[afx114]

Krugman:

The seeds of California’s current crisis were planted more than 30 years ago, when voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 13, a ballot measure that placed the state’s budget in a straitjacket. Property tax rates were capped, and homeowners were shielded from increases in their tax assessments even as the value of their homes rose.

The result was a tax system that is both inequitable and unstable. It’s inequitable because older homeowners often pay far less property tax than their younger neighbors. It’s unstable because limits on property taxation have forced California to rely more heavily than other states on income taxes, which fall steeply during recessions.

Even more important, however, Proposition 13 made it extremely hard to raise taxes, even in emergencies: no state tax rate may be increased without a two-thirds majority in both houses of the State Legislature. And this provision has interacted disastrously with state political trends.

[afx114]

Krugman:

The seeds of California’s current crisis were planted more than 30 years ago, when voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 13, a ballot measure that placed the state’s budget in a straitjacket. Property tax rates were capped, and homeowners were shielded from increases in their tax assessments even as the value of their homes rose.

The result was a tax system that is both inequitable and unstable. It’s inequitable because older homeowners often pay far less property tax than their younger neighbors. It’s unstable because limits on property taxation have forced California to rely more heavily than other states on income taxes, which fall steeply during recessions.

Even more important, however, Proposition 13 made it extremely hard to raise taxes, even in emergencies: no state tax rate may be increased without a two-thirds majority in both houses of the State Legislature. And this provision has interacted disastrously with state political trends.

[afx114]

Krugman:

The seeds of California’s current crisis were planted more than 30 years ago, when voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 13, a ballot measure that placed the state’s budget in a straitjacket. Property tax rates were capped, and homeowners were shielded from increases in their tax assessments even as the value of their homes rose.

The result was a tax system that is both inequitable and unstable. It’s inequitable because older homeowners often pay far less property tax than their younger neighbors. It’s unstable because limits on property taxation have forced California to rely more heavily than other states on income taxes, which fall steeply during recessions.

Even more important, however, Proposition 13 made it extremely hard to raise taxes, even in emergencies: no state tax rate may be increased without a two-thirds majority in both houses of the State Legislature. And this provision has interacted disastrously with state political trends.

[afx114]

Vegas aficionado here. It’s going to get even worse for Vegas in December when City Center comes on line with 2,650 new condos and 4,800 hotel rooms. It is the largest privately financed development in the US with a total cost of $11 billion (wtf?!). The project almost came to a halt a few months ago when Dubai World sued over a $200 mil financing dispute. MGM had to sell the Treasure Island Resort for $775 million to raise money to complete it. Now the project is back on track. Good thing because it would have been a massive skeleton of Blade Runner sci-fi otherwise. Then right after that Fontainebleau comes on line with its 3,889 rooms.

Adding 8,000+ rooms when the city is having trouble filling its existing ones? Supply, meet demand.

These were the mega-resorts planned and financed right at the peak of the bubble when “growth would continue forever” and all of the douchebags invaded and got drunk off their $800 bottle service and $90 buffets. Vegas is and was the perfect microcosm of the excess of the past decade.

Hopefully this returns Vegas back to the cheap little getaway it used to be with its $1.99 steak & lobster dinner, 3:2 Blackjack, $29/night room rates, and quality customer service. All of that was thrown out the window over the past 10 years, and I have a feeling that Vegas is going to need to bring it all back in order to survive.

[afx114]

Vegas aficionado here. It’s going to get even worse for Vegas in December when City Center comes on line with 2,650 new condos and 4,800 hotel rooms. It is the largest privately financed development in the US with a total cost of $11 billion (wtf?!). The project almost came to a halt a few months ago when Dubai World sued over a $200 mil financing dispute. MGM had to sell the Treasure Island Resort for $775 million to raise money to complete it. Now the project is back on track. Good thing because it would have been a massive skeleton of Blade Runner sci-fi otherwise. Then right after that Fontainebleau comes on line with its 3,889 rooms.

Adding 8,000+ rooms when the city is having trouble filling its existing ones? Supply, meet demand.

