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San Diego to Sacramento
Not a surprise. He wants to rein in government spending and part of that will affect the unions.— March 28, 2008 12:01 p.m.
Why plummeting dollar hurts you
We live in a land of entitlement and handouts. These bailouts will cost taxpayers billions, while the executives at these firms made millions while making bad risk business decisions.— March 24, 2008 1:40 p.m.
Taxing education
Ridiculous. Since when did public jobs get to be such a gravy train...— March 13, 2008 4:26 p.m.
San Diego hot to sell muni bonds
"On February 14, Andrea Tevlin, independent budget analyst who works for the council, said in a study that the City has a structural deficit, or one that is “marked by persistence,” with expenditures exceeding revenues year after year. To balance the budget, the City utilizes one-time fixes such as selling land, snatching tobacco-settlement revenues from the library, and using general fund reserves. “One-time revenues should not be used to fund ongoing expenditures,” says Tevlin. Without reform, “municipal services will continue to erode,” she says. Tevlin’s study is a public document that rating agencies and investors can access." Structural deficit, I like that term. How about financial ineptitude? Or economical dysfunction? Dont spend what you haven't got. Don, I know its just a fantasy but couldn't we just vote on a balanced budget amendment and force the issue of financial reponsibility?— March 13, 2008 1:17 p.m.
San Diegans for City Hall Reform pushes more authority for mayor
Don, Gerry Braun at the U-T doesnt seem to be footing the company line. Will be interesting to see how much slack they give him, seeing as they have weekly anti-Aguirre pieces in their "news" columns. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/braun/20…— March 12, 2008 10:52 a.m.
Smart Corner units at 11th and Broadway don't sell too fast
What a mess. So out of 301 condos, only 49 are sold and 19 in escrow but Harmer says "its not a disaster." Yeah everyone loves the homeless people in front of their condo, that's a big plus. This is why the government should not get directly involved with RE development. In places like SF, Boston, NY having a trolley out front is a big plus since everyone takes public transportation. In SD where everyone drives and the trolley has a very limited range, it provides a negative instead of a positive.— March 5, 2008 2:15 p.m.
San Diego is not overbuilt in housing
Sadly, society has a debt-driven "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality. Everyone wants the status symbol cars, the huge home and spoils their kids with every gadget available (iPods, Nintendo Wii, latest cell phones, etc.) Meanwhile they are leveraged to the hilt, complain about gas prices for their gas guzzlers, complain about energy costs for their too big house and spend every discretionary dollar on Coach bags, the latest "name" clothes for their kids, etc. The population mirrors the government where spending is out of control.— March 4, 2008 3:08 p.m.
San Diegans for City Hall Reform pushes more authority for mayor
Thanks Don, I agree with everything. Its a shame the "major" paper in SD is not subjective. This was an interesting article with Warren Buffett's comments on corporate underfunded pensions: Pension problems ahead Natural disasters aren't the only worry on Buffett's mind. He is also concerned about the bill that will come due when U.S. companies are forced to tell shareholders they have been pumping up their earnings by under funding their pension plans. Most big companies have been vastly overestimating the kind of returns their pension plans can realistically expect to earn, Buffett writes. He writes that a survey of S&P 500 companies with pension plans shows the companies on average expect their pension assets to earn an annual return of 8%. With more than a quarter of those assets invested in cash and bonds, Buffett writes, the implicit expected annual stock investment return is 9.2% - and that's after fees. "How realistic is this expectation?" Buffett asks. Not very, he finds. He writes that the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged from 66 to 11,497 during the 20th century. That is a huge rise - yet it averages out to just 5.3% compounded annually, Buffett writes. What's more, were the DJIA to repeat that 5.3% average annual gain throughout the 21st century, its value on Dec. 31, 2099, would approach 2 million. "It's amusing that commentators regularly hyperventilate at the prospect of the Dow crossing an even number of thousands," he writes. "If they keep reacting that way, a 5.3% annual gain for the century will mean they experience at least 1,986 seizures during the next 92 years. While anything is possible, does anyone really believe this is the most likely outcome?" If that scenario isn't outlandish enough, Buffett goes on to note that were stocks to return 10% annually throughout this century, the Dow would hit 24 million by year 2100. "If your adviser talks to you about double-digit returns from equities," he writes, "explain this math to him - not that it will faze him. ... Beware the glib helper who fills your head with fantasies while he fills his pockets with fees."— February 29, 2008 2:04 p.m.
San Diegans for City Hall Reform pushes more authority for mayor
Don, why are Alex Roth and the U-T so hellbent to getting Aguirre out of office? I'm interested to know their connection. I guess they are part of the San Diego elite, but they arent developers. Their articles are so biased its riduclous.— February 29, 2008 12:25 p.m.