1 First of all, dick, they is us.

And no, no, no Texas is full of mouthbreathers. They can't be the future they just can't.

2 Texas kicks ass. Don't mess with Texas. The United State of Texas that is. We rule!

3  What about me?

4 The longer Dems run a state the worse it gets.NR had a chart in a recent issue illustrating the point.I guess the union and the civil "service" people are happy in those states though.

5 They can't be the future they just can't.

Hahaha, all I can say is "Suck Texas' dust buddy!"

6 I seriously don't understand why government employees are allowed to unionize.

7 Looks like someone, somewhere, forgot to set there clock back

8 Or perhaps I've been abducted by aliens, and I'm experiencing missing time?

9 Forgot to mention the 10% interest-free loan the "members of Club California" are offering up without agreeing to it.

10

What about me?

You. You are nothing. You are the thing we wear to keep our head warm.

We, on the otherhand, are the future.

Corrupt government..........check.

Large cesspool of a city......check

Single party rule driving us straight to the iceberg.....check

Plus, we have Roland Burriss. A politician so shameless that actually trying to buy a U.S. Senate seat results not in getting thrown out of office and charged with a crime, but you actually get the seat with no cash being exchanged.

Yea, we are the future.

11

I was just reading this -- and decided to refresh Ace to see if the top headlines thread was up.

My take on this: it's not about providing "services", it's about buying votes with jobs. I see it myself where I live. When the county is the largest employer in the county, the political machine that runs the county becomes unstoppable.

12

oh yeah, forgot that.  10% increase in withholding on state income taxes.

 

Nice.

13 Funny thing is, it seems to be impossible to roll back any government program or benefit, even after it is proven to be disastrous. I'd like to know what victory looks like, and a time line and plan for the war on poverty. And that's nothing if the Feds get health care and cap and tax passed. The whole place is going straight into the shitter. Republic of Texas becomes the only alternative.

14 Quoting Apostle Claver, liberalism is a virus. It invades it's host, destroys it, and moves on to the next victim. These bastards fleeing the high taxes and unemployment are not going to vote better. They don't realize or care that their greed for other people's money is what killed their old homes. They are moving to Texas to escape their own stink, but they are still going to try to shit where they eat. We oughta refuse them entry at the El Paso border.

15 California's new slogan to drum up investment. "10th in taxes. 46th in education." Oh, and Texas schools rank 32nd. Not great but much better value. (Or maybe the smart mexicans go to Texas and the dumb ones to Cali?)

16

My Dad was career military. So, due to his assignments, I spent 8 years in California growing up. California is a wonderful state, if you could disappear the left wing imbeciles running the place, and about 2/3 rds. of the people who make the place insufferable. When he got the assignment to New Mexico, I was overjoyed. I've never been back to California in over 35 years.

17 When the county is the largest employer in the county, the political machine that runs the county becomes unstoppable.

And then the county goes bankrupt and people inevitably ask "why? what happened to the money?"

18

And that's nothing if the Feds get health care and cap and tax passed.

Also at Power Line, a quote from Mark Steyn:

"The cap-and-trade bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, for example," Mark writes, "is a bold assault on property rights: in order to sell your home--whether built in 2006 or 1772--you would have to bring it into compliance with whimsical, eternally evolving national 'energy efficiency' standards, starting with a 50 per cent reduction in energy use by 2018. Fail to do so and it would be illegal for you to enter into a private contract with a willing buyer."

19 A field of Bluebonnets is as pretty as a newborn colt in the mornin'.

20 I think New York State is next big case to...get a basket (with I could draw..would make a great cartoon: the basket machine).  My guess is that the Porkulus has hid the fact, but it's coming, and soon.

21 Do you mean to tell me, that a state that cares more about minnows than it's agriculture, is going broke?

Who knew?

22 If we just charged all of da people leaving California a one time Exit Tax, we could cut our deficit by 200%.

23 We use minnows for bait.

24 California seemed rich with a wild spending spree on credit cards.  Then the bills came due.

25 ha, my cousin went to Canada to avoid the draft, came during amnesty and got a good Cali state job from which he retired with great bennies I assume.  Smart guy, unlike my brothers who did their hitches then both lost their jobs in the '91 recession when they were over 50.

Life ain't fair.

26 There are Texacutions in Texas. Here in Commiefornia we keep death row prisoners around as if they were lost  pets.

27 It is the media's job to point out to all Americans that Liberal Leaders and Liberal Policies always result in utter rot and ruin, and they should be using places like California, New York, Michigan, etc. as examples of this.


The very idea that the media would tell the truth about people who implement policies that media people agree with is laughable.

28 If you commit murder in Texas we will kill you back, fast too.

29 Inbred , toothless ,bible and gun clinger with a new Boeing plant and 4,000 potential jobs.
I'm sure a business friendly climate has nothing to do with it .

