It is a complete misnomer to say that CALIFORNIANS ARE TAXED TOO MUCH. When compared to the rest of the United States, every tax, be it incomes, sales, property, or corporate is in line with the rest of the nation. In fact, if you saw the actual rankings of the above categories, you'd be very suprised. The bottomline is that Gray Davis was unable to control the State Legislature and their spend, spend, spend habits. Combine this with the typical "political" crap that goes on with many politicians like the extremely generous pay hike that Davis gave the California Correctional Peace Officers Association in February of 2002 ( an audit predicts it will cost the State $518 million by 2007 ) and you have the makings of a freight train that has gone out of control. By the way, that pay increase to prison guards now boosts the top salary of a guard with seven years of experience from $54,888 to more than $73,000. Crime pays.
Except for the very rich, where tax rates are near-stratospheric for the wealthy, who pay a marginal personal income tax rate of 9.3%, one of the highest in the Nation, with Montana being the highest with the top rate at 11%. And yes, WORKERS COMP is the biggest issue facing the California business climate today where Worker's Compensation has gone up 70% from 2000. Rationalize this with the fact that California ranks 47th in the Nation for the payment of worker's compensation benefits and you don't have to look too far to figure out that it is BALOONING MEDICAL AND LEGAL COSTS, not too mention outright FRAUD that is causing workers comp to go through the roof. Obviously, the industries where injury risk is the highest are hit the hardest; such as agriculture, food processing, roofing, construction, and heavy manufacturing. As a result, many businesses in these industries have had to raise their prices, lay off workers, and eliminate employee benefits. Meanwhile, California ranks only 18th in the Nation for Property Taxes,15th in the Nation for Health Care, 19th in the Nation for Sales Tax, and only 19th in the Nation in TOTAL TAXES AND FEES COLLECTED by State and Local Governments as a PERCENTAGE OF PERSONAL INCOME!!! The bottomline is that the State's heavy reliance on income and sales taxes, rather than more stable property taxes means that revenues can plunge when residents lose their jobs, suffer investment losses or curtail their shopping. All three of those things happened beginning in 2001, precipitating one of the worst fiscal crises California has ever experienced, and a State surplus of $12 billion that swung to a deficit of over $38 billion.
Where did you learn your Political Science? Did you happen to see the FAMILY that Arnold Schwarzenegger married? Were you so freaking blind not to see the SHRIVER FAMILY standing on the podium with Arnold at his acceptance speech the night of the election? Arnold Schwarzenegger is about as Republican as a $3.00 bill. Come on, man. Get REAL.
Goodness me. I don't know crap about the politics in your former state. All I know is a crybaby when I see one. Everything that is wrong in California is the fault of one political party. Presumably there must be something there that is right - who gets the credit for that? You know, this country is full of whiners like you. People who have never done anything wrong in their entire lives. People who are not to blame for anything. Have no responsibility in any mess that may exist. People who are only victims. People who pick up and run at the first sign of trouble, and never roll up their sleeves and pitch in. Sure do hope the weather holds out when you buy that dream house on the water.
Can't we all get along? Northeaster, Northwester, it's all good. But what we need more of are people that are willing to pitch in and do some volunteer work, with kids, with regional parks, with local schools . . . Yet, in my neighborhood only 1 out of every 3 homes even had pumpkins out on their front doorstep last night. Most of these people cannot even find the time to haul in their trash cans after garbage pick-up and they just leave their bins out on the curb for days. And you talk about voter apathy? It's such a shame.
JQP I do not know what your problem is. But I know the possessor of a poor intellect when I read one. He attacks the person making the argument instead of addressing the issues. Crybaby, well on this issue perhaps. After leaving California, I realize I still love San Diego. So I am crying that the State was ruined by a bunch of disingenuous and corrupt politicians. It has not brought me to tears but I do have a genuine sense of loss. Besides I did mention either on this thread or the other similar one that I thought Bush was a jerk for appoint the enron patsies to the ferc board which did cost california some serious money. I am doing my part-- on this issue- by pointing out the truth on this board where presumably some readers with open minds are capable of understanding what democrats are willing to do to hold on to their power. (The power of an idea and free speech. If I was not doing my part perhaps you would not have gone with the ad hominem.) waggie we can get along, or we can have fun ripping each apart, that is what these boards are for. I really do not care who JQP is or says but I would not be surprised if I knew him. Regarding those tax stats, I read some of them on the internet months ago when deciding where to move. When you look at the income tax on a six figure income, the taxes on a relatively expensive house and all the other taxes there were only a few states really competing with California.
If you want to point out the "truth" you would include all factors that have led to our budget deficit. 1. The energy crisis cost California billions. Poorly handled by Davis, and gouged by the energy companies, Bush stood by and watched this unfold with the petulant attitude of a candidate that a state did not support during his campaign. The deregulation process is/was a nightmare of poor planning, by both Republicans and Democrats, and the raping of California during a time of crisis is unconscionable. Davis screwed up, and was recalled and is the scapegoat, but he is hardly the only one to blame for the costs to California for this world class fuckup. Deregulation without contingency plans for shortages and crisis may go down as the one of the biggest clusterfucks of all time. 2. Tax reveunues fell dramatically from 2000, and led to a massive deficit very quickly. The Federal Government experiences the same, except unlike the Fed, California cannot simply print money. 3. The illegal aliens are draining the life out of California. Free healthcare, welfare, for these illegals etc. is sucking the life out of California. This is not a Democratic or a Republican issue, as both wealthy Democrats and wealthy Republicans benefit from cheap labor, while the middle class and poor suffer the bulk of the cost on a percentage basis. Those who try to blame one party or the other are simply not reasonable, or objective in their analysis of the problems of California.
I am a native CALIFORNIAN, and 4th generation at that. I have lived in NYC for 10 years and Fairfield County, Connecticut for 4 years, as well. If you want to talk about getting-up in the morning, walking over to the exchange where I traded my own capital, only to see the FEDS take 38% of my income, then NY State take 7.25%, and then NYC take 3.5% while it cost me $1200 per month just to rent a one-bedroom apartment in Battery Park City from 1984-1991. Trust me, I can give you an earfull when it comes to the "taxing" lifestyle of the Northeast! Yes, California is expensive because of the real-estate. But atleast Prop. 13 has kept the increase in Property Taxes to only 2% per year. I thoroughly enjoy being back in the San Francisco Bay Area, where we are blessed with tremendous beauty, weather, some pretty good schools for our kids, and every type of outdoor activity known to mankind, just an hour or two away . . . I just get really pissed-off when the REST OF THE IDIOTS ON THIS BOARD, who don't even live in this great Golden State think that they know the WHOLE story about what is going on here simply because they believe it to be as cut and dried as a Democrat vs Republican philosophical argument. ( And yes, I do give you credit for mentioning the fact that Bush and his cronies over at FERC totally dragged their feet during the power crisis ). True, the early morning hours can be tough. But the weather out here is second to none! Peace.
Waggie I grew up in Greenwich and my Dad worked in New York. I do agree with you about the NYC area, which I think is pretty highly taxed also probably higher than California. I lived in California from 88 until september and I watched the state fall apart so quickly under Davis it is amazing. But remember back at the end of the Koch era and then Dinkins. New York was a mess and the people were not very nice. I was amazed how things were changed when I went back to new york to visit family. It took a major reform and perhaps not coincidentally a republican to gix that place up. Obviously, there were lots of contributing factors but I do not think you can underestimate the changes that guiliani (sp) made. Cleaning up corruption and --- Welfare turning into job search is just an example. I hope Arnold can do the same.