Conservative Catch-All

I think you are totally right about not being that far apart in some areas. 
Personally, I didn't vote for Trump, but those that did vote for him, knew his personality.  He IS our president, and as such, he and his family should be treated with the respect of a president of the usa.  I didn't care for Obama, but never ever called him the names our current president has been called, nor disrespected him in public forums the way this president and his family have been disrespected.  

I am not that happy to pay more taxes, as we're retired, and on a fixed income.  So, when the taxes go up, we do without something else.  And then when I see where the tax money is going (bullet train as was mentioned above) and see the condition of our schools and our roads, I don't like to pay taxes again!   

You didn't overstep here at all.  You gave your opinion respectfully, and didn't cause a ruckus!!   You are very welcome to return!!  as is anybody that shares their concerns.  

Our sales tax is 9.5%, which is about average for cities in Los Angeles County and higher than average for California (7.75%)
Our teachers are paid is $61,621, as of March 01, 2018, with a range usually between $53,797-$71,143 not including bonus and benefit information and other factors that impact base pay.  I don't know how that ranks nationally. 

@gar - see above. Anyone is welcome.

I agree with this.


Here's where I disagree. I don't know anything about his lack of compassion, what are you basing that on? I think the "prejudices" are manufactured by the media, pushed by opposing politicians and picked up and run with by those that want it to be so. And I know (since we're already talking about past presidents and such) at least Hillary and Obama both called for a wall themselves and no one had a problem with it when THEY did. That makes no sense other than "but Trump".

According to this article, the wall has been talked about, and some built on and off since 1924.  www.dailynews.com/2016/07/20/donald-trump-isnt-the-first-to-call-for-mexico-wall/

Totally my opinion, but I think it's because he's the first that will probably follow through with it. That is scary to a lot of people.

Edited to add:  I agree with the poster above and I am not for it either.  I just don't feel the benefits outweigh the costs.  That is a crapton of money.  

The taxpayers didn't vote for it.  The Democratic led California State Legislature voted it in, and of course Jerry Brown, also a democrat, govenrnor signed it into law.  I THINK it may be a ballot issue in the future though.  Thankfully, this is the last term for Jerry Brown.  He'll be out the next election (NOVEMBER 6, 2018)  not that I'm counting the days, of course!

I think we all know where the bulk of our tax money goes...either into the deep pockets of our politicians or their cronies/supporters/buddies, etc. Until we institute a system where ALL government agencies are accountable for every cent that comes into their coffers via taxation, we will simply end up facing a future of increasing taxes, deplorable infrastructure, and devil-may-care politicians.

I saw on the news a few weeks ago a lady who was divorced, made good money as a photographer, and lived in Los Angeles. The taxes were so high that she sold her home and bought a 5th wheel. She and her children (she had two or three) live in the 5th wheel and park it wherever they are able to...sometimes along open roads. She said that they stay there until an officer tells them to move on, and they do. She said that she is not the only one living like this - that there are many, many families living like that and they just move from place to place. Evidently, Los Angeles has a serious homeless problem because rent is outrageous, along with exorbitant housing costs, let alone the outlandish taxes.

And it's getting like that everywhere.

It's frightening what's happening to our country. It's so frightening that you have to wonder why people even want to immigrate here. True, there's "freedom" (what's left of it), but I guarantee you, we're heading toward becoming a third world country if we, as a nation, don't get our act together. The question is: where do we even begin?

Yes! We cannot afford it. And, it absolutely will do nothing to curb illegal immigration in this country. Esp since they’re not all coming from Mexico. There are ladders, tunnels, waterways, mountainways, cars, trucks, planes that can all get around that freaking wall. All it will do is drain us of a resource that would be better spent elsewhere (schools, infrastructure, etc), be an eyesore, and enrich those who are deemed worthy of the fat contracts that are sure to come should it ever get fully funded. We will still have an immigration problem here.

I am in agreement with those that are asking "Where does the money go"? I will say that the city I live in does a pretty good job of actually spending the money on the things they say they are going to. It's the things they spend it on that are questionable to me. Did we really need a city hall built brand new when we have buildings sitting vacant across the city that could have been re-done? Things like that make me crazy. They said it's cheaper to just build a new one. Um ok, but I would have been fine with them spending a bit more to fix up the eye sores we have vacant! They built the new one in the parking lot of one of the old eye sores! So we have a beautiful new building in front of a run down old mall. It's like lipstick on a pig.