30 I always thought we would be first to circle the drain. Top five is within reach.

31 2010 Election Issues - MUST GET INFORMATION OUT TO VOTERS ABOUT THESE: 1. Public salaries and pensions. These need to be highlighted - they are very, very, very generous. 2. GOP plan for growth - reduce payroll and corp. tax. (for the working man and for companies creating the jobs.) 3. Nuclear Power - Green jobs for blue collar Americans that cannot be outsourced to China and use less foreign oil. 4. No cap and trade - it only helps a tiny amount for a huge cost, instead realize how technology can allow us to defeat GW (if it is really happening anyways) by simply waiting for better tech to become available. Show 70's solar panel vs. current versions. Explain that cap and trade simply moves more production to China and does not actually help, because you just shifted the pollution. (See Nukes, solar, wind, for how to stop GW, so no need for cap and trade.) Essentially if you can have electric cars and nuclear power, you reduce your emissions enough anyways and those are all coming whether or not we have AGW. 5. Mining and drilling - these are sources of jobs for the American working men and women and we should not oppose them so quickly. 6) Healthcare reform - a simple pro-individual choice plan - baby steps. We don't have to fix everything in one 2,000 page bill. Make it clear language - make it under 10 pages. Make it pass as is or not at all. Then you will see the independents and even the rational dems come over... This is not rocket science, but basically Contract with America Part II. Notice: nothing about gays, foreign policy, or abortion - because those issues will not matter in 2010 - jobs will. Now, if the social cons could shut their traps for a year, we can get the moderates to vote GOP, and then we could come up with some compromises on those issues for the social cons.

32 I wish I was from Texas.  Even with the humidity and fire ants. 

33 You know we can point all the fingers we want to but this Republic depends on an informed and upright citizen taking his responsiblities as a citizen seriously. Alas we only have our selves to blame.

34 oh, and +1 bluebonnets..

35

Fire ants.

 

yeah, they suck.

36

32 I wish I was from Texas.  Even with the humidity and fire ants. 

You don't have to be in Tejas to enjoy fire ants. They have exported the surplus to Arkansas.

Damn you, Grunt...

37 32,

You learn to live with the humidity and fire ants aren't that bad, I had a mound in my yard last year and sprinkled some Andro on it and they were gone.

38 Personally I think social cons need to realize that if they keep wanting government to have the power over social issues, that this simply plays into the progressive's plans later on. Instead, they need to accept that we have to shrink government and protect individual rights and strengthen federalism. Those are a natural defenses for social conservative values more than passing laws to make gay marriage illegal. Oh, and school vouchers, hell yeah. break the teachers union.

39

You know we can point all the fingers we want to but this Republic depends on an informed and upright citizen taking his responsiblities as a citizen seriously. Alas we only have our selves to blame.

Not me.  I'm informed and have attempted to inform those around me.  To the point of being annoying at times.

40 Bevo is still a queer steer, bevo has no balls.

41

>>I seriously don't understand why government employees are allowed to unionize.

Mostly its b/c we work in a government setting, with political a-holes who would fire you in a heartbeat for your political views, if they could do so legally.

The unintended consequence is that the day-to-day running of government falls to the Civil Service, which is low-turnover. Vote all you want, we'll run the show, folks.

42 40,

He did Sat!

43 There ain't no way we let Texas secede before we do .
Let's just hope it doesn't turn out to be one of those "Hey , ya'll watch this shit " scenarios .

44 And BBQ! Don't forget the BBQ! Texas had the chance to go down Cali's path since they were a one party state run by Dims. Thank God for the Gipper! And redistricting, of course!

45

Oh, and school vouchers, hell yeah. break the teachers union.

I have always thought school vouchers were a great idea.  Let the parents choose their kids' school and force the schools to be answerable to the parents and have to impliment changes to make themselves better instead of political and padding the union's pockets.

46 OK, nuff ranting. So, if a person from Cali moves to Texas, is it cool? Or does my car door get keyed at night? (even with the W sticker?) Do I have to take Accent Enlargement classes? Where do they hand out the 10 gallon hats? Uh, I couldn't afford to bring a cow, so I have this goat. Is that acceptable? Where is my oil well? I was told they came with the house.

47
Rick Perry endorsed Algore for prez in 1988.

48

Fire ants.

Fire ants vs Iowa winters.

Discuss.

49 >>I seriously don't understand why government employees are allowed to unionize.<< I personally know two democrats who are against that, one a government employee. I don't think unions are as popular as progs think they are. Maybe they never have to deal with them at the coffee shop or university bookstore?

50

New California state motto:

"We're like a great big f--king New Jersey!"

51

As a person stuck in a Lib-leaning, spending addicted state, I wonder what can be done to turn the tide against the leaches.  Must we all just sit and wait to be taxed out of house and home?  After all, not everybody can move to Texas.  What needs to happen to thin the herd of blood suckers in the slums and in the state government?  It seems we've already reached critical mass - too many eaters and too few workers, and all the eaters vote.

Michigan has the balanced budget amendment that keeps the Libs in check to some degree by preventing accumulation of debt, but they're constantly pressing for more tax revenue while simultaneously cutting the normal government services every chance they get.  Every time the budget gets tight, the totally predictable attacks on schools, police, fire departments, and roads begin.  Never mind the state lottery, which supposedly pumps boat loads of cash into the schools (really just the general fund), the high property taxes for the schools (again, who knows where that money really all goes?), the gas taxes for the roads, the assessments, etc etc etc.  Always they need more money to do less useful stuff.  The only welfare-type item they ever offer up on the chopping block is the already modest aid for old folks homes, which I'm sure we could easily afford if it were not for all the other waste.

52

Anyone else laugh when they see the commercial with Arnold saying "Come to California we are waiting"? I swear that crap cracks me up. One of the largest most prosperous states with a GDP larger than most countries, some of the best weather, more natural resources than most other states, and yet they are forced to beg people to move there in commercials.

