JulioHuato comment-26523 2010-05-08T14:49:51Z 2010-05-08T14:49:51Z Mr. Sandronsky is correct. While possible that the federal government will not give California the cash Sacramento is counting on, it is not correct to say that "the federal budget is in even worse shape than California's." This is not a fact, it's Dan Walters' opinion. For a different view on the matter of public debt, see: http://juliohuato.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/on-public-debt/ JulioHuato 2010-05-08T14:49:51Z The Parrhesiac comment-26156 2010-05-03T20:48:16Z 2010-05-03T20:48:16Z What "facts" are you speaking of Sandronsky? Walters was 100% correct - if you disagree with what he said, and feel so passionately about it that you bothered to write this post, then site reliable controverting "facts." The Parrhesiac 2010-05-03T20:48:16Z Rhonda Erwin comment-25038 2010-04-18T07:19:06Z 2010-04-18T07:19:06Z Thank you Seth!!!!!! Rhonda Erwin 2010-04-18T07:19:06Z hurricane comment-24238 2010-04-04T02:33:04Z 2010-04-04T02:33:04Z Good article and comments. The Glass Stiegel act should have never been repealed!!!!!.Thanks to Democrats and Republicans. You know Politicians, with the help of special interests!!! GREED hurricane 2010-04-04T02:33:04Z thsas comment-24225 2010-04-03T23:41:07Z 2010-04-03T23:41:07Z Please do not understate the greed of the homeowners who took out first and second mortgages on overpriced values, on the speculation of continued rising prices. They would have done better at the track. Take a drive through Natomas and look at all the empty houses that 10 years ago had a value of under $100,000, ran up during the bubble to $250,000, and the owners took a second. Look around the neighborhood and see the toys of kings, like built in hot tubs, sports cars, boats and campers covered in blue tarps at the homes of owners on their last leg and losing the house. While some loan pushers are guilty of over-selling, it is "buyer beware", first, last, and always in life. thsas 2010-04-03T23:41:07Z Seth Sandronsky comment-24232 2010-04-03T19:44:09Z 2010-04-03T19:44:09Z What in part accounts for the trend of stagnating wages is employer-friendly labor law. This paved the way for private-sector employers to weaken unions and organizing campaigns. The outcome was predictable. Nonunion workers earn lower pay and fewer benefits than those in unions. Seth Sandronsky 2010-04-03T19:44:09Z LoriJablonski comment-24227 2010-04-03T19:33:35Z 2010-04-03T19:33:35Z All three are correct; but Seth's point is huge. Stagnant wages meant that the economy's engine over the past decade kept chugging along thanks to only one thing: the housing bubble...and, yes, "home equity as credit card mentality" was a key part of this by fueling consumer spending in the absence of anything else. Thsas, I appreciate your "buyer beware" comments...I really do; my husband and I have been fortunate in that we somehow avoided the lure of the home equity/second mortgage trap...but the broader and deliberate policies that were at work thanks to a deregulated financial sector run amok is so important for us to understand. And it is what I think Seth is pointing to here. It is especially key as it appears much of the "recovery" policy coming out of Washington and New York seems predicated on attempting to find yet another bubble to inflate, while shielding the masterminds of this mess from eating the losses for this (that's for the rest of us...) Allow me to recommend this terrific book for those interested in learning more about the deep mess we're now in: ECONned by Yves Smith LoriJablonski 2010-04-03T19:33:35Z Seth Sandronsky comment-24224 2010-04-03T17:36:27Z 2010-04-03T17:36:27Z Stagnant wages for tens of millions of U.S. workers over decades helped to create the home bubble’s growth. Seth Sandronsky 2010-04-03T17:36:27Z ClutchJ comment-24223 2010-04-03T17:18:11Z 2010-04-03T17:18:11Z Here, you link rising home prices with short-term consumption (as opposed to the creation of long-term wealth). The home equity-as-credit card mentality was a big part of what got us into trouble. "the loss of housing wealth... means that these consumers have less money in their pockets" ClutchJ 2010-04-03T17:18:11Z Bloggerbabe32 comment-17801 2009-11-15T23:40:30Z 2009-11-15T23:40:30Z You are defiintely not alone. My experience is similar yet just as painful: http://oflifeandlayoffs.blogspot.com Bloggerbabe32 2009-11-15T23:40:30Z Dale Kooyman comment-17529 2009-11-10T04:21:58Z 2009-11-10T04:21:58Z Blue Diamond's anti worker tactics which many employees told us about at the time was despicable. People who fear for their jobs and income are easily intimidated and companies know this. The rise in unions in the 1930's were very instrumental in creating America's middle class. The gradual demise of labor unions over the past 40 years has adversely affected workers' quality of life and the country's economic health. Dale Kooyman 2009-11-10T04:21:58Z Marion Millin comment-17519 2009-11-09T19:22:14Z 2009-11-09T19:22:14Z Thanks Seth, for a strong and timely piece. Marion Millin 2009-11-09T19:22:14Z ahirsch comment-16785 2009-10-30T03:57:13Z 2009-10-30T03:57:13Z Would like to hear more about Chomsky and how economics effect newsroom culture. ahirsch 2009-10-30T03:57:13Z Ali Tabatabai comment-16727 2009-10-29T21:47:51Z 2009-10-29T21:47:51Z UGH.... tell me about it. Not for lack of trying, the only job offer I could get in the field was at newspaper in a small market. It was fulltime, and a great beat, but they could only pay me 8 bucks a hour, no benefits, and said I'd be the first one out when layoffs hit... as if they were expected. I