In the 1990s, Colorado found itself awash in Californians. It was like a flood and it did as much damage. In fact, we still haven’t recovered. What sent these people East was the horrible business climate California had created, which drove businesses from the state. Well, things have only gotten worse and now some of the hardest-core hard-core liberal companies are fleeing. . . tech companies.
California has been ranked by Chief Executive magazine as the worst place to do business for seven years running. High taxes, insane regulations, aggressive regulators, and a failed “government” which couldn’t run a hot dog stand have contributed to what Chief Executive magazine describes thusly: “California, once a business friendly state, continues to conduct a war on its own economy.”
Says one relocation expert: “There is a feeling that the state is not stable. Sacramento can't get its act together and that includes the governor, legislators and regulatory agencies that are running wild.” So California gangs invented “wilding” and California regulators brought it into government.
As a result, companies are fleeing California at a rate five times greater than just two years ago. According to relocation specialists, the top states California companies choose are Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Virginia and North Carolina. Utah, which actively sends representatives to poach California companies, touts stable government, balanced budgets, a AAA debt rating, lower taxes, lower real estate costs, lower utility costs, lower living expenses and all around better quality of life. Arizona’s Commerce Authority is pushing its lower workers compensation and unemployment taxes and offers incentive packages to relocate.
Even those who aren’t leaving the state entirely are choosing to establish new division or facilities elsewhere rather than expand in California. PayPal just opened a new 2,000-job facility in Arizona. eBay sent 1,000 jobs to Texas and is expanding in Utah. Electronic Arts and Adobe are both expanding in Utah. Feel Golf, owner of Pro Line Sports, is moving entirely to Florida.
Said one CEO about California: “The whole state is a bureaucratic Santa Claus.”
BUT wait. . . . California isn’t going down without a fight. No, no, no. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsome is developing a plan. First, he intends to sit down with executives to hear their complaints. . . because he really has NO IDEA what could possibly be upsetting them. Then he’s going to study “the best practices of other states” to see how they taxed and regulated themselves to prosperity. He’s already visited Texas. Then he’s going to focus on the state’s “premier industries,” which he identifies as biotechnology, agriculture and digital media -- the rest of you can pound sand. Finally, he will “highlight the state’s strengths in innovation and research.”
Allow me to translate. Gavin Newsom doesn’t have a clue how business works but he needs to look like he cares. Forming a fact finding commission is a great way to waste time while appearing diligent. So he will meet with top contributors and fly to other states on junkets disguised as “fact finding missions,” where he will hear what he wants to hear. . . which is that the Democratic "tax, regulate and spend like the criminally insane" policy is the only way to bring prosperity. Then he will lecture the evil business community about how great California is and demand they swear allegiance to California. Finally, he’ll get some more money for “innovation” in the budget. Problem solved. California will bloom!
Yes, good things are coming to California. . . just you wait.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Businesses Flee California!!
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And they're relocating to Arizona despite our evil illegal immigration laws (insert sarcasm here).
With Brown and Newsom at the helm, what could possibly go wrong?!
lots of good statistics in this one, Andrew--thanks. I have to wonder what the cost of the fact finding study is?? Libs always seem to find some of the most beautiful areas of the country to ruin, don't they. They kind of remind me of the armies of flying monkeys from Wizard of Oz, but I digress ;-)
Ugh. In the unlikely event that any liberal ex-Californians are reading this; here's a tip--maybe you should change your political beliefs rather than simply try to avoid the consequences by moving elsewhere and infecting those states, too.
(By the way, for those who were on the TWD post last night, I've got replies up now.)
Writer X, Apparently being a good liberal gives way to "better business environment"! LOL!
Yeah, I can't see what could possibly go wrong with Brown and Newsom running this show! ** laughs maniacally**
Jed, Thanks! I'm sure the fact finding trips are probably several million dollars that California can't afford. I've seen Republican governors criticized for similar trips.
What's interesting to me is that the whole plan is obviously a gimmick. First, fact findings and meetings with groups to find out what the issue is are always just attempts to placate.
Then, Newsom has already made up his mind that the keep to this whole issue is innovation in three industries. Basically, he's already prejudged the whole thing.
