California Politics: Madame Senator, this is a morgue

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > California Politics: Madame Senator, this is a morgue

«‹›2 »

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

VikingofRock posted:

While we are complaining about Jerry Brown, he also vetoed collective bargaining rights for graduate student researchers at the UCs. Meaning it is still legally prohibited for them to form a union--even though they have to deal with stuff like their advisors overworking them, taking credit for their work, or asking them to grade papers (that's the TAs'/readers' job).

So what does this thread think: would Gavin Newsom have been better? Who is a "good" state democrat?

Equally interesting is the way that the grad students who are already in unions get treated when they go on strike. UC Santa Cruz's TA union shut down campus for two days this month and 22 strikers ended up arrested. Even in a liberal beach town and university, opinions are pretty much against the strike. If a town like Santa Cruz sucks for labor relations, what hope does the rest of the state (and country) have?

# ¿ May 1, 2014 06:27

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 21:27

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

I definitely think that the union has a long way to go on its messaging and tactics, and a lot of the opposition to the strike stems from the shutdown, but I was more referring to the sense I got from a surprising number of students that the campus unions aren't worth supporting. It's more than the inconvenience of the campus closing; I heard on multiple occasions that unions are parasites that suck money from the university at the expense of tuition, etc. I'm not surrounded by STEM students either. Most of these kids would consider themselves to be liberal or progressive, but they have a huge blind spot on labor issues.

# ¿ May 1, 2014 18:31

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

SporkOfTruth posted:

This ties into your comments about the messaging/tactics. Example: the strike was listed for 2 days at some campuses, one day for others, which makes no loving sense. Not a whole lot of effort was put into making people aware that one or two days of action won't kill their academic career, and that they were legally protected!

The biggest problem I saw was the absolute failure of the union to inform anyone why they were striking. To a lot of the students, who had already experienced multiple strikes earlier this year, the only messaging was a flier talking about unisex bathrooms and fighting deportation. These might be important issues, but when you're striking over unfair labor practices and the failure of contract negotiations you can't get tied up in the identity politics stuff. A lot of students who might be convinced to support the union's economic issues aren't getting the economic message at all.

# ¿ May 1, 2014 21:12

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Dusseldorf posted:

I don't know anyone under thirty who bought in California in general.

The only people I know who have managed that feat (and I only know two) are both engineers whose parents gave them the down payment as a graduation gift.

# ¿ May 1, 2014 23:07

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Cicero posted:

It's me, I'm one of those guys driving up housing prices in the bay area. The weird thing is, it's not like these tech companies are exactly thrilled about high housing prices either, as that drives up the cost of their office space and forces them to raise salaries in order to attract workers from other parts of the country. If Google or Apple or whoever could have mongo-sized apartment complexes within walking distance, they'd be ecstatic.

I don't know what this is about, since it's a lot cheaper to live in San Jose than in the city proper and it's closer to the mothership for most tech employees. Google and Apple can't make that area more appealing than The City, no matter what type of housing is available in San Jose.

# ¿ May 2, 2014 02:35

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

SporkOfTruth posted:

I didn't want to get into this, but if it'll get my writing chops going, fine.

You didn't read the flyer very closely then, because it discussed the unfair labor practices in detail. They also included elements of the bargaining points for reference. I don't really expect undergrads to read the entire bargaining manifesto, but it's all out there

As for the identity politics, they are part of the negotiations! They're part of the unfair labor practices!

1) Gender-neutral bathrooms were one of the bargaining points focused on most heavily between the parties at the time of the strike. Being able to take a piss while working without fear of being attacked is a pretty basic thing that shouldn't have been pushed back on in the first place, but hey, that's just me. All that said, the union successfully got gender-neutral bathrooms in negotiations in the past 2 weeks!

2) The UC relies heavily on international students to make up the grad student ranks and teach/research. Having administration threaten this large population with deportation for participating in entirely legal activities is pretty drat ridiculous. It's a next level up from threatening to fire someone for participating in union activities, which I'm sure you understand is bullshit.
2b) You might have noticed a demand about undocumented workers, which essentially amounts to "if you were unlucky enough to grow up as an undocumented immigrant, you can't legally work as a TA". It would make sense that a union would try to get equitable working conditions for every grad student, right?

