http://www.organicmutant.com/2008/11/ill-be-good-tomorrow/ Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis. Sat, 09 Oct 2010 11:54:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://www.organicmutant.com/2008/11/ill-be-good-tomorrow/comment-page-1/#comment-6401 xtina Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:04:39 +0000 http://www.organicmutant.com/?p=811#comment-6401 The points that you bring up are excellent. The problems are complex and there is no blanket solution that will save us from ourselves. But...I'm at a point where I ready to 'throw in the towel' and although I believe in high-speed rail and think it would make an incredible improvement for our state (as rail exists in the NE corridor), I'm not ready to add one more rock to Sisyfus' pile. I haven't cast my ballot yet tho. The points that you bring up are excellent. The problems are complex and there is no blanket solution that will save us from ourselves. But…I’m at a point where I ready to ‘throw in the towel’ and although I believe in high-speed rail and think it would make an incredible improvement for our state (as rail exists in the NE corridor), I’m not ready to add one more rock to Sisyfus’ pile. I haven’t cast my ballot yet tho.

]]> http://www.organicmutant.com/2008/11/ill-be-good-tomorrow/comment-page-1/#comment-6400 spider Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:46:10 +0000 http://www.organicmutant.com/?p=811#comment-6400 on the one hand, I totally agree with everything you lay forth. indeed, we binge (survive?) today only because we comfortably and absent-mindedly kick the can down the road. and yet. it seems that in many cases it does make sense to 'take out a loan' and build stuff. por ejemplo, I firmly believe that the train bond (<a href="http://www.lao.ca.gov/ballot/2008/1A_11_2008.aspx" rel="nofollow">prop 1A</a>) is just the type of thing the people need. on the other hand, we do this type of thing way too much and, as you point out, pay the price via half our budget being allocated to debt servicing. (welcome to the ownership society!) one final point: one of the major problems we've got is that our priorities are simply in the wrong places. When we spend roughly <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/21/MNG4KPUKV51.DTL" rel="nofollow">$10 billion annually</a> on our <b>state prison system</b>, far more than any other single expense, it is beyond refute that our priorities are majorly fucked the fuck up. Until we address this bizarro world where locking motherfuckers up is gov't priority #A1, I fear we are doomed to taking out payday loans to build an infrastructure. on the one hand, I totally agree with everything you lay forth. indeed, we binge (survive?) today only because we comfortably and absent-mindedly kick the can down the road. and yet. it seems that in many cases it does make sense to ‘take out a loan’ and build stuff. por ejemplo, I firmly believe that the train bond (prop 1A) is just the type of thing the people need. on the other hand, we do this type of thing way too much and, as you point out, pay the price via half our budget being allocated to debt servicing. (welcome to the ownership society!) one final point: one of the major problems we’ve got is that our priorities are simply in the wrong places. When we spend roughly $10 billion annually on our state prison system, far more than any other single expense, it is beyond refute that our priorities are majorly fucked the fuck up. Until we address this bizarro world where locking motherfuckers up is gov’t priority #A1, I fear we are doomed to taking out payday loans to build an infrastructure.

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