What's Next for California?

[DerbyRunner]

Good to see that the California Government is passing laws to help people deal with the forest fires. Shame that they use all the funding to prevent forest fires on social issues.

Police and Fire Departments are commonly used as tools to get bond measures passed. The pitch is something like: "pass this $xx million bond measure and help your fire fighters get the equipment they need," or something similar.

Of course, there is no language requiring the money to be spent that way. So when the bond passes, off the money goes, in another directions. Police and Fire agencies in some part of the country have had to sue to get their names taken off ballot measures. And in some cases they won.

 

[fried1765]

Y'alls gonna get me into my insurance rant again, ain't ya? SS is insurance. They're betting you don't live long enough to collect it.

I think I've fooled 'em.
Been collecting SS for almost 17 years.

 

[DerbyRunner]

As I pointed out above; why shouldn't somebody who is forced to pay into the SS program all of their life not collect from it when they get older?

The answer is: you are too rich and wealthy to deserve to collect. That is called "means testing." It has been kicked around for years as part of Social Security reform, and I believe it will become law at some point. Regardless of contributing into the system for decades, you will be deemed ineligible to collect.

 

[Jstpssng]

The answer is: you are too rich and wealthy to deserve to collect. That is called "means testing." It has been kicked around for years as part of Social Security reform, and I believe it will become law at some point. Regardless of contributing into the system for decades, you will be deemed ineligible to collect.

So why not just call it what it would be; a tax, and put it into the General Fund. Or call it a penalty for working too hard. How else would you justify taking 15% of somebody’s income every year, then disqualifying him from collecting because he planned ahead? SS isn’t even part of my retirement strategy, although I will be eligible starting in two years and do plan to collect.

 

[oosik]

It gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling to know that CA is the guinea pig state for the liberal agenda. "Lets try it first in CA".

I just bought a couple jugs of windshield washer fluid. Who would have guessed that under Prop 65 - they will cause cancer in CA.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Speaking of motorcycle helmets; they can be life savers provided there is actually a brain there to protect. Of course, their protection can only go so far...

 

[k0ua]

Speaking of motorcycle helmets; they can be life savers provided there is actually a brain there to protect. Of course, their protection can only go so far...

You nailed that one.

 

[Diggin It]

I just bought a couple jugs of windshield washer fluid. Who would have guessed that under Prop 65 - they will cause cancer in CA.

I'm all in favor of banning those labels (and CARB) anywhere outside of CA. Tired of seeing them on websites too.

 

[drssg]

Speaking of motorcycle helmets; they can be life savers provided there is actually a brain there to protect. Of course, their protection can only go so far...

I suspect the commentator himself is a rather aggressive rider by my standards. He offered the “safety” advice that lane splitting should be done at speeds no more than 25 mph faster than the other traffic. Even if it’s legal in some areas, I think lane splitting is just asking for trouble.

For some of the cases he thought were the driver’s fault, he might have been correct in the sense of who would get sited, but I felt that most of them could have been avoided by the motorcyclist using more defensive driving and less speed.

I have been riding since the 80s and haven’t had an accident yet. Some of that is just dumb luck, but it sure helps to stay alert.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I suspect the commentator himself is a rather aggressive rider by my standards. He offered the “safety” advice that lane splitting should be done at speeds no more than 25 mph faster than the other traffic. Even if it’s legal in some areas, I think lane splitting is just asking for trouble.

For some of the cases he thought were the driver’s fault, he might have been correct in the sense of who would get sited, but I felt that most of them could have been avoided by the motorcyclist using more defensive driving and less speed.

I have been riding since the 80s and haven’t had an accident yet. Some of that is just dumb luck, but it sure helps to stay alert.

I have a car club acquaintance who is a retired orthopedic surgeon...and he rides a Harley. I asked him one day how he could in good conscience ride a motorcycle as much as he does. He admitted that "they have woken me up in the middle of the night many times to come and put some cyclist back together, but I love to ride my Harley and I am very careful". 'Nuff said.