I don’t know what it’s like in other states, but here in California, we have over 750 new laws (last year saw 725) with an estimate of 40,000 new laws across the nation going into effect this year.
How many of these new laws are actually “necessary”? Will actually improve the human condition more than harm?
One of the more controversial pieces of legislation signed by Governor Brown is the California Dream Act:
Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) said his legislation recognizes the value of young people who graduate from high school in California regardless of where they were born.
“It’s important for California and the future of our economy to take advantage of the investment we have made in these young men and women,” Cedillo said.
The second part signed back in October, it basically increases allowances already on the books, giving eligibility to apply for financial aid and merit-based scholarships to illegal immigrants attending public colleges and universities.
Supporters of the Dream Act also want illegal immigrants to be eligible for drivers licenses as well.
The illegal immigration debate aside….this also comes at a time when California is broke:
According to a legislative analysis, the bill would cost the state up to $40 million per year. Colleges and universities don’t track the immigration status of students, but higher education officials have said that there are about 3,600 students who are undocumented or who have other residency issues in the California State University system, and as many as 642 in the University of California system and 34,000 enrolled in community colleges.
Brown was also criticized for signing a law requiring public schools to include the contributions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in history lessons and instructional material, although new textbooks for lower grades are not planned for three years.
I have no issue with people’s sexual orientation. But why make a fuss over whether a historical person is gay or straight? Why must sexual identity be significance? What I deplore is that history books will conflate a historical figure’s contributions to society and make more out of him than is warranted, simply because he fulfills the need of special interest groups to feel validated through a misguided sense of equal representation.
Then there’s the ban on open-carry- one of those laws that I think are a waste of ink:
“Law-abiding citizens will start openly carrying unloaded long guns in public because their basic and fundamental civil right to self-defense, as enumerated in the 2nd Amendment, is clearly being infringed upon,” said Yih-Chau Chang, a spokesman for the firearms advocacy group Responsible Citizens of California.
Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) said he introduced the measure in response to law enforcement officials who felt that public safety was jeopardized by gun owners wearing firearms on their hips at coffee shops and other public venues as they called attention to a right to bear arms.
Meanwhile, obtaining a concealed-carry permit remains difficult in the state of California.
There’s the high-speed rail system being built and touted:
as with many of his other green funding priorities (like Solyndra) this is another money pit. The San Jose Mercury News has more:
Though California’s high-speed train faces an intensifying backlash over its $99 billion price tag, political leaders from Washington to Sacramento justify the cost by touting another huge number: 1 million jobs the rail line is supposed to create.
But like so many of the promises made to voters who approved the bullet train, those job estimates appear too good to be true.
A review by this newspaper found the railroad would create only 20,000 to 60,000 jobs during an average year and employ only a few thousand people permanently if it’s built.
“They have a really hard sales pitch with the real numbers, so they’ve fudged the numbers,” said state Sen. Doug LaMalfa, a Chico-area Republican who is introducing legislation to send the rail line back to voters. “C’mon, a million people working on a 520-mile railroad? I practically laughed out loud when (I heard that).”
One million people — more than the combined workforce of San Jose and San Francisco — would have to cram shoulder-to-shoulder just to fit along the rail line between San Francisco and Anaheim.
The idea of a bullet train sounds great. But if this were anything but a boondoggle you’d have private firms lining up to build one. There’s just no way this is worth $100 billion dollars.
Will it eventually pay for itself? I dunno…maybe, if the car-loving California public actually uses it. But I am not optimistic that this is a wise gamble or smart investment of money California doesn’t have (Did I already mention California is broke?).
eliminates the requirement that food stamp recipients be fingerprinted to prevent fraud. Another law calls for state agencies to promote more enrollment in the federal food stamp program.
encourages state university systems to collect data on students’ sexual orientation and encourages the legislative analyst to use it to recommend improvements in the quality of life for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students.
There’s the new law that expands no texting and hands-on talking on the phone to include any distractions:
According to the Los Angeles Times, text messaging and handheld cell phone use are not the only distracted driving behaviors that will be on law enforcement officers’ radar this weekend.They will also be keeping an eye out for people who are eating, putting on makeup, or reading magazines while operating a motor vehicle.
“Multi-tasking may be a fine way to get things done when your not driving, but combine driving with another activity that requires your attention and the need for you to take one hand off the steering wheel, and you’ve created a deadly situation that can destroy lives,” said Anaheim Personal Injury Attorney Howard.
Other activities that can prove distracting when driving:
• Watching a movie or downloaded television program on a portable electronic device
• Shaving
• Brushing your teeth
• Feeding a child
• Playing with a pet
• Reading a book
• Changing one’s clothes
• Adjusting an MP3 player, CD player, or the radio
• Inputting information into a navigation system
This just seems very broad. Anything you do while in the car, from conversing with someone riding shotgun to reading a street sign/billboard, watching a pretty skirt gliding down the sidewalk, to blowing your nose could all be interpreted as a driver being distracted. What will a CHP officer base his judgment on? How will this play out in court if contested?
Another new traffic law is use of booster seats for children:
IN THE BACK SEAT OF A VEHICLE until they are at least 8 YEARS OLD or 4′ 9″ in height.
What I’m unclear on is what if a kid turns 9 but is still under 4’9″? Does he stay in the booster seat? So then, shouldn’t any person, regardless of age, if he is under 4’9″, to be consistent with safety standard? Why is age then a criteria?
Any comments regarding new laws in your state?
A former fetus, the “wordsmith from nantucket” was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1968. Adopted at birth, wordsmith grew up a military brat. He achieved his B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles (graduating in the top 97% of his class), where he also competed rings for the UCLA mens gymnastics team. The events of 9/11 woke him from his political slumber and malaise. Currently a personal trainer and gymnastics coach.
The wordsmith has never been to Nantucket.
What is the use….
http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/64022/today-is-the-first-day-of-the-last-year-of-the-world-as-we-know-it/
There’s a texting-while-driving ban set to take effect in Pennsylvania too.
The booster seat laws are indeed written so that you need to be either a certain size or a certain age in order to not be required to use him. Who said laws need to make sense? As I recall the child seat laws in Pennsylvania are based on age-or-weight rather than age-or-height, which makes even less sense as far as I can tell.
