For years it has been accepted knowledge that what happens in California today will, God forbid, eventually find its way to the rest of the country. For a long time, California was a state that many/most Americans would have chosen to live in. Since it became a state in 1850 California has enjoyed a continuous growth in population. Until now. About 130,000 people left California in 2018-19. Another 140,000 people left in just the fourth quarter of 2020. For the first time in its history it will lose a congressional seat. My guess is that the loss in population would be greater if they only counted U.S. citizens. So why are people leaving?
Everywhere you look you see rot. The state is controlled by left wing zealots. Every year regions of the state are consumed by forest fires. Every year they look for scapegoats. The truth is if the tree huggers would allow for the clearing of the dead wood and underbrush there would be fewer forest fires. They certainly wouldn’t be as devastating. The greenies demanded, and got, a law that will outlaw the sale of internal combustion autos by 2035. This is hilarious on so many levels. There are about 15 million registered vehicles in California. Californians already pay amongst the highest utility bills in the nation. Yet every year they suffer through periods when there is not enough electricity. The governor’s genius answer is to convert those autos to electric in 14 years! That made the greenies happy, but there is no way it can physically happen. Is that why it’s called California Dreamin?
The legal system is corrupt. The D.A.s in LA and San Francisco (SF) announced they wouldn’t prosecute a laundry list of criminal offenses. It is, of course, not their option to decide which crimes they will prosecute. They took an oath to uphold the laws passed by the legislature. No matter. When you operate in a lawless system who is to challenge you? They have announced they will not prosecute shoplifting if the amount stolen is less than $950. Who would open a business under such a scenario? In fact the opposite is happening. In SF Walgreens has closed over 20 stores because they can’t afford to replace their merchandise every week. That is bad news for people who find it difficult to travel distances to fill prescriptions. Cities are releasing criminals at the same time they are reducing law enforcement officers. Only ideological fools would do such a thing. Incarcerated male felons are starting to “identify” as females, and are actually being reassigned to female prisons! This is truly insane, and incredibly dangerous.
The social safety net has become entirely unhinged. The homeless situation is completely out of control. Four of the ten U.S. cities with the largest number of homeless people are in California. The homeless have taken over city streets parks. The streets in LA and SF are littered with syringes and human feces. In SF there were over 30,000 reports of human waste in the streets in 2019. They have what San Franciscans call the poop patrol who are paid over $180 thousand dollars a year to clean it up, In LA there are 1,900 calls a month for the same reason. There is a return of Typhus in LA and surrounding areas linked to the feces. The unemployment rate in California is at around 7.5%. The number of unemployed in California is greater than the total population of Washington, D.C. and Vermont. Combined.
Probably the number one reason that Californians are leaving is the ever increasing cost of living in the Golden State. As of March of this year the median cost of a home in California is $758,900! It is the second most expensive median price in the U.S. behind Hawaii. Once you own the house you have to pay property taxes. A person owning a median value home would pay about $6,000 per year in such taxes. So you move into your new home and start buying furniture. The maximum state sales tax is 6%, but the state allows cities to charge as much as an extra 3.5% on purchases. So you get all snuggled in and find employment. You go to fill up your gas tank and find the highest priced gas in the nation. That is because they charge the highest gas tax in America. The state has an income tax of 9.3% for wages between $58,000 and $300,000. I can’t imagine you could afford a $750,000 house on any less. Your state tax rate jumps to 12.3% if your income tops $600,000. This means that over 41% of your paycheck will go to one government or another in the form of taxes before you receive it. Oops I forgot FICA and Medicare. That deducts another 7.65%. When you include 9.5% in sales tax the rate gets up to 58%! With all of these taxes one would imagine that California is swimming in budget surpluses. If the state was managed properly that would surely be the case. California is the poster child for all that is wrong with a one party system. California is currently sitting atop a $1 trillion deficit. It appears too much sun has fried the brains of the political elite.
How can that happen? California ranks last for business when it comes to fiscal, regulatory, tax, and economic policies. But they must rank first in overpaying employees. In fiscal year 2018-19 there were 3,400 public employees who earn over $100,000 per year, There were 1,420 city employees earning more than every Governor in the U.S. I wonder if Newsom is aware of this? There were 11,300 college and university employees making more than $200,000 a year. More than 40 lifeguards in L.A. County alone who earn over $200.000. Remember all of the above are just salaries. When these folks retire they take their generous pensions, which can nearly equal their salaries, with them. Add to that the fact that nearly 50% of illegal immigrants and 25% of U.S. citizens living in California are receiving public aid. This is but a sample of how you wreck what is the eighth largest economy, and one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Thank you for visiting my blog. If you found it interesting, or informative, please tell recommend it to your friends. Bob