Sorry pumpkin, I’m a native Californian. Worked for the state for 25 years. I probably know more about the inner workings of the state government than most readers of this site. Most of the jobs created in the state in the past 10-15 years have been SERVICE jobs. Not something that one wants in a vibrant, diverse economy. The northern half of the state has also suffered from the prolonged drought. How much longer do you think the northerners are going to allow their water to be siphoned off to provide green lawns for the south?? As for the ‘mountains, redwoods, and so on’, not a lot of food being grown in those regions,uh? Knowing a few growers in the Central Valley, they are suffering from decreasing water supplies. A number of those mentioned lakes and rivers are located on the EASTERN side of the Sierras so obtaining water from those sources is somewhat cost prohibitive, legal and otherwise. As for Lake Tahoe, forget about it. NO additional water is coming from that lake for any additional California ‘growth’. As for Silicon Valley, just like most of Wall Street, a goodly % of those firms are operating on debt, increasing debt at that, and with ANY raising of interest rates they will go poof. The state has a large population because of location, weather, potential for work (service sector), and because it offers some of the most liberal benefits of any state in the union. Everything from pensions to welfare...in some eyes the same thing. Don’t get me wrong, I want the state to prosper, I want your budgets to have surpluses, I want the state to be able to meet ALL of it’s financial obligations. However, like I told you before, I am VERY familiar with Sacramento. I know of it’s true economic condition, the ongoing water problems Sacramento knows will not abate for the foreseeable future, the TRUE crime rate that is making more and more of it’s cities cesspools. But if you’re happy there, so be it. Just keep those tax revenues coming in...by whatever means possible.
Bye.