Also I think by "we are waiting" they mean waiting to rob you but that might just be me.

53 Fire ants vs Iowa winters.

Iowa winters are pretty pussy.

54 "See, that's all people like you, sexypig, can do: complain. No ideas, no suggestions. You are a perfect representative of the Party of "No."<< I think much of that is MSM control over the message. That's why the GOP has to come out with home run stuff that can go right over their heads - say that 10 page healthcare reform law - that would slap down the Dems so hard, and the media would have to report on it... Of course, even it isn't possible for a 10 page comprehensive law, then just section off each idea as a separate vote/issue - I think people like that as well - and steal Obama's broken pledge to post stuff on the internet for 5 days before anything is signed. (That should also be an easy media hit on Obama, except the MSM lets him get away with that...) And, I would be saying, "You know what, we aren't afraid to put this idea out there for 3 months, 6 months - whatever it takes to get a good law passed not something done in a hurry, and to get some consensus...some law no one has read...."

55
My favorite bumper sticker is

"I Wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could !"

56

>> Rick Perry endorsed Algore for prez in 1988

 

I'm no defender of Perry, he's a pretty unimpressive gov (although a better choice than the other dorks running against him)... which I'm sure is why Hutchison is challenging him.  Kay Bailey gets a bit squishy on the border from time to time, not good, but a net positive compared to Governor Goodhair.

57

I don't think unions are as popular as progs think they are. Maybe they never have to deal with them at the coffee shop or university bookstore?

That's probably because this administration loves the squeaky wheel.  The noisy few are the favored ones.

58 eh, I meant the dorks who "ran" against him, not present tense.

59 I'm not a big fan of Perry either, but when a hurricane hits he's always there to fix it without those assholes in Fema.

60 Diogenes, that is awesome. My dad was in the service and said Texas was the nicest place to soldiers.

61

>>No ideas, no suggestions. You are a perfect representative of the Party of "No."<<

Mostly b/c any 'acceptable' suggestion always involves more government. All you've got is a hammer....

62 Fire ants suck. The humidity is horrendous. However: Barbeque. Tex-Mex. Common sense. Guns. Hell, yes. I was born in San Antonio, lived most of my younger years around Ft. Worth. My mom lost her ever-lovin' mind and moved us to California for a while. But I'm back, thank goodness. I do miss the beaches, though. (Yeah, I know Texas has beaches, but they're still six hours from me.)

63 63,

My beach is 15 minutes away, and my dawg grunt loves it.

64 "... - say that 10 page healthcare reform law - that would slap down the Dems so hard, and the media would have to report on it...

Of course, even it isn't possible for a 10 page comprehensive law, then just section off each idea as a separate vote/issue - I think people like that as well - and steal Obama's broken pledge to post stuff on the internet for 5 days before anything is signed. (That should also be an easy media hit on Obama, except the MSM lets him get away with that...)

Posted by: sexypig at November 02, 2009 10:29 AM (COZI9)
Actually, I'm not so sure that health care can't be done in 10 pages: just set up a system of vouchers that allow poor people to buy private health insurance.  Kinda like how food stamps works.  I think they could do that in 10 pages.

65

>>I personally know two democrats who are against that [gov unions], one a government employee.

Doing away with them would be worse, I think. You'd have County = Repubs, State = Dems, etc. and no crossing of the streams, as it were. What they need to do is outlaw political contributions from governement employee unions.

66 It's not a perfect contrast but it's a good one. For years states with higher taxes dismissed other states like Texas, Florida and South Carolina as ignoring the neccessity of of "excellent" public services like education and transportation

Just to be clear, Dave-in-Texas, but South Carolina is one of the "worst of both worlds".  Not only are gov't services low, but UNLIKE Texas and FL, taxes are quite high.

In general property taxes are low, but state income tax is 7% (which is higher than say, Taxachussets), and the state sales tax is 7% with a 1% tax on food.   Yup, I pay more taxes in SC than I did before I moved from MA!

This is one of the reasons why pre-Brazillian mistress Governor Sanford was (once) popular, he slapped a veto on ever-more-egregious spending proposals in Columbia.

67 Outlined above are all the reasons I left California. Of course, my dumb ass moved to Oregon, which is only better by comparison and a TERRIBLE place to get rich in (second in income tax only to Denmark). That pretty much ensures that I will be leaving again and probably for Texas or Washington. Liberal, nanny state governance has been migrating north from California for years and Oregon is on a fast track to the same mess CA is in if we don't watch out and curtail all the Portland lefties before it's too late.

68 64-- Gloating isn't nice. I could get to a lake shore in 15 minutes, but the ocean is hell and gone from here.

69 61 Diogenes, that is awesome. My dad was in the service and said Texas was the nicest place to soldiers.

Posted by: sexypig at November 02, 2009 10:34 AM (COZI9)

Texas is great! I've several friends that have moved down there.

70 Do you mean to tell me, a state that promises a bribe with your own money for your vote, then turns around and gives the bribe to bureaucrats, is going broke?

Lord, have mercy.

71 Private Sector in a recession: We are going to have to work hard cutting costs to keep prices low, because our customers don't have so much money anymore. Public Sector: We are going to have to raise prices (taxes) and work hard to find new "revenue streams." (disclaimer: private sector does not include Wall Street)

72
Is Hutchison gonna win the primary?

And who will replace her in the Senate if she wins the governorship?

