California again has nation's highest rate of real poverty

The Golden State Has a Bit of Rust

• Pardon me, but if we exported say 2 million people the housing crisis would not exist, the insane rents and home prices would fall and freeways would unclog. But I am just a "crazy" Blogger. What do I know.

(Sacramento Bee)  -  Gov. Jerry Brown and state legislators have been crowing about what they did for California’s poorest residents the last few years. 

They raised the state’s minimum wage, improved overtime pay for farm and domestic workers, enacted an earned-income tax credit, expanded health and welfare benefits, and provided extra money for the educations of poor students.

However, their failure to confront the heaviest burden on poor families – California’s soaring housing costs – will extend California’s embarrassment of having the nation’s highest rate of real poverty.

A new supplemental poverty measure by the Census Bureau, covering the 2013-15 period, found that nearly 8 million Californians, 20.6 percent of the state’s residents, are living in poverty.

While that’s lower than what it was during the previous three-year period, 23.4 percent, the gap between California and other states, which range from 19 percent to 9.7 percent, has widened.

A house covered in wrapping paper with a cardboard chimney 
is seen at the Silicon Valley homeless encampment 
known as "The Jungle".  Read More . . . .

California’s “official” poverty rate, 15 percent, is only slightly higher than the national rate of 14.5 percent, but its 20.6 percent supplemental rate is 5.5 percentage points higher than the national rate, 15.1 percent.

The official poverty rate is based on a half-century-old formula that takes into account only a narrow range of incomes and living costs. The supplemental rate covers a much wider array of income sources and living costs, including housing, and is widely considered to be much more accurate.

Deeper dives into the data leave little doubt that California’s high costs of living, particularly for housing, are a huge factor in its having such a high proportion of impoverished residents.

A few years ago, the Public Policy Institute of California devised the California Poverty Measure, which is similar to the Census Bureau’s supplemental index, and came up with a 21.8 percent poverty rate.

The PPIC study also revealed that the state’s highest level of poverty, 26.1 percent, was to be found in Los Angeles County, home to a huge immigrant population working at low-skill, low-wage jobs but confronting very high housing costs in relation to their modest incomes.

While housing costs in the Bay Area are even higher, its technology-centered economy also generates much higher incomes so its overall poverty rate under the PPIC formula is well under the state average.

Supply shortages lie at the core of California’s high housing costs and thus, of its very high incidence of poverty. Although the state’s current population growth is quite modest, less than 1 percent a year, that’s still about 300,000 new Californians every year who need at least 100,000 more housing units.

Our net housing gain has been about two-thirds of the need in recent years, which means the demand/supply gap is continuing to widen and drive housing prices, especially urban rentals, steeply upward.

Brown proposed a modest plan to cut through red tape for some new housing, particularly low-income, but didn’t make it a high priority, and he and legislators allowed opposition from narrow interests to block it.

So much for helping the poor.

ead more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/dan-walters/article101657302.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/dan-walters/article101657302.html#storylink=cpy

Read More . . . .

An encampment of tents under an overpass in Fresno.
(New York Times)

Are Democrats registering illegal aliens to vote?

The Democrat Party

Of, By and For Illegal Aliens

• It fascinates me how the Democrats have told poor American citizens of Hispanic, Asian and African heritage to go fuck themselves.  
• Insane Democrats fall all over themselves to spend limited tax dollars on the citizens of other nations rather than give meaningful help to American citizens.
• And now it appears illegals will be able to vote. 

(American Thinker)  -  In February 2016, the California governor and legislature did something rather outlandish.  They made a law (2015 Motor Voter Law) that allows all California illegals to apply for a driver’s license.  

This law combined with 2013 Assembly Bill 60 (automatic voter registration when getting a driver's license) effectively results in allowing illegals to vote, because having a license now automatically registers "eligible" voters to vote in California.

Well, perhaps.  Therein lies the rub.

California created a set of laws that effectively allow illegals to vote (Oregon and others, too, but let's stick with California).  We can quibble over how DMV workers will handle whether to voter-register a license of an illegal or how mail-in registration would be handled, since cross-referencing illegals databases is discouraged.  

Bottom line, though, is that the loophole is now there and may cost Clinton the election.  Even one illegal vote (let alone 30 million) is enough to disqualify a state's vote...perhaps.

