Is there any other state that is as stupid as California? Unemployment in California has been sitting at about 12 percent for an extended period of time, and yet they continue to push businesses out of the state by imposing thousands of ridiculous regulations on them and by taxing them into oblivion. Now California is even requiring workers comp for babysitters and paid vacation for nannies. How insane is that? The state government in Sacramento is flat broke and drowning in debt and yet they continue to spend gobs of money on some of the most frivolous things imaginable. Poverty and crime are everywhere, yet California continues to pass legislation that encourages even more illegal immigrants to come in. Unless you have a really, really good reason to stay in the state, it seems rather stupid to stay in California at this point. The economy is in shambles, home prices continue to fall, traffic is worse than ever, crime is rising and poverty is everywhere. Meanwhile, entire portions of the state could be leveled by the next big earthquake at any time. So why in the world would anyone still want to live in California?
Unfortunately, the truth is that the “California Dream” is rapidly becoming a nightmare. The “California” that The Beach Boys and The Mamas & The Papas once sang about is long gone. (Sadly, many of my young readers probably will not even get that reference).
At this point, California has become the land of the idiots. Just check out what a recent Fox News article said would be required in California under a new law….
Under AB 889, household “employers” (aka “parents”) who hire a babysitter on a Friday night will be legally obligated to pay at least minimum wage to any sitter over the age of 18 (unless it is a family member), provide a substitute caregiver every two hours to cover rest and meal breaks, in addition to workers’ compensation coverage, overtime pay, and a meticulously calculated timecard/paycheck.
Failure to abide by any of these provisions may result in a legal cause of action against the employer including cumulative penalties, attorneys’ fees, legal costs and expenses associated with hiring expert witnesses
Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. In fact, this is fairly typical of the state of California these days.
The following are 20 other reasons why California is stupid….
#1 For seven years in a row, a major survey of U.S. CEOs has ranked California as the worst state for business. Yet California lawmakers continue to pile on the rules, regulations and taxes.
#2 Businesses are fleeing the state in droves and the leadership of the state doesn’t seem to care too much. Unemployment in many areas of California is over 20% and the state has lost 1.2 million jobs over the last three years. The number of people unemployed in the state of California is approximately equal to the populations of Nevada, New Hampshire and Vermont combined. Last year, only about 37 percent of the population of the entire state of California had a job.
#3 Residents of California get absolutely hammered by taxes. The state of California currently has the third highest state income tax in the nation: a 9.3% tax bracket at $46,766 and a 10.3% tax bracket at $1,000,000. California also has the highest state sales tax rate in the nation by far at 8.25%. Indiana has the next highest at 7%. In addition, residents of California pay the highest gasoline taxes (over 67 cents per gallon) in the United States.
#4 The politicians in Sacramento love to pass more laws. At this point, just about everything is illegal in California. The number of new laws is absolutely mind blowing. For example, 725 new laws (most of them either completely pointless or completely stupid) went into effect in the state of California on January 1st alone.
#5 Thanks to endless taxes and fees, people that live in California seem to pay more for just about everything. For example, residents of California pay some of the highest electricity prices in the entire nation.
#6 As businesses flee and the economy decays, many California towns are being transformed into hellholes. The following is an excerpt from a recent New York Times article that describes what is going on in Vallejo, California….
Vallejo is still in bankruptcy. The police force has shrunk from 153 officers to 92. Calls for any but the most serious crimes go unanswered. Residents who complain about prostitutes or vandals are told to fill out a form. Three of the city’s firehouses were closed. Last summer, a fire ravaged a house in one of the city’s better neighborhoods; one of the firetrucks came from another town, 15 miles away. Is this America’s future?
#7 California has some of the worst public schools in the nation. In the late 70s, California was number one in per-pupil spending on education, but now the state has fallen to 48th place. Instead of focusing on the basics, lawmakers keep passing bills requiring even more hardcore “politically correct” indoctrination of California’s young children. In one school district in California, children as young as five years old are being forced to watch propaganda films that tout the benefits of “alternative lifestyles”, and parents are being told that no “opting out” will be permitted.
#8 As bad as things are now, the future looks even worse for California. The problems are obvious but nobody seems to want to fix them. Forbes recently compiled a list entitled “Cities Where The Economy May Get Worse“. Six of the top seven spots were held by cities in California.
#9 The state of California is now dealing with millions upon millions of people that have developed an “entitlement mentality”. Incredibly, 60 percent of all students attending California public schools now qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches.
#10 Huge numbers of poor people and illegal aliens are taking advantage of “free” medical care at hospital emergency rooms and this has caused dozens of hospitals across the state of California to completely shut down. 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.
