California Politics: Madame Senator, this is a morgue

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CopperHound: Feb 14, 2012

A freeway is a limited access highway. Interstates are also a type of highway that are usually also freeways.

I wouldn't call highway 12 or 160 freeways, but a lot of highway 99 is a freeway.

:goonsay:

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# ? Apr 4, 2017 20:06

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# ? May 16, 2024 05:41

Necroskowitz: Jan 20, 2011

Arsenic Lupin posted:

Isn't "freeway" pretty much obsolete? I only ever hear "highway" or "Interstate", but maybe that's because NoCal.

Where I live all our ways are free. I hope someday your roads will taste liberty too.

# ? Apr 4, 2017 20:19

Zachack: Jun 1, 2000

Arsenic Lupin posted:

Isn't "freeway" pretty much obsolete? I only ever hear "highway" or "Interstate", but maybe that's because NoCal.

Highway is good for little roads, like highway 39 to the 101 aka the freeway.

Why would anyone casually say the word "interstate"? I ain't got time for that many syllables.

# ? Apr 4, 2017 20:25

CPColin: Sep 9, 2003; Big ol' smile.

The Vehicle Code hilariously defines "highway" as, basically, "eh, whatever."

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&sectionNum=360

quote:

�Highway� is a way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. Highway includes street.

# ? Apr 4, 2017 20:26

CopperHound: Feb 14, 2012

Zachack posted:

I ain't got time for that many syllables.

Then why not drop "the"?

# ? Apr 4, 2017 20:27

Cup Runneth Over: Aug 8, 2009; She said life's
Too short to worry
Life's too long to wait
It's too short
Not to love everybody
Life's too long to hate

Your guys' NoCal is showing. In SoCal we pretty much only say freeway. That's the point!

# ? Apr 4, 2017 20:28

Rah!: Feb 21, 2006

Arsenic Lupin posted:

Isn't "freeway" pretty much obsolete? I only ever hear "highway" or "Interstate", but maybe that's because NoCal.

Cup Runneth Over posted:

Your guys' NoCal is showing. In SoCal we pretty much only say freeway. That's the point!

nah, people in Nor Cal say freeway all the time (in the Bay Area, at least). A lot of highway sections are officially named as "XXXX Freeway" (Nimitz Freeway, Central Freeway, Bayshore Freeway, etc), in Nor Cal, though in most cases only olds say the actual name part, everyone else just says "freeway".

I live next to 580, but unless i'm giving directions, i'm just gonna call it the freeway.

:spergin:

# ? Apr 4, 2017 20:52

Zachack: Jun 1, 2000

CopperHound posted:

Then why not drop "the"?

I'm not a loving caveman. Me get on freeway? Might as well live in

*checks CA map*

Palmdale!

# ? Apr 4, 2017 21:20

Sundae: Dec 1, 2005

The Palmdale. :v:

# ? Apr 4, 2017 21:34

Kuvo: Oct 27, 2008; Blame it on the misfortune of your bark!; Fun Shoe

There ain't no such thing as a free way.

# ? Apr 4, 2017 21:41

Baby Babbeh: Aug 2, 2005; It's hard to soar with the eagles when you work with Turkeys!!

I've said freeway my entire life and I've literally never met the subhuman, non-Californian trash that says highway. I refuse to believe people who say interstate exist.

# ? Apr 4, 2017 22:02

The Aardvark: Aug 19, 2013

Baby Babbeh posted:

I've said freeway my entire life and I've literally never met the subhuman, non-Californian trash that says highway. I refuse to believe people who say interstate exist.

Never go to North Carolina.

# ? Apr 4, 2017 22:15

raminasi: Jan 25, 2005; a last drink with no ice

The freeway/highway distinction makes a lot more sense in regions of the country where not all highways are free.

# ? Apr 4, 2017 22:57

Cup Runneth Over: Aug 8, 2009; She said life's
Too short to worry
Life's too long to wait
It's too short
Not to love everybody
Life's too long to hate

They cost folks like you and me

# ? Apr 4, 2017 23:23

Gnossiennes: Jan 7, 2013; Loving chairs more every day!

Baby Babbeh posted:

I've said freeway my entire life and I've literally never met the subhuman, non-Californian trash that says highway. I refuse to believe people who say interstate exist.