There are those who throw up the 15th Amendment to prove that California's laws are unconstitutional.  Put another way, a more straightforward approach is common sense.  Not a citizen = no vote (unless you'd like 7 billion taxpayer dollar-hungry voters involved in the U.S. election).

Why is this important?  California is a reliably blue state, but what would happen if each and every Californian vote (including its 55 Electoral College votes) were declared null and void by the courts (Trump would be the obvious plaintiff)?  After all, post facto, there's no way to untangle citizen from illegal non-citizen voting.

What are the ramifications?  If – and it's still a big if – all California votes were declared null and void by a court, that leaves 489 Electoral College votes (i.e., half or revised 245 votes to win the U.S. presidency).  Using the current flawed polls within the incomplete RCP 2-way average poll weighting, Hillary Clinton is currently holding an "insurmountable" yet diminishing lead in projected electoral votes: 229 (with no toss-up states).  

That is not enough to clinch the deal in a non-California world.  Her current "229" Electoral College votes based on dubious sources would then be 174.  Whoops.  That scenario might even place her in second place behind Trump (who himself may or may not have votes to reach 245). 

For the sake of argument, then, to the Republican House of Representatives we go.  How are Representatives in the House – even those who dislike Trump – going to vote for president?  Clinton, the second-place finisher, or Trump, the first-place finisher?  It would be the ultimate ratings boost for CSPAN.  My betting would go for Trump.

The only question remaining is, will Trump, trailing by a little bit in electoral votes, himself sue to remove reliably blue Californian Electoral College votes post-election?  Question asked and answered.  California has done a potentially material disservice to Hillary.

Read More . . . .

Democratic voter ranks surge in California

GOP in Complete Collapse

• Leftist Democrats have made massive gains in counties all over California while the GOP becomes irrelevant.
• Meanwhile the  corrupt plan of the GOP and the Dems to rig elections goes forward. The U.S. Senate race will give voters the "choice" of an open borders Democrat or an open borders Democrat. 
• Because they are banned from general election ballots, minor party registration is down 10%.

(Sacramento Bee)  -  The California Democratic Party added about 700,000 voters between January and July of this year, a 10 percent increase that is significantly higher than the rise in registered Democrats during previous presidential elections, according to new data from the California Secretary of State.

The Republican Party in California added about 130,000 voters, a 3 percent increase, between January and July. The number of voters not stating a party preference rose by about 70,000, or 2 percent. The number of third-party voters fell by about 90,000, or 10 percent.

Much of the increase in party registration seems to have come from the ranks of those not already registered to vote. Overall, the number of Californians registered to vote increased by about 825,000 between January and July to 18.1 million. That equates to 73 percent of California adults eligible to vote.

About 45 percent of registered voters in California are now Democrats, the highest proportion in more than a decade.

Because the Republican Party expanded at a rate slower than the statewide average, the percentage of California voters registered as Republican fell to 27 percent, the lowest proportion in more than a decade.

In 2008, when Barack Obama created excitement among California Democrats, party registration increased by about 465,000, or 7 percent, between January and September. Democratic Party registration increased by less than 1 percent between January and September of 2012.

A couple of factors are likely behind this year's increase.

Hundreds of thousands of Californians took a keen interest in the primary race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Sanders' campaign portrayed the California primary as vital - a last chance for a comeback.

Some of the counties with large increases in registered Democratic voters also have a large Latino population. Republican nominee Donald Trump has made immigration a key part of his platform, vowing to build a wall to keep out undocumented immigrants.

Merced County, where six out of 10 residents are Latino, saw a 20 percent increase in registered Democratic voters, more than any other county in the state. San Bernardino County, where half of voters are Latino, saw a 16 percent increase. Even so, some places with relatively small Latino populations like Nevada and Trinity counties also saw big increases in Democratic registration.

This chart shows registration by party in January and July of this year. The map shows where Democratic Party registration has increased the most during that period.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/site-services/databases/article97211917.html#storylink=cpy

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Mexicans need not apply for Black only dorms

The Rise of Black Racism

• Martin Luther King is turning over in his grave as Blacks now want the right to racially discriminate against Asians, Hispanics and Whites.