73 No way Kay wins.

74

63 Fire ants suck. The humidity is horrendous.

Humidity? What's that? Way out in West Texas, it's brown and dry but we don't suffer like Houstonians or those poor batards who live in swamp country.

Fire ants do suck. I've had them crawl all the way up to my crotch and latch on. Burned like hell...That incident was even more intense than my many scorpion bites. Still - even fire ants are a lot better than Jerry Brown!

75

Posted by: Dave in Texas at November 02, 2009 10:31 AM (WvXvd)

I disagree. I think she's a damn Trojan Horse. Too long in the Senate, which is a cesspool of career RINOs

76

The latest poll I saw put Perry up by 10, but it's not even an active race yet.  I don't know if she can win or not, if he wins then it ain't awful. His biggest fumble was on insurance couple of years ago, the rest of it has been steady.

No idea who will run for Kay's seat. Probably Willie Nelson.

77
So Perry wins another term?

78

Thing I like about Perry is that he seems to instinctly know that the less he does, the better he looks. 

I like that.

79

Texas has its problems too - like the City of Houston is BANKRUPT.

http://tinyurl.com/yzntc4d

80 46 OK, nuff ranting. So, if a person from Cali moves to Texas, is it cool?

uh, half of california is already here. It was pretty popular to sell their inflated priced houses and come here and buy land at actual market value before the housing bust.

And one other thing, we still got lead bullets and magazines that can hold more than ten bullets. Point is, are personal freedom is much less constrained by government.

81 Perry has pissed some people off but good (like me). I don't know that I'd trust someone who's spent time in the Senate, though.

82
Waitaminnut!

Is Willie Nelson even a resident of Texas?

83 Hey, given a choice between Rick "Adios, Mo-Fo" Perry and, oh I don't know, Deval Patrick, I can certainly overlook my minor criticisms of Perry.

84

I disagree. I think she's a damn Trojan Horse. Too long in the Senate, which is a cesspool of career RINOs

Posted by: TexasJew at November 02, 2009 10:47 AM (1doBx)

I agree with you.

85 I voluntarily joined my school classified union and became active because it was the ADMINISTRATORS getting larded up. We classified haven't had a COLA in 7 years and have absorbed $300/mo in  increased medical.

But what is worse is the way the Administrators blatantly violate the law. The Boards are drones. The DA's yawn. The pricks won't even buy their own coffee. The District's have become love nests of contractor/consultant/analists...We got a consultant who 'works' here 2 days a mo for $200K. He gives the Board advice. Our cooks make $8.50/hr. Administrators love lawyers. We now have 6 cases against the District. Two years ago $487000 was spent in a year on lawyers out of $12.5 million. It is Miss Management, and highly paid at that, that is wrecking Commiefornia.

I'm off to work to keep the classrooms warm for our welfare Kings and Queens. See Ya!

86 I predict total bankruptcy in 2-5 years. There are things that could be done to correct this before it happens, but there just isn't a chance in hell that any of them will happen given the current Democrat regime.

87
Believe me, I envy you for your choices in the race.

Right now, up here, we've got 5 buffoons trying to out-liberal each other for Dead Kennedy's senate seat. Their debate was sickening, as each one of them tried to one-up the others liberal positions.

88

Well, you might have humidity and fire ants in Texas, but so do we here in FL. We also have nuisance alligators, pythons, monkeys and Alan Grayson.

So there!

89

Texas has usurped the leadership position that, decades ago, belonged to California.

 

Who in the hell said CA had a “leadership position”? Not I 

 

I always considered them the leaders in all the bad shit trends that were coming down the pike. They excelled at that.  And....I can bad mouth the hell out of them because I used to live there.

 

As we used to say in the Navy...

 

 CA, a good place to be FROM

 

Also, don’t be too eager to include SC in those States who wish to remain capitalistic.  We are rushing towards communism just s fast as MA, NY, and CA.   Its just that our State workers are more stupid than the State workers in the other States. Our State income taxes are about the same as NY and MA, our property taxes as a percentage of house value are up there with them, and in the case of my locality, our sales taxes are actually higher at 10.5%.

90 As goes California, so will Houston, Texas. Democrat controlled cities are corrupt, rife with spending fraud, and are collapsing under the unfunded pensions for their leech government retirees. Houston has already blown through their retirement funding by spending it on BS social vote buying schemes (just like LBJ started with social security).

91 They are moving to Texas to escape their own stink, but they are still going to try to shit where they eat.

We oughta refuse them entry at the El Paso border.

Posted by: Troll Feeder at November 02, 2009 10:02 AM (hTesA)

Lifetime voting records as the price of admission.

92

You don't  think the education issues both California and Texas face have anything to do with MILLIONS of Illegal Aliens who don't even speak English do you?????

NAAAAAAAA!!!!!

93

As a native Texan, who has never lived anywhere else, I can say that I'd never live in another state unless nuclear fallout of some sort were involved.  That said, there are definite problems with Texas government and prevailing demographics. 

We've got 2 liberal Republicans running for governor, with Perry's watch being highlighted by a flourishing toll road system (remember when taxes used to pay for roads?), a broken campaign promise (I know, I know) over illegal immigration and border security, and a narrowly defeated massive land grab via emanent domain for the trans-Texas corridor. 

Seems like the two surging populations (in my area at least) are illegal aliens and liberals that haven't learned not to shit in their nest.  That points to a continual watering down of what conservatism remains in the Republican party, and a continuing increase in liberal policies being enacted. 

