As Goes California...

[travelinman67]

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs ... ubin/55122

As Goes California. . .

Jennifer Rubin - 02.18.2009 - 9:14 AM

In case you haven’t noticed, California is fast becoming a third world economy. Its government has ceased to provide basic services (its schools now rank 48th; its prisons were ordered to release more than 50,000 inmates because of inadequate healthcare). The Wall Street Journal editors explain:

The Golden State — which a decade ago was the booming technology capital of the world — has been done in by two decades of chronic overspending, overregulating and a hyperprogressive tax code that exaggerates the impact on state revenues of economic boom and bust. Total state expenditures have grown to $145 billion in 2008 from $104 billion in 2003 and California now has the worst credit rating in the nation — worse even than Louisiana’s. It also has the nation’s fourth highest unemployment rate of 9.3% (after Michigan, Rhode Island and South Carolina) and the second highest home foreclosure rate (after Nevada).

Governor Schwarzenegger is trying to bully the legislature into a package which includes $14B more in new taxes. That move, if it gets through, plus the general deterioration in the quality of life is likely to increase the outflow of people, and, with it, high earners and businesses whose revenue the state needs. In short, the state is a basket case.

Those in the other 49 should take note. This is what a high tax, overregulated, union dominated economy looks like. And in the information age it is increasingly easy to relocate businesses — to another state or another country. So as we look to the federal government it might be a good idea to keep the California experience front and center. Do we want to dramatically increase the size of government, pass volumes of new environmental and other regulations, pass card check to give unions an even greater influence in the economy, and ( if the Congressional Democrats have their way) raise taxes?

For decades now, we have seen that as goes California, so goes the nation. Let’s hope that is no longer true.

She left out, as a cause, electing loons with extremist agendas...

ahem! Pelosi...Reid...Frank...Waxman...Boxer...Feinstein...Schumer...

[dbackjon]

Yet next door, Arizona, with ultra conservatives in power, ranks EVEN WORSE in just about every category than California...


Nice try to blame this on liberals - but EPIC FAIL.

Property Taxes are very low in CA, and that is a major problem.

[travelinman67]

Yet next door, Arizona, with ultra conservatives in power, ranks EVEN WORSE in just about every category than California...

Not true. Provide source.

Fiscally, CA has the worst problems in the nation. The worst traffic congestion, the highest foreclosure rates, highest unfunded healthcare...

...add to that high costs of secodary education, high insurance rates, virtually non-existent law enforcement (state police/highway patrol and most major metropolitan community's agencies have stopped responding to property crimes [burglary, autotheft, etc...], and in effect now only track property crimes for statistical reporting), racial segregation, and something you have to "experience" to understand...the elimination of most non-revenue generating government services not funded with service fees and penalties...i.e., street sweeping, road expansion (generally not undertaken without developer fee funding), or basic infrastructure maintenance.

This is liberal arrogant spending out of control...yet another example...spending like drunken sailors in a whorehouse.

Comptroller blasted for 'plush' office
Calif. state senator says 'people are hurting'

Valerie Richardson (Contact)
Thursday, February 5, 2009

California State Controller John Chiang may be preaching fiscal restraint in the face of the state's budget crisis, but he's practicing something else, according to one Republican legislator.

State Sen. Abel Maldonado has accused Mr. Chiang of spending $2 million on furniture for his "plush" office in the past seven months even as the state controller was issuing IOUs instead of checks for the state's unpaid bills....

Mr. Chiang said he has since cut about $4 million from the project's original $7 million price tag.

...Standard and Poor's on Wednesday downgraded California's bond rating from A+ to A, handing the state the lowest such rating in the nation. Most states are ranked at AAA or AA.

"Our rating recognizes our view of the lack of political progress around the budget negotiations that we believe is serving to exacerbate the state's current and projected cash position," Standard & Poor's said in its report.

The state legislature needs a two-thirds majority to pass a budget, but Democrats want to include tax increases while Republicans have dug in against any such hike. Negotiations continued Wednesday in Sacramento, Calif., as Republicans offered the possibility of bowing on taxes in exchange for loosening labor and environmental regulations on businesses.

[dbackjon]

Every ranking I have seen has Arizona 49th.


Really T-man, you are just so melodramatic, and EVERYTHING is the fault of the liberals, right?

If all liberals were executed, the world would be perfect, right?

And what does one idiotic state officer have to do with ANYTHNG? You can find a similar story in every state.

Post on Palin's wasting of millions of taxpayer dollars, then will we talk.

