Naturally <grin & wink to you, too> - as my mom used to say, everything would be right in the world if people saw things her way.
Your first item, to call the LA fires "urban firestorms" instead of "wildfires," should be added to a list of terms (do you know who is compiling a list for us?) for taking control of the vocabulary used to describe reality and for replacing the distortion of public discourse that happens when the right wing sets the terminology we use. (See George Lakoff, mentioned in https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2019/06/dont-want-our-public-discourse-dominated-by-the-right-wing-then-dont-use-their-language.html. This post by The Cascadia Advocate of the Northwest Progressive Institute is from 2019, but is just as relevant today as when published. Used copies of two of Lakoff's books, Thinking Points and The All New Don't Think of an Elephant!, are available through sites like Thriftbooks and AbeBooks. For more on George Lakoff's views, see this interview with him from 2003 https://newsarchive.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/10/27_lakoff.shtml.)
I also agree with the policy suggestions in the other items on your list.
I don't know ANYONE compiling a list of terms. The eventual messaging will come from the outcome of the DNC chair election on 1 February. I do my best to use correct terminology, except when doing snark - and then I use my own list.
I disagree on two points - scraping Prop 13 and moving the Olympics.
As a native Californian who voted for Prop 13 in 1978, I knew first hand about the ridiculously rising property taxes. My father, the underpaid San Francisco Firefighter, was struggling to pay taxes on the ancestral home. (He always held 2 jobs, including being a wall washer, gas station attendant, and Brinks driver.) People were losing their homes - actual not anecdotal - because they could not afford their ever-increasing tax bills.
Property taxes under Prop 13 are capped at 1% of the property's assessed value and the assessed value is the sale/purchase price - not the current market value. Everyone pays the same 1% rate. So, someone who bought their home in 1980 is paying the same RATE as someone who bought their home in 2024. Fair and equitable.
As for the Olympics... It's a rallying force to help bring the entire city together and showcase their success in rebuilding, just as the 1915 Panama Pacific Exhibition did for San Francisco after the earthquake and fire there. It's the Phoenix rising from the ashes. All of the venues are existing - nothing new is being built - and all escaped damage.
It's also incentive for the city and state - as well as the feds - to get things done and not drag their feet. World stage, and all that...
I agree that property taxes were way too high when Harold Jarvis came up with Prop 13. But I see it as inherently unfair. Let's say that you live in a tract house, and I live in an identical tract house next door to you. When you bought your house in 1978, the taxes were, say, 1% of $65,000 or $650, and that's what they have stayed until now. I bought my house in 2020, and due to appreciation, the purchase price was $350,000, and so my taxes are $3,500 or approximately 5 1/2 times your taxes.
Over those 42 years, the costs that had to be covered by local real estate taxes also appreciated -- schools, police, fire, electricity for streetlights, etc., etc., etc. Therefore, I, as a new owner, am punished because you are not paying your fair share, and the costs must be covered.
I think a fairer option would be that the overall tax burden (in dollars) was decreased, but that there was more parity between what owners pay. You and I have talked before about how the younger generation cannot afford to buy houses because the prices are too high (which is of course true) but there are also the ancillary costs of ownership, which includes taxes.
I'm in favour of offsets, like homestead exemptions, and caps for people below certain income levels, but two identical properties shouldn't have the amount of disparity that Prop 13 insists upon.
I think that LA will keep the Olympics -- but I believe the financial costs will be very high.
The sad thing is that we, as individuals, are severely limited in what we can do that will make changes with import. Sure, as individuals we can pay for carbon offsets, use fewer fossil fuels, eat lower on the food chain, harden our homes, move out of danger zones...but this is a worldwide problem, and it will take incredible resources on the part of governments of developed countries.
People our age will not live to see the worst ravages. I ache for those who come after us.
I agree about moving the Olympics, but doubt it will happen. Local politicians will use it to rally and unite the city, and FOTUS will want the world stage.
"If they did things my way…" May it be so
Thanks Lang -- I swear, if more people just did things my way <GIANT GRIN AND WINK>
Naturally <grin & wink to you, too> - as my mom used to say, everything would be right in the world if people saw things her way.
