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And then there’s California . . .
(Source):
- The state of California currently has the third highest state income tax in the nation: a 9.55% tax bracket at $47,055 and a 10.55% bracket at $1,000,000.
- California has the highest state sales tax rate in the nation by far at 8.25%. Indiana has the next highest at 7%.
- Residents of California pay the highest gasoline taxes (over 67 cents per gallon) in the United States.
- 20 percent of the residents of Los Angeles County are now receiving public aid of one kind or another.
- Residents of California pay some of the highest electricity prices in the entire nation.
- According to one survey, approximately 1 out of every 4 Californians under the age of 65 has absolutely no health insurance.
- In the late 70s, California was number one in per-pupil spending on education, but now the state has fallen to 48th place.
- According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, California’s unfunded pension liability is estimated to be somewhere between $120 billion and $500 billion at this point.
- Also:
- In 1996, California had 21 percent of the nation’s welfare cases. Today, 32 percent of all welfare cases in the United States are in California, even though we only represent 12 percent of the total U.S. population. (Source)
- Of the 5,290,000+ homes with a mortgage in California 35 percent are underwater. 1,850,000+ homes are in a negative equity position. (Source)
- There are over $1000 Billion in Alt-A and option ARM (“Adjustable Rate Mortgages”) loans which are now resetting to higher monthly payments and, as a result, are now starting to default at at almost the same rate as toxic “sub-prime” mortgages. Unfortunately for California’s economy over 50% of all Alt-A and option ARM mortgages issued in the US were issued in California. (Source)
- The state of California is essentially bankrupt; nearly all the mistakes made by the once-wealthy states of the Rust Belt as they slid down the curve of their own decline have been faithfully copied by California as it approaches its destiny as the Rust Belt of the 21st century. (Source)
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No "jobs" turn-around in CA
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