[Col Hogan]

Every ranking I have seen has Arizona 49th.


Really T-man, you are just so melodramatic, and EVERYTHING is the fault of the liberals, right?

If all liberals were executed, the world would be perfect, right?

And what does one idiotic state officer have to do with ANYTHNG? You can find a similar story in every state.

Post on Palin's wasting of millions of taxpayer dollars, then will we talk.

Conservative are about as good as liberals when it comes to wasting money...

But, California (liberal or conservative) definately takes the cake...

What other state continues to add to it's budget, even as income falls like it currently is???

[houndawg]

Every ranking I have seen has Arizona 49th.


Really T-man, you are just so melodramatic, and EVERYTHING is the fault of the liberals, right?

If all liberals were executed, the world would be perfect, right?

And what does one idiotic state officer have to do with ANYTHNG? You can find a similar story in every state.

Post on Palin's wasting of millions of taxpayer dollars, then will we talk.

I can't figure out why he doesn't just move instead of continuously sniveling about the big bad wibawuls.

Jesus, T-man, get some sack. Step out into the world. You're a Robert Johnson fan, move to Mississippi.

[Gil Dobie]

Aren't the Californian's already migrating to Colorado and Montana.

[travelinman67]

I can't figure out why he doesn't just move instead of continuously sniveling about the big bad wibawuls.

Jesus, T-man, get some sack. Step out into the world. You're a Robert Johnson fan, move to Mississippi.

Why should I move?

You're not even man enough to admit your soft-shell-brain liberal logic failed miserably out in California...as it will throughout America.
Instead, you mock, attack then run and hide, much like the Moveon-Morons who're now redirecting their efforts into singling out and harrassing conservatives who speak out against Obama, only to cower behind internet anonymity and hidden domain ownership.
While it sickens me to watch liberals like yourself in our Leftislature destroy what was once the greatest state in our country, and harkens me to leave the ruinous mess left in your wake, I am often tempted to remain and fight, ensuring the vulgar social and economic wasteland resulting from liberal short-sighted novice policy wonks is forever chronicled and put on display for others contemplating similar social engineering schemes.

...and I'm not the only one sharing that sentiment...

http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjena ... a-or-bust/

Burying California
by Jeffrey Jena

If you make over $44,815, your California state income tax rate is 9.3 percent. Add into that a state and local sales tax that equals almost 10 percent, 63 cents a gallon gas tax, a federal tax rate of 25%, another 9% for social security and Medicare (sixteen percent if you’re self-employed) and suddenly you aren’t even the majority partner in your income anymore. That’s before we even think about property taxes, local income taxes, water district “fees,” sanitation “fees,” license and registration “fees,” and who knows what other hidden taxes and fees you pay.

Illegal aliens eat up about $10 billion a year of the California budget, and while that isn’t the whole problem it would be a start. Maybe everyone on the state payroll could take a five percent pay cut, and if you make over 100 grand make it 10 percent. Even with those two measures, California would still be running about $20 billion short for this budget cycle, which ends in June of 2010.

The California government has been trending towards socialism for twenty years now, so in a way what is happening is a preview of our national problem.

[houndawg]

I can't figure out why he doesn't just move instead of continuously sniveling about the big bad wibawuls.

Jesus, T-man, get some sack. Step out into the world. You're a Robert Johnson fan, move to Mississippi.

Why should I move?

You're not even man enough to admit your soft-shell-brain liberal logic failed miserably out in California...as it will throughout America.
Instead, you mock, attack then run and hide, much like the Moveon-Morons who're now redirecting their efforts into singling out and harrassing conservatives who speak out against Obama, only to cower behind internet anonymity and hidden domain ownership.
While it sickens me to watch liberals like yourself in our Leftislature destroy what was once the greatest state in our country, and harkens me to leave the ruinous mess left in your wake, I am often tempted to remain and fight, ensuring the vulgar social and economic wasteland resulting from liberal short-sighted novice policy wonks is forever chronicled and put on display for others contemplating similar social engineering schemes.

...and I'm not the only one sharing that sentiment...

Well then remain and fight, no need to snivel like a three-year-old and apologize to everyone you meet about being a sackless chump too scared to leave the state he loathes. Of course if you're going to stand up act like you have a pair you'll need a new sig.

[Biff]

Has there been any discussion to the chance that part of the problem is that the state isn't getting funded adequately because of the number of illegals living in the state that aren't paying. I know they have a number of issues out there. But, we have to remember if you want good healthcare, educations, etc., or some of the necessities such as roads, water systems, and so on, you have to pay for them.

