The collapse of California..
So, California, having discovered itself broke, refuses to raise taxes (even though the state taxes are hardly what I’d call crippling.. compared to the federal taxes, I don’t even *notice* my state taxes) and instead is turning off everything .. wasting hundreds of thousands of man hours of work in the process – closing parks and letting them decay, turning off welfare, closing prisons, firing the cops and the firefighters.. Remind me again, why aren’t we raising taxes instead? I wouldn’t begrudge California another thousand or two on April 15, and I can’t imagine there are many that would, especially if they kept the wonderful services like nearly-free higher education, free beaches, world-class firefighting service, excellent highway system , and whatnot. Who’s objecting so mightily to them raising taxes? It’s not like they’re using the money to *bomb* people – Especially if they agreed not to use the money for more war-on-drugs sorts of idiocy.
On the other hand, California is apparently not the progressive paradise that I like to think it – they did vote yes on Prop 8. Maybe we should move to New England? 😉
However, all you libertarians, this is your chance to see how the libertarian model actually works out – or doesn’t. My problem is that I’m libertarian on Federal government, but socialist/green on a state level.