These were the mega-resorts planned and financed right at the peak of the bubble when “growth would continue forever” and all of the douchebags invaded and got drunk off their $800 bottle service and $90 buffets. Vegas is and was the perfect microcosm of the excess of the past decade.

Hopefully this returns Vegas back to the cheap little getaway it used to be with its $1.99 steak & lobster dinner, 3:2 Blackjack, $29/night room rates, and quality customer service. All of that was thrown out the window over the past 10 years, and I have a feeling that Vegas is going to need to bring it all back in order to survive.

[afx114]

Vegas aficionado here. It’s going to get even worse for Vegas in December when City Center comes on line with 2,650 new condos and 4,800 hotel rooms. It is the largest privately financed development in the US with a total cost of $11 billion (wtf?!). The project almost came to a halt a few months ago when Dubai World sued over a $200 mil financing dispute. MGM had to sell the Treasure Island Resort for $775 million to raise money to complete it. Now the project is back on track. Good thing because it would have been a massive skeleton of Blade Runner sci-fi otherwise. Then right after that Fontainebleau comes on line with its 3,889 rooms.

Adding 8,000+ rooms when the city is having trouble filling its existing ones? Supply, meet demand.

These were the mega-resorts planned and financed right at the peak of the bubble when “growth would continue forever” and all of the douchebags invaded and got drunk off their $800 bottle service and $90 buffets. Vegas is and was the perfect microcosm of the excess of the past decade.

Hopefully this returns Vegas back to the cheap little getaway it used to be with its $1.99 steak & lobster dinner, 3:2 Blackjack, $29/night room rates, and quality customer service. All of that was thrown out the window over the past 10 years, and I have a feeling that Vegas is going to need to bring it all back in order to survive.

[afx114]

Vegas aficionado here. It’s going to get even worse for Vegas in December when City Center comes on line with 2,650 new condos and 4,800 hotel rooms. It is the largest privately financed development in the US with a total cost of $11 billion (wtf?!). The project almost came to a halt a few months ago when Dubai World sued over a $200 mil financing dispute. MGM had to sell the Treasure Island Resort for $775 million to raise money to complete it. Now the project is back on track. Good thing because it would have been a massive skeleton of Blade Runner sci-fi otherwise. Then right after that Fontainebleau comes on line with its 3,889 rooms.

Adding 8,000+ rooms when the city is having trouble filling its existing ones? Supply, meet demand.

These were the mega-resorts planned and financed right at the peak of the bubble when “growth would continue forever” and all of the douchebags invaded and got drunk off their $800 bottle service and $90 buffets. Vegas is and was the perfect microcosm of the excess of the past decade.

Hopefully this returns Vegas back to the cheap little getaway it used to be with its $1.99 steak & lobster dinner, 3:2 Blackjack, $29/night room rates, and quality customer service. All of that was thrown out the window over the past 10 years, and I have a feeling that Vegas is going to need to bring it all back in order to survive.

[afx114]

Vegas aficionado here. It’s going to get even worse for Vegas in December when City Center comes on line with 2,650 new condos and 4,800 hotel rooms. It is the largest privately financed development in the US with a total cost of $11 billion (wtf?!). The project almost came to a halt a few months ago when Dubai World sued over a $200 mil financing dispute. MGM had to sell the Treasure Island Resort for $775 million to raise money to complete it. Now the project is back on track. Good thing because it would have been a massive skeleton of Blade Runner sci-fi otherwise. Then right after that Fontainebleau comes on line with its 3,889 rooms.

Adding 8,000+ rooms when the city is having trouble filling its existing ones? Supply, meet demand.

These were the mega-resorts planned and financed right at the peak of the bubble when “growth would continue forever” and all of the douchebags invaded and got drunk off their $800 bottle service and $90 buffets. Vegas is and was the perfect microcosm of the excess of the past decade.

Hopefully this returns Vegas back to the cheap little getaway it used to be with its $1.99 steak & lobster dinner, 3:2 Blackjack, $29/night room rates, and quality customer service. All of that was thrown out the window over the past 10 years, and I have a feeling that Vegas is going to need to bring it all back in order to survive.

