posted by HereticProbably depends on where you live. I have a friend from college who works with one of the parks in the northern end and, from pics he posts online, that looks like an amazing place to be.
Yeah, I was referring to the govt policies not really affecting your day-to-day.....but the COL and taxes in the urban areas are indeed pretty brutal. And statewide you still have high taxes.
posted by justincredibleWhat if the best fix for rural Californians is to break away from urban Californians? I don't necessarily disagree with most of your post, but who's to say the best fix won't be extremely difficult?
the best fix for that is to stop gerrymandering, increase the representation of those people in the house, etc. having 1 congressman for every 604,000 constituents is ridiculous. you could also stop all lobbying efforts so the only way for a rep to get paid is to rep his people better and keep getting elected.
a shit ton of things easier than creating a new fucking state.
You make good points. No need to be so angry. At the very least this might help get people talking.
no anger, just how i talk, you know that...
i also agree with 99% of what you're saying i'm just saying there is a 0.0% chance of this happening so we'd better use our time trying to fix the issues that cause this conversation to come up.
posted by j_crazyno anger, just how i talk, you know that...
i also agree with 99% of what you're saying i'm just saying there is a 0.0% chance of this happening so we'd better use our time trying to fix the issues that cause this conversation to come up.
Calm the fuck down.
Everyone always complains about lobbyists....but do you have any idea how uninformed and stupid some of these Congresspeople are? You DO NOT want to see the crap that gets passed if industry insiders aren't hanging around keeping them from passing some really dumb, harmful laws & regulations. In many cases, lobbyists are the only thing standing in the way of complete incompetence.
posted by gutEveryone always complains about lobbyists....but do you have any idea how uninformed and stupid some of these Congresspeople are? You DO NOT want to see the crap that gets passed if industry insiders aren't hanging around keeping them from passing some really dumb, harmful laws & regulations. In many cases, lobbyists are the only thing standing in the way of complete incompetence.
so stupid congresspeople are worse than congresspeople who are bought and fed biased information?
congresspeople who are lobbies are still stupid, they're just making choices based on the interests of those with money, usually businesses.
posted by gutEveryone always complains about lobbyists....but do you have any idea how uninformed and stupid some of these Congresspeople are? You DO NOT want to see the crap that gets passed if industry insiders aren't hanging around keeping them from passing some really dumb, harmful laws & regulations. In many cases, lobbyists are the only thing standing in the way of complete incompetence.
The offset is money changing hands in one form or another. Is it really a net gain? Doubt it. Not to mention that the typical lobbyist is not a SME, they're the dumbass whose office was down the hall before it was time to get on the other side of the gravy train.
posted by MontyBrunswickso stupid congresspeople are worse than congresspeople who are bought and fed biased information?
congresspeople who are lobbies are still stupid, they're just making choices based on the interests of those with money, usually businesses.
Yeah, as usual a lot of things you read in the news are pretty uninformed. My experience is admittedly anecdotal, but I've seen firsthand how and why lobbying money is spent at your typical firms....and a lot of times it's opposing self-interested lawyers on the other side. Other times, Mr. Down-on-his-luck consitutent is angry and confused, writes his Congressman who then introduces a bill he has no understanding of the consequences of.
Other instances, you have deep pocketed industry groups on opposite sides. And that could actually be productive. Other times you have various SJW/environmental groups, which can be well-funded as well, pushing their harmful agenda and corporate lobbyists have to step in and say "woah, this doesn't do what you think it does, let me educate you".
Pretty much all of the lobbying I've seen has been defensive and reactive. That hardly makes it all benign, but still a long ways from how it's usually portrayed.
posted by j_crazyno anger, just how i talk, you know that...
i also agree with 99% of what you're saying i'm just saying there is a 0.0% chance of this happening so we'd better use our time trying to fix the issues that cause this conversation to come up.
You can't conversate with the people that cause those problems
posted by queencitybuckeyeThe offset is money changing hands in one form or another. Is it really a net gain? Doubt it. Not to mention that the typical lobbyist is not a SME, they're the dumbass whose office was down the hall before it was time to get on the other side of the gravy train.
No, the lobbyist is representing and relaying info from the SME. And often they've joined a lobbying group, where they specialize and DO become a subject matter expert (and that specialization is usually related to their prior experience in the private sector, or perhaps their public service). You don't just hang out a shingle and come one, come all start lobbying for anyone and everyone who will pay you.
There are not certain lobbyists who only offer access to certain legislators. It really doesn't work that way. There are THOUSANDS of lobbyists nationally (you have to remember state and locally). Most of those lobbyists specialize in an industry and have deep industry knowledge. Virtually no overlap between the Food guys and the Pharma guys. You don't just sell access - effective lobbyists bring much more to the table.
I think competing interests both pleading their case is how effective/good compromise comes about. You have people making laws in a vacuum and it's a disaster.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/22/trump-sessions-arrest-xavier-becerra-358244
Looks like California AG should be arrested ............and some people wonder why the sane Californians want to split from the whackjobs.
The California tax proposal, meant to blunt the Trump tax reform, would be a nightmare, on top of Cali already being a nightmare.
