Posted on 01/10/2009 8:42:51 AM PST by SeekAndFind
On Jan. 24, 1848, James Wilson Marshall found gold at Sutter's Mill, in Coloma, Calif., sparking a mad rush of some 300,000 people desiring to strike it rich. San Francisco grew from a tiny hamlet to a boomtown in no time, and in 1850 California entered the Union as the 31st state.
With this history at their back, state leaders might have understood that people have a propensity to get up and move when a better life is to be had elsewhere. But no. After more than 150 years of being a destination, California is becoming a place entrepreneurs, investment capital and the hardy workers who made it a global leader in agriculture, technological innovation and scientific research are fleeing. This exodus is the marker of something deeper than a national recession. It's a sign that the attempts by state leaders to spend their way back to prosperity are killing California.
While it has the sixth highest tax burden in the nation, according to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, California is facing a breathtaking $40 billion budget deficit this year. This comes on the heels of a decade-long spending spree. Last year the state budget was $131 billion, up from $56 billion in 1998.
Citizens are burdened by all manner of state regulations. To mention just one example, this year a new law enacted by ballot initiative bans cages chicken farmers use on the grounds that it is inhuman to put birds in cages that prevent them from spreading their wings. Complying with the new law will cost farmers hundreds of millions of dollars, which will force many to leave the state. And that will force us to buy our eggs from other states and, possibly, others nations, such as Mexico.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
And we have too many liberal Yankees moving to Alabama!
If the politicos in Washington were not such arrogant, condescending assholes, they could look at California as a projector of where the US is heading.
But, “they know best.” So we’re stuck.
Texas
I'll bet you hear this all the time from the Kalifornia transplants: "It's nice here, but it would be better if..."...? Or how about, "That's great, but we used to do it like..."...?
You're pissin' in the wind, avacado. We said the same thing here in Nevada years ago, to no avail....
......NOT LOOKING GOOD AT ALL.......
Looking good to me....
Like Gaza where Hamas must die before there is any possibility of change, Californis must become violently ill and puke up all the marxistenvirowackohippiequeeahhomeless bugs that cause the problem.
Until the days when good guys will insult their leftist neighbors on the street or classroom or church, nothing will happen
Isn’t Kalifornia a microcosm of what the US has become — taxes, labor unions and government interference in our daily lives?
On the one hand, I want to see the Left-wing leadership of the state drive California into the ground -- to illustrate the folly of "progressive" politics.
But on the other hand, that scenario could be economically catastrophic for the rest of the country, as what happens in California never stays in California.
It reminds me of the classic old joke:
What is the definition of mental conflict?
Watching your mother-in-law drive off a cliff -- in YOUR new car!
California used to be the place you went to to get away from excessive laws and taxes. Massive migration has changed all that. It’s hard to find people in California that were born in California. I’m going to hang in there with hope that all the foreigners leave. (My family has been here since 1780)
That’s ok.
We’ll just open more chicken farms here in Washington.
“. (My family has been here since 1780)”
You’ve got me beat....1850.
1/4 of the state of California are illegals who pay no tax and make the other 3/4’s of the legal citizens pay for their housing, healthcare, car crashes, prison, etc while they send the money out of our economy to another country.
California citizens did this to themselves by refusing to enforce immigration laws. Now, they are bankrupted by the colossal spending and unending taxes.
Once the remaining large employers flee the state, the house of cards will come crashing down.
> California is hopeless.
So is New York !!!
When I was a kid California was a friendly western state. During the late 60's to early 80's there was a flood of very liberal eastern types that turned California into the $%!thole it has become. Take it from an native ex-Californian. Remember the old black and white Lassie show? Yep, California was really that great one time. Of course, that California does not exist any more either. And many of the people now leaving are the ones, (or their children,) that came and created the mess in the first place.
And these are net numbers. Think what they would be if all those illegals were not pouring in. Yikes!
>>It’s impossible unless you create a visa for interstate migration. For better or worse, this is the UNITED States of America. People who cause problems in one state by voting in the wrong people will abandon the state’s problems for greener pastures.
There are already laws on the books limiting where child molesters can live. Perhaps a similar law should be passed limiting Democrats.
And then they move to states where taxes are lower and conditions are more favorable and bring their voting habits with them, thus changing the business landscape. And, yes, it is irritating.
“It’s as if the government believed it’s own fairy tale...”
They have to continue believing the fairy tale or they’ll have to admit that they are wrong, which will never happen.
The Mexicans are looting California from their perches in government in Sacramento.
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