How is California paying for all this these days, anyway? I thought they were going to hit a financial wall, hard. They been draining the pension funds? Getting federal money behind the scenes? Having the Fed buy their state bonds at low, low interest rate? I refuse to believe they actually balanced the budget, I’m sure I would have heard about that…
they want to spend money on foreigners, and immigrants students and illegals, AND ALL WIDE OPEN BORDERS,
AMERICANS WON’T vote for them, they are not helping AMERICA,
WHERE IS THE MUCH NEEDED HELP FOR REFORM AMERICANS STILL BRANDED ON YEARS BACK MINOR TEEN AGE FELONY, 3000,000 FELONS TRYING TO FIND WORK, WHERE IS THE HELP FOR THOSE AMERICANS? HEY HEAR THAT? THOSE AMERICANS, YES THOSE AMERICANS THEY ARE NOT ASKING FOR FAVOR, ONLY THEIR RIGHT TO BE AMERICANS,
TO STRIVE FOR THEIR AMERICAN DREAM. YOU IN POWER OWED IT TO THEM. AND YOU LET THEM DOWN, BUT YOU WANT TO HELP FOREIGNER DON’T YOU. ILLEGALS TOO,
AND GOVERNMENT HAVE MONEY TO SPEND FOR ILLEGALS STUDYING, WHAT A SHAME, ON THEM,
anyone FROM OTHER COUNTRIES get help, EXCEPT but the REAL ROOTED AMERICANS OF THIS NATION DESPERATE TO WORK WHO ARE THE PRIORITY IN FRONT OF ANY OUTSIDERS,,, THOSE YOUNG AND PROUD AMERICANS ARE BEING LEFT OUT BECAUSE THEY HAVE MADE SOME ERROR AND PAID THE PRICE, AND STILL BRANDED, AND CARRY THEIR SHAME SILENTLY, THEY DON’T HAVE A VOICE NOWHERE, THEY ARE BEING TOLD TO STAY QUITE AND WAIT OR ELSE, THEY ARE BEING CONSTANTLY HUMILIATED ON THEIR QUEST TO WORK,
BECAUSE OF THAT MARK ON THEIR PROFILE, THEY CANNOT GET EMPLOYED,
SHAME ON YOU WHICH HOLD THE KEY TO SET THEM FREE , YOUR TIME IS UP AND COUNTING, YOU HAD THE TIME TO DO IT, THERE LAST 3 YEARS
THOSE 3000000 ARE VOTERS, AND ARE SICK OF YOU ALL THEY WILL VOTE YOU OUT, BECAUSE YOU ALL FAIL THEM AND YOU HAVE THE POWER NOW, BUT NOT FOR LONG,NOT ANYMORE,
Would love Curt’s take on the distracted drivers laws.
blast
hi,
did you get into an accident because of it?
bye
Then there’s Obama, looking out for all idiots…..who vote.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/1/eeoc-high-school-diploma-might-violate-americans-w/?page=all#pagebreak
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is warning potential employers that requiring a high school diploma from a job applicant might violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.
EMPLOYERS:
“There will be less incentive for the general public to obtain a high school diploma if many employers eliminate that requirement for job applicants in their workplace.”
OBAMA’s EEOC:
“No, we don’t think the regulation would discourage people from obtaining high school diplomas. People are aware that they need all the education they can get.”
House Republicans sought to reform the federal unemployment-benefit system by requiring recipients of aid who do not have high school degrees to be “enrolled and making satisfactory progress in classes” toward a General Education Development certificate or equivalent.
Our country is ruled by the Rule Of Law, so the more laws there are to rule us, the better off we are.
Some European countries have distracted driving laws where ANY kind of distracted driving is illegal. I’m for that. Many people have died from someone changing CDs, adjusting the radio, reading something, etc. It might not stop people from doing it, but police officers could pull people over if they see the driver not paying attention to the road.
I have seen many distracted drivers in my 20 years of driving a truck. I even called one in when a driver was using his car like his office and reading stuff and reaching in the back seat. The Interstate slowly curved to the right and he didn’t know it until he went from the right lane into the left lane. That state allowed an officer to write the driver a ticked on a person’s say so. Another driver stopped and said he would appear in court, too if the driver fought it. I was never summoned to appear.
Not all laws are bad and not all laws are good.
A while back I saw on you tube where some European country has a pick-up truck like vehicle (and/or system) that looks for cell phone signals coming from cars on the road. At which point they will get in front of the offender and light up a sign on the bed that tells them to HANG UP!
I could have used that this morning for the driver stopped at a green light while yakking away.
In San Jose you’ll be charged for bags at the check out now…my liberal mother related to me how she was going to deal with it just as she related to the cashier who reminded her of the new law on the 31st, her words being: “That’s why I’ll be shopping in Campbell from now on.”
She said the clerk looked kinda stunned while taking in this unexpected consequence.
When you pay someone a six figure salary and give them the title of “lawmaker”, what would you expect?
It seems to me that in a free country the ultimate goal would be to eliminate as many laws as possible.
Sure, cf Goldwater: “My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them.”
Well, Blue states should be allowed to be blue. Red states should be allowed to be red.
Here’s my take on things. With regard to the Dream act, I was under the impression that “illegals” would, at least initially, only be eligible for financial aid (other than paying in state tuition rates, which is something supported by Rick Perry, for goodness sake) which is funded by private sources. I’ve had enough experience with well educated former “illegals” and children of “illegals” to be a firm believer in educating every kid who lives within our state. You want to kick them out — go ahead and do it, under the law. But as long as they are here, educate them. It pays big dividends, which benefit all of us.
With regard to distracted driving, I say no to texting. No to talking on even hands free, bluetooth phones. No to putting on makeup. No to doing anything which distracts the driver from driving.
If booster seats save kids’ lives, then they ought to use booster seats.
The GLBT history law is stupid, but unimportant.
I never saw a bullet train I didn’t like. Build the train. Build it and they will come. We voted for it, we should be allowed to build it, if we can figure out a way.
Food stamps? Conservatives get apoplectic over the idea of a lower income person stealing food. I’m waiting to see the first F/A op-ed against high income tax cheats and Wall Streeters sucking blood out of the economy while fooling conservatives into thinking that everything they do (or even most of what they do) is somehow good for growing the economy and creating jobs.