So why would anyone think he'll actually get this right?
T_Rav, You touch a nerve... trust me. When we got flooded with Californians, they came here complaining about all the results of liberalism -- high crime, high taxes, dysfunctional government, racial problems, etc. etc.
And the first thing these bastards did was say... "hey, Colorado doesn't have a law ...." or "hey, Colorado could spend more money if it taxed evil ...."
Soon, these same people who had fled the mess they made in California were busy remaking that very mess here. That's how we ended up with things like bills to create genderless bathrooms and medical pot which is now funding the state.
And once they've finally ruined our state, they'll flee to some other state -- because that's what they do. They will never accept that their views are the problem.
yeah, but we don't want those West Coasters! They move somewhere and then try and turn it into CA!
Kinda like this...
There's a small ISD outside of town that has a pretty good scholastic record, lower misbehavior issues, and decent-good sports. So, folks buy a house out there for their kids to go to the school. Then their kid complains about the strict-ish dress code (including haircut requirements), so these parents, who moved to this ISD BECAUSE it was different, start agitating for change to the "norm". So far, the School Board has been really good about telling them to hush up and move if they don't like it...
Ugh! And everyone is so right - they just move to other states and then wonder why things aren't like they were back in good old Cali! Let's get laws made to change it.
It's truly stupid.
rlaWTX, That's exactly what they did in Colorado -- came here because we hadn't messed up our state like they had, and the first thing they did was to start trying to recreate the mess they created.
And your school example is a perfect example of what these people do. I've see that over and over where liberals in particular force their way into a club, a school or something similar because they like what the club/school/whatever does and the results it gets.... and they immediately start whining about it and agitating to change to be like the mess they just left. It really just continues the theme that liberalism is a form of insanity.
Crispy, It's too bad we can't get them to send their businesses and leave their people? That might be an acceptable alternative! :-)
Andrew: In all fairness to Gavin Newsom, he comes from a business family, and started his own business from the ground up. He was in constant conflict with the socialist San Francisco Board of Supervisors during his terms as mayor. I'm no fan by any means, so I guess I'm saying he is one of the least worst Democrats in Sacramento today. He's not Obama, but that's scant praise indeed.
That said, he is a popular politician, not a strong one. He lost most of his battles with the Stupidvisors. If he actually comes out of these conferences with some positive, pro-business proposals, he's not strong enough to sell them to the leftists. He seems at times to want to do the right thing, but doesn't have a clue how to do them.
I remember the first big emigration of Californians to Oregon. Just like the other states you mentioned, they went there to get away from California's over-arching government control and business-unfriendly atmosphere, then tried to turn Oregon into a clone of California. The popular bumper-sticker for Oregonians at the time was "Don't Californicate."
Washington is fast becoming California north, repeating all of California's mistakes. Thus, Boeing's opening of a plant in business-friendly South Carolina.
Great article. I've gone from my youth watching California become the engine that drives the nation to becoming the dead weight that drags the nation down. Very, very sad.
Speaking of liberalism, this has nothing to do with today's article, but it's really ticking me off:
The Economist has an article in the latest magazine that is just shamelessly biased. It’s about how journalism is changing. Every time it talks about good news sources, it talks about liberal ones. Every time it talks about something bad, it slanders conservatives -- whether the example is a good one or not. For example, they talk about the poor people trapped in a news black hole before the internet and of course the example they use is the people of Houston... who were stuck reading the Houston Chronicle. Whereas the internet now has opened up the world of news for people and given us such wonderful sources as the HuffingtonPost and the Guardian. Huh?
And the phrase that really killed me, they are talking about news becoming ideological and biased and how that’s attracting readers/viewers. So the example is of course Fox News. And they have the nerve to described CNN and MSNBC as “less strident rivals.” WTF? MSNBC “less strident”? Fox and CNN are on a par for bias -- center right and center left. But MSNBC is wildly far left -- they’re a mouthpiece for the Angry Socialist Movement. No reputable magazine should fail to grasp that.
What’s more, they use the hard-left Guardian as the example of a great newspaper that now is reaching more foreign readers than domestic reader through the internet. YET, the conservative Daily Mail has the biggest internet audience in the world and most of their readers are Americans, so why mention the Guardian?
