California Is Broke - Why It May Be Time For Everyone To Leave The State Of California For Good

The Economic Collapse ^ | 10-25-2010

[blam]

California Is Broke - 19 Reasons Why It May Be Time For Everyone To Leave The State Of California For Good

Back in the 1960s and 1970s, there was a seemingly endless parade of pop songs about how great life was in California, and millions of young Americans dreamed of moving to the land of sandy beaches and golden sunshine. But now all of that has changed. Today, millions of Californians are dreaming about leaving the state for good. The truth is that California is broke. The economy of the state is in shambles.
The official unemployment rate has been sitting above 12 percent for an extended period of time, and poverty is everywhere. For many Californians today, there are very few reasons to stay in the state but a whole lot of reasons to leave: falling housing prices, rising crime, budget cuts, rampant illegal immigration, horrific traffic, some of the most brutal tax rates in the nation, increasing gang violence and the ever present threat of wildfires, mudslides and natural disasters.
The truth is that it is easy to understand why there are now more Americans moving out of California each year than there are Americans moving into the state. California has become a complete and total disaster zone in more ways than one, and an increasing number of Californians are deciding that enough is enough and they are getting out for good.

Sadly, the state of California is facing such a wide array of social, economic, and political problems that it is hard to even document them all. It is really one huge gigantic mess at this point.

Just consider the following facts about what life is like in the state of California today....

#1 Unemployment in the state of California was 12.4% in September - one of the highest rates in the nation.

#2 The number of people unemployed in the state of California is approximately equivalent to the populations of Nevada, New Hampshire and Vermont combined.

#3 Not even state government jobs are safe in California these days. Last month, government agencies in California slashed a total of 37,300 jobs.

#4 California has the third highest state income tax in the nation: a 9.55% tax bracket at $47,055 and a 10.55% bracket at $1,000,000.

#5 California has the highest state sales tax rate in the nation by far at 8.25%. Indiana has the next highest at 7%.

#6 Residents of California pay the highest gasoline taxes (over 67 cents per gallon) in the United States.

#7 Even with all of the taxes, the budget deficit for the California state government for the current year is approximately 19 billion dollars.

#8 According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, California's unfunded pension liability is estimated to be somewhere between $120 billion and $500 billion.

#9 20 percent of the residents of Los Angeles County are now receiving public aid.

#10 Budget cuts are making life very difficult in many California cities. For example, Oakland, California Police Chief Anthony Batts says that due to severe budget cuts there are a number of crimes that his department will simply not be able to respond to any longer. The crimes that the Oakland police will no longer be responding to include grand theft, burglary, car wrecks, identity theft and vandalism.

Things have gotten so bad in Stockton, California that the police union put up a billboard with the following message: "Welcome to the 2nd most dangerous city in California. Stop laying off cops."

#11 According to one survey, approximately 1 in 4 Californians under the age of 65 had absolutely no health insurance last year.

#12 California's poverty rate soared to 15.3 percent in 2009, which was the highest in 11 years.

#13 California's overstretched health care system is also on the verge of collapse. Dozens of California hospitals and emergency rooms have shut down over the last decade because they could not afford to stay open after being endlessly swamped by illegal immigrants and poor Californians who were simply not able to pay for the services they were receiving. As a result, the remainder of the health care system in the state of California is now beyond overloaded. This had led to brutally long waits, diverted ambulances and even unnecessary patient deaths.

#14 California home builders began construction on 1,811 homes during the month of August, which was down 77% from August 2006.

#15 Earlier this year, it was reported that in the area around Sacramento, California there was one closed business for every six that were still open.

#16 The "lawsuit climate" in California is ranked number 46 out of all 50 states.

#17 Residents of California pay some of the highest electricity prices in the entire nation.

#18 Over 20 percent of California homeowners are now underwater on their mortgages.

#19 Large tent cities have been springing up all over the state of California. Just check out the following shocking video news report....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRLupIRhrmg

So why doesn't the state government of California just fix many of these problems? Well, the truth is that it simply cannot. The state government is flat broke. Earlier this year, Bob Herbert of the New York Times described California's massive budget problems this way....

California has cut billions of dollars from its education system, including its renowned network of public colleges and universities. Many thousands of teachers have been let go. Budget officials travel the state with a glazed look in their eyes, having tried everything they can think of to balance the state budget. And still the deficits persist. So is there any hope that all this can be turned around?

Is there any hope that the economy of California will recover?

Or will California continue to experience a rapid decline?