On the other hand, we've got a LOT of guns and ammunition, so we got that going for us.

94

>> we've got 5 buffoons trying to out-liberal each other for Dead Kennedy's senate seat.

I know, and I'm not trying to nyah nyah you over it.  It is what it is. Which is why I used to suggest, on occasion, that a moderately conservative R in Massachusetts is better than a Deval Patrick.

Except when I do that, I'm accused (by some, certainly not all) of spineless RINO cowardice, so I'll just shut up about it.

95 Fire ants, killer bees, rattlesnakes, tornados. Scary things thrive in Texas. Liberal politics is not one of them! I thank God every day that I was born a Texan and had the good sense to remain one.

96 A moderate number of fire ants is GOOD!   They eat chiggers and ticks.  

97 Oh...and a certain amount of humidity is good too....keeps yer nose from drying out and needing to be picked so often.

98 Debra Medina is running in the primary, and she's arguably more conservative than the the best parts of the other two together. Worth a look, anyways. medinafortexas.com

99

Reactionary, you have to find some way to get out of Michigan.  There is, sadly, no hope left now - Michigan is now what Mississippu was in 1866, a failed backwater that is going to spend the next 100 years in poverty and obscurity.  When Michigan votes to enact right-to-work laws, then there will be hope.  When will that happen?  Not anytime in the 21st century, that's for sure.

 

 

100 and regarding Houston: 

The City of Houston may be bankrupt, but that isn't a worry to anyone outside the City of Houston, since the State has no intention of picking up the tab.  Houston will have to take care of it's own problems, and if they do it badly then it just means that all the businesses moving into the state will relocate to DFW, Austin, San Antonio, or any of dozens of other good areas rather than Houston.

And that brings up the real point of this - as a Texan, California's failure just continues to guarantee that Texas has to go on creating the jobs that will provide for the housing and other requirements of 1544 more people each week - and these people tend to be refugees from high tax states who have HIGHER than average incomes, not lower. 

California's pain is Texas' gain.

101 Texas?  Is that like a country?  Is it part of the EU?

102

Texas is presently in remission but but chances are we will always be fighting the cancer that is liberalism.  Our southern border counties are done for and just like any other state our urban centers are where the cancer begins.  

103

I'm a native Texan who married a career Air Force man from PA.  He may be yankee-born but he's a Texan at heart and, by marriage, has full-Texas rights.  We've been stationed in Texas 3 times in 20 years and after spending 2 years in liberal-run Tucson, AZ, we got back to the Texas hill country as fast as we could to eventually retire. 

That being said:  Kay B-H has not officially declared her resignation as US Senator to run against Gov Perry.  Officially she's a senior GOP Senator (albeit more a RINO than GOP), but she's still a senior GOP Senator.  IF she does follow thru with her resignation to run for governor, Perry is very likely to pick current Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams to replace Kay in the Senate then possibly run for election.  He is heavily endorsed by conservative Republicans in the state and nationally and is a true conservative on big key issues.  I've met him several times and he is true to his word.  I'd much rather see him in the Senate, Perry re-elected, and Kay sent home to retire.

104

"Houston will have to take care of it's own problems, and if they do it badly then it just means that all the businesses moving into the state will relocate to DFW, Austin, San Antonio, or any of dozens of other good areas rather than Houston."

That's why George Mitchell of Mitchell Oil founded The Woodlands, up in Montgomery County just north of Houston, where all the oil people now live and work these days, and where all the large oil companies are now based.

105 It's cities vs. not-cities, not State vs. State. Look at the Presidential election maps by county. Blue cities are the problem, not blue States.

106 Clear out the anchor-baby crowd and I just might move to Texas.

107 #103 -- Yeah, one of my nephews is a wildlife management guy working for one of those southern counties.  He has to do a stint there before moving on to a less horrifying place near DFW.  The stories he tells about the illegal traffic are chilling.  His wife's a nurse at the local hospital, and she's got her own stories there.  I wouldn't own property in the southern counties for nothing.  Can't use the land because of all the illegal trafficking, and the drug trade is quickly swamping the place, as well.  Used to be the border cities were the most affected by drugs, but not anymore.

108

Yeah, the way we deal with that here is suburban sprawl populated with conservatives.  Lib enclaves like Houston and Austin gots no place to spread and get outvoted in state and national elections.

That said, our representation is majority R, but not hugely so in the state house or DC.

109

I've always said Californians don't deserve the state of California. They have the largest tax base and some of the highest taxes in the country, and the state is broke due to stupidity and expensive government programs. Illegal immigration is making ERs go broke and turned large parts of southern California into the Gaza Strip. Some of the richest farmland in the US is arid dirt now because of water mismanagement due to enviro-nut pressure, and the less said about San Francisco, the better.

 

110 I know it's popular to predict the inexorable and complete disintegration of California, but I lived both places and I found something to like about each.  California's geography and location give it unique opportunities and there really are a lot of Reaganesque regular folk out here, so I think it can turn things around. 

111 "You don't think the education issues both California and Texas face have anything to do with MILLIONS of Illegal Aliens who don't even speak English do you?????" CA is 46th. TX is 32nd in school ranking. Both have illegals. CA taxes more, TX less. Explain the difference in results. Hint: Probably not the illegals since they both have them.

112 Californians are to the dextrosphere as conservatives are to the Establishment media.

MY STATE RIGHT OR LEFT!

