Why did California get hit so bad by recession?  Was mostly due to decreased tax revenues from high unemployment, real estate, etc.?

Governor Brown’s budget office today announced a 16 billion dollar deficit.

It will take time, to digest what the means for the people of California. But once it
is understood, it’s important to realize that this is just the beginning of bigger,
deficits to come.

Something is fundamentally wrong with the economic system, not only in
California, but the rest of the country as well.

California is one of the richest states in the Union.

The causes, are understood, but the solutions will not be tried until, desperation,
begins to sink in. There will be mass releases of prisoners from prisons and jails,
and the gutting of many social programs, that benefit Californians.

For a long time, the State Franchise Tax board, has harassed millions of
Californian’s they responded by leaving.

In addition, Child Support Enforcement, took half the income of every of non
custodial parent in the state, impoverishing them, and their children, preventing
them from accumulating real property that could be taxed. This offset the Clintion
Welfare Reforms, but was counter productive in the long run.

Family law courts created incentives for divorce, increasing the income of lawyers,
but destroying families. Resulting in fewer marriages for Heterosexual couples,
and a loss of revenue for courts, and the legal system. This is the real reason for
the legalization of Gay marriage, to increase revenue from divorce.  Once gays
who get married begin to get divorced, this will offset the decline in revenue
caused by the decline in Heterosexual marriages. 

Rising taxes and increasing legal requirements, made the state an unattractive
place to live.

The school system, disintegrated because it became an ideological battle ground.
As seen in the rise, and motivation for home schooling.

There will be mass layoffs in the schools, coming, with more mass retirements,
meaning there will be too few educators to provide much of an Education at all.

The state if it wants to survive, must begin enforcing legal mandates against
corporations, who no longer have a physical presence there but instead, maintain
workforces out of state, and out of country,  who use the internet to conduct
business, that is legally required to take place in California. The state should be
barred from outsourcing its own work, to other states or countries as well.

California must also stop incarcerating people for drug offenses. There are
alternatives. Such as licensing use, and requiring vaccination for behaviors that
violate licensed use guidelines. Jail should be reserved for violent aggressive
offenders only, who must be kept off the streets permanently.

California must also, legalize Cannabis. It’s incredibly stupid to have the worlds
most profitable cash crop, untaxed, an untapped source of revenue, that could
ease the states tax problems, and increase tourism.

Californian’s deserve a government with vision, that is willing to change with the
times. Not one that is punitive, and old fashioned that believes more taxes, and
more layoffs are the solution to it’s problems, That will just make things worse.

It would seem the dumbing down of America is still on
schedule.
But then; even today’s uni graduates don’t know squat
anyway; no harm, no foul?

As the saying goes, “As California goes, so goes the Nation.”

“students are surrendering the quest for a four-year
degree because they simply can’t afford it.”

Well, of course.  This is what the one-percenters want. 
Great way to get an oligopoly going: make sure your
kids are the only ones getting health care and an
education.

I meant dumb… See?!

Child is the father of man… and in this case, from now on, at least, that
child will be a poorly educated parent.  We can thank the GOP for this;
Reagan and his war on teachers and nurses, the union busting idiots on the
right… Keep’em dump and hungry and their budgets at the breaking points. 
Nice work.

Please surf boy… minorities didn’t screw up anything… Of course the right would
like to make them the fall guy, but it just isn’t so…

But, I think it would make an interesting book title, Who Killed California?
It wasn’t suicide. It was murder…

Its a frame up, by the culprits who don’t want to get caught.

Economically California died after industry left. There wasn’t anyway to make
money, outside of Real Estate. This kept Real Estate prices rising year after year,
with government counting on that to feed it’s black hole. But at some point, even
two people working full time with good salaries could not afford to make a
mortgage payment… That was the writing on the wall for California, no more real
estate no more tax revenue..And now that good wages are as rare as rocking
horse shit, we’ve entered the end times for California….

There were other culprits too, the State Tax Franchise board, that is out of control
persecuting tax payers, and a federal government that won’t live up to its
responsibilities leaving Californian’s holding the bag….Everyone had a cut….

Its really inevitable that California will continue to deteriorate. It’s a state in which
development and economic growth rests on cheap gasoline. Gasoline, is going to
get higher, and real estate is going to get lower…. What will be left of California is
not going to be pretty….. Not at all…

There are solutions, but it means that our political class will have to have vision,
and be willing to let go of their delusions, eventually they will have to, until then
the suffering will continue to mount…..