I think some of the perks (services) the state bragged about and paid for in the past are starting to catch up with them.

The problem is when you leave the big cities out there (LA, San Diego, San Fran, etc.) and get in to the smaller towns and cities, you find good ole america citizens (as the norm, not the minority) that are trying to earn a living and live the america in an honest way. They are willing to work for what they get and don't need government handouts. They are the ones that are getting screwed. They keep voting the more conservative candidates in, but the big cities population keeps voting in the officials that are willing to run up the budget to give those handouts.

[travelinman67]

Well then remain and fight, no need to snivel like a three-year-old and apologize to everyone you meet about being a sackless chump too scared to leave the state he loathes. Of course if you're going to stand up act like you have a pair you'll need a new sig.

"...to scared to leave the state..."

Yup...you nailed me there hd...


As I've stated publicly in the past, I have familial and legal obligations preventing me from leaving right now. As soon as those expire (literally and figuratively), I'm outta here.

I'm thinking of buying a property down the road from your place...

...one with a little acreage I can have re-zoned commercial...

...to build my electronic billboard...

Some ideas I like for signs...

"Dylan is a genius..." - houndawg

[houndawg]

Well then remain and fight, no need to snivel like a three-year-old and apologize to everyone you meet about being a sackless chump too scared to leave the state he loathes. Of course if you're going to stand up act like you have a pair you'll need a new sig.

"...to scared to leave the state..."

Yup...you nailed me there hd...


As I've stated publicly in the past, I have familial and legal obligations preventing me from leaving right now. As soon as those expire (literally and figuratively), I'm outta here.

I'm thinking of buying a property down the road from your place...

...one with a little acreage I can have re-zoned commercial...

...to build my electronic billboard...

Some ideas I like for signs...

"Dylan is a genius..." - houndawg

You'll blend right in with the rest of the Californians. You're also going to love the price of land. Bought our place for under 90K - 25 acres, barn, swimming pool....

[travelinman67]

You'll blend right in with the rest of the Californians. You're also going to love the price of land. Bought our place for under 90K - 25 acres, barn, swimming pool....

A swimming pool in the midwest?????

Oh, yeah...I forgot about Hockey.

[houndawg]

You'll blend right in with the rest of the Californians. You're also going to love the price of land. Bought our place for under 90K - 25 acres, barn, swimming pool....

A swimming pool in the midwest?????

Oh, yeah...I forgot about Hockey.

The previous owners had to put it in to get fire insurance, the nearest hydrant is too far away. Not much hockey here, we're closer to Mississippi than to Chicago.

[BigApp]

the sooner California either falls into the Pacific, or is given back to Mexico, the better off this country will be.

[grizzaholic]

the sooner California either falls into the Pacific, or is given back to Mexico, the better off this country will be.

Hasn't that already taken place? Do they even speak English there any more with all them illegals running around?

[travelinman67]

the sooner California either falls into the Pacific, or is given back to Mexico, the better off this country will be.

California, as a whole, is a productive state. The problems emanate from the state politics being driven by the voters in the LA and SF region...i.e., mindless sheeple. Moreso, they are the economic blackholes of govt. handouts, nanny regulatory bureaucracies, bloodsucking insurance lobby, and union gangs. They add nothing of value to California.

I've said my entire life...Mother Nature put the San Andreas Fault in CA for a reason. Think of it as CA's Mason-Dixon line...in CA, a way of demarcating the producers from the consumers ( as well as the spiritually void from the dust-bowl descendants ). In a perfect world, Mother Nature would snap the Pacific Plate in a counterclockwise motion, snap off the coastal and southern regions of CA, stopping after about a 30% circular rotation which would leave the CA coast as a long island off the coast of Vancouver,BC...a nice pleasant weekend getaway location for Western Canadians. Since the cruise lines already have a presence up there, along the inland passage, it'd be easy to add the new island "Coastal California" as just another cruise stop. The island would have a social atmosphere of narcissistic hedonism, easily marketed as a vacation destination.



Moreso, since it would take Palm Springs and Anaheim along with it...there'd be plenty of casinos and entertainment venues for the Canadians. And for all those Angelinos who've always wondered what a real White Christmas was like...et voila...it's a win-win for everyone.

Most importantly, with the everpresent corrupt CA govt. hand in our pocket now severed, the rest of us Californians could go back to work and raise our families in peace.