Open carry? What we are talking about is the former law allowing anyone to carry unloaded firearms in holsters or whatever. Who wanted most to get rid of that law? It wasn’t liberal Marxists, it was law enforcement.
– Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach CA
@ILOVEBEESWARZONE – no, I don’t have a drivers license anymore, but I think Curt works as a sheriff or something. It would be good to hear his opinion.
BLAST
YES CURT would be an expert to have a say, for sure
we haven’t read you in quite a while, that’s why I ask that question to your comment
,have a HAPPY NEW YEAR
@openid.aol.com/runnswim:
Larry I hate to burst your bubble but there will never be any “high speed” trains in the US, and especially in CA. Unlike the TGV in France, bullet trains need a special track with is “environmentally unfriendly”, far more so than the Keystone Pipeline BTW. At best, if these trains are ever finished, they will be no faster than our cars, much more expensive, and like all trains save for the Northeast Corridor of the US, no one will use them.
Don’t you see what a scam it is Larry? It all equates into UNION jobs, consequently, Democratic votes. Why do you think the governors of WI and OH already gave back their money (which by the way the government gave to CA)? It’s all about control and union jobs, and who cares if anyone uses them, votes are votes, at any cost.
If CA to SF ever does happen, it will far more expensive and longer travel time than by air. In addition, a car is still going to be needed on the other end. Now if they were true bullet trains, maybe they might garner some interest, but not much, because of the expense and still needing a car. High speed trains are another big bamboozle/scam of the progressive left.
As for the GBLT history law, I agree that it’s stupid but certainly not unimportant. We already have dumbed down revisionist history taught to our kids. After they do all of the manipulation to be “inclusive”, the real heroes of history will have gone the way of cursive, with young inquiring minds all the more ready for more propoganda.
It’s no surprsie that people are leaving the once Golden State in a mass exodus. The libs have run CA into the ground, a far cry from the go go 80’s Reagan Years. when it truly was paradise.
@ILOVEBEESWARZONE , I have been sick and in the hospital on and off for a while. not much fight in me lately.
@blast: There are already too many laws on the books in my opinion but the texting while driving law is a good one in my opinion. Those drivers can be worse then any drunk driver. At least most drunk drivers are “trying” to stay in between the lines of the road if you know what I mean. Texters are looking away from the road for many seconds at a time which is just so dangerous.
This is a video I sent to my daughter last year:
BLAST
so sorry to hear that, you are a good opponant to fight with, now we can just decide to agree
to have a good NEW YEAR AND RECOVER NICELY AS TIME GO BYE,
stick around, and soon you will get the urge to fight, and it will be fun to let you know no more nice guy,
from me, and you will be back in shape.
bye
CURT
terrible, and the one more texting are the young one, I’m sure,
so dramatic to see, but it should be seen by the students anywhere
thank’s for showing it, it’s the first time I see a video relating specific to texting,
bye
Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., is actually trying to get a whole bunch of laws OFF the books!
She wants to review and possibly repeal criminal statutes specifically targeting HIV-positive people.
She wants to end stuff like this:
*A man in Texas is serving a 35-year prison sentence for spitting at a police officer – because he has the virus that causes AIDS and his saliva was deemed a deadly weapon.
*In Michigan, an HIV-positive man who allegedly bit a neighbor during an argument faced a bioterrorism charge.
*In Iowa, an HIV-positive man received a 25-year sentence in 2009 for failing to disclose his HIV status prior to a one-time consensual sexual encounter. His’ sentence was eventually suspended, but he was nonetheless required to register as a sex offender.
Thirty-four states have criminal laws that punish people for exposing another person to HIV.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CRIMINALIZING_HIV?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-01-02-12-30-48
@malize: #9
I very seldom get bags at a grocery store. I use the bags you can buy. If I don’t have the bags with me because I am only getting a few things that I can carry out in my hands or arms, I sometimes will jokingly ask for a discount, since I am not using a bag and it saves them money. I want to be fair, so I tell them to give me half of what the bag costs. That way we both save money. I did this at one grocery store and someone nearby hear me and said that they give a discount for those who bring their own containers and said I should get the same discount. I forgot to look how much it is, but sometimes it pays (or saves) to joke around a little.
@Liberty: #10
The more laws there are, the more chance of a lawyer being needed. At one time the lawyer lobby paid either the highest or second highest amount to the politicians. I don’t know how they rank now. One reason contracts are written in lawyer terms is so you have to get a lawyer to read it so they can tell you what it says.
Bills in congress are purposefully written in long, hard to understand terms just so the average person can’t understand them, or will get tired of reading it and give up. A long time ago a conservative radio talk show host told how a politician was trying to pass a law in his state or city that stated that all bills introduced would have to be read in 5th grade English. He read a bill originally introduced, then he read it when it was written in 5th grade English. It was much easier to understand. If politicians wanted us to understand the bills they are introducing, they would write them in easy to read format.
Then, we find out that a lot of politicians don’t write the bills they introduce. They have a company do it. ObamaCare was one of them. The democrats voted on it right after it was written, and the company who wrote it could have put stuff in it for themselves and the democrats wouldn’t know it.
@Patricia, I’m somewhat baffled as to the projected ridership. Granted, the LA to SF is the busiest air commute in the nation, but… if we use the Wiki stats as of 2010… that’s 350,014 seats monthly, or round out (30 day month) at 11,667 daily. If you include the LA-Oakland leg, it’s about 17,278 per day, and 6,306,638 annually.
Obviously not every air traveler is going to defect to the HSR.
The 2012 CA HSR biz plan FAQs projects a bay to basin ridership of 16.1 million – 23.7 million in 2040. That’s 28 years down the road, fer heavens sake. They wouldn’t get thru phase five until 2033.
Now granted, this is likely a (for some) lifetime construction job. Probably more with the setbacks that the rail system will encounter in a high earthquake prone area. Setback, heck… dang thing could have huge sections that collapse, weaken over tremors, etc. And naturally, they are also touting this as all kinds of wonderful enviro bennies.
China has been having their problems, not only with malfunctions and power failures stranding people, but because the usual problem of projected costs falling far short of reality has made the tickets too pricy.