This is so blatant it’s pathetic. This is the kind of shameless article that should get someone fired. When 100% of your good examples are leftists and you go out of your way to make 100% of your “bad” examples conservatives, that is very the definition of bias.
I also like the "send the business, keep the people" plan!
Law, the "least worst"? oh boy.
Andrew, as for bias, didn't you know that there is Good Bias and BAD Bias. "Progressive" ideas supported in journalism is Good.
Conservative or Traditional ideas supported (or just not trashed) in journalism is BAD. And since Good Bias is Good, it must not be worthy of mention, because it is Good, therefore Good For You.
In conversations like these I get the urge to rewatch "Demolition Man".
Lawhawk, It is sad because California was to the US what the US was to the world -- the land of opportunity and creativity. A great place to live and do business. And the liberals have just systematically destroyed it. The description in the article of California being at war with its own economy is 100% right.
I'll defer to your judgment on Newsom as you got to see him in action up close. But frankly, I think even if Henry Ford were in his spot, there's nothing he could do. I get the feeling at this point that California is on autopilot, headed straight for the sun. The regulators aren't going to slow down, the legislature will never stop tinkering, and the voters will keep voting themselves goodies until the whole state finally collapses. The state is like an alcoholic that has hit bottom and decided "hey, this ain't so bad."
I heard that about Oregon and Washington. We got the same treatment because parts of Colorado are geographically very much like California, so they saw us as a place they could go that would be a lot like where they came from. Ug. Now we're becoming a real mess and it's getting worse all the time.
Around here, by the way, Californians are routinely called Californicators.
rlaWTX, Isn't that the truth! Good bias should not be described as bias because it's good for you. Ug.
It really irks me to see an article like this because it's 100% propaganda. And it bugs me that so many people won't realize that and will simply take their word for what is a good news source and which is a biased news source. Grrrr.
I like the business only, no people plan too! We should see if we can pass laws to that effect: "Be it enacted that no person may leave California to live in our state, though you can send your money and open a business here. You can even visit your business for up to 20 days a year."
Yeah... "least worst" that inspires confidence doesn't it!
Time for bumper stickers:
"Hey CA! Send the business, keep the people"
=D
I was talking to my brother a few years ago and he was whining about all the "foreigners" moving into the Houston area. Foreigners? I said. He responded "Yeah, all you see are California license plates these days!" That says it all.
I will say that they have probably met their match in these small conservative school districts that have strict codes of conduct. They are not going to allow any "foreigners" to come in and compromise their success rate.
Andrew: You are so right about Newsom. He's no Henry Ford. He's barely an Edsel. LOL
California is still rich in resources, and plenty of people who could use them properly and optimally. But the state has divided (outside of the Inland Empire aka South California) into two types of people: Those unwilling to work, and those who would prevent them from working even if they wanted to. They want to have their cake and eat it too.
I am still going with my idea that before we have to default on our vast loans from China, we should just give them the deed to California. Just let them have it. China could probably figure out a way to actually move it. I would be great to see Californians get a glimpse of REAL Communism...
Crispy, That sounds like a winner as far as bumperstickers go! LOL!
Bev, Foreigners is right. It really is like they come from a different country, not just a different state.
I'm not so sure about these small school districts because, sadly, Californians come en mass. They don't come in one and twos, then come in tens of thousands and they instantly band together and start messing things up. It's like a plague.
Lawhawk, That's the saddest part, California is still ready to soar... except that those who want to live off others have gained control of the government in some Atlas Shrugged sort of way and are literally stopping the productive people.
How can you farm without water? Or run a factory without electricity? Or run a business when you can't afford to hire anyone?
It's economic suicide.
(Barely and Edsel! LOL!)
"Says one relocation expert: “There is a feeling that the state is not stable..."
To quote Boston (the band:) More Than A Feeling!
"Allow me to translate. Gavin Newsom doesn’t have a clue how business works but he needs to look like he cares."
Precisely! Might as well have a "fact" finding mission to Detroit to best see how unions can make their cities and state more healthy and vibrant!
Hey! Maybe Eminem will write them a song for a new commercial extolling the virtues of California.
