Posted on 12/12/2012 9:37:46 PM PST by blam
55 Reasons Why California Is The Worst State In America
By Michael Snyder
December 12th, 2012
Why in the world would anyone want to live in the state of California at this point? The entire state is rapidly becoming a bright, shining example of everything that is wrong with America. It is so sad to watch our most populated state implode right in front of our eyes. Like millions of Americans, I was quite enamored with the state of California when I was younger. The warm weather, the beaches, the great natural beauty of the state and the mystique of Hollywood all really appealed to me. At one point I even thought that I wanted to move there. But today, hordes of Californians are racing to get out of the state because it has become a total nightmare.
It is the worst state in the country in which to do business, taxes were just raised even higher, unemployment is more than 20 percent higher than the national average and the state government is drowning in debt. Meanwhile, poverty, gang activity and crime just seem to get worse with each passing year. On top of everything else, the insane politicians in Sacramento just keep on passing more laws that make the problems that the state is facing even worse. Unfortunately, what is happening in California may be a preview of what is coming to the entire nation. The old adage, "as California goes, so goes the nation", has been proven to be true way too many times.
In dozens of different ways, the state of California is showing the rest of us what not to do. Will we learn from their mistakes, or will we follow them into oblivion? Please share the list below with as many people as you can. In addition to a large amount of new research, this list also pulled heavily from one of my previous articles and from outstanding research done by Richard Rider. The following are 55 reasons why California is the worst state in America...
1. One survey of business executives has ranked California as the worst state in America to do business for 8 years in a row.
2. In 2011, the state of California ranked 50th out of all 50 states in new business creation.
3. According to one recent study, California is the worst-governed state in the entire country.
4. Thanks to Proposition 30, California now boasts the highest state income tax rate in the nation.
5. Even though California just raised taxes dramatically on the wealthy, state revenues are falling like a rock. State revenue for November 2012 was 10.8 percent below projections.
6. California has the highest sales tax rate in the United States.
7. California has the 8th highest corporate income tax rate in the country.
8. California has the highest "minimum corporate tax" in the country. Each corporation must pay at least $800 to the state even if a corporation does not make a single dollar of profit.
9. California is tied with New York for the highest gasoline tax rate in the country.
10. California is the only state in America that taxes carbon emissions.
11. The state of California issues some of the most expensive traffic tickets in the nation. This is another form of taxation.
12. As of October, only Nevada and Rhode Island had higher unemployment rates than California.
13. The unemployment rate in California is more than 20 percent higher than the overall unemployment rate for the rest of the nation.
14. The state of California requires licenses for 177 different occupations (the most in the nation). The national average is only 92.
15. California teachers are the highest paid in the nation, but California students rank 48th in math and 49th in reading.
16. California accounts for 12 percent of the U.S. population, but a whopping 33 percent of Americans that receive TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) live there.
17. Only the state of Illinois has a lower bond rating than the state of California does.
18. Including unfunded pension liabilities, the state of California has more than twice as much debt as any other state does.
19. Average pay for California state workers has risen by more than 100 percent since 2005. That is good news for those state employees, but it is bad news for the taxpayers that have to pay their salaries.
20. More than 5,000 California state troopers made more than $100,000 last year.
21. One highway patrol officer ended up bringing home almost $484,000 in 2011.
22. One state psychiatrist in California was paid $822,000 in 2011.
23. Since 2007, the number of children living in poverty in the state of California has increased by 30 percent.
24. Sadly, an astounding 60 percent of all students attending California public schools now qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches.
25. The American Tort Reform Association has ranked the state of California as the worst "judicial hellhole" in America.
26. Businesses all over the state of California are being absolutely suffocated to death by ridiculous regulations.
27. According to the Milken Institute, operating costs for California businesses are 23 percent higher than the national average.
28. According to CNN, the state of California had the worst "small business failure rate" in America in 2010. It was 69 percent higher than the national average.
29. The number of people unemployed in the state of California is roughly equivalent to the populations of Nevada, New Hampshire and Vermont combined.
30. Residential customers in California pay about 29 percent more for electricity than the national average.
31. So many poor people and illegal aliens have taken advantage of the "free" healthcare at emergency rooms that many of them have been forced to shut down in California. As a result, the state of California now ranks dead last out of all 50 states in the number of emergency rooms per million people.
32. Political correctness is totally out of control in California.
33. One California town is actually considering making it illegal to smoke in your own backyard.
34. The traffic around the big cities is horrific.
35. Los Angeles
36. San Francisco
37. Oakland
38. Stockton
39. Sacramento
40. The rampant gang activity in the state gets even worse with each passing year.
41. Crime continues to rise all over the state.
42. Just recently, the city attorney of San Bernardino, California told citizens to "lock their doors and load their guns" because there is not enough money to pay for adequate police protection any longer.
43. The murder rate in San Bernardino is up 50 percent this year.
44. In Oakland, burglaries are up 43 percent so far this year.
45. Today, Oakland is considered the 5th most violent city in the United States.
46. There have been more than 250 gold chain robberies in Stockton, California just since the month of April.
47. In Stockton, the police budget cuts got so bad that the police union put up a billboard at one point with the following message: "Welcome to the 2nd most dangerous city in California. Stop laying off cops."
