San Quentin, I'd Sell Every Inch of You: Reason Foundation's Anthony Randazzo on Why California Should Sell Off Useless Assets

Nick Gillespie | October 30, 2009

On July 23, 2009, Reason Foundation policy analyst Anthony Randazzo appeared on KTVU in the Bay Area to discuss how California would benefit from selling off unneeded real estate assets, including San Quentin prison and a beach house used by MTV. For an article on the segment, go here.

Bonus points for the folks in the segment who defend the Golden State hanging on to shuttered prisons and golf courses!

Comments

|10.30.09 @ 6:35PM|#

Reason Foundation's Anthony Randazzo on Why California Should Sell Off Useless Assets...

Like, for instance, UCSC...

'm just sayin'...

Colin|10.30.09 @ 6:57PM|#

Californians today, in spite of our problems, have a reason to rejoice: Gavin Newsom just announced that he's withdrawing from the gubernatorial race.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....JuZXdzbw--

Hip-hip-hooray!

|10.30.09 @ 7:22PM|#

Yeah, I mean they could sell of shit in CA. But it wouldn't change the underlying problem that they are running a deficit.

I mean a crack addict could sell of all his belongings and be good for a day. But it would just be a day, and then he'd be back to the poor house, this time without shit to sell.

I think the beast that is the CA govt should starve.

They need to cut spending. Cut it everywhere. Or not be able to spend again, whichever is easier.

2999|10.30.09 @ 7:34PM|#

Well, they should definitely sell this stuff off, but eventually they're going to have to lower spending.

Maybe its best if California's government gets used to the spending cuts.

heller|10.31.09 @ 2:32AM|#

Yeah but which is better for the government to be doing right now: Giving out welfare to the poor or owning a golf course? Yes it should be doing neither, but that's obviously not going to happen anytime soon.

Fist of Etiquette|10.31.09 @ 10:33AM|#

"It's obviously a bad time to be selling real estate," says the unnamed critic of the sell-off idea.

It's more so a bad time to be holding up the plug as you're circling the drain.

LarryA|10.31.09 @ 12:54PM|#

Bonus points for the folks in the segment who defend the Golden State hanging on to shuttered prisons and golf courses!

They missed the real reason. Since governments never let go of assets once they have their hands on them, there’s no precedent for actually selling stuff. The state would have to invent a massive new bureaucracy to figure out the procedure, and that would cost more than the sale earned.

|10.31.09 @ 1:44PM|#

Sacramento is a useless asset, right?

|10.31.09 @ 10:21PM|#

""Yeah but which is better for the government to be doing right now: Giving out welfare to the poor or owning a golf course?""

The government 'Giving out welfare to the poor' causes much more harm that the government owning a golf course.

I mean they both can cause harm, but the harm of the government creating and continuing a welfare class is far greater. Harm caused to the poor, harm cause by the government having that power, harm cause to those that suffer the side effects of it.