Deep South transplant here, I'm used to saying i-number. Like hopping on i-85 via i-65 in Montgomery, Alabama!

Dunno what kind of dork would actually say "interstate 40" or whatever though

# ? Apr 4, 2017 23:56

Absurd Alhazred: Mar 27, 2010; by Athanatos

Freeway isn't free/It costs folks like you and me/And if we don't all chip in/We'll never pay that toll...

# ? Apr 5, 2017 02:12

Cup Runneth Over: Aug 8, 2009; She said life's
Too short to worry
Life's too long to wait
It's too short
Not to love everybody
Life's too long to hate

FasTrak costs a buck o' five

# ? Apr 5, 2017 03:09

Aeka 2.0: Nov 16, 2000; Have you seen my apex seals? I seem to have lost them.; Dinosaur Gum

Cup Runneth Over posted:

FasTrak costs a buck o' five

At 2am

# ? Apr 5, 2017 03:22

Anza Borrego: Feb 11, 2005; Ovis canadensis nelsoni

http://www.biographic.com/posts/sto/backcountry-drug-war

This is a long but very interesting read about the impact that covert, Mexican cartel-operated marijuana growing operations in rural Northern California are having on the fragile ecosystems up there.

Thought you all would be interested.

# ? Apr 5, 2017 04:22

FCKGW: May 21, 2006

Cup Runneth Over posted:

FasTrak costs a buck o' five

New 91 express lane extension puts it at over $14 on Friday rush hour.

# ? Apr 5, 2017 07:10

Cup Runneth Over: Aug 8, 2009; She said life's
Too short to worry
Life's too long to wait
It's too short
Not to love everybody
Life's too long to hate

That's not how the song goes

# ? Apr 5, 2017 07:58

stone cold: Feb 15, 2014

Freeways and highways are the same thing

:confused:

# ? Apr 5, 2017 08:57

Proust Malone: Apr 4, 2008

Some highways are toll roads and thus not freeways?

# ? Apr 5, 2017 15:07

Progressive JPEG: Feb 19, 2003

What about expressways???

# ? Apr 5, 2017 15:44

jetz0r: May 10, 2003; Tomorrow, our nation will sit on the throne of the world. This is not a figment of the imagination, but a fact. Tomorrow we will lead the world, Allah willing.

There sure are a lot of names for rolling parking lots.

# ? Apr 5, 2017 19:52

Elyv: Jun 14, 2013

Progressive JPEG posted:

What about expressways???

uh expressways are definitely not the same as highways and freeways

# ? Apr 5, 2017 19:54

Doc Hawkins: Jun 15, 2010; Dashing? But I'm not even moving!

Whatever you call it, no one's gonna drive it to Santa Monica when they can take the Red Car for a dime.

# ? Apr 5, 2017 20:48

Necroskowitz: Jan 20, 2011

/\ Nickel

# ? Apr 5, 2017 20:50

Danann: Aug 4, 2013

quote:

For California, it�s the $101-billion question: Will Congress eliminate a major tax break that benefits state residents more than those anywhere else in the country?

A plan by House Republicans calls for axing the federal deduction for state and local taxes. The provision allowed Californians to reduce their taxable income by that amount in 2014, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.

That figure was one-fifth of the total value of the deduction nationwide.

California�s pain may be Republicans� gain, though, as lawmakers and the White House turn to tax reform after the failed attempt to repeal and replace President Obama�s healthcare law.

The break, one of the most costly in terms of lost federal revenue each year, largely benefits states with high taxes and high earners � and most of those states are Democratic strongholds.

California and New York receive nearly a third of the deduction�s total value, the Tax Foundation found. Of the top 10 states for the deduction, President Trump carried only three in last fall�s election.

�The only reason to single out state and local taxes is because the Republicans view it as a poke into the eye for the blue states,� said Edward Kleinbard, a USC professor and former chief of staff to Congress� Joint Committee on Taxation. �They view this as a war on blue states and that�s really quite unfair.�

Officials from California and other states whose residents would be hit hard by the loss of the deduction are concerned. They worry about the cost to taxpayers and the broader effect of possibly increasing resistance to state and local tax hikes.

