Why do Blue States lead in Education and Standard of Living?

[glockmail]

the only reason the japanese/asians won in the car market is because their innovation produced cars that were more fuel efficient....this was their niche....that american car manufacturers ignored...this gave them their way in to the american car market....detroit ignored this....for over 3 decades now...

the ''workers'' have always worked hard, those in the company that were suppose to LEAD, fell short on innovation.

My uncle was an accountant for Ford and started his career with them back in the late 60s. He had his choice of their models and so as a young man drove all their hot muscle cars. I remember the Cougar he had with a 429 PI engine in it. When he got gas he always asked the attendant to check the oil because he got a kick out of the kid's face when he opened the hood and exposed all that huge iron. Remember this was back in the days of muscle car wars, and GM especially had some very innovative products such as the rear transmission Pontiac with a solid drive shaft, the full size front-drive Olds and of course the rear engine Corvair.

Anyway his assessment of the industry back in the early to mid 70's was that when the government and insurance industries got their talons into the auto industry their response was to fire all the engineers and hire accountants.

So basically your assessment is correct.

 

[Care4all]

My uncle was an accountant for Ford and started his career with them back in the late 60s. He had his choice of their models and so as a young man drove all their hot muscle cars. I remember the Cougar he had with a 429 PI engine in it. When he got gas he always asked the attendant to check the oil because he got a kick out of the kid's face when he opened the hood and exposed all that huge iron. Remember this was back in the days of muscle car wars, and GM especially had some very innovative products such as the rear transmission Pontiac with a solid drive shaft, the full size front-drive Olds and of course the rear engine Corvair.

Anyway his assessment of the industry back in the early to mid 70's was that when the government and insurance industries got their talons into the auto industry their response was to fire all the engineers and hire accountants.

So basically your assessment is correct.

my dad had a Coronet 440 when i was young....he loved to get the gas man to check the oil too!!! lol

 

[Eagleeye]

I lived in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York before I found God's Country and you won't me moving back to Liberal La-La land anytime soon. My standards for living are much different than any liberal's.

Question for you Mr. Glockmail,
How will you feel about living in North Carolina's God Country if it turns into a Liberal La-La land blue state? As of now Obama & McCain are at a dead heat in North Carolina - 48% - 48% - Just curious....

 

[glockmail]

Question for you Mr. Glockmail,
How will you feel about living in North Carolina's God Country if it turns into a Liberal La-La land blue state? As of now Obama & McCain are at a dead heat in North Carolina - 48% - 48% - Just curious....

Why do liberals lie to try and make a point? RCP has McCain up 3. RealClearPolitics - Election 2008 - Latest Polls

But to answer your question, I consider freedom to be of the utmost importance, and excessive taxation and regulations are impositions on that freedom. So if liberals take over NC like they took over the northeast then I'll simply move to a Utah or Montana.

I lived in Upstate NY for 11 years, had a nice little house on 2 acres, a great neighbor with kids that were mine's ages. I could walk in his house, open up the fridge, take two bottles of beer out, open them up and he'd drink one with me. I also had two large farms for neighbors, and I did some work for one and he repaid me with landscape work. There was a ski area within 15 minutes away that charged $40 for a one night season pass. I could nordic ski out my back door, and I had plans for a rope tow from my barn, across my neighbor's back yard and down to the farm pond, where we could skate if there wasn't any snow. I was 15 minutes from downtown, a medium sized city with all the amenities that we wanted.

My property was worth $100,000 and the taxes were $3200 per year. My kids were approaching school age and it was time to move into something bigger, but I had several friends who were paying ten fucking grand a year in taxes and I wasn't going to do that. The elementary school was OK but the high school was a POS. In order to do best for my family we had to move.

So we gathered all the pertinent information, made a prioritized list of what we needed, and compared different metro areas, selected the top three, did a road trip to visit them, and decided on our present location.

Once my kids are in college, and if the political and tax situation changes, my wife and I will do the exact same thing that we did before.

 

[editec]

My old man had a 67 Plymouth Fury III with a 383 four barrel.

Metalic blue, rag top, auto trannie, with a benchseat in the front so you could get close to your honey.

God! I loved that car.

 

[glockmail]

My best friend had one of those, except it was a '70 and a 318 "family car". It was still fast because it was so light. The dashboard rattled at about 100 places. His mom backed it down the driveway with the door open and ripped it right off when she passed the house chimney.

 

[editec]

My best friend had one of those, except it was a '70 and a 318 "family car". It was still fast because it was so light. The dashboard rattled at about 100 places. His mom backed it down the driveway with the door open and ripped it right off when she passed the house chimney.

In 1970, it was the wreck you described?!

They was robbed.

 

[Clay Buster]

You have to be kidding me? Georgia, Alabama, hell the entire deep south is going bankrupt or on the verge. It is not just blue states. At least the blue states produce intelligent young people. The public education system of the south, and I would dare to say most red states, is a joke because curriculum's are based on the bible and a sense of moral superiority more then they are FACT. They would rather hide truths and scare the young people into believing sex/drugs/alcohol/free thinking is bad instead of letting them find out for themselves. It is a joke.