After Newsome finds the "facts" he is looking for he will embark on a virtue finding mission!
No need to leave the state for that. I'm sure he can find more than enough virtue in San Francisco!
Ever notice how lefties always need to have these missions to go find some facts?
They are completely blind to the facts.
Fact is, if the facts were snakes (Snakes On A Fact!) they woulda been bit so many times their blood could be used for antivenom.
Lefties are immune to facts (facts? They don't need no steenkin' facts! They laugh at facts!) and are in no danger of actually learning anything.
Fine post, Andrew!
Bev, I have to say that I love that idea. LOL! Could you imagine the Chinese response...
"What's this?"
"The deed to California."
"What? We never agreed to that."
"Too late, you should have read the small print on those bonds."
"We hate you America."
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Ben, Thanks!
"Snakes on a fact" -- LOL! That sounds like a fun movie!
You're absolutely right about the whole "fact finding" garbage. You'd have to be a fool not to realize why businesses are leaving. They are happily telling everyone who will listen -- and the answer is always the same: taxes, over-regulation, too many problems and expenses. What more do they need to learn? And what is Newsom going to learn from a two day tour of Texas that he can't tell from reading a newspaper or calling Rick Perry -- "hey Rick, how do you all create jobs?"
The "fact finding mission" is standard government procedure for "trying to buy time until the situation changes and I don't need to fix anything anymore." That's all this is. It's meant to give the appearance of activity.
And frankly, even if he got the greatest plan ever, what makes us think Gerry Brown or the Legislature of Clowns will accept it? They won't because they genuinely think government is the source of all jobs and you can tax and regulate your way to prosperity. They aren't going to give up their insane beliefs just because Gavin Newsom heard something in Texas.
Andrew, Let me echo everyone's complaints about Californians flooding neighboring states. We get that in Nevada. They come streaming across the border running away from the mess they've made and then they start right away trying to recreate that mess! Seriously, what is wrong with these people?
By the way, sort of OT but not really: Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, who's had his own little shutdown standoff going with the GOP state legislature, has folded and agreed to accept their cost-cutting budget. Chalk one up for our side, maybe as a bulwark against all those migrating Californians...
Bev, I LOVE that idea! You need to call your Congressman!
Ed, That's the trouble with liberals, they refuse to believe it was their own policies that caused the problems. So when they leave the place that "somehow" turned into a disaster, they immediately set about repeating their mistakes. They never learn.
T_Rav, I saw that! That is good news for Wisconsin and should help the Republicans in their recall elections since they are being proven right time and again. Hopefully, people will turn out and help them.
It's good for the country too that most of the states are getting their fiscal houses in order and are doing it without just taxing away. That should pay off in the long term.
"Finally, he will “highlight the state’s strengths in innovation and research.”"
Um, those words, "the state's stengths in innovation and research,"
don't mean what Newsom thinks they mean.
Let's conduct a quick analysis here (it has to be quick because we're talking about California here).
Mr. Newsom, name one, just one thing California has neen innovative about in the last decade.
And no, Dancing With The Stars and Glee don't count.
Of course, I'm certain Newsom will tout California's "innovative" stand on bio- (insert virtually any word here) whatever.
In reality, the bio stands for crap.
So yeah, CA has really crappy bio innovation and businesses love it so much they are...fleeing the state.
Now, let's look at the one thing CA used to be reliably good at, agriculture.
"Hey, I know! Let's ruin our states agricultural production because of a stupid smelt! The result will be less money for agricultual workers, more unemployment and higher prices for fruits n' veggies but it's so innovative!"
Or, as Charlie Sheen would say, winning!
And that research thing...well, reseacrch is overrated when you really think about it, and besides, you need businesses that actually wanna stay in CA and invest their money in a hostile and volatile business climate.
I know! Business Climate Change!
All we gotta do is have more regultions and Business Climate Change taxes...I mean, nominal fees n' stuff.
Then there will be some righteous bio-research!
Yeah, that's the ticket!
Pretty simple when you think about it.
Ben, I think it makes sense to encourage scientific research and development and it definitely makes sense to encourage creative industries like Hollywood and videogames.
