Articolul de mai jos a fost scris si publicat de mine acum vreun an in urma. Este in Engleza, asa ca scoateti-va dictionarele.

California’s Economy: A State of Emergency

Recently I came across some articles and reports on the state of California’s economy. The findings will make anyone’s hair stand up on its end. These reports are readily available to the public on California government sites.

As you may already know California’s economy is totally out of control. The poverty rate in California is higher than that of the nation, yet the living expenses for anyone living in California exceeds most of every other American. In other words Californians make less and spend more on basic living expenses.

Anyone who’s been watching the real estate market can agree that it is totally out of control. Anywhere you go in California, especially in the Bay-area, the price of a simple home has sky-rocketed. New houses are more expensive, and less in quality. The price per square foot can exceed as much as $400 to $500 in the Bay, and renters pay as much as $2000 for a one bedroom apartment. At this time the median house price for San Francisco is $526,000 and for the Bay Area is $402,000.

You might say that people in Bay Area make more than the rest of California, and the truth is that they do. The median income for California is about $53,025 while in San Francisco and the Bay Area it ranges from $60,597 to $88,934. Even though these figures seem high, half of all the tax payers in the region earn $30,000 or less, and less than one in every six taxpayers earns at least $100,000. The situation is so bad in the Bay area that they now have a new program called the San Francisco Workforce Housing Fund which provides families with incomes up to $103,320 special mortgage plans to purchase homes up to $475,000. The plan enables someone to finance 97% of the purchase price through a “First Mortgage” and a “Deferred Second Mortgage” of up to 6% to reduce the interest rate on the first mortgage or fund the down payment or closing costs. And these houses can be purchased anywhere within a reasonable commuting distance.

Guess where they go buy their houses? The Central Valley of course!

I must also mention that in the Bay Area a family of four with two working parents would need to earn $61,593 in order to make ends meet and that 2 out of 5 renters spend at least 30% of their income just on rent. All of this means that many families at the median income level struggle to make ends meet, therefore they choose to move somewhere else, (guess where?) and commute.

So now we’re wondering how this affects those who live and work in the Valley. According to the same study, a family of four in the Valley needs to earn at least $43,528 to live without government assistance and make ends meet. The median income for the region is $46,919 and 1 in every 20 taxpayers has an adjusted gross income of at least $100,000, yet more than half of all taxpayers earn $30,000 or less. This means that many families with incomes at or below the median may struggle to meet their economic needs. To make things worse, the influx of Bay Area workers who come to live in the Valley has surged up the prices on housing and everything else. The traffic gets worse and worse everyday, and very seldom does anyone get to see the mountains on the western horizon due to the bad air. The farm land is being desolated, because nobody can afford to keep their workers working the land which makes our produce more expensive.

A couple of weeks ago one of the Central Valley papers had a very interesting article that was discretely criticizing the fact that the housing units being built did not keep up with the increase of population, but if we look at Bay Area’s problems we can conclude that their problems and inadequacies have spilled into the Valley. For example, between 1995 and 1997 the number of jobs in Santa Clara County increased 15.2% while the number of housing units increased by only 1.3%, and it is projected that by the year 2020 the region will gain 50% more jobs but only 20% more housing units.

This information led me to investigate a little further to find out the source of all these problems. Guess what I found? In the California Senate, Bay Area representatives between 1994 and 2000 have made it their war to “protect” the environment and the natural habitat of the Bay Area.

According to the Environmentalists, Bay Area’s legislators are the greenest of them all. These legislators constantly fight against home developments and expansion of housing units into the “sensitive” areas. To protect their image, they encourage concentrated housing, and redevelopment of urban buildings, but the projects they develop for such plans are not realistic and very inefficient. For example, the city of Santa Clara has proposed that 100 apartment units be set aside for low income families. These apartments consist of 2 bedrooms 1 ½ baths and 3 bedrooms 2 baths units. The 2 bedroom apartments rent for the “super low” price of $1230 and the 3 bedroom apartments for $1355. To qualify for this “wonderful” “exciting” “money-saver” housing establishments you must earn at least $29,520 and maximum $57,000 for a three person household in order to rent the 2 bedroom apartment, and for the 3 bedroom at least $32,520 and $68,340 for a five person household. Remember that the median household income for the Bay Area falls somewhere in between $60,597 and $88,934 and a family of four will need to earn at least $61,593 in order to make ends meet without government assistance. Therefore, I must say that somebody has got to go back to their basic Algebra classes, because by my calculations and comparisons I cannot imagine who in his right mind can live in an overcrowded, overstuffed, “low” income apartment and pay $1230 a month, which can be as much as half of their gross income, when in the valley the same apartment can go for $800 (which is still too much in my opinion).