These things are not some separate nebulous "other" that inhibits negotiation on the economic issues. They're inherent aspects of the agreed upon negotiation process. I will admit, certain people in the current leadership have had tunnel vision on identity politics. That's part of the current holy war at issue in the union election. But it's not some either-or situation, nor do these internal issues de-legitimize the strike.

Also, you said "multiple" strikes. There were all of two directly involving the TA union this year: one was a sympathy strike with the service & patient-care workers in AFSCME 3299 (which covered the same issues of management intimidating union people during AFSCME's own negotiations) in November, and one was the aforementioned strike for the TA union only. Both were about UC administration clamping down on organizing in the midst of contract negotiations to gain an upper hand, which was quite clearly articulated by every union involved.

I get your skepticism on the effectiveness of these tactics and I will say that I'm not the happiest about how certain things have gone. My complaints, however, are about engagement within the union, which is far outside the complaints voiced in this thread so far.

At least it's not the Larouchites out by Langson.

I think you misunderstand me. I'm fully in support of the unions and I know many TAs involved in the strikes. I was discussing the attitude I've observed among many students, who for one reason or another didn't receive or understand the union's message. For those students (a majority of the ones I know), any strike is a major hassle that shouldn't be allowed. They don't know the difference between AFSCME and UAW and they don't care. For these students, it's an affront that any union is recognized on campus, and if a bill came up in the assembly to ban unions at public universities they'd be fully supportive. When the union fails to talk about economic issues with these students in a way that's both clear and pervasive, they fail to help the students understand why a union is important and why they should care whether or not the TAs get a contract without fear of deportation. As for myself, I think California might be a little less hosed than the rest of the country, but with the most powerful union in the state being one of the most despicable political groups (CCPOA) it's anyone's guess how long it is before we fully embrace death.

# ¿ May 2, 2014 02:47

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Congrats on moving to a massively segregated city too

# ¿ May 17, 2014 01:09

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

There was a short article in today's Washington Post (online blog edition) about the California Republican Party's desperate attempt at relevance, specifically the governor's race. They're freaking out about the possibility of Tim Donnelly winning the primary. In fact, they're so worried that they're actually kicking money to what is doubtlessly a lost cause in an attempt to keep the party from sinking even further into irrelevance. Read on ahead!

quote:

When Brown beat former eBay executive Meg Whitman (R) by 13 points in 2010, he lost several of those districts. Republicans believe they can compete if Brown wins again, even by 20 points. But if Brown faces Donnelly and wins by a wider margin, he could pull Democrats across the finish line in those down-ballot races.

...

�If the California Republican Party has as the leading candidate, the leading statewide candidate on the ballot this year somebody who has said the outrageous things that he�s said and prone to the outrageous behavior that he routinely engages in, it will be used to tarnish not only the California Republican Party, but they�ll throw it at everybody else on the ballot, and everybody else will, across the country, disavow the guy,� Rove said. �Every time he goes out and says something, and as we�ve seen, Mr. Donnelly is quite prone to sharing the weird recesses and corners of his mind, it could be really problematic for the GOP.�

# ¿ May 20, 2014 07:33

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Yes, why would leftists want to harm the petty bourgeoisie

# ¿ May 27, 2014 17:38

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Your oft-repeated claim that property tax in California is the 4th highest in the nation isn't true: Even a right-wing think tank rates California as 19th in the country. In fact, there's another study that puts California's property tax rates as at or below average. The second study is especially striking when looking at the difference between effective rates on residential property compared to commercial properties; California's effective tax rates on commercial and industrial properties are among the lowest in the nation.

# ¿ May 27, 2014 20:38

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

You ever think that if we could increase commercial and industrial property taxes, we could cut sales and income taxes? Government funding is ideally balanced on the three; with the state unable to adjust one of these rates, the other two had to climb to compensate. Prop 13 could be fixed and the end result could be an overall lower tax burden, but since morons like you (and the baby boomers sitting in those overvalued homes) don't want to risk anything at all it's never going to happen.

