California Roundup: Broken Home Buyers, Green Swindle, Don't Mess With Texas

* State version of the first-time home buyer tax credit has already blown through its $100 million cap, and has delivered neither a market boost nor a full tax break for home buyers. And the California Franchise Tax Board has not yet processed a single application, though it plans to do so soon -- using computers.

* University of California network increases enrollment of non-resident, full-tuition students, bringing much-needed revenue to the fiscally troubled UC system. L.A. Times manages to make that sound like bad news.

* CNN: Four reasons why Texas beats California in a recession. (Still to come: Why Texas also beat California during the boom.)

* Of all the good reasons to sue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, once and future Gov. Jerry Brown finds a bad one: the GSEs' refusal to participate in a bond-funded clean energy giveaway.

* Did I say "once and future?" Why the year of anti-incumbency probably won't be kind to Jerry Brown.

Comments

[Jordan]

Alan Vanneman is going to be pissed when he sees that picture. "White girls in bikinis? Raaage!"

[Episiarch]

Well, Alan is addicted to rageahol. Cut him some slack.

[Bingo]

Too distracted by bikini girls to read article...

[Paul]

* Did I say "once and future?" Why the year of anti-incumbency probably won't be kind to Jerry Brown.

IIIIIIIII'm gonna lay 1.2:1 that Brown beats Ms. Whitman.

Because Californian's are just that stupid.

Surprise me, California. I dare you.

[Apogee]

Because Californian's are just that stupid.

Not all of them, just the majority of voters.

[Gene Wilder Death Curse]

Because Californian's are just that stupid.

Some of us are so stupid we don't even understand the proper use of apostrophes!

[Tim Cavanaugh]

I'm pretty confident the next five months will provide plenty of reasons to vote against Jerry Brown, so here's one reason to vote for him:

Budgets have actually been known to go down under Jerry Brown. How many politicians can you say that about?

Actually, here's two: The mainstream media have traditionally hated him like poison. (Though of course I don't know which way they'll flop during this next death throe.)

[Brett L]

Admit it, he's good for reason being both crazy and talkative.

[juris imprudent]

If Jerry makes it back as governor, the San Andreas needs to unleash the mother of all earthquakes.

[Stupid Californian]

Whitman doesn't have much appeal for those of us who don't always vote Republican. (Yeah, yeah, I'm throwing my vote away, blah blah.) Much less so after her bash-fest with Poizner.

I don't believe she is qualified or sincere (she hasn't voted for 28 fucking years and I'm supposed to believe she suddenly cares about public service?) and I disagree with her on several issues. Frankly, between eBay's policies under her watch and her stated views, I see her as a closet authoritarian.

Sorry, but reduced government spending alone is not enough to win my vote. Especially since, even if she wins, she won't win by a large margin, won't have much political capital, and will be ham-stringed by the legislature. No way she'll be able to reduce government spending by an appreciable degree.

[Dagny T.]

Betcha I'm the only one who got the Katy Perry reference in the alt-text, Cavanaugh. West Coast represent, indeed.

[Kool]

Dag,

I think I heard "Daisy Dukes / Bikinis on top." Then my ears were too full of blood to hear anything but my own screams.

Please, please don't tell me you're proud of that Perry knowledge!

[cynical]

That, and anyone who's listened to a radio station playing mainstream pop in the past few weeks.

[rustedangel]

I got it too. I've managed to avoid any Katy Perry "music" and simply think of her as Zoey Deschanel's head on a pornstar's body.

[cgee]

+1

[Ken Shultz]

"University of California network increases enrollment of non-resident, full-tuition students, bringing much-needed revenue to the fiscally troubled UC system."

Why can't Berkeley, at the very least, stand on its own two feet?

Stanford does it.

It's not like the whole freakin' Cal State system isn't there for poor kids. Why can't UCLA stand on its own two feet? USC does it.

The suggestion that it's there to give poor minority kids a shot at a top notch institution doesn't even cut it. It's doing better at giving rich Asian kids a shot at an elite education at a steep discount...

And when you're giving future elite kids like that a discount (at what they'd pay at a private school)--on the backs of poor working stiffs whose taxes are paying for it all...

When local and state services from public schools on down are being cut back and there's all that fat at places like Berkeley and UCLA...

Why can't Berkeley and UCLA stand on their own?

[Tim Cavanaugh]

The most succinct explanation I've heard (and thus probably the wrong one) is that the UC system pursues unrelated goals: It wants to be a university system for everybody in the state to attend at close-to-free prices. It also wants to maintain nationally competitive undergrad and grad schools.

I'm not sure I agree with that explanation. But it does seem to me that shielding people from the true cost of a good education has worked exactly the kind of mischief you would expect it to work.

[ROMIO T.]

@bestpriceforsales equus 3100 I have read all the reviews before purchasing this item and found nothing but good reviews, however, my review is less than stellar.

[LibertyMark]

I live in Texas and I only have this to say to California: "Na na-na naa-naa!"

Or, maybe it's just "Fuck you and your $800,000, 1200 sq ft houses!"

[rustedangel]

I must say, of all the state revenue departments I've had to deal with in my company's tax compliance initiative in the last two years, Texas is definitely one of the best. They have their shit together and minimize the amount of time it takes me to give them what they want.

[Zero]

As another tax professional I will agree they are pretty good. Don't try to hide money from them though they have branch offices in other states to make sure they get their fair share from people who invest in Oil and Gas in Texas

[Spoonman.]

Texas's school problems aren't a funding issue. The schools have plenty of money, the TEA is just run by a bunch of nincompoops.

[Jason]

My threadjack in the MacDonald gun rights case would be more appropriate here:

In the iPhone 4 press conference, when asked about AT&T reception issues in the Bay Area, Steve Jobs said it takes 3 years to get a tower up in the Bay Area and only 3 weeks in Texas.