I look at the Cal HSR system and see the nation paying for a black hole, losing business venture. The numbers don’t add up, and if they did, private entrepreneurs would be diving at it. The benefits to the limited population using it, balanced on the backs of those who don’t, don’t justify it. And frankly, I don’t consider it the task of the nation’s taxpayers to keep Californians in cushy, permanent construction jobs for a really bad business plan.
But then, the idea is only slightly less dumb than Portland to Seattle, and Tampa to Orlando.
@blast, so sorry to hear the body and health have not been cooperating with the brain and desires. I wish you a speedy recovery and renewed strength.
@Curt, my guess is some clever IT entrepreneur will now create a voice activated texting app so you can “dictate” your text messages. But I doubt they can do that for those strange women that have a penchant for applying makeup while on the road. ???? Never could figure that one out. Could it be because they don’t have good enough lighting in their dressing areas, which will only get worse with CFLs? LOL
@openid.aol.com/runnswim: #12
How does giving illegals a FREE education help ANY of us. We pay for their education out of our taxes. The same for their medical care and other things they get for free. Some are even getting a higher Social Security check each month than I am, and I paid into it all of my working life. When you apply for your SS benefits and are told there isn’t any money left to pay out, remember what you said.
On the food stamps and other welfare programs, the democrats and republicans have both had both houses of congress and the whitehouse different times and didn’t fix any of it.
@Curt: #17
Driving over the road for 20 years I have seen a lot of dead people. I never thought about texting being a possible reason for any of the accidents. The video made me wonder how many were caused that way.
@Smorgasbord:
Not to mention Mexico’s second biggest source of revenue is illegals sending money home. Sending that money elsewhere is a good thing? Only to someone like Larry.
Hi Everyone,
Random comments…
I also rarely get bags (either plastic or paper) at the supermarket anymore. I’ve got those re-usable cloth bags and also a closet full of old paper bags. Re-using the latter is no more difficult than tossing them in the trash and taking the trash out to the curb. I was reading the Detroit press (Lions made the playoffs this year, only three years after going 0-16!), and they cut down the stuff going to their landfills by something like 50% in only a relatively short period of time. This seems like a good idea to me.
Bullet train demographics: I wrote about this before. If it makes sense anywhere in the USA, it’s the LA to SF route. With respect to earthquakes, the best, most successful bullet train system in the world is in Japan, where the seismic problem is much worse than here. When there’s the slightest bit of ground shaking, the whole system just shuts down, instantly. I’ve ridden the shinkansen in Japan, and it’s simply the greatest travel experience of my life. It is so smooth, so quiet, so fast, so clean, so efficient. It’s sort of like the Japanese toilets (which don’t require toilet paper). Once you’ve used them, the stuff we have here in the USA is just dirty and gross, by comparison.
Typical LA to SF travel ordeal. Either you drive or fly. From my house in North Orange County, it’s a 7 hour drive, if I get up at 3 AM and leave before 4 AM; so that I can get across LA and traverse the Grapevine before the traffic starts. But I’m then at risk for notorious Central Valley fog. Either way, the 7 hour trip can easily turn into 9 hours, and that’s without stopping at Denny’s along the way. I arrive exhausted. I haven’t done any work on the trip and I don’t feel like working when I arrive. What I want to do when I arrive is to unwind.
The flight is a series of punishments. Have to arrive at airport 1.5 hours in advance, to park my car, take the shuttle to the terminal, and go through security, wait to board in a crowded staging area, squeeze myself into my seat (I’m 6′ and 158 #, but the seat is still cramped), hope that I’m not sitting between two fatties who have their bodies hanging over into my space, turn off my electronics until we are at 10,000 feet, have the 65 minute flight, deplane, catch shuttle to car rental, on my way. The whole thing typically takes 3.5 hours and it’s impossible to get any work done, and, truth be told, what I really feel like doing when I’m finally behind the wheel of my rental car is going somewhere to unwind, as opposed to going somewhere to work.
The bullet train. Ahh. Walk from the parking lot to the train terminal. Take the train straight into the SF transit center, transfer to BART to go into the city or rent a car to drive around Silicon Valley. On the trip there, enjoy the motionless silence and high speed internet and club car and spacious seating with no smelly blubber intruding.
I think it’s smart, building the first section inside the Central Valley. It’ll be the cheapest and quickest to build and people will get to use it and tell their neighbors and the word will spread and so will the enthusiasm for raising more money to complete the project in the more expensive urban areas.
As for people leaving CA in droves, the most important reason for this is the unaffordability of housing in the desirable coastal areas where everyone wants to live. Housing costs are more than double those in Texas and the traffic can be horrendous. In short, California has way too many people — we basically had a population bubble. As with all bubbles, they burst. Maybe Texas wants to attract all those warehouse businesses and attract more people to move into the State. In California, there is no constituency for growth. The people that are the most anti-growth tend to be well-to-do Republican NIMBY types. The people who want to live in California will continue to live here. The people who don’t want to live here (or can’t afford to live where they’d like to live) won’t live here.
Patricia thinks that California was a better place to live in the Reagan era. Yes and no. To the extent that it was a better place to live, it was because there were fewer than half as many people and ordinary folks could still buy nice homes in desirable areas. e.g.
http://www.palermo-homes.com/images/chartwindow.gif
We purchased our house for $153,500 in 1979; at the height of the bubble, it had a Zillow.com value of more than $1,000,000. As of today (just checked), it’s $724,000. Little 1,865 sq foot home with 3 BR and 2 BA on a 7,000 ft2 lot (lot size actually pretty generous, by California tract home standards). Built on a slab (no basement), 2 x 4s, chicken wire, and plaster (stucco). Classic tear down, actually, and it’s $724,000. How many average middle class Americans could afford that or, if they could afford it, would want to pay that much for so little? By the way, our house was built in 1964 and the original sales price was something like $32,000.
So does Reagan get credit for affordable housing? Does he also get credit for the unbreathable air/oppressive smog, which existed until the lib Dems imposed draconian clean air standards and gave us remarkably blue skies (by comparison with what existed back in the 1970s)?
California is what it is, and it still gets ten times the venture capital investment that Texas gets. These are investors, voting with their wallets, on the future economic trends.
