I have to take issue with jenny on this one. Normally I avoid true conflict but the state is a fiscal disaster and what does the fed give me. Before I became a reverse flipper, I paid the state more than double my property taxes and the fed quadruple my property taxes, for what. At least my property taxes buy me firemen, cops, teachers, paramedics, roads, etc. From the graph linked earlier, half the propery taxes go to schools so lets not blame the “heroes” for all of the governemnt’s fiscal problems. Give me numbers, what is Iraq costing me, what are illegal aliens costing me, and what are the cops and firemen costing me? I’ll bet the emergency workers aren’t costing me all that much. I don’t want much from the government but I do want the emergency workers and the roads, traffic free, heart attack revival and crime free, that’s utopia and for that I will pay gladly, now as far as the delta smelt, what kind of bun do i want it on is all I want to hear. I don’t live in Carlsbad but I went to the city’s website for some data since that city has been getting some extra tax revenue. 107 cops, 75 fireman, 550 teachers (from the teacher’s union website). I also read a news article where they were adding five cops this year, whoopeee. I hardly feel that is where all the money is going. So you are telling me that those 180 emergency workers pensions is where all the money went, doubtful. I also recall reading an article about the life expectancy of retired “hero” types (military, police, fire, emergency room doctors, nurses, parmedics, etc.) being far less than than the general population but I can’t recall the specifics yet it seems logical to me. Sure, many of those workers get better pensions than the average joe but they also die earlier so the total payout is probably similar. If it’s so great then go be one, almost every category is hiring and having trouble hiring at that. Those guys and gals do stuff i don’t want to do so pay I will. I wouldn’t be so bitter if the state actually built a freeway in my lifetime other than a carpool lane. At least my property taxes get spent locally, state and federal taxes collected here are not spent here, and not on things i care about, that I am sure of.