re: California has a $6.1 billion budget surplus

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Brown should start focusing on making California more livable for the middle class and business. How about paying on some tax cuts and business incentives to create jobs.

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The unemployment rate is below 5%. Clearly jobs are not a problem

Strike 1

it's also the fastest growing state for new businesses in the US

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In the 2014-17 period, California added 51,835 companies of all sizes (a 2.3 percent gain); next was Florida, up 49,107 (2.6 percent); Colorado was third up 18,237 (4.0 percent); and Arizona was No. 4, up 18,132 (4.6 percent).

Nationally, the company count actually shrunk by 473,185 (2.5 percent) as small business sharply declined. And worst in the nation? Pennsylvania, down 44,218, a drop of 5.9 percent.

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Strike 2. Get your facts straight

Like the poster above said, maybe they could start by funding their pensions? Pretty easy to show a surplus when you are hiding billions in liabilities. Theyre kicking the can down the road is all. Typical not just for Cali but for big government in general. Theres a reason why its illegal for companies to practice California's style of accounting

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Theyre kicking the can down the road is all.

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Everyone is with Pensions. They are simply unsustainable.

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Between you and I, only one of us appears to be thinking this way and it's not me

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You said "It's a land of extremes"

Guess what, the world is a "land of extremes". There's middle class people in Mumbai, too...but nobody wants to watch a movie about them. We just get exposed to the very top and the very bottom through media more, because most people aren't either one, and it's fascinating to get a glimpse into it.

I'm not sure why you singled out California.

You just threw out a pointless statement. I'll relax when people stop saying silly shite like that.

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Now Kansas is an outlier? When Brownback took over and pledged to cut taxes to basically 0, Kansas was hailed as the model for conservative politics nationwide. Now they’re bankrupt and you don’t want to talk about it anymore.

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I never said outlier....I said you are cherrypicking.

MANY states cut taxes over last 8 years, including Ohio, Utah, North Carolina, Georgia, etc....they all have had pretty good results and surpluses.

States have raised taxes and seen good results, too. California, Minnesota, etc.

States have lowered taxes and seen bad results...Lousiana and Kansas.

States have raised taxes and seen crappy results...Connecticut and New Jersey.

My point? It is ASININE to attribute something as complex as economic performance, especially between different states, to one policy.

What works for one state may not work for another state.

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You said "It's a land of extremes"

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Yep. The riches of the rich, poorest of the poor. It also has desert, mountains, warm temps and arctic conditions at altitude. Everything about California is extreme.

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Guess what, the world is a "land of extremes". There's middle class people in Mumbai,

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Damn, WTF?

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We just get exposed to the very top and the very bottom through media more, because most people aren't either one, and it's fascinating to get a glimpse into it.

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That's just awesome.

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I'm not sure why you singled out California.

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It's a thread about California.

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You just threw out a pointless statement. I'll relax when people stop saying silly shite like that.

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So you're denying that California probably has the biggest swing between wealthy and poor? Geography?

Interesting.

BTW: New York has y'all beat in the income inequality department. So you can chill.

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What program is available to a poor Californian that isn't available to a poor Louisianian? I will shut up and listen.

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Particularly when you factor in the cost of living.

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Just to be clear not only does CA actually have billions in surplus cash they are trying to figure out what to do with it

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Pay some of their trillion dollar debt?

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California spends much more on social workers, education, and other services for its citizens then Mississippi.

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Federal programs make up the slack when state governments are particularly stingy with welfare spending.

Californians are more likely to depend on state level programs, Louisianans are more likely to depend on the federal government.

My point remains: people in southern states who are poor get the same access to programs as poor in CA.

Housing, education, medicaid, etc

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MANY states cut taxes over last 8 years, including Ohio, Utah, North Carolina, Georgia, etc....they all have had pretty good results and surpluses

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Well, they got a surplus in Ohio by cutting local municipality funding and education funding.

I have potholes on every road and property taxes on the ballet every year, but the moron governor can say there's 2 billion in the rainy day fund.