The hostile business climate in California continues to force business out of the state. From the Daily Caller:
“Part of [moving operations to Texas] was the cost of doing business in California,” Ronald Mittelstaedt, CEO of Waste Connections, told CBS News. “Highest tax rates in the nation. Until recently very expensive real estate. Tremendous regulation and really a broken legislature.”
The California Manufacturing and Technology Association found in a recent study that 82 percent of companies surveyed did not consider California when expanding or opening a new facility.
The study also noted that companies looking to expand their operations favored states with proximity to their customers, generous tax incentives, low cost labor, proximity to suppliers and a comprehensible and a favorable tax system.
California ranked last or bottom tier in all of those categories.
And California’s 9.3 percent income tax on middle class workers — those who earn more than $48,000 — is higher than what millionaires pay in 47 states.
California has created a environment where starting and sustaining a business is increasingly futile. And while the state’s budget woes intensify (the state currently faces a $16 billion deficit), the Governor and Legislature are maintaining a laser-like focus on further increasing taxation and fees. Like our leaders at the Federal level, there is no discussion whatsoever relating to spending.
At this point, the critical problem is that our leaders are unwilling or unable to acknowledge some fundamental aspects of basic economics: Profit and Loss. Income and Expenditure. Don’t spend more than you have. The budget’s revenue should match-up with expenditures. It’s not brain surgery. It is the daily operating environment in the private sector (and for most citizens who have to balance their own checkbooks).
The whole situation is beyond insulting as our leaders beg for more tax money while ignoring the true peril that lies ahead. Instead, they hit the gas and accelerate as they drive us off the cliff.
