Occasionally on social media a photo-shopped road sign is posted to mimic those seen when leaving the golden state. It says, “Leaving California? Was it something we taxed?”
An epidemic of taxes, fees and egregious regulatory obstacles have afflicted the lives of citizens though not the care of law makers or environmentalists. In fact, extreme greenies pray people leave so the state may return to the wild.
In 2018, nearly 700,000 divorced California and the departures have been increasing annually. The freedom refugees are not the welfare and food stamp lot, addicts and criminals, but rather taxpayers, young families, and small business risk-takers wanting a better life and government-lite.
They are destined for other states seeking freedom, gun and ammo rights, lower taxes, less rules, and more buying power. Recently, a trucker posted a photo of his breakfast and the bill in the Midwest that was just half the cost of the same meal in Yuba-Sutter. You get a straw without asking and no one barfing near the front door.
California gasoline is nearly $2.00 more than in other states and will get worse. Governor Newsom stopped ‘fracking’ and now promises the same fate for the state oil industry. Millions of SB1 road dollars were stolen by Newsom to undermine the use of vehicles thereby harassing people to use inefficient buses and trains.
In order to compel people onto the slow and expensive bullet train, fuel prices will have to go way-up, roads abandoned and air travel taxed heavily since trains and buses cannot compete with cost-effective and efficient autos and planes. Remember, Steven Chu, Obama’s Secretary of Energy said gas would need to be at $9 a gallon to pry people from their cars.
The poor and middle class are subsidizing huge tax credits for the wealthy to buy unaffordable-for-most electric vehicles (EV). In fact, EV owners even get an exemption from paying their share of road costs.
Young workers and families are barely able to cover rent let alone buy a home. Mandatory solar and fire sprinklers on new homes along with a myriad of regulatory costs and years to acquire California Environmental Quality Act clearances for new developments make being in the home building business a loser. However, the current housing shortage may be solved by people fleeing the state and creating more vacant homes.
The state is flirting with building Russian-style public housing -- the bunker stack and pack look using taxpayer dollars. The government is the only entity left with deep enough pockets to construct unaffordable housing and then give it away ala taxpayer subsidies.
Newsom and his Capital Comrades are laying regulatory guidelines to eliminate property rights and single family housing. While being assessed with fire parcel taxes and a 1% lumber tax “to fight fires” rural communities have been intentionally put at risk with unmanaged forests, abandoned roadways, and ‘no maintenance’ power lines. Fire insurance companies are now abandoning rural parcels or making rates unaffordable.
Rather than put a gun to people government regulations will cause them to go broke, suffering slowly trying to comply. Citizens will leave voluntarily allowing properties to be repossessed and eventually assumed by the government.
This same strategy is being used to shoo farmers and ranchers from Bureau of Land Management properties. The government makes more and more rules, denies water rights, delays the permitting process and eventually creates criminals of honorable citizens.
Starting in 2020, Governors Brown – Newsom water rationing for indoor use at 55 gallons per person takes effect. In fact, Newsom wants to tax the water. This is a desk top created crisis as there is abundant water here but a lack of will to properly store and deliver it. Liberals routinely push propaganda that farmers are using 80% of all water. It is a nonsensical lie. Water-use is now restricted just like timber, oil and minerals.
A minimum of 50% of all water is set-aside for fish and runs unused to the sea. The formula is based on junk science, superstition, and a nut-case judge’s decision causing tens of thousands of fertile central valley acres to go fallow. Also forfeited is our food supply and thousands of agricultural jobs.
Finally, the PGE debacle is the fruit of a socialist government managing the utility. PGE has been forced to buy solar and wind energy at unprofitable rates and reduce the use of inexpensive fossil fuel and nuclear energy while the government sets the price for the consumer. Forcing PGE to go green bankrupted the utility. Watch for utility rates to double though they are already 60% higher than the national average.
Add sanctuary cities and free health care for illegals, horrible schools telling children deviant sexual behavior is normal, 150,000 addicts and criminals on the streets, 20% poverty and you have a perfect storm for an exodus.
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