Our school district asks for money in the form of property tax levies and we always pass them because we know that our district will do what it says it's going to with the money. We are very very lucky in this respect. In fact the elementary school has a message on the reader board thanking the voters for passing the recent levy and that new A/C will be installed over the summer break. My kids went to this elementary school back in the day and they would come home with sweaty little bodies the last month and first couple months of school. I'm so happy they are finally getting the a/c they truly need.

Now the STATE? They need to pull their heads out! It's like they completely forget that they have the 2nd largest city in the state on this side of the Mountains over here! We have ONE freeway. 1-90 that runs east/west through our city. We have had a north/south freeway slotted to be done dating back to 1946! It's 10 stupid miles of freeway that would completely help our road situation over here. (can you say pot holes the size of Delaware on almost every downtown street)? Let alone the traffic nightmares that people that live on the Northside face daily. It literally takes 45 mins to an hour to go 10 miles because you have to go through downtown and it's traffic lights at every block. They finally broke ground on the freeway in 2001. The first 5 miles was completed in 2012. It's of course on the furthest point north. So basically only helps a small percentage of people in half of their commute. Our wonderful Governor (not) finally signed something last year giving us the money to complete the last 5 miles. It should be done in 2029. So as long as that doesn't stall out again due to price increases in materials etc... It will have taken 83 years to get 10 miles of freeway done over here. They seem to forget that the coast is not the only part of the state growing! We've had an 81% increase in our population on the east side from 1969 to 2016. I guess we're not as important as the people on the west side that always have new road projects going on to try and keep up with their needs. So our gas taxes and property taxes have been going up every year for "Road Projects" that have nothing to do with us and we might see completion of a 10 mile freeway in another 11 years. This is only one item I have issues with. There are a whole slew of them including the Property tax increase we are seeing this year because the state wasn't funding schools at a high enough rate as per our state constitution and so they were sued because of it. WHERE WAS THE MONEY GOING? It infuriates me!

How quickly we forget. Here are just a few: "Shithole countries". Throwing rolls of paper towels at Puerto Ricans who just endured a devastating hurricane, not to mention an abominable "relief effort" for these people who pay into our federal tax system. Don't get me started on DACA. I saw with my own eyes the rolls of paper towels flung, and heard "shithole countries" with my own ears so you can just cut the "blame the media" crap.

"Shithole countries" is just another example of one president saying it and... nothing. Trump says it and certain people lose their mind. 

The other examples, I didn't say the media makes up what we all know happened. What I said was the outrage is manufactured. They figure out a way to be upset about whatever it is (like throwing paper towels) and then report it into the ground until certain people say oh, yeah I hadn't thought about it that way, but now that you've mentioned it 750,001 times, yeah I guess that is something to consider.

Something had Obama done it, wouldn't be mentioned at all or it would have had a different spin "Obama raises spirits of those who need it most right now after the hurricane, by playfully tossing out paper towels." and it would have been a fleeting thought with everyone and then specifics lost forever to another input of wonderful feelings of Obama. 

And the hurricane relief had so much praise from those involved that contradicted those who had an agenda. Facts came out that contradicted so much of the complaints. 

That probably is a factor in our increase in the gas tax and the vehicle registration fees here in California--which REALLY ticks me off because we drive a 1991 car that gets 54 mpg, and we are subsidizing these hybrid and electric vehicles with our tax money, and then  we get slammed by the high taxes on our gasoline.  Our other car is a 1994 bigger car that gets about 25 mpg, but we only drive that one on long trips because it's a bigger car--and more comfortable for trips.  Our '91 has over 250,000 miles on it.  

1. The outrage comes from me. I don't need the media to tell me how I feel about something. The humiliation and embarrassment that I felt for us and our country at hearing "shithole countries" was instantaneous and probably one of the worst, if not the worst moments of this interminable presidency for me. 

2. I guess you and I have extremely different ideas of what constitutes "raising spirits" and "playfully". You can cook up all the feverish fantasies of President Obama's behavior you want, but in the end, it is just all your fantasy. My direct experience with President Obama's behavior when he came to Newtown after the Sandy Hook murders suggests otherwise. Say what you will about his policies, he and wife behaved with a decency and decorum that didn't shame our country.

3. I guess somehow you missed news like this link about Puerto Rican hurricane "relief".