# ¿ May 27, 2014 20:55

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

predicto posted:

As someone who owns a San Francisco house purchased in 1992 that has more than quadrupled in value and made me a millionaire while I pay 1/4th of the property tax that my next door neighbor pays and our state slowly crumbles around me, I just want to say thank you to the suckers who voted for Prop 13 back in the day, thinking it would benefit the state. I will never, ever vote to let this windfall benefit go, not in a million years, because I am a greedy rear end in a top hat. Screw young people, screw newcomers to the state, screw the schools which used to be the best in the nation and screw the potholed roads - I got mine.

I see no benefit to paying my fair share for government services when I don't have to. On behalf of the millions of baby boomers like me in California, I say: gently caress you all.

Plus I get to pass it along to my kids without a reassessment, or I can carry my artificially low taxes over to my luxury retirement condo someday and pass that to them instead. hahahah My kids will start out rich as gently caress, and they won't pay poo poo for taxes either, for their entire lives. suckers

Why hasn't every state done this? It's so perfect - for me.

DEHUMANIZE YOURSELF AND FACE TO BLOODSHED

# ¿ May 28, 2014 01:01

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Yeah, I don't think I've ever really heard right-wing types talk about overturning Prop 13. Not to say you haven't, but it's a massive benefit for both corporate and wealthy long-term property owners. Consider Disneyland:

quote:

This data is from the previous study, cited above. In 2004, the bulk of land in Disneyland was taxed at 1975 values, with a tax of 5 cents/square foot. Subsequent Disneyland expansions show land taxed at growing amounts as new properties were acquired, until, in 2002, new property is assessed and taxed at 37 cents/square foot of land. If the under-assessed and under-taxed Disney land were brought up to 2002 values, Disneyland would pay Orange County $4,672,217.74 more per year in tax. This amount is likely to be larger in 2010, because at an increase of 2% per year as permitted by law, the tax difference between the vast amount of property valued at 1975 values becomes even greater.

It's not just Disney that benefits; property is only reassessed if a single owner acquires more than 50% of the property. So, if 3 people purchased a commercial property holding company, the land wouldn't be reassessed. Supposedly a number of big commercial transactions have not been reassessed; even when they are each county assesssor has discretion so some properties are covered while some in other counties are not. It's really a huge mess. Source

# ¿ May 29, 2014 06:02

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Minarchist posted:

Has there been anything new about that Silicon Valley venture capitalist who proposed splitting California into multiple states?

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/02/petition-to-split-california-into-six-states-gets-green-light/

I've been accosted 3 times in the last two weeks by his signature gatherers. He's still going for it as far as I can tell.

# ¿ May 29, 2014 08:42

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

It's worth proposing because if it's revenue neutral for wealthy property owners it will probably be a net benefit to renters who are by and large poor.

# ¿ May 29, 2014 21:18

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Hold the loving phone, you can't say "THINK OF THE GRANNIES" and then say "IT'S NOT ABOUT THE GRANNIES". Jesus Christ. But since you're not actually arguing in anything approaching good faith, it's safe to say that you're a moron and leave it at that.

# ¿ May 30, 2014 03:55

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

natetimm posted:

I don't hate developers for building houses, I hate them for other reasons. Development in CA is a crook's paradise, and since it's more profitable to build loving McMansions out in the desert for cheap, they do that instead of anything even resembling intelligence. They're also working hand in hand with other crooked as gently caress politicians while they do this. Wanna know why Norcal has no water? loving crooked rear end wasteful Socal Developers. Oh, they also use borderline slave loving labor to do anything requiring unskilled work to avoid further taxes and costs.

Also, Prop 13 literally encourages McMansion development. Building a bunch of lovely homes in the desert creates more tax income than redevelopment, which often doesn't trigger property reassessment. Therefore a wise county will approve more and bigger homes and big box stores to maximize the amount of property tax they receive back from the state. If you have the boneheaded way that developers pursue new construction projects, you should logically oppose Prop 13.

# ¿ May 30, 2014 04:00

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

natetimm posted:

Prop 13 is not the cause of these things, the desire for profit is. Arizona, Florida, and any other booming real estate market are chock full of McMansions just fine without a prop 13 to prop them up. Sorry fellas, prop 13 isn't the terrible boogeyman worth stealing people's poo poo to repeal it you think it is.

The tax code makes this type of development profitable. Change the tax code, change the incentives. But guess what, we can't change the tax code or else literally everyone in the middle class will be herded into camps!

