Just another reason San Diego is better than Calgary.

[Ben Kenobi]

It's true. As long as you don't make over a certain amount

Income taxes are zero here in TX.

property taxes are actually lower in California

And housing prices are about 3x as high in CA as in TX. I can get a nice free standing house for about 70k in TX depending on the locale. Heck I used to live in one that was 70k. Even if property taxes are lower - the overall price is higher, so that you actually end up paying, way, way more.

, and both states have sales taxes.

Sales tax is 9.5 in CA and 6.5 in Texas. That's 30 percent less sales tax.

CA has a 10 percent income tax if you make over 45k a year. Texas has zero income tax.

Property taxes in CA are around 1.5 percent depending on where you live.

http://www.county.org/resources/countydata/products/taxrates/index.html

Shows that most TX jurisdictions have about 1/2 the property tax rate of California.

The only way it makes sense to live in CA is if you make 45k and own a 300k house. Wouldn't you be better off if you had 45k and the same 100k house in TX?

[Dinner]

You can get a nice $70k house in California too though just like Texas it will be some where crappy where no one wants to live. BTW there are a lot of exemptions from the sales tax. Compare city to city and you'll find California's property tax rate is much lower than Texas's property tax rates plus in California the assessed value of the property never goes up (until you sell it) where as in Texas your property can sometimes be reassessed every year. Income tax does effect high earners but you'll notice I said median income and most of those people (if not all) get out of paying no state income tax at all so that's a wash unless you're making significantly more than the median. Yes, many of us do get hit but most don't and I don't mind as I get much better services because of it.

The hard truth is the anti-tax people who try to paint California as high tax almost always speak about averages instead of medians so they can let a few very wealthy people spike the numbers. The truth is as a percentage of income (as Californian's make more than Texans) the tax burden is right with in two base points of each other and that's just not that much of a difference for people at the median income. It's only at higher incomes where the income tax hits and there aren't enough deductions where the difference is large. For most people the difference is trivial.

[Asher]

Let's face facts, Ben.

Texas could have 0 tax and free houses and many sensible people still would not choose to live there.

The weather sucks, the people are awful, the accents are incredibly annoying, guns are everywhere, it's way too close to Mexico, religion is too prominent, and it has no scenery.

[Wezil]

I'd pick SD over Calgary if it wasn't in the US.

Huge strike against.

[Lorizael]

...and [Texas] has no scenery.

Woah, now. That's just untrue. There are parts of Texas that are absolutely beautiful.

[Asher]

Which parts?

I probably just have much higher standards for scenery, being blessed with being in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

[MOBIUS]

Since when did you move to Wales, Asher?

[Asher]

Isn't Wales just rocks and moss and people who can't spell?

[onodera]

Which parts?

I probably just have much higher standards for scenery, being blessed with being in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Palo Duro, for example.

[Asher]

It's about as beautiful as a post-apocalyptic wasteland could look.



Incidentally, it looks indistinguishable from the Alberta Badlands.

[kentonio]

Isn't Wales just rocks and moss and people who can't spell?

You forgot the sheep and all the people on the dole fighting outside pubs.

[Asher]

Speaking of Texas, land of the free: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...ef=mostpopular

Diane Tran, Honor Student At Texas High School, Jailed For Missing School

Diane Tran, a 17-year-old honor student in Texas, was forced to spend the night in jail last week after missing too many classes, KHOU-11's Sherry Williams reports.

The Willis High School junior, who helps support two siblings, has both a full time and part-time job. She said that she's often too tired to go to school.

"She goes from job to job from school," Devin Hill, one of Tran's classmates, told KHOU-11. "She stays up until 7:00 in the morning doing her homework."

In an interview with KHOU-11, Tran said she takes AP Spanish, college level algebra and dual credit English and history courses. Her parents divorced and no longer live near her, so she lives with the family that owns the wedding venue where she works on weekends.

According to Texas law, if a student has ten or more unexcused absences within a six-month period, the school district may refer the student to a juvenile court. "In such cases, resolution of the issue is entirely in the hands of the court," reads a statement on the website of the Willis Independent School District.

After being warned by a judge in April about missing too much school, Tran was arrested in court on Wednesday and required to spend the night in jail, according to the above video from KHOU-11. She has also been fined $100.

Tran's case has spread online, with dozens of news outlets across the country picking up her story. HelpDianeTran.com, a site set up by the Louisiana Children's Education Alliance in partnership with Anedot and Gatorworks, has raised over $28,000.

A petition at Change.org that calls for the judge to revoke the teen's fine and sentencing was approaching 26,000 signatures on Monday afternoon.

"This remarkable young woman doesn't deserve jail," wrote a Change.org commenter going by Letitia Gutierrez. "She deserves a medal."

Williams, the KHOU-11 reporter, visited the judge who sent Tran to jail. Watch the video above to hear the judge's reasoning behind the punishment.

[regexcellent]

Calgary isn't in California, also known by its nickname "The Failed State."

[Tuberski]

Speaking of Texas, land of the free: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...ef=mostpopular

My step-daughter had to go to court for too many tardies! Fine and community service. Texas really does suck.

ACK!

[Dinner]

Calgary isn't in California, also known by its nickname "The Failed State."

The politics are disfunctional mostly because Republicans put in the stupid 2/3rds rule into the constitution in the 1980's. Tell me another state which requires a 2/3rds vote on virtually everything. Things worked fine up until Republicans suckered people into that change as now they just sit their with their 1/3rd saying no to everything resulting in complete gridlock. Yes, that is a very bad thing when government doesn't function because one party doesn't want it to function.