Educating illegals gives them better jobs and they pay more taxes and contribute more to the economy and the state. As I wrote before, if you want to round them up and deport them, do so, but, until then, educate them. Educate every kid who lives in the state. Rick Perry was 100% correct, on this particular issue.
– Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach CA
@Hard Right:
20% of Mexico’s GDP is money sent home from the US..basically that country is run into the ground causing its citizens to seek opportunities in “El Norte” — sending their money home they help subsidize the crappy powers that be there to continue to run the country into the ground; which is why the Mexican government tacitly supports the illegal immigration, it provides a hard currency revenue stream and removes those who are most ambitious/desperate to make their lives (and their family’s lives) better from the streets. A win/win for the seated oligarchy.
@openid.aol.com/runnswim, tis a glorious picture you paint of an imaginary, TSA free HSR transport that apparently will be banning “fatties” with “smelly blubber” that may encroach into your area and offending your superior personal senses… vs driving/flying to SF.
Who are you, anyway? And will you be sharing those hallucinogens that elevate you to the top of the human food chain in your mind?
You’re in Orange County/Huntington Beach. I made regular driving trips from Manhattan Beach to the East Bay, and my average drive time was 4:’45” to 5’15”. Maybe you were the one or two slow pokes that ran the Joaquin Valley at 55 or 60? Nothing there for hours and miles. One of the most speed limit forgotten places on the planet until you hit Coalinga. Or you don’t know the side roads when the LA freeways don’t move, which is pretty much all the time except between 2-4AM?
Secondly, whether you shuttle to the airport or a train terminal from the parking lot… no difference. Just the form of transport for the actual trip. When you look at the options, until they build a “hop” from the Irvine area, you’ll still end up driving either to LA or SD to pick up a terminal. The ride estimate (and they don’t note how many stops, or if that is an “express” time) is almost four hours from SD to SF. On the other end, it’s the same as an airport… get a cab, rent a car, and trek your way to your destination.
This means that of the 6 mil travelers between OAK/SFO and LAX annually, the only difference will be that the seat they are in is on the ground… and likely next to someone else… and you can turn on your electronics a bit sooner. The commute to, parking and security will be comparable.
Then you will have to consider price… airlines, longer established, will become competitive to keep their seats full, and all HSR systems have notoriously been over budget and high prices for seats. As I pointed out above, I think the nation’s fiscal drain for a system that benefits Californians for the most part is unwise and a waste of money. But hey, if you want to raise your taxes in the state and pay for it yourselves, go for it.
I do agree that if there was any place a HSR system bore any resemble to sanity, it would be from SD to SF… over 600 miles. Which brings me to your bizarre comparison to Japan. May I remind you that Japan, as a nation, is interconnected to the entire system, therefore… as a nation… benefits from their HSR? This is a map of the Shinkasen Line routes. Notice that with a country (not a state) that is only about 169 miles at it’s widest point, the benefits of it’s existence, and thereby costs, are spread thru the entire country. Also, in the event of a breakdown, there are far more populated areas around than the run thru the San Joaquin Valley. With a hub at Tokyo, it’s only about 300 or so miles to each end of the island.
Again this comes down to 50 states of taxpayers, paying tax debt and interest on a transport system benefiting one state, yours. This bears no resemblance to Japan. And frankly I don’t see the fiscal benefit of encumbering the nation just so you can have a heavenly smooth and quiet ride on your trips to the North Bay, sans any “smelly blubber” in your vicinity.
BTW… INRE all your posturing on how Fannie/Freddie really didn’t have all that much subprime debt.. of which I’ve tried to explain otherwise to you? Seems that the SEC agrees with Wallison, myself and others in that the narrow definition of the GSEs idea of a “subprime loan” was bogus, and indicted more than a few executives.
There’s one more talking point of yours down that Japanese toilet…
BTW, if you’re planning on using Zillow as a source of price opinion of your home, you truly are on hallucinogens. I’m quite sure that some realtor, somewhere, would be happy to run a CMA for you at no charge. And you can contract an appraiser to come out as well, for a high degree of comparative value. Of course, what either one says as a realistic price range of value is just a moment in time today. Next month could be more, could be less. It’s called the market. There is no one “value” and worth, and there is no “value” or worth that remains static. And I might add that your home is only worth $724K if a buyer is willing to pay you that today. Otherwise, it’s just a value on paper that has yet to be validated by reality.
Hi Mata, On one of my many trips between North OC and LA, I got nailed for doing 99 MPH in Kern Co and lost my license for two weeks. My record for Huntington Beach to SF was just a tad under 7 hours. And this was leaving at 2:30 AM and without Central Valley fog and with only a single 12 min pit stop. I’ll be able to drive to Anaheim in 15 min, park, and walk to the terminal. Then sweet travel all the way to SF. It’s easier going to East Bay. If you take the Southern route to SF (which makes the most sense, usually), it’s not even freeway all the way and it’s very difficult to avoid both LA traffic and SF traffic, no matter when you leave. If you go the northern route, you’ve got to cross the Bay Bridge. You’ve got to time things like a precision bank heist. I’ve had trips to SF which have taken 9 hours, with no pit stops besides gas and driving like a banshee whenever I could.
Air travel is nauseating, unless it’s first class, in which case it’s merely unsettling. And a whole lot of people who fly are gross and fat (and not infrequently) smelly, your politically correct sensibilities toward fat smelly people notwithstanding. And they spill over into the space of their victims. They should be required to purchase two seats.
Zillow is a very good source for comparisons — over time and between geographic locations. Of course, on an individual basis, it’s not always accurate. But the last two times I refinanced (most recently October 2010), it was very close to the “official” appraisal.
Of course the Fannie/Freddie execs did not exercise fiduciary responsibility. But Fannie and Freddie did not cause the financial meltdown. They didn’t originate a single loan. Most of the subprimes were for re-fis, investments (flips), and vacation homes, not the owner occupied first mortgages which the own-your-own home do gooders were promoting (overall, with great success). And, at the height of the sub-prime bubble, 2/3 of the secondary market was purely private sector. Fannie/Freddie made the same mistakes as everyone else, for exactly the same reason — greed, not some quest for social justice or whatever. I’m hoping that the millstones of justice will continue to grind and that there will be many more indictments and hopefully punishing taxes to come.
