way ahead of tcu

[smu diamond m]

F California. They elected the idiots who got them in the position they're currently in financially.

+1

But you can't really spin this crap any other way... people read them and it affects their opinions. PONY UP

[SMUtrojanFAN]

You don't understand. Special interest groups and unions are destroying California.

[NickSMU17]

I understand more than you know...pretty sure we are worse than you guys...just better at keeping it quite

[SoCal_Pony]

All Americans should be concerned about California, especially Texans.

Some interesting facts about the state I live in

If California was a country, it would have the worlds 8th largest economy.

California whites voted for Bush over Kerry.

Between 2003 and 2007, California state and local government spending grew 31 percent, even as the state’s population grew just 5 percent.

In Los Angeles County alone, 20 percent of the population—2.2 million people—receives some form of public aid.

Approximately 8 years ago, for the first time in California’s history, more white people moved out of the state than moved in. That trend has continued ever since.

For the first time ever, California is not on track to gain a new congressional district after the 2010 census.

And a few opinions

During the past 20 years, the California Republican party has nominated some of the worse Senatorial candidates imaginable.

There are pockets within CA where the crime rates and public school systems are among the best in the nation.

Agree with other posters who say unions and the proliferation of highly unskilled workers will ultimately doom this state, if it has not already.

The Democratic candidate who ran against Arnold, Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, said that the problems of this state were 2-fold. One, we are not taxing the wealthy enough and two; we are not taxing California corporations enough.

[Charleston Pony]

this thread got a little sidetracked...what did any of this have to do with football?

Oops. I keep forgetting. When TCU is kicking our arses in football, we will find something to brag about. And I still think our campus is "prettier" than theirs...in more ways than one.

[Boston Pony]

Looking at it from Northern California, Prop 13 is what has killed the public schools in CA, not the unions. The politics are crazy here as SoCal is arch conservative and NorCal is widely liberal. The state constitution forces everything to be 2/3 majority so nothing gets done. But having lived in many states, I wouldn't trade California for anywhere...if you haven't lived here, you just don't know...now it's time to talk football.

[SoCal_Pony]

Boston, agree that Prop 13 needs to be addressed.

But if you give our politicians more $$$ they will simply spend it.

This was from the LA Times earlier this year

The state of California's real unfunded pension debt clocks in at more than $500 billion, nearly eight times greater than officially reported.

That's the finding from a study released Monday by Stanford University's public policy program, confirming a recent report with similar, stunning findings from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.

[Stallion]

Correct me if I'm wrong but weren't we about 48th to 52nd in the mid 1980s before the DP and its aftermath set us back 25 years. I know we were well ahead of A&M in those days

[Pony_Fan]

Do these polls really mean anything?

[FroggieFever]

Do these polls really mean anything?

Ehh, one would hope very little.

[smu diamond m]

They certainly affect the opinions of high school kids flipping around websites and magazines to find a college.

[RE Tycoon]

Do these polls really mean anything?

Who knows, but it's better to be rated higher than lower. I do believe a lot of people use this particular list to form their opinions of schools (pretty much every college bound high schooler reads it). Now should they give it much weight? That is a great question.

[gostangs]

I guess if I were a frog - i would "hope" they meant very little - but U.S. News is the most respected and is pretty comprehensive. Its a big deal - helps raise more money, recruit better profs, attracts better students, and of course give us third party info to shout down the stupid frogs who are barely in the top 100. Once we start beating them soundly in football again they will have nothing and order will be restored to the universe.