State of the State

5:06 PM Arnold Schwarzenegger begins with a USC joke.

5:12 PM "We will never catch up unless we know where we are going."

5:15 PM Arnold begins proposing the big bond spending. Each proposal ends with "... I say build it!"

5:24 PM Arnold proposes $1 mininium wage increase.

5:26 PM Proposes reimportation of prescription drugs.

5:30 PM "The state of our state is sound because our dream is sound."

Nothing really good in the speech. The defeat in the special election shows. Some of the building will be cost effective and some will not, but all of the spending will come in one bond issue.

A minimum wage increase when legal workers are competing with illegal workers is even worse than normal. However, the minimum wage is already higher in some places. Cost of living is a local issue, so the minimum wage should not be a state or federal issue. A living wage is really a "living on your own" wage. If you are not worth a living wage before you are living on your own then you never will be.

Price controls on drugs is a bad idea and importing price controls is as bad. Drugs are always getting cheaper. They drop from price infinity (unavailable) to expensive, and then decrease further as competitors enter the market and patents expire. The amount spent on drugs is increasing, but the benefits from drugs are increasing more. The amount of money spent on many things is also increasing, but nobody is proposing price controls on cellular, broadband, and other emerging technologies.

Rose Bowl Halftime

ABC showed both marching bands. No out-of-key pop-stars or wardrobe malfunctions.

Thank You. Unfortunately, there was no Big 10 band.