P.S. I just did Google maps for HB to SF and MB to Oakland. The former was 421 miles (Northern route) and 426 miles (Southern route), but Southern route spares you the Bay Bridge. MB to Oakland is 381 miles. Now, if you do that in 4 hours and 45 minutes, that’s averaging 80 MPH, including the city traffic part of it, and no gas stop. Tip of the hat.
– Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach CA
I just drove from Huntington Beach to South San Francisco for the 49er/Steeler Monday night game. We left at 6:30am on Monday morning and got into Candlestick at 1pm, with about 30 min’s of stops to eat and use the bathroom so about 6 hours without any stops. That is with the monday morning traffic also so 7 hours is quite slow. If we left an hour earlier we could of done it in under 6 hours.
Larry, using the excuse that the GSEs are a secondary mortgage market, publicly traded entity relieves them of their own culpability (not the exclusive cause, as I have repeatedly said, but also culpable) in the housing crash is pure nonsensical babble. Their purpose is to purchase loans, that meet guidelines that they set as a minimum, from loan originators. Since they purchase the largest majority of loans of all entities, they set the standards for others.
Without the GSE guidelines accepting subprime loans, the originators would have no where to sell them in the two decades this has been going on, and they would have been a rare bird. Don’t understand why an intelligent guy can’t grasp this concept. If cancer were eradicated, and hospitals no longer would purchase your analytical services, you wouldn’t be in the business you are in. Without a “retail” type market to buy your manufactured services or products, you won’t be making or selling unacceptable products. Quite simple really.
This process has been going on so long that those who obtained a subprime for their purchase took advantage of the ever lowering rates and increasing prices to cash out on equity for spending elsewhere. I don’t disagree with this. But that irresponsibility spans to home owners as well, as best portrayed by ACORN’s poster child/victim, Donna Hanks. Thus the reason I also hold economic illiteracy among homeowners as part of the problem as well. Homes are not piggy banks, loan terms and payments are disclosed as part of the deal up front, and most were just hoping to keep avoiding ARM resets by refinancing into another ARM down line, and getting homes they simply couldn’t afford.
Economic illiteracy is not the fault of lenders. It is likely a fault of public eduction, who decided to forego more valuable eduction in American History, civics, phys ed, economics and math for sex ed and tolerance curriculum.
We’ve been over this multiple times as well. You cannot pic just the last 3 years of a bubble that was in the making for over 15 years, and pronounce that the quintessential overview. Were I to believe your propaganda, the GSEs would not have needed bailing out, and would have few toxic assets on their books because the private financial institutions were holding them all.
The difference beween the banks and the GSEs is the banks used to be subject to profit and loss regulations of reality, and didn’t have the safety net of the GSEs, who pay no taxes and are guaranteed by the US Treasury. Now, of course, there is little difference. The US Treasury picks and chooses what private entity they will save, and who they will allow to fail, instead of letting the real free market regulators… profit and loss… decide.
The guidelines that Congress and WH regulators imposed upon the GSEs were *all* about economic social justice, not wise business moves. Completely erroneous statement. The fact that easy money with risky loans resulted in profit was just a perk…. and after the GSEs proved how prolific it was, the private financial institutions started getting into the game in the last few years… you know, the only years you want to consider for your lame defense of really bad Congressional and regulator guidelines.
Hi Curt, Huntington Beach to Candlestick Park is 421 miles, taking I-5 to 101. So simple math says that you were averaging 70 m.p.h. (this is not including your half hour stop). Given that there are many stretches where the posted speed limit is considerably less than 70 MPH, you were clearly speeding. Google maps gives you an estimated drive time of 7 hours and 14 minutes. And that’s only to South SF. The trip up into the City can be a lot longer than that, depending on traffic, which is often very bad (worse than LAX to the 101 in rush hour).
– Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach CA
@Curt, that’s been my very regular commute experience from the late 90s as well. Manhattan Beach to Huntington Beach is about 35-40 minutes, which puts your commute time comparable to mine.
Hope you enjoyed yourself!
Had a great time, especially since we beat the Steelers! Going back up for the Divisional playoff game on the 14th but not driving this time. Taking a red-eye flight.
Larry, as I said, my commute was from Manhattan Beach to the East Bay/San Jose area. And I did that with painful regularity (I hate driving the San Joaquin valley…) in the late 90s. Manhattan Beach is about 35-40 minutes north of Huntington Beach. Adding that to my MB times would be 5’30 to 6 hrs… exactly what Curt’s time was. And I only stop for gas/bathroom… about 5-10 minutes. I’m a serious road dog when traveling.
Now you can Google your tush off, but I know what my regular commutes were in reality from actual experience. If you want to dawdle and make it 7-9 hours, that’s your choice. And of course I was speeding thru the valley. Did I not mention that above? I had to, or I would have been run down by the majority of traffic flying at the same speed. And I tend to run with the traffic patterns.
I’ve seen drivers doing all of the above on the roll, and would be more than happy to see every damn one of them pulled over, ticketed, and fined enough to make the practice stop. Statistically, they’re a greater threat to other people on the highway than drunks. I’d take it even further. In the case of any road accident involving injury or serious property damage, I’d mandate that the cell numbers of all phones in the vehicles involved be taken, and that call and text records be examined to determine if a driver was on the phone at the time of the accident.
I approve of government intrusion, when it comes to protecting innocent people from the actions of idiots. The idiots also benefit. They’re inadvertently protected from their own stupidity.
Hi Mata, Over a three year period, 2007 – 2010, I made that trip a dozen times; I passed 10 cars for every car that passed me, and I never made to Mountain View or San Mateo in less than 6 hours and never made it to SF in less than 7 hours. Curt is welcome to check my driving record; I’m not proud of it. I’ve never had a DUI, but I’ve had lots of speeding tickets, including the 99 MPH one in Kern Co two years ago. Now, I think that you and Curt are basically having some sort of macho pi**ing contest with me over who is the most aggressive driver, but what we are talking about is not how long it takes white knuckle, would-be NASCAR drivers to get to SF at a time when you dodge the rush hours and don’t hit fog and don’t have to wait an hour and a half for a brush fire to be contained (this happened to me once, going through the Grapevine). We are talking about average drive times for responsible drivers who observe traffic laws, and who have to buy gasoline and drink coffee and eat and go to the bathroom.
