Six on California
August 01, 2012
Detroit used to be my favorite cautionary tale, but I think California is now nosing it out.
"Gov. Brown's ballot manipulation is sleazy politics": as bad as it sounds.
"California parks scandal: Honor system used to keep track of $37 billion in public funds": even worse than it sounds.
Each year, dozens of state departments report how much money they have in more than 500 special-fund accounts, which are separate from the general-fund budget and mostly tap into user fees to make up more than a quarter of all state spending. But no one checks to ensure that the special-fund figures being reported match the actual cash left in the accounts.
There’s no doubt San Bernardino and Stockton—Ground Zero for the housing crisis—suffered from the problem described above. But what did those cities do with the rapid increase in property tax revenues during the price run-up? We know—they squandered it on increased compensation for government employees, on redevelopment projects and other questionable spending deals. They squandered the money when it came flowing in, now depict themselves as victims of circumstance when the funds dried up.
The real culprit is foolish decision making.
The bad news is that there are a lot of Comptons, Stocktons, and San Bernardinos out there. Los Angeles may prove to be one of them. The good news is that things have gone so sour that some California politicians have discovered that it hurts less to act than it does not to act. That is true at the municipal level but not yet true at the state level, which makes for some interesting mayors-vs.-legislators politics. . . .
t is sobering how empty, run-down, and poor much of interior California is. Bakersfield and environs is enough to make you wonder why the Joads even bothered: Tulsa is Paris by comparison.
"Stunning 'What If' Charts Of California's Pension Shortfall": ironically--or not, your call--the main hope for California is if conservative economic policies are adopted at the national level.
"San Bernardino bankruptcy: Officials knew of risks for years": go ahead, tell me again about how short-sighted the private sector is.