More than a million Californians have left the state since 2006, according to the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office, with many of them choosing Texas for their new home. Many more are considering it.
In a study commissioned by the Los Angeles Times, UC Berkeley asked more than 4,500 registered voters in September two key questions: “Have you given any consideration recently to moving out of California?” and, if so, “What is the main reason why…?” — offering six choices. More than half said they had given either “some” or “serious” consideration to moving, citing the high cost of housing, high taxes, and the state’s political culture as the top three reasons.
In San Francisco, for example, housing prices have risen so high that one engineer made headlines when it was learned that he is paying $1,400 a month to live in a closet. In Los Angeles a renter earning $13.25 an hour would have to work 79 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom apartment.
The state has the highest income tax rates of any other state in the union.
And as for the “political culture,” examples abound. So crazy have Democrats running the state become that legislation has been introduced to change the state’s healthcare system into a single-payer system costing $40 billion in just the first year. This would be on top of the state government’s budget of $136 billion.
The governor signed into law a bill reclassifying shoplifting as a misdemeanor, resulting in an increase in both shoplifting and petty theft throughout the state. In San Francisco the law change has resulted in the establishment of gangs who shoplift in broad daylight and then sell the goods on the black market to pay for their drugs. So crazy is Sacramento that Governor Gavin Newsom just signed into law a bill allowing illegal immigrants to serve on state boards that make policy in the state. This is intended, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, “to integrate immigrants further into society.” Too, Newsom just signed into law a bill that forces colleges to provide free abortions on campus. And so on.
Gas costs more than $4 a gallon, with drivers paying $5 in some areas. Wildfires are threatening, power outages are becoming commonplace, the “Ring of Fire” is being blamed for the magnitude 6.4 earthquake that hit southern California on July 4, traffic is ghastly (USA Today says that Los Angeles’ traffic is the worst in the nation), the state’s infrastructure is failing, and thanks to unchecked illegal immigration crime is increasing.
The state rests firmly at the very bottom of Chief Executive Magazine’s list of “Best and Worst States for Business.” As the group noted, “The Golden State just doesn’t care about how expensive or difficult it is to do business there. So it keeps hogging the bottom of the Chief Executive list.”
With the exodus showing no evidence of slowing, California is becoming more and more a state of “haves” and “have-nots” — the very wealthy coexisting with the poorest of the poor. It’s no wonder that a million citizens have left the Golden State. They’re getting out while they still can.
Photo: choness / iStock / Getty Images Plus
An Ivy League graduate and former investment advisor, Bob is a regular contributor to The New American, primarily on economics and politics. He can be reached at [email protected].
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