The Google maps estimates are every reasonable/accurate estimates for average drivers, and that’s what’s relevant to the present debate. And 385 miles in 4 hours and 45 minutes is AVERAGING 80 MPH! Just as 421 miles in 6 hours is AVERAGING 70 MPH. That’s not a typical drive time, for the average driver.
– Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach CA
I think the driving-while-texting law is fine, myself, and I’m not a fan of many of these kinds of laws. For one thing, unlike many other kinds of activities (like those listed by Greg, for example), texting while driving is automatically documented by the phone company or messaging service. It’s both black and white (either you sent a text or you didn’t) and easily verified. No he said / she said, no ambiguity.
Many of the other things Greg wants to be ticketable offenses would be hard to write into good laws. Changing clothes… can I take off my scarf if I’m too warm? Put on a hat to shade my eyes? Gloves? And supposing you do write a decent law, what happens when every blowhard decides to challenge the ticket in court and say ‘no, I wasn’t actually taking off my shirt, the officer must have been mistaken’?
GREG
HI,
I AGREE WITH THAT, YES THE DANGER IS REAL AND NOT ONLY FOR THEM BUT OTHER TOO, CAN YOU
imagine having cars texting or other mentioned on both sides of the highway, you travel, thinking you’re safe in our car, and not expecting a sudden change of event as quick as blinking, there is practicly no chance to react and avoid the accident un expected except on the last nano second,
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU.
@Hard Right: #26
You reminded me that I was going to mention that the more money the illegals make here, the more they will send home to their families in Mexico. That might make it the highest source of Mexican income.
This brings up the fact that the highest source of income for Mexico is OIL. We could be buying oil from them and helping their economy to keep their people there, but we choose to buy from Muslim oriented countries who teach that we are the Great Satan, and they are selling their oil to others. Neither republicans or democrats have tried to get us to buy from Mexico. I wonder why.
@openid.aol.com/runnswim: #30
If this train is only going to be running in California, shouldn’t Californians pay for it? Why should the rest of the county that will never ride it have to pay for it? We are already subsidizing AmTrack enough that they could buy first class plane tickets for all of the passengers who ride it. Why should those of us who don’t ride AmTrack pay for the ones who do?
My guess is that this is one of those EARMARKS where the money will be allocated, then it will be decided that the project is too expensive, then cancel it. Earmarks are just another way for the states to get more money, because once a project is earmarked, they get the money, even if it is canceled.
woof…. ain’t that a cyber mouth full.
Well, Larry.. between 1998 and 2000, I made that trip probably 60 some times in an ill planned “commute”. One of the reasons I actually own my much-maligned, but stable Toyota truck today… so I could get thru that commute without being stranded. And I’m telling you, straight up, that I made the commute within that time, no white knuckle driving with regularity. In addition, had a Northern Cal boyfriend who duplicated the same time in visits.
Now either I, Curt, and my then boyfriend, know the traffic patterns and side roads better than you, or you like to putter. I don’t care. But all I can say is that all of us managed that commute up and down the valley in similar time, and you portray it as differently. Now why is that?
I happen to use Google/Bing/Mapquest maps and driving directions every day in my business life. While they are 5-15 minutes off in my local area driving, when it comes to long distance… way off for what happens on the road. Most especially thru that valley.
Now you can continue to argue your few trips and “googling”, or you can argue real life commuting via me, and substantiated by Curt’s own experience. Personally, I think you are way at a disadvantage, but what the hey. But don’t you even dare tread into the area that I don’t know what that drive entails. When I say I’m happy to see California in my personal “rear view mirror” (emotionally and figuratively), that is one of the drives that is most familiar to me. So your anecdotes – used to bolster your desire for a CA HSR financed by everyone else in the nation – need to be tempered by others with more real life experience in that commute in your area. You are not the only one who has lived and traveled in southern/northern California.
Now, if you want to take my own experience, and Curt’s, and find a middle ground of 6 hours, that still doesn’t change the argument of why the nation should pay for a California HSR when they don’t use it, plus the interest required to finance it. As I said.. you want it? Pay for it yourself and leave the rest of the nation’s taxpayers alone. I personally don’t care about whether you don’t want to sit next to “smelly blubber” for a few hours for your few commutes a year.
C’mom. Mata, you are arguing against basic math. You averaged 80 MPH. Curt averaged 70 MPH. Why don’t you give us your former address in MB and your destination address in Oakland, and we can do the math with absolute precision. I already know Curt’s mileage and I’ve proved he was speeding. I give him credit for not trying to weasel out of it.
You NEVER admit when you are wrong. Never, ever, ever. Not once. You even deny simple arithmetic.
– Larry W/HB
Come on, Larry… you are arguing Google against real life experience. Don’t tell me that Google governs what I averaged, based on your dang computer screen. You did a dozen trips over three years. I was doing that commute so often that I never wanted to see Coalinga again.
But I’m sure that Gore and Google would be happy with your endorsement of their data over real life experience.
Hi Mata, Forget Google, This is math. You AVERAGED 80 MPH, unless you were flying a plane or taking a dirt bike across country. Give us your starting address, finishing address, and route traveled and prove to us that it was possible to complete that route in 4 hours and 45 minutes without breaking the law. I believe that Curt could drive from HB to Candlestick in 6 hours, but he broke the law to do it. I can prove it with the same simple math that I use to prove that you were flagrantly breaking the law.
– Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach CA
sigh… you really are a prig, Larry. So much for your New Year’s type resolutions of becoming somewhat human.
From 1998 to late 2000, I was living in northern California (Concord/Walnut Creek) and commuting down to LA for movie contracts to do sound editing at various lots and sound houses. When the 15-20 hour workdays and weeks were friendly, I was driving back and forth between these areas all these years. Prior to that, I was driving up from Manhattan Beach to visit a boyfriend in the same area. So I have 3-4 years of that “commute” under my belt.
Compare that to your “Google” and “a dozen times” anecdotes.
Then compare it to Curt’s own experience in the past few days.
