12 thoughts on “The Latest California Insanity”

1. Well, I don’t see at present that this has support from either California or the Democrat Party. They might not be that crazy. But if stuff like that gets traction, I imagine the exodus will be epic – get out while you still can.

   1. I imagine a Ward Bond type on a Harley leading a long line of U-Hauls to the promise land of Texas. A Wagon Train for the 21st century.

   2. There does seem to be some support
      for the bill, but it will be at least months before they bring it to a vote.

2. California dems want to be their own nation.

   May they get everything they wish for = gooderer and harderer.

3. Once again, they’re basing their increased revenue projections using static analysis. They want to raise all those tax rates and impose all of those new taxes and expect people and businesses to simply bend over and take it. People respond to incentives and they respond to disincentives as well. A lot of people and businesses will move elsewhere. A lot of businesses that can’t move will go under or shed employees in an attempt to survive. I know of no example where the projections of revenue windfalls from raising tax rates have ever come close to being realized. I know of several examples where lowering rates have resulted in increased revenues.

   1. They will pass laws and build walls to prevent their serfs from leaving the land

   2. “A lot of people and businesses will move elsewhere.”

      Housing crisis solved.

4. You need to look at it from the perspective of a California Democrat legislator. The question isn’t whether they should raise your state taxes to 18%, it’s why on Earth they’re going to let that other 82% of your income escape their grasp.

5. Happy to no longer be pouring my personal gasoline on that particular dumpster fire. Still see a lot of aerospace businesses both old and new lashing themselves to the mast of the sinking ship California unfortunately.

   1. The “aero” part of legacy aerospace effectively abandoned CA in the 80s and 90s. What remains is largely the “space” part. The advent of NewSpace early in this century has seen companies in that sector clustering in So. CA because:

      1) There is still a large base of skilled aerospace workers to be had, and

      2) There is a lot of disused factory space formerly occupied by legacy “aero” that can be had for comparatively bargain rates.

      Which isn’t to say that the NewSpace cluster in So. CA is a permanent feature of the CA business landscape any more than Silicon Valley has proven to be for hardware start-ups. Except for design, Silicon Valley hasn’t done significant hardware stuff in decades – software is king now and has been for some time. But hardware design and software development can be done anywhere. Make the business climate bad enough and Apple and the Software Lords will exit the Bay Area too.

      As will the NewSpace rocketeers in So. CA – most probably for TX and/or FL. The tipping point for that exodus will probably be the shuttering of SpaceX’s Hawthorne works as the Falcons are retired. As the late Herb Stein famously said, “Things that can’t continue… don’t.”

      1. Dennis Wingo tweeted this morning that if this passes, he’ll move his company and its jobs to another state.

6. This seems like one of those things where unintended consequences come into play – raising taxes ends up leading to less tax revenue. Of course, most people who think rationally would anticipate that happening. That leaves most democrats out.

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