XPost: alt.california, alt.politics.democrats, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns   
   From: leroysoetoro@americans-first.com   
      
   https://amac.us/newsline/economy/do-californians-realize-how-badly-theyre-   
   getting-ripped-off/   
      
   Let’s say you paid top dollar to go to a fancy, five-star restaurant, and   
   the waiter served you warmed-over McDonald’s. Would you ever go back?   
      
   Maybe, if you didn’t know any better.   
      
   I started thinking about that after I recently changed my residency from   
   Virginia to California (for reasons I won’t go into) and noticed that my   
   state income taxes had gone up by more than 33%.   
      
   Over the course of the year, I will pay California $2,115 more than I’d   
   been paying in Virginia, which is hardly a low-tax state (Virginia has the   
   14th highest income tax burden in the country). Not only are income taxes   
   higher, California’s sales tax is 66% higher, and the gasoline tax is   
   almost double Virginia’s. Those are just the ones I know about.   
      
   So, I decided to look into what exactly I’m getting for the five-star cost   
   of California’s government for basic services governments are expected to   
   provide.   
      
   It’s infuriating. California is ripping off its taxpayers big time.   
   Consider:   
      
   Crime: Despite having roughly the same number of police officers per   
   capita, California has a “crime index” that is 47% higher than Virginia’s,   
   and California has the sixth-highest rate of violent crime of all 50   
   states. Virginia has the 14th lowest.   
      
   Education: If you’re a teacher, California is a great place to live. They   
   are the highest paid in the nation and have the fourth-lowest student-to-   
   teacher ratio. But if you’re a parent? Your children are getting screwed.   
   Eighth-grade reading, math, science, and writing scores are significantly   
   below the national average, while Virginia’s are significantly higher.   
   Virginia ranks 7 in average SAT scores, and California comes in 23rd.   
      
   Infrastructure: Despite having the nation’s highest gasoline taxes,   
   California ranks in the bottom three when it comes to road conditions,   
   with more than 25% of its roads in serious need of repair. In Virginia,   
   just 9% of its roads are in poor shape.   
      
   Opportunity: How much economic opportunity are California’s sky-high taxes   
   buying? None. The state ranks dead last in U.S. News and World Report’s   
   “opportunity” ranking. And it ranks 47th in the Rich States, Poor States   
   ranking of economic outlook.   
      
   It has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 5.5%, the most   
   people on welfare, and the most homeless people.   
      
   It has the most progressive income tax yet is the fifth-worst state when   
   it comes to income inequality. (Virginia comes in 29th on tax   
   progressivity and 22nd on income inequality.)   
      
   It is the least affordable state for housing. Virginia is 35th.   
      
   Fiscal responsibility. Incredibly, despite the fact that California is one   
   of the highest-tax states in the nation, it ranks No. 42 in U.S. News and   
   World Report’s ranking for fiscal stability.   
      
   And it’s getting worse as out-of-control costs and the flight of hundreds   
   of thousands out of the state have left yawning budget gaps. A new Reason   
   Foundation study finds that California is almost half a trillion dollars   
   in debt, which is more than twice New York’s. (Virginia is $35 billion in   
   debt.)   
      
   And then there is the criminal amount of waste and fraud.   
      
   Gov. Gavin Newsom spent $37 billion to fight homelessness only to see the   
   number of homeless climb from 151,000 in 2019 to about 187,000   
   today—prompting a federal criminal investigation.   
      
   The state’s Medicaid spending nearly doubled in six years, and almost one-   
   half of that was due to free health care given to illegal immigrants.   
      
   The state lost $20 billion in COVID-19-related federal unemployment   
   money—the most of any state.   
      
   In 2014, California voters overwhelmingly approved a $7.5 billion water   
   bond proposal, nearly $3 billion of which was set aside to build new   
   reservoirs. More than a decade later, not a single new reservoir has been   
   built.   
      
   In 2018, former Gov. Jerry Brown signed a $1 billion bill that was   
   supposed to improve land management to “prevent catastrophic wildfires and   
   protect Californians.” In 2019, Newsom’s wildfire “strike force” said,   
   “Over the next five years, the state will commit over $1 billion for   
   critical fuel-reduction projects to support prescribed fire crews, forest   
   thinning, and other forest health projects.”   
      
   Apparently, that money was completely wasted, as anyone looking at the   
   burned-out Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods can attest.   
      
   And just this year, the state decided to dump $282 million it doesn’t have   
   for a special election to gerrymander its congressional districts—a   
   completely pointless exercise that will disenfranchise California voters   
   and have no impact on the control of Congress. And then it spent another   
   $2 million to correct a typo in its original voter guide.   
      
   So, the question I have for every Californian is: “What is wrong with you?   
   Why do you put up with this? Why are you content to let California be a   
   one-party state?”   
      
   Most of your leaders should be in jail, not winning reelection.   
      
   It’s true that over the past four years, more than a million more people   
   moved out of the state than moved in. But what about those who can’t or   
   don’t want to leave?   
      
   Why do you keep electing the same class of criminals to steal your money?   
      
   I think part of the problem is that Californians don’t know how badly   
   they’re getting screwed, because, while everyone knows which restaurants   
   are worth the price, it’s not easy for average citizens to make direct   
   comparisons between life in one state and another.   
      
   I can leave the state just as easily as I came. But most can’t pick up and   
   move. Nor should they have to. California is a beautiful state with   
   enormous potential. Its citizens just need to refuse to pay Wolfgang Puck   
   prices for Hamburglar-quality service.   
      
   John Merline, a senior editor at The Heritage Foundation, is a veteran   
   journalist who has written editorials and commentary for Investor’s   
   Business Daily, USA Today, AOL News, and other outlets.   
      
   Reprinted with Permission from The Daily Signal – By John Merline   
      
      
   --   
   November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump.  We look   
   forward to America being great again.   
      
   We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that   
   stupid people won't be offended.   
      
   Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.   
      
   Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama   
   / Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.   
      
   Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the   
   The World According To Garp.  Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood   
   queer liberal democrat donors.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)