�California�s got a deal that�s working well and allows our state to deliver the services that our citizens need and if you pull something like that it disrupts it,� said Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), a member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

�I think you�re going to see opposition come out of the woodwork,� he said.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has warned that eliminating the deduction would be �devastating� for his state, California and others. New Yorkers used the provision to reduce their taxable income by $68 billion in 2014, according to the Tax Foundation.

The break has been around since the U.S. began collecting income taxes in 1913. It allows taxpayers to deduct what they pay in state and local real estate, personal property and income taxes.

The Treasury Department estimated the deduction would reduce federal tax revenue by $96 billion this year. (The deduction lowers taxable income by much more money, but that only partially translates into less taxes paid.)

It is one of three major deductions for individuals, along with those for home mortgage interest and charitable contributions. The �A Better Way� tax reform plan released by House Republican leaders last year called for eliminating all individual itemized deductions except those for mortgage interest and charitable giving.

�These two provisions help accomplish two important goals that strengthen civil society: home-ownership and charitable giving,� the plan said.

The changes are designed to simplify tax filing and offset the revenue lost from lowering rates and increasing the standard deduction.

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and a driving force behind the House GOP plan, said that the state and local deduction was unfair. Residents of his home state of Texas were major beneficiaries of the break, reducing their taxable income by $20 billion in 2014.

�Today, Washington increases taxes on everyone so a few people can receive help,� he said. �Our plan lowers taxes for everyone � regardless of what they earn or where they choose to live � so families can keep more of their hard-earned dollars or put that money toward state and local taxes.�

The tax plan President Trump campaigned on called for keeping the state and local tax deduction but offsetting rate reductions by capping itemized deductions at $100,000 for single filers and $200,000 for married couples filing jointly. The Trump administration is working on its own tax overhaul proposal but has not yet released it.

Eliminating the state and local tax deduction would increase federal revenue by about $1.3 trillion over 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, which is run jointly by the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution.

The deduction has been targeted in the past because eliminating it would result in a big revenue boost. But opposition from lawmakers in large states such as California and New York have kept the provision mostly intact.

A bipartisan coalition from New York helped save most of the deduction in the Tax Reform Act of 1986 under President Reagan. It was trimmed to eliminate the deduction for state sales taxes, but Congress later partially restored that for a while.

Jared Walczak, a policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, said the state and local tax deduction is an unusual provision that shifts money �largely from lower-income individuals and lower-tax states to higher-tax individuals and higher-tax states.�

Only about 30% of taxpayers � mostly high earners -- itemize their deductions and are eligible for the break. Walczak�s analysis noted that 88% of the benefit in 2014 went to people with incomes of more than $100,000.

States with higher taxes and more wealthy taxpayers benefit the most. For Californians claiming the deduction, it reduced adjusted gross income by an average of nearly 8% in 2014, Walczak found.

The Tax Policy Center said the deduction �provides an indirect subsidy to state and local governments...in effect allowing those jurisdictions to export a portion of their tax burden to the rest of the nation.�

But eliminating the deduction �could lead to reductions in spending for programs and services,� the center�s analysis said.

California Gov. Jerry Brown�s 2017-18 budget summary warned that the Trump administration and congressional leaders �have suggested major changes to Medicaid, trade and immigration policy, and the federal tax structure.�

�Many of the proposed changes could have serious and detrimental effects on the state�s economy and budget,� the summary said.

It�s difficult to know the impact of tax changes until a specific bill is introduced, said H.D. Palmer. a budget spokesman for Gov. Jerry Brown.

Palmer said California residents who filed state returns reported $206 billion in federal itemized deductions in 2014. Eliminating all but the mortgage interest and charitable contribution breaks would have reduced itemized deductions by about $120 billion.

Thompson, whose district includes expensive areas in Contra Costa, Napa and Sonoma counties, said he opposed eliminating the state and local tax deduction. He predicted it would be difficult for Republicans from California and some other key states to support it.

�I don�t know who in California, who in New York votes for this,� Thompson said. �That�s a big bloc.�

Matt Sparks, a spokesman for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) wouldn�t comment on the state and local tax deduction. But McCarthy supports the House Republican tax blueprint, Sparks said.

�We are focused on a tax code that is simpler and fairer so that Americans keep more of their hard-earned money,� Sparks said.

