On Thu, 12 Jul 2012 23:27:19 +0100, Hugo Nebula wrote:
> I have no children to teach to drive, but I remember being taught by my
> dad. This usually ended with shouting, crying, and storming out of the
> car; either him or me, and sometimes both.
Heh heh. Yeah. Sometimes the parent is the 'worst' teacher for a kid -
but it depends on both the parent and the kid.
Still, nobody on earth cares more about their kid than the parents!
The thing about these California laws that gets me is that no other state
has them ... so you start to wonder ... and when you find out that the
laws greatly benefit the services that are mandated, you begin to wonder
yet again.
Over time, living in California, you realize all these laws are merely a
ploy to take money out of your pocket and give it to whomever it was that
lobbied for the mandate.
Case in point:
a) California has a smog law that you randomly get a notice that you MUST
go to an inspection-only station for your smog test. Guess what? They run
the EXACT same test. Guess what else? They ALL charge MORE for that same
test! Why? Because you have no choice. It's mandated. Seems to me it
'should' be illegal for them to charge the person who came ahead of you X
dollars for a smog test and then you go to the same place, the same guy,
the same car, the same everything ... the ONLY difference is your
registration requires a test only - and they charge you MORE for that!
b) California has a carbon monoxide detector law that mandates you must
have one on ever floor (essentially) of every house in the state. Who
sponsored the law? Home Depot. Guess why.
c) California had a law called the 'smog impact fee' where they charged
me $300 just for bringing my out-of-state-car into the state. Why?
Because they needed money. Luckily this law was considered a tax on out
of state imports and was deemed unconstitutional - but the only reason
for the law, despite the fancy name, was to raise money from outsiders
moving into the state.
d) California has a law that you have to pay TAX on your car every single
year! Not once but every year! I do realize 'other' states have that law
- but it's crazy. Why should you pay sales tax on this when you don't pay
sales tax every year on, say, a bicycle. Makes no sense other than
California wants your money.
e) California has the highest gasoline tax in the nation. So, the natives
'think' they're getting away with 'free' roads (i.e., they think they
don't have toll roads), yet they're paying more per mile in taxes than
any other state in the nation.
f) California has a law that you can only buy a car in California. You
can't buy a new car, which they define as ANY car that has less than 7500
miles on it, and bring it into the state, even if it meets all the
standards. You have to ship it out on a truck if you don't follow this
law (or it will be confiscated). Why? Guess.
g) California has a law that says you can only buy gasoline made in
California. That gasoline is 'special' gasoline. Made 'only' in
California. Why? Again, so the lobby interests that made this law can
make money by jerking around with the supply and demand curve.
And the list goes on and on and on in the nanny state.