And in a bizarre twist of logic, white collar law partners and consultants, who collect higher compensation as hired clerisy for monopolists and billionaires, end up paying less in marginal taxes. As soon as their taxable income exceeds $160,000 per year, their 12.4 percent Social Security assessment goes away, and their marginal tax burden drops from 47 percent to 34 percent. In America’s supposedly progressive tax environment, a 47 percent marginal tax burden is not reached again until income exceeds $400,000 per year.

Interesting, isn’t it? A guy who takes on extra work to pay rent for his home and tuition for his kids and scrapes together $130,000 per year is paying more taxes on that last dollar than a corporate litigator whose last billable hour topped out at $390,000 per year. Some might say there is a distinction between Social Security taxes and “taxes.” But when your biggest concern is having enough money left to cover your monthly bills, that’s mumbo jumbo. Money for the government is money for the government. It doesn’t matter where it’s going or what you call it.

For California’s low-income communities, the situation is no better. How does it serve social justice to make the most basic necessities of life unaffordable? How does it serve environmental justice to cram millions of people into already crowded cities because a “greenbelt” has been stretched around every urbanized region of this vast, underpopulated state? How does it foster upward mobility for low-income families when the only thing achieving middle-class economic status brings is no more government subsidies and brand new, crippling rates of taxation in their place?

And then there is the entire spectrum of failed state phenomena—rampant drug addiction, decriminalized crime, a completely unregulated homeless population, and public schools where children are taught identity politics and climate crisis indoctrination, filling their heads with resentment and terror, instead of grammar and multiplication tables.

Why should anyone work anymore? Why try? The government schools teach values that nurture irresponsibility—blame systemic racism and corporate greed for anything missing in your life—and at the same time, government regulations have created an economy where even a hard-working and responsible person cannot afford to live.

The main reason why AT&T, T-Mobile, and many other stores, such as Office Depot, The Container Store, Anthropologie, Whole Foods, Disney Store, Armani Exchange, CB2, Saks Off 5th, and others, are closing up shop is that progressive city leadership failed to enforce law and order, sparking a tsunami theft wave.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/92912

> Any parent want to move to California?

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/87650

> California Governor Gavin Newsom has attempted to entice LGBTQ Floridians to move back to California where they can do whatever they want in the presence of children, but sources confirmed they still wish to remain in Florida where the taxes are low and they don't get mugged all the time.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/87390

> Welcome to the Free State of Florida. > > Please turn off the lights as you exit California

The Kern Community College District Board of Trustees, whose vice president publicly compared Garrett to livestock that should be culled before apologizing for the remark, apparently held an unrecorded vote without public notice Thursday, either in closed session between morning and afternoon open sessions or after the public meeting. Local media were confused, with KGET reporting that Garrett's status remained unknown as of noon Friday.

"There was an outpouring of community support and the room hit capacity; several people were turned away," Garrett told Just the News early Friday morning before learning of the vote.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/86527

> The state currently has an Amber Alert for missing children, a Silver Alert for missing elderly persons, and a Feather Alert for missing indigenous persons. The Amber Alert system is not race-segregated like the Ebony Alert would be.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/86525

> A school guidance counselor in the district helped Region’s 11-year old daughter transition without her knowledge or consent?

In 2021, California's birthrate was 10.7 births per 1,000 people, a far cry from 1991, when it was 20 births per 1,000. The national birth rate per 1,000 was 11 in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/85847

> According to the 13-page complaint, the 64-year-old allegedly received at least 61 packages at her San Jose home from various countries — including China, Canada and India — between October 2015 and January 2023.

Los Angeles County posted the largest population decline of all counties in the United States in 2022, falling by 90,704 and continuing a downward trend. It lost nearly twice that amount (180,394) in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2022 estimates released Thursday.

Cook County, home to Chicago, lost 68,314 people from July 2021 to July of last year.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/83591

> San Diego’s police chief blasted a controversial new California law that cops blame for sparking brazen prostitution on the streets of cities across the Golden State. > > The law that went into effect last month allows people to loiter with the intent of engaging in prostitution, Chief Dave Nisleit said – and that includes traffickers, sex buyers and sex workers. > > "New state laws make recovering trafficking victims more difficult while emboldening their traffickers,' Nisleit told reporters at a Tuesday news conference. "Your law enforcement officers are fighting an uphill battle when it comes to human trafficking." > > Local leaders in the San Diego area this week were celebrating a successful month-long investigation into human trafficking and prostitution that nabbed 48 arrests and identified 41 suspected victims of trafficking and sex exploitation. Among those rescued were children, including one girl who was only 13 years old. > > "It needs to be repealed," the police chief said of the new law. "We’re talking about a young lady who, by the age of 13, has fallen victim to this. How many more victims do we need to have in sex trafficking before we realize this is not a good law? We can address the disparities in a different manner."

The bill would not penalize people for using or possessing tobacco products. Instead, it would fine retailers for selling to them. Connolly said he’s open to amendments that might create an exemption for religious and cultural uses. But he said the ban would not impact marijuana, which is legal to smoke recreationally in California.

The password for accessing the Dominion ballot printing software and printing ballots was taped to the laptop for any user to see and use.