suppose if i were a real bad-ass i would of taken it, but the thought of making more money down the street flipping Double-Doubles was demoralizing. :-) It's a shame really, because most papers are still profitable, despite the impact Craig Newmark and the rest of the internet have had. At the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves how valuable journalism is in our society, what are we willing to pay for it, where has it failed us, and what innovative things can we come up with to fix it. I think websites like this one show us there is hope. But lets not just hope, lets ensure it thrives. Thanks for the article Seth. Ali Tabatabai 2009-10-29T21:47:51Z JT Long comment-16723 2009-10-29T21:19:31Z 2009-10-29T21:19:31Z Thank you for the article. Sacramento is home to a lot of great journalists, full-time, freelance and otherwise. Sacramento Press and the unrelated Sacramento Press Club are great resources for finding places to sell articles, fine tuning your research skills and sharing best practices with other journalists in the same situation. Best of Luck. We are all figuring out this thing together. JT Long 2009-10-29T21:19:31Z Rhonda Erwin comment-16685 2009-10-29T16:54:23Z 2009-10-29T16:54:23Z Thank you Seth for writing this article. I appreciate both Christian and Yost shared their experience and I appreciate their strength- "down but not out" . Seeing the survival spirit they both possess is an inspiration. I know it is hard for them and I truly wish them the best. You did a great job - much respect Rhonda Erwin 2009-10-29T16:54:23Z thsas comment-13227 2009-09-04T03:40:34Z 2009-09-04T03:40:34Z Interesting perception. I was born on the wrong side of the tracks into poverty, but we quickly figured out that the best way to overcome the high cost of education was to join the US services, so lots of folks on my side of town, like me, did just that, and toured Viet Nam for 3 years. I believe the servce still offers higher education benifit opportunites. thsas 2009-09-04T03:40:34Z Anthony Bento comment-13223 2009-09-03T21:22:52Z 2009-09-03T21:22:52Z As difficult as these cuts are, what particularly disturbs me is that they have been preceded by the state's decades-long divestment in higher education. As the costs of education continue to rise, we risk becoming a society that is more economically unequal and rigidly class-based. Anthony Bento 2009-09-03T21:22:52Z Casey Kirk comment-13206 2009-09-03T17:57:35Z 2009-09-03T17:57:35Z I feel like the scariest part of this story is that people don't even blink when hearing huge numbers like 9.5 billion anymore. What's another billion here, billion there? There's no way I could've afforded another semester and graduated just in time. I sympathize with incoming students who are going to have to pay an arm and leg just to get a decent education. Sacramento want the next generation to thrive but no one can even afford an education anymore or get the classes they need. To say it's a sad situation is an understatement. Out of curiosity, are you a former/current student Seth? Casey Kirk 2009-09-03T17:57:35Z The Parrhesiac comment-6085 2009-04-14T06:32:12Z 2009-04-14T06:32:12Z I'll waste my time now...since your obviously employed by a union, and just a tad biased...Most nursing homes are funded through medicaid/medicare... Before medicaid, and before our culture spiraled down, families used to take care of their own elderly, not force the taxpayers. Since that time, the government has stepped in and offered to pay for this care, people shipped the elderly off to nursing homes. Like all social programs, there are unintended consequences to politicians wanting to appear benevolent (but actually just trying to buy the votes of seniors who vote en mass). Our governments need to step in and care for everyone who is elderly, pay for their medical care and all of their prescription drugs (regardless of personal income of the beneficiaries) has strapped us with TENS OF TRILLIONS of dollars in entitlement debt AND has helped rip the fabric in American families. People from other cultures do not do this, even if they live in America. Soon there will be less than 50% of the country working to pay for the social security and medicare for all of the baby boomers...but i bet you don't see this as a problem do you Pinelli...Obama will just print more money. The Parrhesiac 2009-04-14T06:32:12Z Pinelli comment-6023 2009-04-13T13:40:45Z 2009-04-13T13:40:45Z IF "nursing homes are funded by taxpayers" (where are the details for that claim?), and IF there were no unions to protect people from the absurd Randian-delusions of "people" like Mr. Galt, (who seems to think that those who work with sick people can be taken advantage of by denying them decent wages and health care themselves) all of the old and sick people you find too expensive to care for would be dead. I guess that's how "he" wants it!! Your idea of reality is really warped "Galt" and I hope you never take an IED to the head and need VA rehab cause then you will rue the day you decided to read the tripe Ayn Rand (an addictive, mentally-ill, child rapist) wrote. Pinelli 2009-04-13T13:40:45Z The Parrhesiac comment-5973 2009-04-12T14:55:52Z 2009-04-12T14:55:52Z Great, nursing homes are almost entirely funded by tax dollars... so now the unions get more of our tax dollars. The patients will get less care because of unionism and because budgets will have to be slashed to pay for higher labor rates. It defies all sound economic theories to raise labor rates during a recession, but the unions do not care how this will harm our country or patient care. The Parrhesiac 2009-04-12T14:55:52Z