#11 The entire state has become one big episode of “L.A. Law”. According to the Institute for Legal Reform, the “lawsuit climate” in California is ranked number 46 out of all 50 states.
#12 Even though the state government is Sacramento tries to legislate virtually everything, the reality is that there are vast stretches of central California that nobody seems to care about anymore. In fact, there are quite a few areas that now closely resemble war zones. The following is how Victor Davis Hansen described what he experienced during his recent tour of the “forgotten areas of central California”….
Many of the rural trailer-house compounds I saw appear to the naked eye no different from what I have seen in the Third World . There is a Caribbean look to the junked cars, electric wires crisscrossing between various outbuildings, plastic tarps substituting for replacement shingles, lean-tos cobbled together as auxiliary housing, pit bulls unleashed, and geese, goats, and chickens roaming around the yards. The public hears about all sorts of tough California regulations that stymie business – rigid zoning laws, strict building codes, constant inspections – but apparently none of that applies out here.
Hansen also says that he observed that people in these areas are doing whatever they can to survive….
At crossroads, peddlers in a counter-California economy sell almost anything. Here is what I noticed at an intersection on the west side last week: shovels, rakes, hoes, gas pumps, lawnmowers, edgers, blowers, jackets, gloves, and caps. The merchandise was all new. I doubt whether in high-tax California sales taxes or income taxes were paid on any of these stop-and-go transactions.
In two supermarkets 50 miles apart, I was the only one in line who did not pay with a social-service plastic card (gone are the days when “food stamps” were embarrassing bulky coupons).
#13 Due to the economic downturn, budget cuts in many California cities have become severe. In many areas essential social services are being shut down. For example, the police chief of Oakland, California announced last year that due to very deep 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. Today, Oakland is considered the 5th most violent city in the United States.
#14 Crime is rising all over California but the police layoffs just keep on coming. 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.”
#15 Illegal immigration is a massive financial drain on the state, and yet California lawmakers just passed the “Dream Act” which gives even more benefits to illegal aliens.
#16 The Los Angeles area was once one of the most beautiful areas in America. But now it is being transformed into a crime-ridden war zone. The following is a comment that a reader identified as JF left on a recent article….
I work in law enforcement in LA (I fortunately don’t live there). LA is a third world country, trash everywhere, graffiti, gangs (mostly Hispanic). I’m sick of illegals primarily Mexicans (I’m American of Mexican descent). These liberal politicians will not stop aid to illegals which costs this state 21 billion dollars a year, which is about the same as our current deficit. I earn a pretty decent income and my wife has a meager salary, but it seems to get more and more difficult to earn a living in this state. If I can make it to retirement, I’m probably going to leave this state.
Another reader identified as Rob left the following comment….
I have lived here off and on for 42 years. Hellhole is not strong enough a word for it. One cannot go anywhere without seeing Graffitti from these gangs. Illegal Aliens are literally on every corner and every home depot. LA County alone spent 600 million in aid to illegal aliens not including education being factored in and the state spent 110 billion last year on just programs, welfare, aid to illegal entitlement programs, no ******** wonder why we are broke, the liberal agenda out here is astonishing, these liberals literally couldnt see the forest through the trees. I am so sick of seeing Nortenos, Surenos, LaFamilia, and other hispanic gangs crowding our prisons, illegals underage having their anchor babies, illegals crowding the ER’s, crowding the schools. No wonder why the teachers are pissed off. I agree, this state sucks, and we will be moving very soon.
#17 Instead of sealing the border, California just seems to be encouraging even more illegal cross-border traffic. Therefore it is likely that the state will have even more problems with Mexican gangs and drug cartels. Already things are at epidemic levels. Approximately 75 tunnels along the U.S. border with Mexico have been discovered by law enforcement authorities in the last four years alone.
#18 California is being transformed into a very frightening place. To get an idea of where California is headed, just consider the following statistic: during one recent 23 year period, the state of California built 23 prisons but just one university.
#19 The state of California has become so desperate for money that it will do just about anything. Today, the state will go after safe deposit boxes if the owners have had “no contact” with the bank for just 3 years.
#20 At this point, California is essentially flat broke. The state of California is facing a $26 billion dollar deficit for this year and hundreds of billions of dollars in future unfunded liabilities. At this point California is treading water financially and nobody knows how much longer the state is going to be able to avoid financial disaster. Meanwhile, lawmakers continue to spend money like it is going out of style.
So what do you think?
Do you think California is stupid?
Please feel free to leave a comment with your opinion below….