The ballot printer was fully loaded with blank ballot paper. The adjudication room had jacks in the wall that provided the ability to connect to the Internet.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/80512

> The victims’ ages ranged from 13 to 52, including six children, and the average age was the mid-20s, Moore said.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/79657

> Like most successful liberals, Curry is a supporter of Joe Biden. According to the Washington Free Beacon, he and his wife Ayesha joined a non-profit in 2021 that was dedicated to “bridging the racial wealth gap.” Curry has been a supporter of Black Lives Matter and was one of the NBA players to take a knee during the National Anthem. He also has a $30 million mansion. Which is all pretty much standard-issue Leftwingery. > > But, despite his public display of solidarity, Curry is more than a little concerned about a plan to put high-density affordable townhomes in his tony neighborhood. The Currys were so aghast at the idea of the “little people” sharing their space, they wrote a letter to the town of Atherton, CA, in protest. The Currys are upset about the townhomes “looming” directly behind them, as well as their privacy and safety. Outkick published an excerpt of the letter to the city: “We hesitate to add to the ‘not in our backyard’ (literally) rhetoric, but we wanted to send a note before today’s meeting. Safety and privacy for us and our kids continues to be our top priority and one of the biggest reasons we chose Atherton as home.” The Currys also want the city to install taller fencing and create landscaping to protect the sight lines to their property.

Assemblyman Alex Lee, a progressive Democrat, last week introduced a bill in the California State Legislature that would impose an extra annual 1.5% tax on those with a "worldwide net worth" above $1 billion, starting as early as January 2024.

As early as 2026, the threshold for being taxed would drop: those with a worldwide net worth exceeding $50 million would be hit with a 1% annual tax on wealth, while billionaires would still be taxed 1.5%.

Worldwide wealth extends beyond annual income to include diverse holdings such as farm assets, arts and other collectibles, and stocks and hedge fund interest.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/76053

> “Prescribe Freedom” will make permanent several important medical freedom protections that prevent, among other things, discrimination against those who do not wear masks or refuse to get the mRNA jab. The legislative proposal will also permanently protect freedom of speech and religion for medical professionals and the public. California has purposefully sprinted in the opposite direction with the passing of a “misinformation bill” that restricts the speech of medical professionals and seeks to penalize them if they dare to openly buck the prevailing narrative. > > DeSantis wants to ensure that medical professionals and Floridians have the freedom “to disagree with the preferred narrative of the medical community.” Per the promotional flyer below, the measures permanently prohibit mandates for mRNA jabs and masks in schools and permanently prohibit vaccine passports in Florida. In addition, it will ensure employers in the state cannot hire or fire based on vaccination status permanently.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/75023

> While nonprofits are exempt from paying federal taxes, they must comply with state and federal reporting requirements to protect taxpayers’ interest. > > In a report from Open the Books, it appears Newsom’s nonprofit seems to have failed to do this, yet continues to collect donations “from individuals and large corporations that have supported her husband and conducted business with the state of California.”

The contrasting realities offered a preview of some of the political arguments likely to play out in the U.S. Capitol in coming months — as did the contrasting comments from two high-profile governors discussed as potential presidential candidates.

Funny the timing

Now, just five days into his second term, Newsom is singing a different tune. The governor announced a strategy of spending "delays," including on mental health, preschool "inclusion" grants, climate programs, and University of California capital investment. His budget also proposes using federal dollars to make up for reductions to the state’s much-touted climate initiatives.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/72556

> Under the new law (AB 2098) which took effect Jan.1, the state's Medical Board would categorize dispensing information - such as the effectiveness of Ivermectin, or the Covid-19 vaccine's rapidly waning efficacy, as unprofessional conduct.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/71979

> California also passed Proposition 1, which guarantees a person’s “fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and their fundamental right to choose or refuse contraceptives.”

Amid high taxes already killing the middle-class, skyrocketing crime rates, rampant homelessness, and an unaffordable housing crisis, the one-party system on the West Coast essentially turned California into a feudal state, or as some conservative leaders called it, a socialist nightmare.

“If you talk to demographers, they’ll say that one of the factors is the cost of housing,” Palmer said. “And that’s continued to be a challenging issue for the state.”

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/69109

> "Got 'em in my livestock operation, and that's why we put a rope on some of 'em and take 'em to the slaughterhouse," Corkins continued, prompting a guffaw from Gomez-Heitzeberg. "Just bothers me when the bad actors are paid staff and they're faculty," who are "hard to get rid of."

This attempt to create a new state — which would be the first since Hawaii in 1959 — is a proposition for the county just east of Los Angeles, which has suffered from sharp increases in cost of living. It would hinge on approval by the California State Legislature and Congress, both of which are highly unlikely.

There have been more than 220 attempts to break up California over its 172-year history, all of which have failed.

The fact is California is difficult, often impossible, to live in if you’re in the middle class. The wealthy can afford to live here, although they often leave too, because that 13.3 percent top income tax rate really digs in, especially when they dream of moving to 0 percent Texas, Florida, or Nevada. The poor suffer, but California has a generous welfare state, so it’s easier in many ways for low-income residents than living in another state.

It’s the middle class, the rock bed of any society, that bears the brunt of California’s brutal living conditions—amidst the sublime weather. There are three areas where the middle class is hammered: taxes, high housing costs, and a broken education system. Let’s look at them as we peer toward 2023: a little winter organizing of our political mentalities.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/68019

> "They were offered an open bar," said parent Gabriel Lozano, who also revealed that the students were interviewed by police. They were offered an open bar and to socialize with the half-naked men, the dirty Santa that offered and made disgusting comments to our children."

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/67802

> The programs—all of which are publicly funded—violate both the United States and the California state constitution, lawyers say, as well as civil rights laws that ban race discrimination in contracting and by the recipients of government funds.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/67073

> The measure would allow a judge to decide if an adult who engages in oral or anal sex with a child must register as a sex offender if that person is within ten years of the age of the victim.