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In California's Greek Tragedy by MICHAEL J. BOSKIN and JOHN F. COGAN the authors seem to be saying that when it comes to the welfare state it really is true that "If you build it, they will come."
...California's rising standards of living and outstanding public schools and universities once attracted millions seeking upward economic mobility. But then something went radically wrong as California legislatures and governors built a welfare state on high tax rates, liberal entitlement benefits, and excessive regulation. The results, though predictable, are nonetheless striking. From the mid-1980s to 2005, California's population grew by 10 million, while Medicaid recipients soared by seven million; tax filers paying income taxes rose by just 150,000; and the prison population swelled by 115,000.
California's economy, which used to outperform the rest of the country, now substantially underperforms. The unemployment rate, at 10.9%, is higher than every other state except Nevada and Rhode Island. With 12% of America's population, California has one third of the nation's welfare recipients.
Marjorie Taylor Greene
2 hours ago
And how much of that prison population is for non-violent offenders? How many are in for life due to non-violent 3 strikes offenses?
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying judicial reform would solve california's problem, because I don't think any one thing can. It will take several changes, and with those changes years of sticking with them, before these problems are alleviated.
The point is that California, once the darling of the left as it introduced one unpaid item after another from their wish list is now bankrupt.
ReplyDeleteWould you have the whole country follow because California is also judicially incompetent?