BUT
Those are a small part of any economy. The vast majority of people will work in factories, on farms, in providing service, and other "non glamorous" jobs. His signaling that he's focused on this small part of the economy means that he's not serious. What he's ultimately going to propose is more money for colleges and maybe a tax break for Hollywood.
He will propose nothing to help farmers, to guarantee the free flow of water, to guarantee a steady flow of electricity, to make it cheaper to hire people. In other words, he's buying new deck chairs for the Titanic band.
I think this whole thing reeks of them not understanding why they're in trouble and looking in the wrong places to solve the problem. A state thrives on its people, not on a small select group of glamorous people who happen to contribute to political campaigns.
my grandparents have an Edsel station wagon - it's the size of the Queen Mary. It lives in my uncle's backyard. For some reason my g'pa never sold it to the various collectors of the year. [Since they had 4 active kids in the 50-60's, it actually made sense for them.]
Love the bumper sticker & the Treasury note fine print about CA going to China!
rlaWTX, I love the bumper sticker idea too! We could sell them and probably get great publicity by sending on to Gov. Moonbeam. He would probably freak out on television for us!
On the fine print, yep, ya always gotta read the fine print! LOL!
Wow and Edsel stationwagon! I love old cars. That thing must be huge!
rla, while not exactly the same thing, we've had a 1989 Buick Century parked in the backyard for the past two years, long past the point of functioning. I drove it through my college undergrad years (my grandparents owned it before that), and we should have gotten rid of it except a car that cheap really knocked down our insurance premiums. Well, it did until a month ago when we were told we had to bring it in for inspection, and since it won't even start at this point, it's no longer even semi-useful to us now. Oh well.
T-Rav, My first car was a 1961 Ford Falcon... 0-60 in 20 minutes (downhill). That think had more steel on it than a tank! LOL!
P.S. If you guys haven't noticed, John Nolte at BH mentions the film site today!
Big Hollywood
Andrew,
I stopped reading The Economist because it was clear they were taken over by communists. What throw me over was an editorial a year or two ago that basically stated that the United States needed to do the right thing and enact Cap and Trade. Anyone who claims to believe in liberal economics would rapidly discover and honestly report that cap and trade is the opposite of this belief.
As for Californians, we had the same problem when I lived in Montana. One of the most destructive things was they would show up after selling their ridiculously over-priced house and pay cash for a new home or land up there. Big deal? Well, what happens is now the value of the property jumps and the dude with a family farm has his property tax jump, although he hasn't done anything different to the place. Many of these guys barely lived above the poverty line (asset rich, cash poor). So now he decides that he can't afford to farm here anymore so he sells...to another California. And the band keeps on playing.
The area I grew up and used to work for my uncle on his place has been destroyed (in my humble opinion). Of course, with the recession, everybody is trying to sell crashing the local market. Soon they may have all these ghost communities where there used to be a nice farm.
Koshkat, The Economist's pimping of cap and trade is truly (1) wrong and (2) very obnoxiously done. Every single article these days gets back to cap and trade. It's insane.
Only one time have they slipped and said "well, if we can't get cap and trade, then we should work on getting people rich, because being allows people to care for the environment." Oh really, so that's how it works. Who knew?
On Montana, it doesn't surprise me. Californians are destructive where ever then end up... and in many ways!
Hey Andrew - CONGRATS ON THE SHOUTOUT FROM BH!!!! Sorry to yell, but it's exciting!
Bev, Thanks! I don't mind the yelling. But hold on to your hats -- there's more... :-)
It looks like I'm going to get to contribute the occasional article to BH! Cooooooool!
Oh ANDREW!!!!! TOTALLY COOL!!!!!
Thanks Bev! I think so! I'm looking forward to it. :-)
Seriously? That's awesome!
T-Rav, Seriously! :-)
Cool huh?
That's awesome, Andrew! Congratulations!!
Thanks Crispy! I like to think so! :-)
andrew: californians are fleeing to texas. it's makin' me nervous. the funny thing is, so many of them still have their jaws hangin' open to know we don't take kindly to communists.
Patti, It should make you nervous. The damage they did to Colorado was incredible. In fact, we're still suffering from it.
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