California dreamin' just ain't what it used to be.
And no matter what you look at, the expense of living and working there is almost unsustainable. Owning a home has become a pie-in-the-sky dream.
A fantasy.
In San Diego County detached single family homes are no longer being constructed. Somehow developers are able to slash through the red tape if they build huge apartment and condo buildings, but not single family homes. The costs of permits and the greed of the developers are…
— John Smith (@JohnSmith14134) February 12, 2025
I can imagine that as people who are homeowners try to leave the state, selling that home is going to become even more of a challenge.
The cyclic natural disasters one deals with are bad enough, especially as they're often accelerated or amplified by truly horrific policies righteously laid down by the holier-than-thou progressives who have steadily impoverished the once Golden State.
The insurance that is supposed to help you recover, God forbid you fall afoul of a fire in your neighborhood from Newsom's uncleared brush, is no longer available. The state's own kitty for taking care of the gap is almost broke and will be pulling money from all of California's homeowners to cover their losses.
BREAKING: CA Insurance Dept approved the FAIR Plan’s request to collectively charge private insurance companies $1 billion in order to help pay claims. Half of the costs can be passed onto policyholders. The FAIR Plan would have run out of money by March. https://t.co/3VslI8XTLC
— Emily Hoeven (@emily_hoeven) February 11, 2025
Will anyone be angry when they find out why they are paying for a FAIR fund that is broken?
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara took campaign contributions from insurance companies then changed a policy from more than 50 years ago that takes responsibility off insurance companies if the California FAIR Plan goes bankrupt.
— Kevin Dalton (@TheKevinDalton) February 12, 2025
Guess what? The FAIR plan is about… pic.twitter.com/sqC48VNRIS
...California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara took campaign contributions from insurance companies then changed a policy from more than 50 years ago that takes responsibility off insurance companies if the California FAIR Plan goes bankrupt.
Guess what? The FAIR plan is about bankrupt.
Did I mention Lara also passed the FAIR plan bankruptcy burden onto ALL CALIFORNIA POLICY HOLDERS?
Gov Randall Flagg-lite got his 'Trump-proofing' fund even as fire victims wait for help and permission from their rulers to begin putting roofs over their heads that are acceptable to authorities.
Gov. Gavin Newsom today approved $25 million for anticipated legal challenges against the Trump administration, positioning California to once again lead the resistance to the MAGA movement — just as the state is seeking federal assistance for the Los Angeles region’s recovery from devastating fires.
Priorities are never the citizens who pay for all the progressive projects.
The campaign against fossil fuels has driven almost every last oil company out of CA, the pursuit of decarbonization has proven ruinously expensive for everyone, and has the state teetering on the edge of perpetual energy insolvency.
Businesses have felt the brunt of Newsom and Co's mismanagement repeatedly through over-regulation and crippling out-of-the-blue financial hits. If it's not insane, $20 hr minimum wage increase diktats, it is businesses getting raped by the state to pay off the state's default on $20B in unemployment loans from the federal government.
...Long story short, CA's $32.6B debt, lost to fraud and 'unrecoverable', was "forgiven," but the $20B they'd borrowed for the EDD fund was still an outstanding loan.
...According to both the state’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and the state auditor’s report on the EDD, there was roughly $53 billion in unemployment related debt. That debt is divisible into two groups – the $20 billion owed by the state that was borrowed to fund California’s own unemployment system and the $32.6 in directly federal money the state lost to fraud.
The state decided in the spring of 2023 to default on the $20B, and it was as cynical a ploy as I've ever seen.
Yes, it meant the state wouldn't have to pay the feds the $20B back, so they could keep those dollars in their coffers for more illegals or whatever Newsom's next pet project was. But what hadn't been made clear to anyone was the fact that business owners in the state were co-signees for the federal loan, and they were now responsible for picking up the tab the state had dumped.
It's been really tough for fast-food restaurants and franchises.
...In California, fast-food franchise owners are scrambling to keep their heads above water in an already challenging environment.
"The focus is survival," Rodrick said during an interview on "Varney & Co."
Sometimes, I guess, no matter what your attachment to the state is - shoot, even if your very name is synonymous with 'CALIFORNIA' - there comes a time when even the stoutest of hearts has to say, 'This place is Crazy Town.'
In-N-Out Burger had to permanently shut down a location in Oakland, CA for the first time since their founding.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 25, 2024
The owner says it was just too dangerous to keep operating there with all the crime.
Welcome to Gavin Newsom’s California! pic.twitter.com/PeScfrInSd
Which is what the famous CA chain In-N-Out has done with their corporate headquarters.
While moving some Irvine staff to their original home in Baldwin Park - calling it a 'consolidation'...
...In-N-Out will shutter its Orange County corporate office, where the company has kept offices since 1994, and relocate employees back to Baldwin Park, where its founders first opened a drive-through restaurant in the 1940s.
...the family-owned, quintessential California burger chain has decided they are O-U-T.
Heading to Tennessee to open a new place they're dubbing an 'Eastern hub.'
This is like saying the Empire State Building is leaving New York. “In-N-Out to move headquarters from Irvine to Tennessee” – NBC Los Angeles https://t.co/LJcpt3Vh5A
— janewells (@janewells) February 12, 2025
My friend Howard had thoughts and a little more info on the move.
Lynsi Snyder, In-n-Out owner was speaking at Lipscomb yesterday. 10 to 15 stores planned for Nashville.
— H.D. Miller (@hdmillr) February 5, 2025
The interesting part was that she said she thought they'd never build stores any further east than Colorado, but that she'd fallen in love with Tennessee. pic.twitter.com/d6WXTb6KpA
The owner's granddaughter 'fell in love' with Tennessee.'
People used to fall in love with simply the idea of California. Of living there, working there.
Used to.
It makes you wonder when California gets the message.
Leaving California for Tennessee via Baldwin Park.
— Ignatz (@maus_ignatz) February 12, 2025
California is a disaster for business.
Do they ever?