113 Texas, a right-to-work state wins! Why? See: Death By Union

114

Fire ants, killer bees, rattlesnakes, tornados.

Scary things thrive in Texas. Liberal politics is not one of them!

 

We have all of those plus water moccasins scorpions black widow spiders AND Lindsey Graham!  So our crapiness beats the hell out of your crapiness.

115 Texas has about a 20% higher rate of people living below the poverty line I think that is a significant fact Dave

116

Texas has about a 20% higher rate of people living below the poverty line I think that is a significant fact Dave

 

I guess the solution to that is for TX to load that 20% and send them back to Mexico or to CA then.

117
Give us a cite, John Ryan.

118 My anus hurts after attending a Daily Kos liberal talking points seminar and I think that is a significant fact Dave.

119

So what do Californians get for their higher taxes?

Better paid public employees, and more of em.

Better subsidized illegal aliens too!

120

Yea, we are the future.

Posted by: Illinois at November 02, 2009 09:59 AM (V9SYy)

To misquote a famous Chicagoan "You are the ones we've been waiting for"?

121 "I seriously don't understand why government employees are allowed to unionize.

Posted by: kefka at November 02, 2009 09:48 AM (n1uMU)"

Because Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law before he left office last time that made it mandatory. We had to file a suit in federal court (and we won) to stop the union from taking all our "fair share" fees even though we refused to join.

122 I was stationed at Travis AFB in '65 and '66. Watching the San Fransicko news one day there was a local story about a guy on work release from  prison. This guy was working at a sign maker company with a take-home salary of 197 bucks a week. He was given a ride to and from his job and the prison packed his lunch!
197 bucks a week isn't much these days, but in the '60s it was a damn sight better than my E5 pay.
Oh yeah, he said he would keep the job after his parole.

123 I would like to leave California.  It is being taken over by the over 100,000 gang members we have here.  It is being over run by illegal  invading aliens, that eat up our MY money.  They produce about 50% of the meth that is used in california, and produce about 30% of the crime here in the central valley.  The green people are invading the government and making it extremely difficult to start or maintain a business here.  The noise pollution is getting worse, by the drive by terrorists with their noise or leve next to you.  It is not the california of 20 years ago.  I want to leave, but where to?  It seems to me that EVERY state is being infected by these worthless terrorists humans, that destroy peace of mind, and the feeling that you are safe while in your neighborhood.  The laws are being changed to protect the bad and evil, while punishing the good.  It is not correct. Voting does not work to change the problems.  Where do I go?  Got any suggestions.    

124
Persons per square mile, 2000

For whatever reason the only metric that matches the national average is ppl/sm.

If you took the pharmaceutical apparatus of NJ (which is I think one of the larger in the country) and transferred it to Texas it would be an order of magnitude more efficient. Just removing the cronyism alone would free up the necessary CYA-or-they'll-destroy-us campaign money.

I think ya'll Texans, in so far as you'll be able to control your political future, should attempt to snatch as many businesses from other states as possible and shield them from the looter wildfires.
TX
79.6US
79.6

125 Dunno how that happened.

126

103

I look at Dallas back in 1984 and compare it to today and the difference is stark.  It's turned left for sure. We've got a lesbian sheriff! (not that there is anything wrong with that)

127

We have all of those plus water moccasins scorpions black widow spiders AND Lindsey Graham!  So our crapiness beats the hell out of your crapiness.

 

Please, piker. Have you seen me.....or my hair. Plus, Illinois is the home of the Reverand Jesse Jackson and Jesse Jackson, Jr. And did I mention my hair.

128 I think that Dallas is building a Santiago Calatrava designed bridge (if the financing still exists) and some accompanying river embankment project. Those things are sweet.

129 Outlined above are all the reasons I left California. Of course, my dumb ass moved to Oregon, which is only better by comparison and a TERRIBLE place to get rich in (second in income tax only to Denmark). That pretty much ensures that I will be leaving again and probably for Texas or Washington. Liberal, nanny state governance has been migrating north from California for years and Oregon is on a fast track to the same mess CA is in if we don't watch out and curtail all the Portland lefties before it's too late.

Posted by: Militant Bibliophile at November 02, 2009 10:39 AM (bl4xn)

WA isn't much better.  We're like Oregon-Lite.  We usually do whatever you guys do, just a few years down the road.  The only thing we don't have is a state income tax (although, they keep trying to sneak one in).  Bill  Gates Sr. is a big proponent of a stated income tax.  Our sales tax is amost 10% in King County.  One of the things that drives me absolutely nuts is when I'm driving down the freeway and see sculptures of salmon, or concrete stamped with trees or other such nonsense.  (1/2 of 1% of all state funded new construction must be used for art).  That and those ridiculous, huge stimulus signs or the "Your nickel at work" signs (since we voted ourselves an increase in our gas tax) make my blood boil.  Oh, and our gas costs more up here, and you have to pump it yourself (unlike OR).  Not that I mind pumping my own gas, but to have it cost more when you are doing the labor is annoying.

130 Re#106
"It's cities vs. not-cities, not State vs. State.
Look at the Presidential election maps by county.
Blue cities are the problem, not blue States"

Bingo.  This is pretty much true in here in California, too.
I used to be a big supporter of missile defense.
Not so much anymore.

131

(Peering down his nose), Texas?  That ends in the letter "s".  It must be one of those little islands off the coast of Greece.  I've never been there!

