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Okay, don't some of the richest people in the country live and work in Los Angeles, California? Then how the hell can California be so broke?
For the last year or maybe longer, (I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to it all) I know that they have been struggling to pay government workers, etc. (um the people that keep the state RUNNING!) and that just blows my mind. But maybe there are things I just don't understand about it.
Now they are having the huge "garage sale" http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090828/ap_on_hi_te/us_california_garage_sale to sell off tons of junk and raise some money.
Okay my first question is, whose bright idea was it to buy all this junk in the first place if they didn't need it and couldn't afford it? If they are selling it now as surplus, then apparently they could have done without it in the first place.
My second question is, if all of these actors and actresses are working in Hollywood (or is that just the watering hole where they all come to drink?) then why they hell aren't their taxes making a dent in the debt? Many of them own residences in Hollywood (and other parts of the state) even if they don't live there all the time. Aren't they being taxed on these expensive homes? What about the sales tax on the cars they drive. That has to be A LOT of money. What about income taxes? Am I just missing something here? Is it more complicated than that, and I just don't know what I am talking about. (That does happen OCCASIONALLY.)
If the state really IS in trouble, then I think it is the responsibility of it's residents that HAVE the money to help take care of it. And those happen to be the ones that we see on the silver screen. Shouldn't they be ponying up some dough to help these government employees who have REAL jobs, that actually WORK for a living, and live paycheck to paycheck (or in their case they live IOU to IOU apparently.)
I live in Arkansas. We don't have lots of rich folks (well except the Waltons and really I have to say if it weren't for them and Walmart being RIGHT HERE we definitely wouldn't have the schools and the programs that we have.) So that is why I am thinking, isn't it time for those that HAVE, to step up and make a difference in the state in which they live? Whether it is to give more money, or to get nosey and find out where the money they DO pay is going. Do they not care? I mean what is wrong? Aren't they the ones that are always screaming about this charity or that cause when they really need to be focusing on taking care of business at home?
Okay maybe I am just naive, or I don't know how it all works, so maybe I am making a fool of myself, and if so, please someone set me straight, because I JUST DON'T GET IT.
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Okay, now for the rant! (The OTHER rant!)
Speaking of "stars", you know there is something TERRIBLY WRONG with this country when you can log on to MSN, Yahoo or whatever and see MICHAEL JACKSON'S face EVERY SINGLE DAY splashed across the screen, they talk about him on the tube EVERY DAY sometimes ALL DAY, and then you log on one day and there is a ITTY BITTY TINY blurb about Ted Kennedy's funeral. I wasn't even aware until late afternoon the day AFTER he died that he had even died. WTF is wrong with that??? He is a KENNEDY for godsakes!
I mean, I know he had been sick for a long time and he wasn't young, so it wasn't a case of a young person whose life was tragically cut short. I've got that part. So I am thinking, "He wasn't the train wreck that Jackson was, and apparently trainwrecks are more important (or at least get the most press)."
The Kennedy's have had lives full of tragedy. From JFK, to Robert, to John John's untimely death in that plane crash; I really feel for Caroline. Oh, I know she is rich as King Midas himself, but you have to look at her and wonder how she has gotten through so much loss. She has seen so many people she loves die. She is the last of her immediate (and most of her extended) family. I know that Ted lived a long life (and not without controversy himself, I might add), and Jackie didn't die a young and tragic death, but Caroline really has had a lot of loss. I guess sometimes when we look at those that have more than we do in regards to money, we should remember that they have had their pain too. And this family has had more than its share. I wonder, would they have been willing to give up all the money if it would have saved the lives of those they loved that died too young. My guess would be yes. Don't you think?
Anyway, it just goes to show what it important to us as a society. Michael Jackson trumps a Kennedy. Who would have thunk it???
Kinda bugs me. A lot.
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Or!
6 years ago
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1 comments:
Hi there - late comment, but.... I live in California, and have since I was born.
In 1977, some folks in California decided that businesses and homeowners were paying property taxes that were just too high, particularly folks over 50. So, California voters passed Proposition 13, limited increases in property taxes to 2% per year. And, the tax bill is not based on the assessed value of the house, it's based on the sale price. So, if you buy a house for 100,000, you'll pay 2,000 in property taxes the first year, then, if rates go up, another 2% on top of that - and the basis for your taxes, $100,000, _won't ever change_, even if your home has an assessed value of $500,000. Basically, a bad constitutional amendment in California in 1977 has left us bankrupt, because that same law also gives corporations the same property tax break. California's broke because we can't bring in enough revenue to pay for schools, police, etc. under a law passed over 30 years ago. It's been an ongoing problem since about 1980, but has only come to public notice in the last 10 years or so.
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