We need to wake up and smell the whiff-of-money-going-down-the-drain, because at this rate California will become a national tragedy. At one time the Associated Press published the following words “California has enacted first-in-the-nation-laws this year... lending credence to the saying that wherever America is going, California will get there first...” Maybe, we should take a long hard look at who is leading this state into the whirlpool of poverty and economic disaster, because if these words are right then the whole nation can follow the footsteps of this once known as the Golden state.

Acest articol a fost scris pe vremea cind Gray Davis era inca Governor, de atunci lucrurile s-au mai schimbat inspre bine. Totusi inca mai suferim consecintele unui liberal al carui plan a fost sa suporte programele sociale mai mult decit cele economice.

Mii de scuze pentru ca ti-am monopolizat subiectul astazi. Dar dupa cum vezi radiem de bucurie. Ne-am desfacut sticlele de sampanie virtuala si-acum selebram in delir victoria elefantzeilor. Horia bring the Peanuts!!!! :)

Am dat o fuga pina la Ross si am gasit o tava faina de facut tortulete mici in forma rotunda cu gaura la mijloc. Am si luat-o cu gindul ca voi face anul acesta cadou la toata lumea niste tortulete din astea faine prezentate in cutii frumoase.

Sa stii ca de cite ori ii vad impreuna imi vine sa pling de mila lui billie willie.

Ce ma distrezi Adriane!! Tu crezi ca Americanii sint ca Romanii? Hillary daca nu stii il are pe barbatu-su care face sute de mii de dolari numai pentru un speech. Nici nu-ti mai spun de investitiile in real estate si stiu eu ce alte chestii. Nu te ingrijora pentru batrinetea ei, o duce mai bine decit toti politicienii Romani la un loc.

Asa cum a putut si Liberman in 2000 asa putea si Edwards.

Cum am vazut-o i-am si facut un Copy&Paste si-am pus-o la pastrat. Acuma de fericire ma apuc de bucatarit. Vorba lui Daniela "Pirtieeeeeee!!!" dati-va la oparte ca vine fetitza sa va faca bunataturi din belsug. Yipyyyyyy!!!

Peste patru ani clintonita o sa fie baba batrina pentru pozitie. Nu stiu daca o mai tin nervii pina atunci.

Nancy Pelosi este House Minority Leader. Acuma ca Senatorul din South Dakota este un-employed poate il pune pe saracutzul de Kerry la condus ceva prin Senat. Nu stiu care-s rezultatele cu Edwards, o ramas senator pentru North Carolina sau nu? Daca nu atunci e bun de secretar pentru Kerry, are mutra ce-a mai buna pentru pozitie.

Pentru cei interesati. Toti stiti ca statul California este cel mai populat stat din America. California este impartita in 58 de "counties" dintre care 37 au votat pentru Bush. Din pacate aceste counties nu sint asa de populate ca cele din zona Los Angeles si San Francisco, unde vreau sa va anunt ca sint cei mai multi homosexuali, mexicani, drogati, si ultra-liberali. Imi pare rau pentru acest "golden state" care pe vremea cind am venit eu in America era cu adevarat de aur. Acuma este infestat de toate plagile liberalismului.

Acuma toti putem dormi linistiti ca Elefantii sint la putere. Fratioare hai sa spargem sticlele de sampanie!!!!

Mi-o sunat si mie telefonul si uite ca am ramas singura. Horica, mintenas ma duc la vot. Votez numai pentru elefantzei si cauze elefantice, restul la coshul de gunoi cu ei. N-am chef sa-mi ridice astia taxele ca si asa platesc prea mult. Iti dai seama 4 luni jumate din an muncesc pe gratis, numa sa le umflu buzunarul la dobitoci.

Mai sa stii ca s-ar putea sa ai dreptate cu oul asta. Tre sa merg sa-mi caut reteta aia ca daca nu am facut de-atita timp am uitat daca eu am pus ou sau nu. Vezi, ce tuta sint ca uit de la mina pin la gura. Ah, stai asa, sa stii ca si eu am pus ceva oase de vitel ca doara osul ala ii da gustul ala bun la ciorba. Domn'le ce aiurita sint!!! Vezi cum inbatrineste omul?!

Auzi fefe, stii care-i ciorba favorita la noi in casa? De fapt socrul meu de cite ori vine la noi numa din aia vrea sa-i fac. Ciorbica pe coada de vitzel. Mama mia, maninci pina prostesti. O bunatate colosala.