Spokespeople for several other House Republicans from California did not respond to requests for comment.

Kleinbard, the USC law and business professor, said the only way to lower individual tax rates without �sending the country into a tailspin of uncontrollable deficits� is to reduce or eliminate the major personal deductions.

But it�s not fair to get rid of the state and local tax deduction while keeping the mortgage interest and charitable giving breaks, said Klienbard, author of a 2015 book titled �We Are Better Than This: How Government Should Spend Our Money.�

�I think there is a case for scaling back all of them collectively and funneling that very large amount of additional revenue toward the real middle class,� he said.

Targeting only the state and local tax deduction, however, �is just political warfare by Republicans� aimed at Democrats in blue states, Kleinbard said.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-state-tax-deduction-20170403-story.html

Republicans right on cue for wanting to gently caress the poor.

# ? Apr 6, 2017 00:14

Cup Runneth Over: Aug 8, 2009; She said life's
Too short to worry
Life's too long to wait
It's too short
Not to love everybody
Life's too long to hate

Doesn't that deduction actually help the rich mostly? Poor people don't itemize.

# ? Apr 6, 2017 00:46

stone cold: Feb 15, 2014

Ron Jeremy posted:

Some highways are toll roads and thus not freeways?

what's a toll road

# ? Apr 6, 2017 01:02

mike-: Jul 9, 2004; Phillipians 1:21

Cup Runneth Over posted:

Doesn't that deduction actually help the rich mostly? Poor people don't itemize.

Yeah, the removal of the deduction hurts high earners, not poor people.

# ? Apr 6, 2017 01:05

Dirk the Average: Feb 7, 2012; "This may have been a mistake."

Arsenic Lupin posted:

Works for me. Discriminating on burrito fillings would be more difficult.

Nah, it's really quite easy. There's San Diego County and then there's people who are wrong.

# ? Apr 6, 2017 01:29

Proust Malone: Apr 4, 2008

stone cold posted:

what's a toll road

It's like the bay bridge but no water underneath.

# ? Apr 6, 2017 01:30

AngryBooch: Sep 26, 2009

Danann posted:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-state-tax-deduction-20170403-story.html

Republicans right on cue for wanting to gently caress the poor.

Seems like a way to alienate the Republican reps from CA and NY when the Republicans need all the votes they can from their own caucus.

# ? Apr 6, 2017 04:06

Duckbox: Sep 7, 2007

AngryBooch posted:

Seems like a way to alienate the Republican reps from CA and NY when the Republicans need all the votes they can from their own caucus.

Yeah, I can see the senate maybe being OK with it because people from tiny red states are hugely overrepresented, but there must be close to a hundred house republicans from states that benefit from these breaks and their big money donors will be pissed if they lose their tax write offs. Worth remembering that a huge chunk of the republican warchest comes from conservatives in blue states. Trump and Romney certainly fund raised in California and New York, even if they didn't campaign there. Plus the article mentioned that Texas is another major beneficiary, so I wouldn't count on even red state republicans holding to their tax "reform" ideology once their donors come knocking.

# ? Apr 6, 2017 10:52

stone cold: Feb 15, 2014

Ron Jeremy posted:

It's like the bay bridge but no water underneath.

wow people have to pay to go on the bay bridge?

norcal, get on our level

# ? Apr 7, 2017 01:17

Proust Malone: Apr 4, 2008

stone cold posted:

wow people have to pay to go on the bay bridge?

norcal, get on our level

Only to enter the privileged air of San Francisco. Going to Oakland is free.

# ? Apr 7, 2017 01:19

Burning_Monk: Jan 11, 2005; Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to know

Ron Jeremy posted:

Only to enter the privileged air of San Francisco. Going to Oakland is free.

yep, same with the golden gate.

:getout:

while you still can.

# ? Apr 7, 2017 01:21

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# ? May 16, 2024 05:41

stone cold: Feb 15, 2014

Ron Jeremy posted:

Only to enter the privileged air of San Francisco. Going to Oakland is free.

Yeah, fair enough, techbros can go ahead and stay up there.

Although, how's the gentrification of Oakland and displacement of Oakland residents going?

# ? Apr 7, 2017 01:21

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