Idaho has had hard times in the tax department too. The consequence is that we are going face a 1% increase in sales tax to 6% to compensate. Personal income tax tops out at 7.8% for everything over 40,000. My residential property tax is steep at around $3,000 on a $179,000 house. BTW, $179,000 buys 3900 sq ft on 1/3 acre in a very nice neighborhood.
The list of new tax proposals in breathtaking. The one that caught my eye was the local income tax. A city will be allowed to levy up to 8%. The county up to 2%. You could conceivably lose another 10% of your income.
The push for state mandated socialized medicine is going to be very destructive for businesses. It will probably be the straw that breaks the camel's back for small businesses that are barely surviving in the current market.
I was reading through this thread and sharing the tax proposals with my wife. More than ever, she is comforted that we made the right decision to leave California in 2000. Idaho has its share of problems, but they are totally insignificant compared to what has transpired in Calfornia since left.
I moved around the U.S. quite a bit when I was growing up. Watching snow fall was always intriguing to me as a California native. Our total annual precipation in the Pocatello area is around 15 inches...just like San Diego, CA. Summers vary between 86 and 103 degrees with no annoying humidity. My primary annoyance is having to drive 46 miles north to Idaho Falls to indulge in a Barnes & Noble bookstore. Online purchases from Amazon can fill the void if you know exactly what you want, but its not quite like shopping in person.
We don't have silly firearm regulations either. Buy it and take it home the same day. A CCW requires the same questions to be answered as any form 4473, a set of fingerprints, a $56 check and 90 days wait while the FBI does the background check. The local outdoor range has a club house, covered shooting bays, special concrete support bays for bench rest shooters, a full set of silhouette critters and special rails at 50 yard intervals and a total distance of 1000 yards. It costs $35 per year for unlimited use for the whole family. Class III is Ok in Idaho too.
The push for socialism in general is going to bankrupt all of the USA. For those who think that a big economy can't collapse all at once, look to the USSR.
I appreciate the info about Idaho. I chose Texas because it is central and you can get a great house 5 miles from DFW for about 1/3 to 1/4 of what one costs here in Los Angeles. Also, Texas doesn't have income tax. I spent almost a year in Fort Worth, so I am familiar with the aream and that helps.
Of course, the downside is that Texas is filled with Texans, but that can't be helped... ;)
(Note my soon to be new neighbors -- it's just a joke, folks!)