132 a net positive compared to Governor Goodhair

Harrumph!  Texas already has a corrupt liberal Republican governor.  Why would we want to trade him in for the same thing with a skirt?

133

Sad but true.  Cali is in the shitter.  And the new 10% 'loan' they are now taking from us is only accelerating the diaspora of productive people out of state.

How to fix it?  Crush the state employee unions with reps that have the balls to stand up to them.  Agressively remove the herds of illegals that are draining every public service as fast as they can.  The districts will be redrawn from the current gerrymandered mess in, um, 2012, I think.  Then we may have a chance to turn this around.

134

Please, piker. Have you seen me.....or my hair. Plus, Illinois is the home of the Reverand Jesse Jackson and Jesse Jackson, Jr. And did I mention my hair.

 

Hah, We shut down the best AF base in the country at Myrtle Beach so the top brass no longer have a good place to fly to for their required proficiency hours and our lying governor, although a good guy conservative, flys out to pork a girl from Argentina rather than giving our own local ho’s a chance.

 

So neener neener neener

135

Hey, BTW Asswipe maybe preacher Jesse Jackson is actually FROM South Carolina.

 

So double neener to you

136

In (a weak) defense of Perry, he has gotten more conservative every year, so maybe he's 'getting it'.  Still, it sucks that we don't have a better candidate...

But hey, I remember Ann Richards doubling my property taxes with Robin Hood school funding, so it could be worse.

137 California wouldn't be a bad place to live, if only we could prevent those in the blue areas of the state from voting.

138 State income tax in FL is 0.00%.  The state constitution forbids the creation of one.

Oregon doesn't have one either, not because of the constitution, but because we've never had one and the voters just hate the idea. Dunno why, this state votes blue, but any proposed sales tax that shows up on the ballot from time to time usually loses by 60-70%.

139

 So our crapiness beats the hell out of your crapiness.

 

I have 3 words for you:  Senator Al Franken.

 

The Minnesota delegate rests it's case.

140 Oh yeah?  Try living in this f'd up state.  I do not know why I haven't moved yet.........Born and raised in CA has now become an embarrasing statement

141 When California starts the extra withholding, can't workers just adjust their W4 to make it go away?

142 "It's an ass-whuppin'."

Damn skippy, Dave!

143 Hey Vic , you forgot to mention the closing of the Charleston naval station .
Sub school , minesweepers ,shipyard , and Desron 10, all gone .
They prolly moved all that good stuff into Dodd's district . Cuz they loves the military up there in the northeast .

144 By the end of the week at least one major MSM outfit will have an article chock-full of personal stories of individuals testifying about how great Cali is--and they'll talk up every one of those wonderful things promised by higher taxes and slip in some statistics (omitting methodology) to "prove" it.
Or they'll have a story of how the low-tax states failed to provide this or that government service deemed necessary to several poor, helpless souls.

The plural of anecdote is data, you see.

145 But... but... we've got Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Henry Waxman, Maxine Waters, Pete Stark, Sam Farr, Jane Harman, Loretta Sanchez, Gavin Newsome, and a bunch of cool Hollywood people...

146

Hey Vic , you forgot to mention the closing of the Charleston naval station .

 

I was saving that for another post and now you have gone and spoiled it.

 

Besides, who is this Vic dude?  An obvious sock puppet troll.

147 State income tax in FL is 0.00%.  The state constitution forbids the creation of one.

148

But... but... we've got Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Henry Waxman, Maxine Waters, Pete Stark, Sam Farr, Jane Harman, Loretta Sanchez, Gavin Newsome, and a bunch of cool Hollywood people...

 

But we have blue laws and you can not go shopping before 1:30 pm on Sunday and you can not buy beer at all on Sunday!

 

And we have James Clyburn, Nanny Nan’s bestest friend!

149 Oregon doesn't have one either, not because of the constitution, but because we've never had one and the voters just hate the idea. Dunno why, this state votes blue, but any proposed sales tax that shows up on the ballot from time to time usually loses by 60-70%.

So how does the state raise revenue?  What kind of public services does it operate?

I've got progressive Chicago friends that are always raving to me about "what Oregon is doing" for every model city planning idea.  They never mention that Oregon has no state income tax.

150 100 @Reactionary, you have to find some way to get out of Michigan.  There is, sadly, no hope left now - Michigan is now what Mississippu was in 1866, a failed backwater that is going to spend the next 100 years in poverty and obscurity. 

Posted by: wws at November 02, 2009 11:28 AM (T1boi)

Alas - I suppose you're right wws.  It's a shame, given all that this chunk of land has to offer.  But based on what I'm seeing in this thread, I'm concerned that there may not be anyplace in the US left to escape to with positive long-term prospects. 

I've got my expatriate retirement nation picked out, and am working on financing the escape plan, and I'm planning to start moving dollars off shore and into other currency ASAP.  Learning Spanish is, for me, slow and annoying, but I'm working on it.  Are any other Morons here planning to flee the US and all this insanity?  Or are you all chained down with kids and such? 

 

151 Our taxes get us:
Shitty crumbling roads
Terrible crime and gangs
Beaches too filthy and crime-ridden to visit
Shitty parks full of litter
Hippies
Graffiti everyfrigginwhere (I favor a choice of amputation of one arm and one leg or castration for 2nd graffiti conviction)
San Fransicko and all that it entails
Billboards, signs, and forms in Spanish
Babysitting millions of illegal children at school until they are old enough to work or go to jail
Worst traffic in the country
Hollywood septic tank celebrities and their opinions

At least we get to provide a bunch of fat-assed, brain-dead cubicle rats a good salary.