Pathetic attempt, but valiant defense of the indefensible. Google, Bing, and/or Mapquest do not replace my life’s experiences. They merely give me a guideline for potential planning… even if pleasantly inaccurate.
And again, exactly where did I say that I *was not speeding*, along with the rest of the valley traffic?
There is an easy and extremely accurate way to resolve this: plug MB or Oakland into an ATT Navigator. Unlike most GPS systems, the ATT one calculates in real time for traffic. I use it all the time and the ETA is spot on, down to the minute. Unfortunately, I’m not in MB or Oakland right now, and not sure there is a way to do it like a google map since it’s all in real time and uses the location of the phone. So, if anyone reading is in MB or Oakland, and has att navigator, plug it in and let us know.
FYI, I also drove that route often, once made it from Oakland to Long Beach in 5 hours, early am,
No, Patricia. There is no “GPS” or “Google” way to resolve this. I have the real life, and extremely regular experience. Larry has talking points and Google and “a dozen trips” over three years. He is exaggerating the experience in order to have a cushy and quiet ride, sans “fatties”, and financed by the entire nation and not just Californians. Sorry… Larry’s the one who will never admit he is wrong. And that’s because he has an agenda.
ADDED: Short distances and traffic are relatively accurate because traffic light patterns tend to validate “speed limit” times. But when you have the San Joaquin valley span, and it’s mileage and speeds, it’s a different reality.
@Curt: #31
If you two were talking in a truck stop or on the CB, you would have started the, “Well, I can do it in “X” hours,” routine.
LOL, Smorgasbord. What comes to mind is, of course, the Monty Phython “you had a house?” type routine. But it really isn’t.
It will vary for weather. Ran into a serious dust storm once in my travels that did serious delay… like an hour or two. But it’s really quite predictable for regular travelers on that route.
MATA
what do you think of SANTORUM TAKING THE TOP JOB
Don’t care, Bees. Iowa’s caucus means nothing to me. It might be something to those who didn’t fare well, for cash/continuing reasons. I expect your boy, Perry, will be headed back to Texas immediately, if not soon after.
Oh, so you weren’t driving from Manhattan Beach to the “East Bay;” you were driving between Concord/Walnut Creek and LA. We were talking about the drive from North Orange County to SF. Your commute from “LA” to Walnut Creek/Concord isn’t relevant. Curt’s trip from HB to Candlestick was relevant, and he was speeding.
This all started with you denigrating me. And now you are offended, because I’m defending myself and my arguments. I’m being a “prig.” I’m “pathetic.”
You claimed that you drove from Manhattan Beach to the “East Bay” in 4 hours and 45 minutes in the context of debate about travel times between North Orange County and San Francisco. “East Bay,” in this context, implies Oakland. Why don’t you give us the actual addresses (within 1/2 mile, if you want to preserve some sort of privacy), which represented your 4 hour and 45 minute drive. Tell us the route you traveled.
For my trips, I drove from near the intersection of Warner and Bolsa Chica in the 92649 zip code to Menlo Park (94025) or SF (zip code 94133). That’s 395 miles to the former, 416 miles to the latter. My record was 6 hours, and that was with a very short pit stop (in Coalinga; also my pit stop of choice) and driving about 80 MPH whenever I could, leaving at 2:30 AM with no fog. Curt drove 426 miles in 6 hours. This is an average of 70 MPH. He was clearly speeding. If your time claims are accurate, you were clearly speeding. If my claims are in error, just prove it with zip code addresses, routes, and times. If I’m wrong, I’ll apologize, but I still think you were being very misleading in equating “LA” to Concord/Walnut Creek with North Orange County to SF.
– Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach CA
No, Larry… try to pay attention.
At some times I was driving from MH to East Bay and San Jose. Other times I was driving from Concord/Walnut Creek (also East Bay) to El Segundo, Hollywood, Burbank or Santa Monica. What are you asking? Did I have more variations in my three years than you did in your “dozen trips” over the same time period? Hang yeah… and it was pretty darned consistent.
Congrats on proving yourself to be the desperate, lying ass hat in the new year, guy.
Oh yes.. let me add. I don’t remember my MB address from 12 years ago, nor my East Bay home address from 10 years ago. Nor do I have the address at the trade school where I was an instructor out of Emeryville/Berkeley either. I think it’s now been absorbed by a larger performing/sound/graphics arts school, or gone out of business since then.
Nor if I had those addresses would I provide them to you as they are moot. If it’s from San Jose to MB, or East Bay cities to Burbank, the time differences were not significantly different because I did them with regularity. So your point is?
Larry, have you got any idea what a “prig” is?
If not, first check a dictionary. And then look in the mirror. it may be less insulting that you think, as well as more accurate that you are willing to admit in public.
And I gave you a driving time “range”. Get serious. Do you think it took the same amount of time every trip? There was usually a variance of 30 minutes, depending upon events, weather, timing and traffic anamolies. But it NEVER… and I do mean NEVER… took me 7-9 hours.
Larry, just what commitiess did you think “East Bay” includes?
pffft…
Altho the East Bay towns in northern Cal are not the only communities to which I traveled from and to.
@bbartlog: #39
With twenty years of driving down the road with a view above the cars in front of me, I have seen a lot of the stuff listed, and a lot that isn’t. All the law would have to say is that if the officer watches someone take their eyes off of the road for a certain length of time, that is distracted driving. Most officers have cameras in their cars, although each department decides whether to have the camera running all the time or just when activated. I would prefer they run all of the time. I have seen videos of cops driving down the road when something happened. It won’t be on video if the camera ain’t running. It can be deleted after the shift if nothing happens.
@MataHarley:
Mata my guess is that a GPS that calculates speeds and traffic would prove you correct. Navigator would calculate not only traffic flow but the increased speed limits on I5.
As I said Mata, I once made the trip in 5 hours, and that was to Long Beach.
That’s nice, Patricia. Three people’s experience to one. Tell it to the arrogant prig, who never reads comments and fills in the blanks. I don’t give a flying whit. I lived it. Larry? Apparently he “googles” life. Pathetic existence for an elitist snob, don’t you think?
openid.aol.com/runnswim
sh sh sh, you going to get MATA AND CURT arrested for speeding even if was done before,
HAPPY NEW YEAR