[Frantzie]

People leaving CA are like people leaving NJ and other NEw states - they are locust. They want things to be like back home and ruin those states. I have a few idiot relatives from the NE who have moved to SC/NC.

[rovenstinez]

I went shopping in the Goodwill Stores in California, and no one has any good stuff to give away, it’s all real junk. The quality of life dropped in many ways, trash on the streets, courtesy in driving, the State has gone South.

[clamper1797]

I moved to Phoenix from Calif in January ... I don’t miss it at all

[circlecity]

Not much can be done about all those unfunded pension mandates. The bill is finally due and the man is at the door.

[BiggieLittle]

There should be a law that these locust people cannot move to other states. They could eat the crops.

[brytlea]

Yup, years ago people from CA started moving into NM and jacked up house prices and brought their stupid ideas with them. People from NY and NJ did the same thing to S. FL. They ruin an area and then they leave. If they learned their lesson it would be one thing, but they don’t. They immediately want to make the place they go into what they left.

[Red Badger]

The house of cards that is California will soon collapse under its own weight.
It being the most populous state, will send tens of millions of refugees eastward to Arizona, New Mexico and Texas and Florida, but NOT south to OLD Mexico.
The manmade economic disaster that is California will devastate the rest of the US and spread like a California brushfire in a Santa Anna wind....................

[Brett66]

California has a long ways to go before it’s Detroit, so stay there until the Mexicans declare it part of Mexico and we build a wall around it to keep them from moving out.

[LibFreeUSA]

Why would any ‘hard working’ American want to live in a state who’s main goal is to take from the hard workers and give to the non-producers.

[La Lydia]

And we would see how the illegal aliens like having to shift for themselves once the last gainfully employed taxpayer leaves the state.

[Kartographer]

The NEW ballad of Jed Clampett
Come and listen to a story ‘bout a man named Jed
Poor oil entrepreneur barely kept his family fed
Then one day he was working for some food,
And up through the crowd come a bumbling fool
(Arnold that is, RINO gold, more taxes please)

Well the first thing you know old Jed’s taxes are to much to bear,
Kin folk said Jed move away from there!
Said California is no place for you to be
So they loaded up the truck and they moved from Beverly
(go’n back to the Hills they are, fish’n holes, country and western stars)

Well now it’s time to say goodbye to Jed and all his kin
They would like to thank you folks for kindly dropping in
You’re all invited back again to their new locality
To have a heaping helping of their hospitality
(Redneck Hillbillies, is what the press call ‘em now,
Clingers of bibles and guns and to Obama no bow!
Nice folks Y’all come back now, ya hear?)

[El Cid]

Privatize the K-12 schools.
That's > $30B/year.
Find other programs to eliminate.
And somehow, some way ... figure out how to rework the absurd pension plans. Perhaps this means municipalities need to declare bankruptcy - but no one can afford to pay people 90% of their formal annual salaries when they retire - for the rest of their lives. This is robbery.

There ... that wasn't so hard.

[re_nortex]

...the State has gone South.

Hmmm...I wonder if we'll have to come with a new term? :-)

Gone South.

With a few notable exceptions, The South is the now the best region of America in my estimation. It's generally pro-business, pro-gun, right-to-work, low-tax, Republican, Conservative and God-fearing.

[teletech]

This is what happens when you put liberal leftists in charge. NO BAILOUT! The voters of California made their bed now they can lay in it.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

The federal government will bail out California.

[Hodar]

And for every American that flees California, there are a dozen illegals laying claim to the benefits of living in the USA and having someone else pick up the tab.

Locking down the border, then evicting every illegal in the state would be a GOOD first step.

[Artemis Webb]

California has nobody to blame but itself. Yet it continues to do all the things that got it into the financial mess that it is. Doubtless when things get even worse CA will come crying to the federal government for a massive bailout but they should not get it.

I have some people I love deeply in California. I care about them...the rest of the state can rot.

[Rashputin]

Thank God that at least all those poor and homeless will be getting healthier every day since they can’t buy potatos with their food stamps.

Regards

[dogcaller]

As a long-time resident of the Old Dominion I keep a sharp eye on the socialist kleptocracy in Sacramento. When they have run out of accounting tricks that would put anyone in the private sector in prison they will demand that Obama cut them a big check. Our leading edge failed state will expect Virginians, Texans and citizens of other prudently run states to make good their public pension promises and to pay for their world-class system of bike paths. A Republican house would not go for this but the Poseur could dip into the Stimulus stash for California (and Michigan,New York, Illinois, etc.)