[travelinman67]

One more thing...

Despite Cal Poly's relocation north...so long as "Coastal California" became the 51st state...they could always join Big Sky...and really, in all honesty, is travelling to an island off the coast of Vancouver,BC any more troublesome than travelling to San Luis Obispo?

[travelinman67]

This morning's headline from Investor's Business Daily...

...and before you pass this over...remember...the model that's been applied in CA for the past 25 years is the same model being enacted by the Obama Administration with the assistance of accomplices Pelosi and Reid.

If it is not stopped, in 8-10 years, you can substitute "United States" for "California" in the below article.

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticle ... 8451301950

Fool's Golden State

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Competitiveness: When Silicon Valley-based Intel said this week that it would invest $7 billion to expand, it should have been a time of rejoicing for California. But it isn't. Indeed, it only underscores the state's problems.

The world's leading maker of microprocessors plans to create 7,000 jobs in new and expanded plants that will churn out computer chips 30% more powerful than the current generation of chips.

But California-based Intel won't make them in California.

Instead, the company is expanding in Oregon, Arizona and New Mexico. Anywhere but California, which is now so unfriendly to business, even its home-grown firms don't want to expand there.

This is bad news for the Golden State, which has one of the worst business environments in the country. And it won't be helped a bit by the recent budget deal reached between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democrat-led legislature...

Democratic lawmakers were able to get the last Republican vote needed to pass their tax hikes by trading a planned 12-cent-a-gallon hike in gasoline taxes for a quarter-point jack in the state's already-high income-tax rate. Some deal. It will only make living and doing business in the state costlier.

As Intel shows, businesses are struggling to stay and grow in California. In the first 10 months of last year, the state lost 25,000 high-quality manufacturing jobs — and has lost 25% of its industrial work force since 2001, according to the California Manufacturers & Technology Association.

As a story in the Wall Street Journal recently noted, "Several Western states are launching aggressive efforts to poach jobs, talent and industry from California, sensing an opportunity to capitalize on the Golden State's current political and financial woes."

Well-trained, well-educated Californians are leaving in droves — and are being replaced by poor immigrants from Latin America and Asia. Since 2005, there's been a net outflow of middle-class Californians — and 260,000 people left for other states in 2007.

Think this hasn't further hurt California's housing market? Nothing wrong with immigrants, mind you, but the last thing you want as a state is to lose the entrepreneurs and intellectual capital that made you great.

The simple reason for this is California has priced itself out of the market. Its environmental and industrial regulations are among the nation's strictest. Its taxes are high, and so is the cost of living.

Businesses face huge costs to remain or expand. According to the Milken Institute's Business Cost Index, California businesses face overall costs that are 23% higher than other states on average...

This week, a business group criticized the Western Climate Initiative, an environmental pact among seven Western governors and four Canadian provincial premiers that seeks to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by 2020.

For largely rural Western states and Canadian provinces, this shouldn't be much of a problem. But it will de-industrialize already costly California by hiking its energy costs sky-high.

This didn't just happen; it's been going on for years. As the state's leading historian, Kevin Starr, told author Joel Kotkin, "California is in no way a role model for anyone from outside the state."

Sad, but true. At one time, California meant business. Today, its political leaders are almost entirely lacking in understanding how a free economy works. For the once-Golden State, it's a real pity.

[travelinman67]

The Northern California Bay Area Council, made up of the majority of California's largest non-entertainment/agriculture industry employers ( http://www.bayareacouncil.org/bay_area_ ... embers.php ), is meeting today in Sacramento to discuss and create a plan to hold a Citizen's Constitutional Convention later this year. That Convention would be held with the intent of essentially "rewriting" California's Constitution to rid the state of the grotesquely dysfunctional leaders and bureaucracies that are rapidly destroying California economics, infrastructure, social fabric, and quality of life. In their press release, they succinctly described California's predicament:

We believe California’s system of government is fundamentally broken. Our prisons overflow, our water system teeters on collapse, our once proud schools are criminally poor, our financing system is bankrupt, our democracy produces ideologically-extreme legislators that can pass neither budget nor reforms, and we have no recourse in the system to right these wrongs.

Drastic times call for drastic measures.

We believe it is our duty to declare that our California government is not only broken, it has become destructive to our future. It is time to repair our system of governance.

Our state’s founders gave us the tool to take this step — with a constitutional convention. We can either be led to a convention by our elected leaders in the Legislature, or we can bypass any gridlock in Sacramento with a “citizen’s Constitutional Convention.”

