Heaven forbid I be rude in chaff.

And no my post had zero profanity.

But I do love visiting CA. Particularly the parts further east away from the coast. ;)

"I look forward to further displays of keen wit and searing replies couched in the utmost good taste."

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/duel/sfeature/rulesofdueling.html

If all else fails we have the 26 rules contained in the Code Duello [Irish] or the 25 in John Wilson's Americanized version.

The rules contain very strict guidlines on whom must apologize to whom after an explicit number of shots have been fired or in the case of swords, the breaking of the opponents sword, tent pegs, and/or freeze dried spaghetti inclusive.

This information should be available readily to all posters on Chaff irregardless of politico, religous, or economic persuasions, even, gasp, Californians.

So tell me Harold Hope, since you seem to be in favor of democrates raising taxes without limits, how much more of your money do you want the government to take away from you. Reply with a dollar amount then write out a check and send it to Governor Moonbeam. California is in the hole 1/2 trillion dollars for unfunded liabilty for the public sector pension fund fiasco that Mr. Moonbeam created from his first failed term as governor. That averages about $12,000 for each resident in the state, so maybe you can start with a check in that amount for each member of your household. After doing that then I want to see you complain about taxes not being high enough.

I am reminded of an incident in the UK, probably in their Parliament:

Lady Nancy Astor: "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea."
Winston Churchill: "Nancy, if I were your husband, I'd drink it.”

Which goes to show that you do not need any rudeness, profanities or even uncouthness to get your meaning across. :-)

Cheers

Wow folks. I was just joking around here. A gentle jab from one fiscally challenged state to another.
Sorry it turned into a blood sport. I will stick to myo food and gear posts from now on.

"Sorry it turned into a blood sport. I will stick to myo food and gear posts from now on."

If you say something in chaff, you have to be prepared for "rude" responses.

I think you're entitled to an opinion even if you're from Minnesota.

If California goes down, it will impact everyone else.

Yeah Rich, blame the Dems...

The amount Brown wants to raise taxes has neen published as well as for how long.

Some on this thread have some pretty strong opinions about which Party is to blame for California's fiscal woe's. Id like to add some perspective to the right v. left mentality that has become so pervasive in political discourse.

Ive lived most of my life in the Northeast and can say with certainty that designations such as right wing extremist, hippie, progressive, tea partier, liberal or whatever title one may assign to another are more a product of where you are from than loyalty to any political Party. Ideas and titles are interchangeable.

Some in the Northeast especially people from New Hampshire think of Massachusetts as a Liberal stronghold for the typical reasons of high public sector wages, generous benefits, and the high taxes needed to support such things. Whether this is accurate or not is irrelevant, that is the perception. The typical Bostonian thinks of New Hampshire as dangerously Libertarian, views Vermonter's as Hippie's, doesnt realize any humans even live north of Bangor and affords all of these groups only enough respect to keep winter skiing trips free from incident. Most "real" Mainers would be more than happy to turn everything south of Bangor over to the flat landers so long as they could build a fence to stop any further migration from "the south." Now, on any given day just about anywhere in NE one could use any of these places and statements interchangeably and elicit cheers and nods of agreement.

The interesting bit is that all these opinions exist in what have become reliably Blue States where there is a great deal of agreement on the proper Role of Gov't. Each State is limited in its goals to one degree or another by their respective economies, populations, tax structures etc. but those goals are roughly the same. Eastern States are also much smaller geographically than Western States making it much easier for people to reconcile their principles with the Gov't bodies they participate in by simply moving to another State.

More importantly though, and this is where I think a State like New Hampshire differs from a State like California, Easterners don't make a strong distinction between Gov't action and Gov't intrusion. Certainly in Vermont and New Hampshire this is true, though for different reasons, but even in a more Left leaning State like Massachusetts it is believed by many that Gov't by its nature is intrusive and should be limited to the extent that is practical.

I read the article at this link http://www.economist.com/node/13649050 and found it amusing that the author referred to Berkeley as home of the looney left and Orange County as home of the rabid right. To many people outside California any of your Reps that get any TV time seem completely disconnected from reality, regardless of Party affiliation. Given their fondness for ballot initiatives the people of the State share in the blame for its condition. If California, with all of its advantages cant get its act together maybe it deserves to fail.

Bruce wrote:" If California, with all of its advantages cant get its act together maybe it deserves to fail."

If California Fails the United States Fails. California was or still is in the top 10 economic power house in the world beating out most countries.
Back about a decade ago Orange County almost went bankrupt. The problem with California especially souther California is our economy is tied to the cyclical rise and fall of the housing and commercial real estate market. This happens every decade like clockwork but this time real estate took a nose dive in to the ocean and it may never recover. Just like it has in other states. The problem with California starts at county and city, town governments who allow hyper extreme growth instead slow or controlled growth.

Terry