# ¿ May 30, 2014 04:11

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

natetimm posted:

And yet states without that tax code still have the same problem! It's almost like you're full of poo poo and blaming everything on other people who you perceive to have gotten a better deal than you!

Guess what, you're right! The tax code as written in most states encourages single-family dwellings. Here in California, we can't change that tax code or all homeowners with an income less than $1 million will be shot in the street!

# ¿ May 30, 2014 04:20

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Hey we saved the state from losing the best hot sauce in America:

quote:

Brown was briefed several times on the progress of negotiations, the adviser said, though the governor�s office didn�t offer any specific incentives.
After the meetings, Breceda said he would drop the lawsuit. On Wednesday, the city council voted to kill the resolution labeling Huy Fong a public nuisance. Huy Fong said it would keep its Irwindale factory open and pumping out rooster sauce.

Source

# ¿ Jun 1, 2014 09:30

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Besides, the Sriracha factory story only matters because of how aggressively Texas and Ted Cruz in particular were lobbying for the factory to move.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2014 00:40

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Also, please remember that the state GOP is in an existential battle for survival:

"George Skelton posted:

Does the state GOP begin the lengthy road back to recovery? Or does it fall into the long sleep?

Or, as research fellow Bill Whalen of Stanford's Hoover Institution puts it, do we keep "watching the bowling ball go down the stairs?" The bowling ball being the tumbling GOP voter registration (now only 28.4% of the electorate) and share of statewide offices (zilch).

Do Republicans pit former U.S. Treasury official Neel Kashkari or Assemblyman Tim Donnelly against popular Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown in the November runoff?

Again Whalen: "The sacrificial lamb or mad cow disease."

That's strong stuff. But Whalen has party bona fides as former chief speechwriter for Republican Gov. Pete Wilson.

If you're feeling particularly hilarious, vote for Donnelly in the primary. There is no better way to ensure Democratic retention of the reins of government, and what could be better than voting for the kind of guy who moved his company out of state because he didn't like the regulations?

# ¿ Jun 3, 2014 05:34

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

ComradeCosmobot posted:

While it would be fun, I'm a sucker for voting on principles when I can, which is what makes the Controller race so disappointing (I'd vote Laura Wells (Green) based on politics, but it's basically either Betty Yee or John Perez to be up against Swearengin in November, and I'd rather see the former than the latter)

Also, guess who's running for Attorney General (at least that election is easy, everyone else besides Kamala Harris is either Libertarian or Republican so...)

EDIT: Oh good, there IS a PSL candidate (running as Peace and Freedom)

I was thinking the same thing, but then I thought, gently caress it. Establishing a public bank is one of those ideas that really resonates with me and I'm going to vote for a candidate (or two, Ellen Brown for Treasurer has the same platform) that makes it a campaign issue regardless of their viability. I recognize that strategic voting matters, but it doesn't matter enough in this case.

# ¿ Jun 3, 2014 06:50

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

I voted for Tim Donnelly :getin:

But serious, I just got back from voting. I was the 5th person. In 5 hours.

# ¿ Jun 3, 2014 18:15

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

They made a big deal of it when I walked in because the 5 poll workers hadn't seen anyone in 2 hours despite it being on a street with heavy foot traffic.

# ¿ Jun 3, 2014 20:23

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

ComradeCosmobot posted:

[*]If you have a strong preference between Yee and Perez for controller, voting Green could similarly throw the election and force you to vote for your less-preferred of the two Democratic "backup" candidates in the next round.

Wait, there are people who are actually going to vote for Leland Yee? After literally being accused of gun running?

# ¿ Jun 4, 2014 02:56

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

ComradeCosmobot posted:

Betty Yee (no relation)

Oh man, I was freaking out because I mixed up the positions on the ballot. He's actually listed under Secretary of State.

e: and on that note:
https://twitter.com/WaltersBee/status/474028245940060160

Indie Dan Schnur trailing indicted Leland Yee in secretary of state contest

Mayor Dave fucked around with this message at 04:25 on Jun 4, 2014

# ¿ Jun 4, 2014 04:22

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

etalian posted:

lolling at how people still go to the polling station in California.

Just fill it out right and do the magic double fold thing at the end.