Your first item, to call the LA fires "urban firestorms" instead of "wildfires," should be added to a list of terms (do you know who is compiling a list for us?) for taking control of the vocabulary used to describe reality and for replacing the distortion of public discourse that happens when the right wing sets the terminology we use. (See George Lakoff, mentioned in https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2019/06/dont-want-our-public-discourse-dominated-by-the-right-wing-then-dont-use-their-language.html. This post by The Cascadia Advocate of the Northwest Progressive Institute is from 2019, but is just as relevant today as when published. Used copies of two of Lakoff's books, Thinking Points and The All New Don't Think of an Elephant!, are available through sites like Thriftbooks and AbeBooks. For more on George Lakoff's views, see this interview with him from 2003 https://newsarchive.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/10/27_lakoff.shtml.)
I also agree with the policy suggestions in the other items on your list.
I don't know ANYONE compiling a list of terms. The eventual messaging will come from the outcome of the DNC chair election on 1 February. I do my best to use correct terminology, except when doing snark - and then I use my own list.
Jessica you are brilliant my friend. I agree with you on everything.
Thanks!
I disagree on two points - scraping Prop 13 and moving the Olympics.
As a native Californian who voted for Prop 13 in 1978, I knew first hand about the ridiculously rising property taxes. My father, the underpaid San Francisco Firefighter, was struggling to pay taxes on the ancestral home. (He always held 2 jobs, including being a wall washer, gas station attendant, and Brinks driver.) People were losing their homes - actual not anecdotal - because they could not afford their ever-increasing tax bills.
Property taxes under Prop 13 are capped at 1% of the property's assessed value and the assessed value is the sale/purchase price - not the current market value. Everyone pays the same 1% rate. So, someone who bought their home in 1980 is paying the same RATE as someone who bought their home in 2024. Fair and equitable.
As for the Olympics... It's a rallying force to help bring the entire city together and showcase their success in rebuilding, just as the 1915 Panama Pacific Exhibition did for San Francisco after the earthquake and fire there. It's the Phoenix rising from the ashes. All of the venues are existing - nothing new is being built - and all escaped damage.
It's also incentive for the city and state - as well as the feds - to get things done and not drag their feet. World stage, and all that...
I agree that property taxes were way too high when Harold Jarvis came up with Prop 13. But I see it as inherently unfair. Let's say that you live in a tract house, and I live in an identical tract house next door to you. When you bought your house in 1978, the taxes were, say, 1% of $65,000 or $650, and that's what they have stayed until now. I bought my house in 2020, and due to appreciation, the purchase price was $350,000, and so my taxes are $3,500 or approximately 5 1/2 times your taxes.
Over those 42 years, the costs that had to be covered by local real estate taxes also appreciated -- schools, police, fire, electricity for streetlights, etc., etc., etc. Therefore, I, as a new owner, am punished because you are not paying your fair share, and the costs must be covered.
I think a fairer option would be that the overall tax burden (in dollars) was decreased, but that there was more parity between what owners pay. You and I have talked before about how the younger generation cannot afford to buy houses because the prices are too high (which is of course true) but there are also the ancillary costs of ownership, which includes taxes.
I'm in favour of offsets, like homestead exemptions, and caps for people below certain income levels, but two identical properties shouldn't have the amount of disparity that Prop 13 insists upon.
I think that LA will keep the Olympics -- but I believe the financial costs will be very high.
All of us will have to try to learn how to cope with climate change since the powers that be still treat it as a hoax.
The sad thing is that we, as individuals, are severely limited in what we can do that will make changes with import. Sure, as individuals we can pay for carbon offsets, use fewer fossil fuels, eat lower on the food chain, harden our homes, move out of danger zones...but this is a worldwide problem, and it will take incredible resources on the part of governments of developed countries.
People our age will not live to see the worst ravages. I ache for those who come after us.
Sad emoji
Sorry
I agree about moving the Olympics, but doubt it will happen. Local politicians will use it to rally and unite the city, and FOTUS will want the world stage.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA!