3 Taxpayers Will Have Fled California In The Time It Takes You To Read This

Issues & Insights   

"Why do those who don’t or can’t leave put up with it? Why do they keep electing the same cast of criminals who are stealing their money and ruining their state?"

"Over the weekend, we learned that the Golden State loses one taxpayer to another state every minute, and faces an $18 billion budget shortfall, which is $5 billion higher than was projected just a few months ago.

"We also learned that only now, 10 months after wildfires destroyed thousands of buildings in the Los Angeles area, has the first home been rebuilt.

"These stories are yet more evidence of a completely dysfunctional state captured by ideologues who couldn’t care less about the harm their policies cause. Will voters there ever learn?

"The National Taxpayers Union Foundation used IRS data to calculate how many taxpayers are moving into and out of states each year.

"What it found was stunning. California is losing taxpayers at a rate of one every 1 minute 44 seconds – the fastest of any state in the nation. That amounts to billions in lost tax revenue every year.

"Florida, in contrast, is gaining taxpayers at a rate of one every 2 minutes 9 seconds."

. . . "Next, we come to the story in the Los Angeles Times over the weekend that “The first home has been rebuilt in the wake of the Palisades Fire.”

"L.A. Mayor Karen Bass calls it “an important moment of hope.”

"It is anything but that. As the Times itself notes, the Palisades fire destroyed nearly 7,000 buildings, but 10 months later, only 2,000 building permits have been issued and only 340 projects are under construction.

"In Atladena, the site of the other massively destructive wildfire in January that claimed some 6,500 buildings, the first home that managed to get an occupancy permit last week was a garage that had been converted into 640-foot “accessory dwelling unit.”

"Meanwhile, more than 70% of the Palisades fire victims still live in temporary housing, as are 67% of the victims of the Altadena fires.

"Most of them have little hope of ever returning, or seeing their communities rebuilt." . . .More...

Douglas Murray: New Yorkers need only look to Newsom’s California to see how Mamdani can bring ruin to Big Apple  . . . Take Governor Gavin Newsom of California. In recent days, he has been trying to “win” the internet. That’s because, having failed at his job of governing an actual state, he seems to have decided to become chief troll online. Democrat pundits are “LOLing” all over the place at Newsom’s alleged brilliance in aping the internet manners of President Trump.

"It would be a lot more fun if the situation in Gavin’s own state were sunnier.

"As it is, while Newsom plays cute online, California is in a disastrous state. Just this year, it has suffered ruinous wildfires, causing billions of dollars worth of damage. And even if the areas of Los Angeles that burned to the ground are rebuilt, good luck to anyone trying to get home insurance." . . .