CaliFAILia

California was voted “Worst Run State” for the second year in a row last week, by 24/7 Wall St.. Due to high levels of debt with no relief in sight, the our S&P credit rating is the worst in the nation, our Moody’s credit rating is the second-worst. Much of California’s fiscal woes involve the economic downturn along with completely incompetent leadership ( see Pelosi, Feinstein, Boxer, Villaragosa, etc.). Home prices plunged by 33.6%!!! between 2006 and 2011, of course that was spurred by Bill Clinton's housing bubble bursting after forcing banks to give out bad loans (called ninja loans- No Income, No Job or Assets). The state’s foreclosure rate and unemployment rate were the third and second-highest in the country, respectively. The space case Gov. "Moonbeam" Jerry Brown is claiming to be making efforts to get finances on track. Stuck on stupid state voters passed a ballot initiative to raise sales taxes as well as income taxes for people who make at least $250,000 a year but like Obama, Brown will not reduce spending and is still pushing the asinine "High Speed" rail project which is looking to waste $100,000,000,000 that's one hundred billion dollars if you get lost counting all the zeros. While median income is the 10th-highest in the country, we also have one of the highest tax burdens on income. According to the Tax Foundation, the state also has the third-worst business tax climate in the country, businesses are fleeing the state like rats off a sinking ship. Add to that illegals sucking $9 billion out of the pot every year and we have what will soon be a bankrupt state. 

Now I love California, there are moments when you are driving near the coast or looking up at the beautiful mountains, that you forget about the potholes, the traffic, the razor wire around the freeway signs, the weeds, the bums, the hippies, the filth, the bars on the windows and miles and miles of graffiti, where you remember what God put here and get that warm feeling. But then the mess comes flying back in your face and I realize, it's time to go. It's time to leave California like many of my friends have and look for cleaner (not greener) pastures. The problem is California is a vacuum, a trap that sucks you in and holds you. I don't have the money to make a move so I am forced to continue slogging through the sludge looking for the moments of sunlight, be that with friends or seeing it in nature. 

So my advice is RUN, run away from this beautiful nightmare. Pull a John Galt and let it fall into the 9th level of hell and when the filth has burned itself away and the cloud of smug has cleared maybe then we can go back and reclaim the beautiful freedom that was once a cornucopia to the world.

I first saw this poster when I was taking a tour of Ellis Island, it's from the early 1920's