None of the deep southern states are on the verge of bankruptcy. Actually several of the states in question have experienced unprecedented growth.

There are several problem areas, however. Jefferson County, AL for instance, is on the verge of bankruptcy. Jefferson County is the largest county in the state with the largest city, Birmingham. When it declares bankruptcy it will be the largest municipal bankruptcy in the country. (Even topping the Orange County, CA bankruptcy from years past.)

As to education, "Bible teachings" in school are not the problem and as far as I know not even the norm in the majority of schools in the South.

The bigger problem is property taxes. Most states, counties, and cities fund a major portion of their education system from property taxes.

In the deep south, Alabama for instance, this state has one of the lowest property taxes in the country. Yes, residents don't pay much in taxes, but the flip side of that is the school systems receive little funding on the local level.

There are numerous problems across the country and they are not confined to the South, but I hope I've shed a little light on the problem some states face.

I really wish people wouldn't paint with such wide brush strokes when discussing issues.

 

[glockmail]

In 1970, it was the wreck you described?!

They was robbed.

The old man unbolted the door, straightened the hinges, and slapped it back on. That car was indestructible. They should have nicknamed it Christine.

 

[AllieBaba]

None of the deep southern states are on the verge of bankruptcy. Actually several of the states in question have experienced unprecedented growth.

There are several problem areas, however. Jefferson County, AL for instance, is on the verge of bankruptcy. Jefferson County is the largest county in the state with the largest city, Birmingham. When it declares bankruptcy it will be the largest municipal bankruptcy in the country. (Even topping the Orange County, CA bankruptcy from years past.)

As to education, "Bible teachings" in school are not the problem and as far as I know not even the norm in the majority of schools in the South.

The bigger problem is property taxes. Most states, counties, and cities fund a major portion of their education system from property taxes.

In the deep south, Alabama for instance, this state has one of the lowest property taxes in the country. Yes, residents don't pay much in taxes, but the flip side of that is the school systems receive little funding on the local level.

There are numerous problems across the country and they are not confined to the South, but I hope I've shed a little light on the problem some states face.

I really wish people wouldn't paint with such wide brush strokes when discussing issues.

Isn't marijuana Tennessee's #1 cash crop? I know it used to be.

Anyway, I think Oregon's education ranking is #50, and we're a very liberal state. And I don't believe our standard of living is too high. We're a liberal state...without the advantage of having old elitist liberal families to fill the coffers.

 

[Contessa_Sharra]

What's more interesting is that they are bankrupt. California, Massachussets!

In California it was/is all about the Enron bills we are still paying, and No the GOVERNATOR is NOT the Last Action Hero, in fact he has made things WORSE.

What we get here and elsewhere for putting B movie actors in office......

However, the good news is that a whole shitload of illegals are leaving!

 

[Clay Buster]

Isn't marijuana Tennessee's #1 cash crop? I know it used to be.

Anyway, I think Oregon's education ranking is #50, and we're a very liberal state. And I don't believe our standard of living is too high. We're a liberal state...without the advantage of having old elitist liberal families to fill the coffers.

I can't speak for TN, but marijuana is still the #1 cash crop in Alabama.

The school systems in AL are deplorable on a county level, but when you get to a city level many of the systems are top notch. The difference is that certain cities require residents to pay more for education via higher sales taxes.

The problem is that there are many more poor counties and cities than there are wealthy ones, so as a whole the entire state average is in the toilet.

I don't have children, but our educational system as a whole (the entire country) is extremely bothersome. We are being outperformed by numerous countries around the world and the more we enter a global economy, the more our students will have to compete with students from other countries with better school systems.

 

[Navy1960]

Comming from Arizona , the original poster on this thread neglected to mention that Morgan Quitno's survey had just as many blue states in the bottom as red states and that a majority of those states in the bottom are at the moment having an illegal immigration problem more so than any of the other states.

Bottom States:
Arizona
Nevada
California
New Mexico
Utah
Oregon
Michigan
Mississippi

Does anyone see anything there that validates the arguement that blue states are somehow smarter than red states? Arizona's unemployment is 5.6 % in Sept. per the Az. dept. of labor. Our medium income is 47,000.00 which ranks Arizona number 25 in the U.S. in Household incomes while our cost of living here is one of the lowest still in the country. Yes, we have a budget deficit, but we have not gone begging on bended knee to the Fed. for a "bailout" like your blue state neighbor nor have we spent many billions for dollars trying to dig a tunnel with corrupt and inept labor like in another blue state. I do however find it quite amazing that if these "blue state" were such a nirvana then why is it that each winter I see a mass migration for "blue staters" to Arizona? The assertion that somehow a "blue state" is much better is a completely dumb arguement and might I add there is a reason why they call a lot of "blue states" the rust belt. It implies a decline , as in rustng away. Why do you think that companies like Toyota, and Kia, and Honda build plants in non "blue states" the biggest reason is the incentive to do so and the lack of flexibility of the part of these entrenched 1950's style labor based "blue states". The big three are no more American made than a Toyota is now, content and parts made in Mexico and Canada , the Big three have moved their so called American made cars to other countries. At least a company like Toyota or Honda employs Americans and keeps them working, which is more than I can say for GM, Ford or Chrysler.

