While wise leaders might see a declining population as a sign that they should change course, wisdom seems to be in short supply for the political elite in California.
Whether it is 1984 or Atlas Shrugged, politicians seem to treat these dystopian works as guidelines to follow instead of the cautionary tales that they are.
California's debt problem is greater than any other state. Since they do not have the luxury of essentially printing money that the Federal government has, they have little choice but to either cut spending or raise taxes. Guess which they keep choosing? The problem is that people are moving out of the state to avoid what are effectively punitive taxes. And why not since every other state has lower taxes?
It has gotten so bad that California is trying to collect taxes even from those who move out of California and part time residents. Of course to sell this tax to the people the claim is that it will only affect the top 1%. But then that's how the income tax started and look where we are now. Not only does this drive more people out of California, you would think it would discourage people from moving into California, especially the wealthy. Given that the cost of living is so high in California, who else is left?
There are other states that have similar problems but none nearly to the degree of California. At some point, California is going to have to seriously reform is taxation and spending habits. The only question is how bad things have to get before that happens.