[afx114]

When most people think of Mexico they think it all looks and acts like Tijuana. What they don’t realize is than in many ways Tijuana is sort of a nation unto itself — with no citizens. As a border town with a one-way spigot, most people there are “just passing through.” They have no ties to the city and don’t see themselves as staying there permanently, so there is no sense of pride or community. No city can thrive without those two things. Tijuana is the cheap motel on the side of a long highway that you stay in to get a good nights sleep before moving on to the next stop. It is not representative of the country as a whole.

It really is a shame that for most people on this side of the border, Tijuana is Mexico, because the country is full of beauty — both natural and man-made — that is not represented by Tijuana and that Americans would do good to experience for themselves.

This message is brought to you buy the Mexican Board of Tourism.

[afx114]

When most people think of Mexico they think it all looks and acts like Tijuana. What they don’t realize is than in many ways Tijuana is sort of a nation unto itself — with no citizens. As a border town with a one-way spigot, most people there are “just passing through.” They have no ties to the city and don’t see themselves as staying there permanently, so there is no sense of pride or community. No city can thrive without those two things. Tijuana is the cheap motel on the side of a long highway that you stay in to get a good nights sleep before moving on to the next stop. It is not representative of the country as a whole.

It really is a shame that for most people on this side of the border, Tijuana is Mexico, because the country is full of beauty — both natural and man-made — that is not represented by Tijuana and that Americans would do good to experience for themselves.

This message is brought to you buy the Mexican Board of Tourism.

[afx114]

When most people think of Mexico they think it all looks and acts like Tijuana. What they don’t realize is than in many ways Tijuana is sort of a nation unto itself — with no citizens. As a border town with a one-way spigot, most people there are “just passing through.” They have no ties to the city and don’t see themselves as staying there permanently, so there is no sense of pride or community. No city can thrive without those two things. Tijuana is the cheap motel on the side of a long highway that you stay in to get a good nights sleep before moving on to the next stop. It is not representative of the country as a whole.

It really is a shame that for most people on this side of the border, Tijuana is Mexico, because the country is full of beauty — both natural and man-made — that is not represented by Tijuana and that Americans would do good to experience for themselves.

This message is brought to you buy the Mexican Board of Tourism.

[afx114]

When most people think of Mexico they think it all looks and acts like Tijuana. What they don’t realize is than in many ways Tijuana is sort of a nation unto itself — with no citizens. As a border town with a one-way spigot, most people there are “just passing through.” They have no ties to the city and don’t see themselves as staying there permanently, so there is no sense of pride or community. No city can thrive without those two things. Tijuana is the cheap motel on the side of a long highway that you stay in to get a good nights sleep before moving on to the next stop. It is not representative of the country as a whole.

It really is a shame that for most people on this side of the border, Tijuana is Mexico, because the country is full of beauty — both natural and man-made — that is not represented by Tijuana and that Americans would do good to experience for themselves.

This message is brought to you buy the Mexican Board of Tourism.

[afx114]

When most people think of Mexico they think it all looks and acts like Tijuana. What they don’t realize is than in many ways Tijuana is sort of a nation unto itself — with no citizens. As a border town with a one-way spigot, most people there are “just passing through.” They have no ties to the city and don’t see themselves as staying there permanently, so there is no sense of pride or community. No city can thrive without those two things. Tijuana is the cheap motel on the side of a long highway that you stay in to get a good nights sleep before moving on to the next stop. It is not representative of the country as a whole.

It really is a shame that for most people on this side of the border, Tijuana is Mexico, because the country is full of beauty — both natural and man-made — that is not represented by Tijuana and that Americans would do good to experience for themselves.

This message is brought to you buy the Mexican Board of Tourism.

[afx114]

They probably bungled some sort of server migration and jacked up the DNS — which could easily last for days. “Outage at our hosting provider” is code for “we fucked up and are passing the buck.”

[afx114]

They probably bungled some sort of server migration and jacked up the DNS — which could easily last for days. “Outage at our hosting provider” is code for “we fucked up and are passing the buck.”

[Author]

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