Properly Subversive/Sherman R. Frederick
About a million Californians got bonked on the head last week when they discovered that their student loan debt – forgiven by President Joe Biden – will count as income on California state taxes.
In the immortal word of Homer Simpson – D’oh!
The bad news came when California Tax Franchise Board spokesperson Andrew LePage confirmed to CalMatters.org’s Mikhail Zinshteyn that yes, indeed, forgiven loan debt counts as taxable income in California. The average Joe and Josephine forgiven, say, the maximum $20,000 in student debt will be liable to pay California about $800 more in taxes.
An embarrassed governor and top legislators pledged to make sure that the student debt relief is exempt before next year’s tax filing season.
Of course, these are the guys who barely kept the power grid functioning during the last heat spell.
So, your humble Properly Subversive columnist suggests that, under the rubric of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown, you may want to hedge that bet.
UNICORN POWER
So what’s the big takeaway from the recent heat spell that brought California’s power grid to its knees? Well, the San Francisco Chronicle offered this headline:
“Scant data on health impact of heat wave shows Bay Area unready for climate change.”
Seriously? The lesson is that we’re unready for climate change?
No, dear friends, the issue at hand is how to keep the lights on as traditional power plants systematically shut down, making way for politically in favor power sources – solar and wind. The rub, of course, is California’s power grid can’t function with only solar- and wind-generated power.
Gov. Newsom has demurred on shutting down the state’s last nuclear power facility. Some want his head for this treason.
They must think EVs magically run on unicorn glitter. The truth is EVs run on coal.
The recent heat spell isn’t a warning bell for climate change. It’s a cry for help over a bipolar energy policy.
OH, THE MINUTIA
Want to be a big shot elected official? Consider this first.
In Tiburon last week, the Town Council sat through a presentation on leash laws that sought to change the rules for dogs in a local park.
The red tape keepers wanted the Council to change the statutory meaning of a dog “running at large.”
Instead of reading this way: “a dog that is not under the immediate control and direction of a competent, responsible person who is capable of controlling the dog” they wanted it to read “a dog that is not under the immediate control and direction of a person.”
Stunned silence ensued followed by this droll comment from Councilmember Alice Fredericks (no relation):
“This does not seem like something we need to take action on.”
You gotta love it.
HAT TIP, SEAN!
Our delivery agent Donna in Novato dropped her newsrack keys into the gutter. Sean, a city worker, came to the rescue, removing the grate and retrieving her keys. Way to go, Sean. Kindness never hurts.
ONE MORE THING
– Do gun manuals have a “troubleshooting” section?
– Having a teenager is like living in a haunted house. Every now and then you’ll see a figure out of the corner of your eye, followed by a moaning sound, and then a door will slam shut.
– I just heard a Brit call an Oreo a “chocolate sandwich biscuit.” I now finally understand why the Revolutionary War had to happen.
Thank you for reading this Marinscope Community Newspaper. Until next week, avoid soreheads, laugh a little and always – always! – question authority.
(“Properly Subversive” is commentary written by Sherman R. Frederick for Marinscope Community Newspapers, the “mother ship” of the Novato Advance, San Rafael News-Pointer, Mill Valley Herald, Ross Valley Reporter, Twin City Times and the Sausalito Marin Scope. Mr. Frederick is an award-winning journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)
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