152 Texas is indeed a better place to live than most ,but I see the liberal agenda slowly and in some cases not so slowly taking over our gov't. Sure, we don't have an income tax here but in my view property tax is out of hand.This is
mainly due to the arrogance of the the teachers union and pol's desire to maintain their little fiefdom.We have high schools building  convention centers here,they also maintain in many cases their own police dep't. Schools have no business building anything but classrooms and if they need police,let the county sheriff hire them and assign them to school security.Also people should be very suspicious of school construction projects that largely benefit only a
small number of contractors, over and over again. 
Our government is corrupt from top to bottom,and only we can change it if it is not already too late.

153 " So our crapiness beats the hell out of your crapiness."

Oh yeah?? We brought you Joe Biden!!! Well, us and Scranton that is.

And we have 18 entire miles of I-95 traversing our state. For which we charge each motorist $4.

Fear me. Fear my stench.

154

And we have 18 entire miles of I-95 traversing our state. For which we charge each motorist $4.

 

Oh yeah, well we have the only section of I-95 that is still only 4 lane AND they are getting ready to change it to a toll road as well.

 

Seems like I remember that it was against the law for an interstate to be a toll road. One wonders when that changed?

155 Take a bow on behalf of the Lone Star state, Dave In Texas. Good to hear your state is doing well economically speaking. Ohio is limping along, trying to outrun the Rust Belt sinkhole that is widening to engulf it.
 

156 LET'S BRAG ABOUT TEXAS!

157 A word in favor of fire ants: They are from Brazil, and have been here a few decades.

They eat ticks. When I was a kid we'd get covered with ticks whenever we visited Granny's farm. Until the fire ants moved in. Now--no more ticks. So we don't have the Lyme disease problem that places up north do.

You don't want them covering the place, but a few mounds here and there are beneficial.

158 I suppose that now all of the progressive leeches have sucked California dry they will bail and head to Texas to try and do the same thing there. Watch out Texas you re about to be hit by a wave of progressive moochers and parasites.

159

This is why America was formed as a Federal Republic. It allows 50 different forms of "State", all midly constrained by the Constitution and its Bill of Rights. Citizens can then chose with their feet which version they like (i.e., massive growth in Nevada and Texas).

OR...

so it was supposed to be. Concentration of power such as the current Federal Government and all its regulations and laws ever more constricting on the States is a sure-fire path to destruction. One-world government as currently being attempted by the fascists in the UN is an even worse scenario.

Governments should be constructed (power wise) much like Hobbes Social Contract. There should be many individual little fiedoms all mutually constrained by voluntary contract (i.e., mutally agreed upon laws). That can be hierachical all the way to planet level. The problem today is that the laws (the contract) are being created from the top down by fiat, not by requirement and agreement from the bottom up. Welcome to "1984".

 

160

You don't want them covering the place, but a few mounds here and there are beneficial.  

 

 

You wouldn’t say that if you ever accidentally stepped on one of those “mounds” and them little SOBs all over your ass biting the hell out of you. I’ll take the ticks any day.

161

I lived in California for 10 years, the weather is wonderful, the roads were great but I would not move back there for anything.  The state is run by the special interest groups through the DNC.  The environmentalist and the unionist and the homosexual lobbies get the moron in Sacramento to pass anything that they want, if they pay enough. The various groups get together and ensure that the state creates a hostile business atmosphere which is why I and many others have left.  Then they complain that the tax revenues are not enough to support the life style that they wish.  The idiots of Hollywood, most of them do not actually live in the state, campaign for liberal agendas that they know they will not have to pay for, but they think that they are above the law anyway. The politician do not care if the policies that they are being paid to pass will cost Joe Average his right arm or his job, as long as they get the necessary kickback. 

 

I miss the weather but, I keep a lot more of my paycheck here.

 

162 I enjoy living in CA but I wouldn't recommend that you move out here unless you don't need a job. I'm in LA. Sales tax rate? 9.75% Wheee!

163 Katya (#32) the Rasberry ants (AKA Crazy Ants) are in the process of killing off the fire ants, and humidity is only a serious problem in about 1/3 of Texas (eastern and coastal part).  A good chunk of it is plain old arid scubland. The northern part is dusty plains. We even have some weak-ass little mountains in the southwestern part of the state around Big bend and Vanhorn.

164

#127 " We've got a lesbian sheriff! "

Sounds like a nudy Firday Night sitcom on Showtime.

165 East Tennessee, East Tennessee,  East Tennessee, East Tennessee, East Tennessee, East Tennessee,  East Tennessee, East Tennessee, East Tennessee, East Tennessee,  East Tennessee, East Tennessee, East Tennessee, East Tennessee,  East Tennessee, East Tennessee, East Tennessee, East Tennessee,  East Tennessee, East Tennessee, East Tennessee, East Tennessee,  East Tennessee, East Tennessee, East Tennessee, East Tennessee,  East Tennessee, East Tennessee, East Tennessee, East Tennessee,  East Tennessee, East Tennessee,

166 Whoop!  Of course, if all of them Kalifornians move down here, they'd better check their liberal attitudes at the border, or we'll send them right back........

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