 

[sealybobo]

Comming from Arizona , the original poster on this thread neglected to mention that Morgan Quitno's survey had just as many blue states in the bottom as red states and that a majority of those states in the bottom are at the moment having an illegal immigration problem more so than any of the other states.

Bottom States:
Arizona
Nevada
California
New Mexico
Utah
Oregon
Michigan
Mississippi

Does anyone see anything there that validates the arguement that blue states are somehow smarter than red states? Arizona's unemployment is 5.6 % in Sept. per the Az. dept. of labor. Our medium income is 47,000.00 which ranks Arizona number 25 in the U.S. in Household incomes while our cost of living here is one of the lowest still in the country. Yes, we have a budget deficit, but we have not gone begging on bended knee to the Fed. for a "bailout" like your blue state neighbor nor have we spent many billions for dollars trying to dig a tunnel with corrupt and inept labor like in another blue state. I do however find it quite amazing that if these "blue state" were such a nirvana then why is it that each winter I see a mass migration for "blue staters" to Arizona? The assertion that somehow a "blue state" is much better is a completely dumb arguement and might I add there is a reason why they call a lot of "blue states" the rust belt. It implies a decline , as in rustng away. Why do you think that companies like Toyota, and Kia, and Honda build plants in non "blue states" the biggest reason is the incentive to do so and the lack of flexibility of the part of these entrenched 1950's style labor based "blue states". The big three are no more American made than a Toyota is now, content and parts made in Mexico and Canada , the Big three have moved their so called American made cars to other countries. At least a company like Toyota or Honda employs Americans and keeps them working, which is more than I can say for GM, Ford or Chrysler.

QS Top Universities: Top 100 universities in the THE - QS World University Rankings 2007

We have most of the best Universities:

Top 100 Universities in the WORLD

 

[Contessa_Sharra]

None of the deep southern states are on the verge of bankruptcy. Actually several of the states in question have experienced unprecedented growth.

There are several problem areas, however. Jefferson County, AL for instance, is on the verge of bankruptcy. Jefferson County is the largest county in the state with the largest city, Birmingham. When it declares bankruptcy it will be the largest municipal bankruptcy in the country. (Even topping the Orange County, CA bankruptcy from years past.)

As to education, "Bible teachings" in school are not the problem and as far as I know not even the norm in the majority of schools in the South.

The bigger problem is property taxes. Most states, counties, and cities fund a major portion of their education system from property taxes.

In the deep south, Alabama for instance, this state has one of the lowest property taxes in the country. Yes, residents don't pay much in taxes, but the flip side of that is the school systems receive little funding on the local level.

There are numerous problems across the country and they are not confined to the South, but I hope I've shed a little light on the problem some states face.

I really wish people wouldn't paint with such wide brush strokes when discussing issues.

RED States, excepting primarily Texas and Georgia are Tax Donee states. If they are doing well, it is at the expense of tax donor states, generally BLUE, which support their own and the RED WELFARE STATES.

Subsidized-Red-Donor-Blue

 

[AllieBaba]

Blue states are the welfare states. Do a little research.

 

[sealybobo]

Blue states are the welfare states. Do a little research.

I did and I found this:

As a lingering recession and high unemployment drive more Whites onto relief rolls, welfare reformers are going to have to pin the blame on the economy and not "immoral" poor people in the nation's inner cities. They only need to look at the White families streaming into welfare offices in rural New Hampshire for proof that poverty has more to do with economics than race. The once thriving state has seen an 88 percent jump in welfare cases since 1989, yet the states Black population is a meager 0.6 percent.

States that tend to support Republican presidential candidates (red states) also tend to receive more from the federal government than they send in taxes. Thus red states are welfare states.

Thirty of the U.S. states reap more in federal spending than their citizens
contribute to the federal government in taxes. The other 20 states provide more in taxes than they receive in spending. In the 2000 U.S. presidential election, George W. Bush won most of the states that are net beneficiaries of federal spending programs, while Al Gore won most of the states that are net contributors to federal spending. A state’s ratio
of federal spending to tax dollars, particularly non-defense spending, is a statistically and substantively significant predictor of Bush’s margin of victory across the states. A state’s per capita federal tax burden is also associated with the election result: states with higher
tax burdens gave higher vote margins to Gore. Compared to Clinton’s state-by-state vote shares in 1996, Gore did worse in states that gained in federal spending per tax dollar from 1998 to 2000.

 

[Larkinn]

Blue states are the welfare states. Do a little research.

Might want to lie a little bit less.

The Tax Foundation - Why Do Some States Feast on Federal Spending, Not Others?

 

[glockmail]

There's a lot of federal activity in those high ratio states. Your chart has nothing to do with welfare as Allie stated.

 

[AllieBaba]

Of course it doesn't.