(The College Fix)  -  California State University Los Angeles recently rolled out segregated housing for black students.

The arrangement comes roughly nine months after the university’s Black Student Union issued a set of demands in response to what its members contend are frequent “racist attacks” on campus, such as “racially insensitive remarks” and “microaggressions” by professors and students. One demand was for a “CSLA housing space delegated for Black students.”

“[It] would provide a cheaper alternative housing solution for Black students. This space would also serve as a safe space for Black CSLA students to congregate, connect, and learn from each other,” the demand letter stated.

The newly debuted Halisi Scholars Black Living-Learning Community “focuses on academic excellence and learning experiences that are inclusive and non-discriminatory,” Cal State LA spokesman Robert Lopez told The College Fix via email.

The public university has 192 furnished apartments in a residential complex on campus, and the Halisi community will be located there, Lopez said, adding it joins other themed living-learning communities already housed there.

Lopez declined to answer any additional questions or provide more details on the new community, such as how many rooms it encompasses, and whether it’s a whole floor or just a few rooms.

Cal State LA joins UConn, UC Davis and Berkeley in offering segregated housing dedicated to black students. While these housing options are technically open to all students, they’re billed and used as arrangements in which black students can live with one another.

Read More . . . .

Going back to the bad old days
In the olden days segregation was evil and African Americans fought
against it. But no more as Blacks embrace what they once fought against.

SoCal's mountain lions could become extinct

A Mass of Concrete and Asphalt 

from Ventura to Mexico

(Christian Science Monitor)  -  Some of Southern California's beloved mountain lions could soon be extinct unless something is done to diversify the population, scientists say.

The population of mountain lions living in the Santa Monica Mountains now faces a 99.7 percent chance of extinction, due to loss of genetic diversity.

According to the National Park Service, which has placed GPS tracking collars on more than 30 mountain lions in order to study their behavior, the mountain lions of the Santa Monica Mountains have relatively low genetic diversity compared to other mountain lions in the rest of the state, largely due to being fenced in by roads. The researchers found that the small population size has led to infighting, inbreeding, and health problems.

"Many of these phenomena, including very low genetic diversity and close inbreeding, have only been previously seen in Florida panthers, an endangered and completely isolated population of mountain lions," Seth Riley of the National Park Service, who has worked on similar mountain lion studies, said in a press release. "In our case, the fact that lions in the Santa Monica Mountains are completely surrounded by roads and development likely lead[s] to behaviors that would be rare or nonexistent if normal population and social processes could occur."

Paving over every square inch
In a natural desert, plus with a drought, we see moron politicians keep
building water guzzling businesses and homes as far as the eye can
see. The quality of life becomes more like an ant hill.

In his own research, Dr. Riley observed unusual behavior in the cats in the Santa Monica Mountains, including inbreeding between fathers and daughters, and members of the species killing each other, even siblings, offspring, and mates.

In order to assist the movement of lions so that they may intermingle with other populations and increase genetic diversity, a collaborative of wildlife agencies including the National Wildlife Foundation have started the Liberty Canyon Wildlife Crossing project. If completed, the project will result in an animal crossing bridge across Highway 101, one of the major state highways that cut the animals' natural habitat in half. The project is slated to cost $50 million, but will help many species, not just mountain lions, cross the highway safely.

Wildlife corridors such as this one have become a popular solution to helping animals live a natural life – hunting, roaming, and mating – despite urban sprawl. They also cut down on animal-related car accidents, since animals are not longer forced to cross large highways as frequently in search of food.

Statewide, the mountain lion population has actually improved since the 1960s, when a bounty program to kill lions considered a threat to livestock rearing came to an end. According to the California Department of Fish and Game Services, the population has rebounded since 1970: from 2,000 then, to between 4,000 and 6,000 today.

Still, in southern California particularly, the mountain lion faces many threats due to human encroachment. The ability to expand its habitat is vital to the population's survival.

"The long-term survival of a mountain lion population here depends on their ability to move between regions to maintain genetic diversity and overall population health," the National Park Service said in a statement.

Read More . . . .

What quality of life?
How about zero population growth?  Let's address the people already here.
Importing more and more people does not improve our quality of life.
Plus each new resident sucks down more water.