High taxes. Overregulation. Cops everywhere. Thousands of Californians are opting to leave. Many of them are poor people struggling for daily survival under mountains of laws, regulations, and government programs. This CNBC story documents the exodus. Note that the story also blames high housing costs. But the government of California has spent more on socialistic …
Category Archive: Unintended Consequences
Mar 05
Socialist California has America’s worst Quality of Life
High taxes, cops and other government “workers” everywhere, and life-choking regulations have made California the most miserable place to live in the U.S. See here. California has America’s largest and most powerful “environmental protection” agencies yet has the worst environment. Drinking water quality, air quality and total toxic chemical pollution per square mile are the …
Jan 16
Socialist California Leads Nation in Poverty
Years of high taxes, overregulation, and cops everywhere have taken their toll on California. The state now leads the U.S. in rates and numbers of people living in poverty. See here. (This is true even though the State has the most social workers, biggest welfare programs and biggest wealth-redistribution operations.) The State also has the …
Jan 06
The Rich Flee Connecticut
Connecticut politicians have been raising taxes and increasing regulations for a generation. Now people with high incomes are fleeing the State. They have taken some $6 billion with them. See here. Many Connecticut expatriots are fleeing to nearby New York or to Florida. But those who left for state-income-tax-free Florida had an average annual income …
Jan 04
While France moves to ban “fake news,” German policymakers realize that speech restrictions empower critics
The historic struggle for freedom of speech and press is filled with stories of anonymous pamphleteers who overcame state repression to claim victory over darkness. Governments have historically sought to ban speech which is critical of government. Sometimes government officials claim such speech spreads “sedition,” or promotes violence, or allows “millionaires and billionaires” to control …
Jan 02
More freedom, less crime: New York City sees crime drop after halting aggressive policing
Throughout the early years of the 21st century, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of innocent people–mostly males of the lowest classes–were violently thrown against walls or sidewalks while New York City cops frisked and searched them without warrant. Cop worshippers claimed the “stop and frisks” were necessary to fight crime. When activists, lawyers and judges worked to …
Jan 01
Bozeman, Montana government hires “affordable housing director”–thereby ensuring that housing will be increasingly unaffordable
Municipal planning is for the rich. It circumvents natural markets in which poor people pool resources, innovate and commute. “Planning” almost always means that housing becomes LESS affordable for poor people. Where “planning” has been most heavy-handed, poor people live in cars or travel hundreds of miles to mow the lawns or shovel the sidewalks …
Nov 01
As government grows, its subjects are stricken with anxiety, fear and depression
As societies become saddled with more government, their subjects become depressed, fearful, anxious and pessimistic about their lives. Every government that ever existed sought the same powers: total control over all human affairs, the total elimination of privacy (except for the masters in government), all money, property and wealth, and to kill all who resist. …
Aug 19
New report confirms that electric cars have larger “carbon footprint” than gas or diesel cars
U.S. taxpayers have been forced to subsidize government “alternative energy” schemes on a truly massive scale. Tesla and its overpaid CEO Elon Musk have milked taxpayers already for almost a billion dollars. Tesla manufactures expensive electric cars–sold primarily to the super rich–with the massive support of U.S. tax dollars. One could say the program is …
Aug 19
Americans have virtually abandoned short air travel due to government hassles
The daily stink and stain of life under near-total government has made America LESS mobile. Here is an astounding report indicating that since 2000, “short haul [air] traffic” has “Decline[d] in the US” by $34 billion. Government “security” policies imposed since 9/11/2001 have made Americans increasingly use alternative surface transportation. (The regulations almost certainly do …