A Coyote Tale…
California:
- The Governor of California is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks the Governor’s dog, then bites the Governor.
- The Governor starts to intervene, but reflects upon the movie "Bambi" and then realizes he should stop because the coyote is only doing what is natural.
- He calls Animal Control. Animal Control captures the coyote and bills the State $200 testing it for diseases and $500 for relocating it.
- He calls a veterinarian. The vet collects the dead dog and bills the State $200 testing it for diseases.
- The Governor goes to hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for diseases from the coyote and on getting his bite wound bandaged.
- The running trail gets shut down for 6 months while Fish & Game conducts a $100,000 survey to make sure the area is now free of dangerous animals.
- The Governor spends $50,000 in state funds implementing a "coyote awareness program" for residents of the area.
- The State Legislature spends $2 million to study how to better treat rabies and how to permanently eradicate the disease throughout the world.
- The Governor’s security agent is fired for not stopping the attack. The State spends $150,000 to hire and train a new agent with additional special training regarding the nature of coyotes.
- PETA protests the coyote’s relocation and files a $5 million suit against the State.
Texas:
- The Governor of Texas is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks his dog.
- The Governor shoots the coyote with his State-issued pistol and keeps jogging. The Governor has spent $0.50 on a .45 ACP hollow point cartridge.
- The buzzards eat the dead coyote.
And that, my friends, is why California is broke and Texas is not.
I thought the Texas governor used a .380 not a .45.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is why I no longer live in California, but Washington is follow a close 2nd..
ReplyDeleteAmusing story. And for exactly this kind of reason, theory tells us that TX must be richer than CA. Lets just check that data (2010 GDP per capita)
ReplyDeleteCA 51,914
TX 45,940
So ... do we keep the theory or the data?
The state of California teeters on bankruptcy regardless of the wealth of Hollywood stars or Silicon Valley executives. We might ask what percentage of the GDP is consumed by taxes, and by how much is that exceeded by the state expenditures. The educational system, once the envy of the country, is in ruins. (Consider also how GDP may differed from net income.)
DeleteIt looks like the words "government" should have been inserted after the names of the states. State and society are not the same thing.
DeleteMaybe California can elect François Hollande to the governorship as soon as the French organize a coup. If the celebrities love taxes so much, Hollande is the guy for them.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the educational system of California that was the envy of the country was a public system - the exact opposite of the direction that Texas (with its board that is against critical thinking) is moving.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't say that it's simply critical thinking courses that the Texas board opposes - many (though not all) are certainly worth opposing. No, they don't want the child to learn anything in school that might cause him to question his parents' authority.