to address this issue during the 2008 election campaign.

Everyone has a general sense that California doesn't get a fair federal share, but to demonstrate how much of a deficit $52 billion is---well, for starters, that would be the low estimate of roughly the same amount that bond investors will lose off the subprime fiasco---you know, the one that's threatening global economic stability. The only difference is, that's a one-time hit to the globe, but California ships $52 billion or thereabouts out of state to pointless highway projects in Vermont and gravy trains in New Mexico every damn year.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Maybe Rosendahl pushing a resolution to condemn the war in Iraq isn't the most astute way to court the Bush administration right now. The other democrats in Sacramento seem about as sharp. Pick your battles, people.

October 23, 2007 12:14 PM  

Blogger solomon said:

It's true -- we squawk about Tennie Pierce and DWP rate hikes while the federal government plunders our paychecks and builds bridges to nowhere.

To me, the obvious solution is not to fight for our "fair share," but for a smaller federal government and more local control over everything, from education to transportation.

Of course, local battles are easier to win and the driving principles are the same, so we will continue squawking.

October 23, 2007 1:16 PM  

Anonymous Anonymous said:

Joe:

This has been going on for decades now. Not only is our congressional delegation divided by party, it's also divided by region.

The same thing happened on base closings and defense plant movement. Why did aerospace and defense contractors move out of CA in the 1980's, even before we won the Cold War?

Because our people didn't stay strong and united, while Sam Nunn and Newt Gingrich did. That's why there are defense plants in Georgia (and other states).

It's not just the bad business environment (although that does hurt).

October 24, 2007 6:19 PM  

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