This is a serious statement from a credible and financially strong organization. The BAC has the means to put together a PR campaign that could successfully pull this off. The facet of this idea which is most interesting will be WHO opposes the call for a Convention, in effect, allying with the existing dysfunctional issues and leaders. Tman's predictions: Unions, most notably SEIU; Hispanic/La Raza NGO's (mostly SoCal based); Entertainment Industry; Extremist (not all) environmental groups. Basically, everyone who has benefitted from the extreme left legislature that has occupied the Capitol for the past 25 years. With a few minor exceptions, this will pan out into a "Northern CA versus Southern CA" battle.

...and yes...I've volunteered my time to assist BAC.

[dbackjon]

Interesting, T-man...

Do you think this goes any where, set in motion the long talked about NoCal/SoCal split into two states?

[Col Hogan]

T-Man, serious question...

Could the SOCAL/NOCAL split you describe lead to a movement to actually divide the state and form two entities?

[Col Hogan]

Interesting, T-man...

Do you think this goes any where, set in motion the long talked about NoCal/SoCal split into two states?

Faster typer...same question

[dbackjon]

T-Man, serious question...

Could the SOCAL/NOCAL split you describe lead to a movement to actually divide the state and form two entities?

Beat ya too it.

Scary how our old mind had the same thought!

[D1B]

This morning's headline from Investor's Business Daily...

...and before you pass this over...remember...the model that's been applied in CA for the past 25 years is the same model being enacted by the Obama Administration with the assistance of accomplices Pelosi and Reid.

If it is not stopped, in 8-10 years, you can substitute "United States" for "California" in the below article.

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticle ... 8451301950

Fool's Golden State

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Competitiveness: When Silicon Valley-based Intel said this week that it would invest $7 billion to expand, it should have been a time of rejoicing for California. But it isn't. Indeed, it only underscores the state's problems.

The world's leading maker of microprocessors plans to create 7,000 jobs in new and expanded plants that will churn out computer chips 30% more powerful than the current generation of chips.

But California-based Intel won't make them in California.

Instead, the company is expanding in Oregon, Arizona and New Mexico. Anywhere but California, which is now so unfriendly to business, even its home-grown firms don't want to expand there.

This is bad news for the Golden State, which has one of the worst business environments in the country. And it won't be helped a bit by the recent budget deal reached between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democrat-led legislature...

Democratic lawmakers were able to get the last Republican vote needed to pass their tax hikes by trading a planned 12-cent-a-gallon hike in gasoline taxes for a quarter-point jack in the state's already-high income-tax rate. Some deal. It will only make living and doing business in the state costlier.

As Intel shows, businesses are struggling to stay and grow in California. In the first 10 months of last year, the state lost 25,000 high-quality manufacturing jobs — and has lost 25% of its industrial work force since 2001, according to the California Manufacturers & Technology Association.

As a story in the Wall Street Journal recently noted, "Several Western states are launching aggressive efforts to poach jobs, talent and industry from California, sensing an opportunity to capitalize on the Golden State's current political and financial woes."

Well-trained, well-educated Californians are leaving in droves — and are being replaced by poor immigrants from Latin America and Asia. Since 2005, there's been a net outflow of middle-class Californians — and 260,000 people left for other states in 2007.

Think this hasn't further hurt California's housing market? Nothing wrong with immigrants, mind you, but the last thing you want as a state is to lose the entrepreneurs and intellectual capital that made you great.

The simple reason for this is California has priced itself out of the market. Its environmental and industrial regulations are among the nation's strictest. Its taxes are high, and so is the cost of living.

Businesses face huge costs to remain or expand. According to the Milken Institute's Business Cost Index, California businesses face overall costs that are 23% higher than other states on average...

This week, a business group criticized the Western Climate Initiative, an environmental pact among seven Western governors and four Canadian provincial premiers that seeks to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by 2020.

For largely rural Western states and Canadian provinces, this shouldn't be much of a problem. But it will de-industrialize already costly California by hiking its energy costs sky-high.

This didn't just happen; it's been going on for years. As the state's leading historian, Kevin Starr, told author Joel Kotkin, "California is in no way a role model for anyone from outside the state."

Sad, but true. At one time, California meant business. Today, its political leaders are almost entirely lacking in understanding how a free economy works. For the once-Golden State, it's a real pity.

Tman, what are your thoughts on balancing the interests of industry with the need to protect the environment?