The nearest polling station is closer than the nearest mailbox for me, no deal

# ¿ Jun 4, 2014 04:36

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

It's important to remember that so far only 20% of the precinct results are reported on the site. Los Angeles County, for example, has only reported 2.1% of their precincts.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2014 06:12

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

I'm pretty sure Tuck is going to win, at least if his ability to snooker otherwise cool celebrities is any indication.

# ¿ Nov 5, 2014 03:09

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Sydin posted:

It could be worse. My folks are out in Illinois and they're drinking themselves stupid at the prospect of four years of Governor Rauner.

Two years. That's when the rest of the country is introduced to President Rauner.

# ¿ Nov 6, 2014 20:00

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Kobayashi posted:

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article6076293.html

Gavin Newsom isn't running for Boxer's seat. So it's basically Kamala Harris then, right?

Right on the money:

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Kamala-Harris-Announces-Run-for-Barbara-Boxers-Senate-Seat-288404361.html

# ¿ Jan 14, 2015 07:19

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Who else is excited for another year of extreme drought? Sierra snowpack is barely a quarter of normal. The only bright spot is that some of the reservoirs in the state are siting pretty high. Pyramid Lake in particular is sitting high (because it's not really used for residential consumption, but it'll do in a pinch).

In other California news, there was a post-mortem on the 2014 gubernatorial race at Berkeley this week with staffers from both campaigns. They haven't posted videos yet, but both the LA Times and the Sacramento Bee have mentioned how candid the staffers were, including talking about Kashkari's spending habits:

quote:

Republican Neel Kashkari spent more than $7 million on his unsuccessful campaign last year to unseat Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, who spent less than $6 million on his run for reelection, financial reports show.

...

As for Kashkari, McLear said: �Right now he�s looking for a job, because he doesn�t have any money left.�

# ¿ Feb 2, 2015 22:14

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

I really wish we could tear up every freeway in the state and start over from scratch

# ¿ Feb 13, 2015 06:48

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Declare independence, enact full communism, tear everything down and start anew

# ¿ Feb 13, 2015 07:07

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

I guess what we're all trying to say is, gently caress Ronald Reagan

# ¿ Mar 5, 2015 23:38

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Gnumonic posted:

There's a petition to expel the UCSC students who took part in the protest, and the administration is probably going to acquiesce. I kind of have a stake in this -- I taught critical theory to one of the students arrested in the highway closure protest -- but it seems excessive to dole out more punishment on top of a possible felony conviction. (I've never quite understood why schools feel the need to police off-campus student conduct but I'd wager the administration will expel them to save face).

The sentiment around campus, at least among the professors/grad students I interact with on a regular basis, is that the protesters shot themselves in the foot by lumping police brutality and prison reform in with tuition hikes. I got an e-mail from one of the organizers that justified fairly well why the issues are linked (I could post it if anyone's that interested), but the optics of a bunch of students chained to the highway chanting "gently caress the police!" seems to have even the (mostly) protest-friendly community in Santa Cruz confused about what it is the students were protesting in the first place. That's kind of a shame, since I think if the protesters stuck to the tuition hikes they could have had a clear and effective message -- I'd think that the glut of money flowing into administrative position at the expense of actual teaching/research goals for the university would be more effective than some apparently general outrage at all social ills. (To be clear: I don't think police brutality or prison reform are issues that should be ignored, only that the lack of a clear message in this case seemed to undermine the effectiveness of the protests.)

I'm trying to argue with some of my friends on facebook from when I went there about it, and they'd probably support hanging the protesters if they could.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2015 03:19

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Bip Roberts posted:

This was not me (i wish) but I did a one day double tour of Reagan-Nixon libraries a few years ago and it was great!

I definitely would not like to make the drive between the two on any single day.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2015 03:48

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

I keep having visions of pecan trees being torn out and the agribusiness that ship alfalfa to China being forcibly broken up, and as the drought goes on they come more into focus

# ¿ Mar 14, 2015 07:47

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 21:27

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

It's like being in Satan's taint, I've been sitting in a metal chair in the rain because my stupid apartment doesn't have A/C and my fan broke. It's really too bad that no one in LA/OC had the foresight to build rainwater capture systems into our stormdrains; a lot of this rain is just going to wash right back out to sea.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2015 02:43

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > California Politics: Madame Senator, this is a morgue

«‹›2 »