Comments on: Lowering expectations in California

By: Spartacus

Spartacus — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 23:35:48 +0000

I remember reading or hearing about some entrepreneur who collected “road apples,” dried them out, spray-painted them gold, and then, I think, mounted them on a wood backing or something, and sold them. Don’t remember if it was in California, but that sounds about right.

Can’t blame the entrepreneur, but crikey! You could start a whole line of Foxworthy-esque “You might just live in a rich country if…” jokes off of things like that.

By: Charles Martel

Charles Martel — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:08:10 +0000

Think of California’s spending spree as a glistening fresh road apple, what some cow dung aficionados would call an Emperor Patty.

Think of Jerry Brown as a caterer who was elected on the premise that he could pull off a magnificent banquet. Alas, all he has to work with is the road apple.

Now see Jerry pull a fully charged can of Reddi-wip from his hemp rucksack and spray a heaping mound of whipped cream goodness atop the patty.

Voila, balanced budget! Jerry the Chef is a genius!

By: Texan99

Texan99 — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:34:12 +0000

There’s nothing like describing the future for giving the imagination free play, and it sounds so much more convincing when your actual statement is expressed in the present tense. So “our budget is balanced” really means “all kinds of stuff is going to happen that’s never happened under these conditions before.” Later, when the predictions don’t pan out, you can count on most people not to notice, or you can outright lie about what you said earlier. The media have your back.
Works for AGW. Works for healthcare costs.