48. Jerry Brown.
49. The absolutely insane California state legislature.
50. Wildfires.
51. Mudslides.
52. The state of California lies directly along the infamous "Ring of Fire". Approximately 90 percent of all the earthquakes in the entire world happen along the Ring of Fire and the "Big One" could hit the state at any moment.
53. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 100,000 more people moved out of the state of California in 2011 than moved into it.
54. During 2011, more than 58,000 people moved from California to the state of Texas.
55. Overall, the state of California has experienced a net loss of about four million residents to other states over the past 20 years.
Well it’s absolutely beautiful where I live and the food is wonderful. Oh and Darrell Issa is my representative. I can’t really help it if the rest of the state is bonkers.
” During 2011, more than 58,000 people moved from California to the state of Texas. “
Yup. Just a like diseased jackass, they bring their own libtard ideas that ruined their state in the first place.
My wife and i being 5th generation So. Californians haven’t fouond any place in the US that even comes close and we will die here!!!!
bump!
“...haven’t fouond any place in the US that even comes close and we will die here!!!!”
I’d love to move out of this hell hole state if only there was a better one to live in.
Crime is certainly up in spots, but I’m not sure statewide. Los Angeles has had year over year double digit drops in crime for quite few years running, and the crime rate is where it was in the 1950’s. Our government certainly sucks, illegal aliens have overrun huge swaths of the state, but if you can afford to live in a decent neighborhood, you can still enjoy a quality of life that would be hard to top anywhere else. Of course, with every passing year, that becomes an increasingly big “if”.
From the 2011 Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity:
"The states with the highest rates of entrepreneurial activity were Arizona (520 per 100,000 adults), Texas (440 per 100,000 adults), California (440 per 100,000 adults), Colorado (420 per 100,000 adults), and Alaska (410 per 100,000 adults). The states with the lowest rates of entrepreneurial activity were West Virginia (150 per 100,000 adults), Pennsylvania (160 per 100,000 adults), Hawaii (180 per 100,000 adults), Illinois (200 per 100,000 adults), Indiana (200 per 100,000 adults), and Virginia (200 per 100,000 adults)."
Did he hold any free public meetings this last election cycle?
Multiple choice question: How's that weather where you are?
[] Cold with snow.
[] Cold with no snow.
[] Cold is not the word for it, try sub-zero.
[] Cold but it's shoveling my driveway that is the problem.
[] Cold and sick of calling friends in California in the dead of winter only to find out they had to get out of the pool to answer the phone.
Completely uprooting one’s life and moving to a different state can be hard for some, especially when your friends, social life, and extended family are left behind. It’s easier for say college students or young professionals, but once people settle down, moving can be almost traumatic. Change really can be hard. Being born and raised in California I know how badly it’s fallen. Quaint cities near my hometown are overrun with illegals, traffic is bad, and the cookie-cutter urban sprawl continues into what used to be calm agricultural areas. My parents and siblings all still live there, and when asked about the things in the article, they usually say something along the lines of we know, but we tolerate it because California offers other things that offset the bad stuff. I visit from time to time, but always breathe a sigh of relief when leaving.
but you can still walk around San Fransicko town buck naked and (despite a recent board of supervisors measure that barely, so to speak, passed anyway...) ...nobody expects the police to give you any real trouble, especially since they can’t respond to all the burglaries and car thefts already.....AND you can strut your stuff naked in the streets for sure with 50,000 other hunks in the world-famous annual Gay Pride Parade, and even go home to see yourself on TV!
Oh yes, that same wise board of supervisors is getting ready to pass another ordinance, this a “homeless bill of rights”... specifically authorizing the street bums to continue pissing or crapping on the sidewalks ... and SF promises free medical care to all comers, particularly if your behavior gets you AIDs, which is widespread in town for obvious reasons...... AND.... SF has marijuana stores all over the place...just walk in and they’ll sell you any of 300 blends of maryJane...and the welfare is easy and generous, and there are do-good charities all over the place to give you pretty much whatever you need anyway ..so you can use your welfare check to buy booze or more drugs..
certainly all that really GREAT stuff makes up for those 55 petty little bad things you listed!?
#56 Because they screwed up Colorado! /s
>”12. As of October, only Nevada and Rhode Island had higher unemployment rates than California”<
I think the reason for that is that Harry Reid lives in Nevada and Peter Griffin lives in Rhode Island.
enjoy paying the extra taxes for crap.....and the legislature is sufficiently commie dominated that the state will soon look worse than Greece.
that you will......and you will be over run by the mexicans coming north and the gangs that are associated with some of the worst drug cartel activity....just because a place is pretty does not mean it is livable. the truth is long ago California lost its luster and became over run with some of the very wort of the worst
that just means that california has a lot of venture capitalists spending money out here....you know on great things like Solyndra and high speed rail to bakersfield
Let me guess that the entitled class of ‘Pornians haven’t noticed anything amiss yet.
But we know where to keep our snow where it is easy to get to but not in the driveway.
Most people from here would wear a coat today because the high was only 65o.
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