Gov. Newsom Points to California Exceptionalism, Challenges

California Gov. Gavin Newsom boldly declared his state a model for the nation Monday but said its leaders have failed to rein in the soaring cost of living and stem inequalities that are making it harder for people to achieve what he called the "California dream."

"We face serious challenges — some that have been deferred for too long," Newsom said in his inaugural address. "We face a gulf between the rich and everyone else — and it's not just inequality of wealth, it's inequality of opportunity."

Still, Newsom said it's California that can best defend U.S. values in the face of "incompetence and corruption" in Washington. He never mentioned President Donald Trump by name, but his speech was laced with sharp rebukes of Trump's policies, particularly on immigration.

On the truly “exceptional” side:
* State Parks. They are really well maintained and affordable. Incredible ocean and redwood parks.
* Wine. Amazing vineyards and wineries everywhere.
* Tech. It’s still the center of the tech universe and produces more startup companies than any place on earth.

In addition to what you listed, California schools went from best of the best 40 years ago to near-bottom.

If you are fortunate enough and wealthy enough, you can really enjoy the state. But you point out a lot of the shortcomings and you forgot one of the biggest of all: unfunded public pensions.

California has a budget surplus of $14 to $30 billion depending on how you count the “rainy day fund.” BUT, California’s public pension plans (CalPERS and CalSTRS) had record high unfunded liabilities of $168 BILLION in 2016. It is a nationwide problem, of course, with unfunded public liabilities having grown $215 B between 2015 and 2016 to $1.4 TRILLION (assuming the systems met their investment earnings assumptions of 7-plus percent a year).

My compromise that I hope she will accept is Northern Nevada. Out of Cali but still within 4 hours of family and friends.

Northern Nevada is very nice. Having lived in Western Washington all my life, it is a little hard to adjust to the dry desolate terrain in most of Nevada. My wife likes a tropical climate, so we are most likely to move to Central Florida or Georgia close to friends and relatives there. California would actually be far more convenient geographically and closer to most of our family. We have a small economical airplane, so six hours currently takes us from our doorstep to my sister-in-law's place

For $150, you will see the nurse’s assistant or maybe an intern for ten minutes. You sure won’t see the physician or even the physician’s assistant.

I have got an old doctor that I go see, Dr. Pepka at the South Auburn Medical Clinic. He and the doctor who owns the practice work out of what used to be an old drug store. Most of the people working there have been there for years. I am not sure that he is any better than a physician's assistant or a nurse, but they charge only $80 for a visit and he is annoyingly thorough most of the time. He is in his 70s and I doubt that he will be working much longer. He is pretty grumpy most of the time.

The last time I was in for a physical and to get my blood pressure pills renewed, he spent 15 minutes talking to an attorney loudly about his mom's estate that still hadn't been settled three years after she died. They don't carry around little computers and the whole front of the office is filled with file cabinets. Once they are gone, no one will take their place... it is a little like Mayberry RFD or maybe the twilight zone. In fact my Dr. Pepka looks a little like a cross between Floyd the Barber and Columbo. I think just about everyone working there smokes also. Most snow flakes give them bad reviews on the medical review sites, but I plan to keep appreciating them until they finally retire. Because like you said, how often do you really get to see an actual doctor these days for a reasonable price.

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