Thread: California Slowdown a Bad Sign Indeed

California Slowdown a Bad Sign Indeed

Monday, Dec. 31, 2007 9:51 a.m. EST

California, if it were an independent nation, would be the eighth-largest economy in the world. It represents nearly 12 percent of the total U.S. economy.
And, it is slowing down.

In the next fiscal year, the state faces a $14 billion budget shortfall -- roughly the GDP of the country of Jordan. Polls show voters expecting higher taxes and cutbacks in services in the next 12 months.

The housing market problems in California are well known. In an especially troubling sign, a group known for cheery forecasts -- the state's realtors -- is suddenly pessimistic about the coming year.

"A real recovery in the housing market is probably at least a year off," said Robert Kleinhenz, deputy chief economist for the California Association of Realtors.
The knock-on effects are unmistakeable: The state Department of Finance reports that through November, year-to-date tax revenues were more than $665 million below expectations.

Personal income, corporate income and sales taxes are all below year ago levels, indicating that the slowdown, although mild, is broad-based.

Meanwhile, California's unemployment rate held steady at 5.6 percent in November, almost a full percentage above the national rate of 4.6 percent.

Although steady, a deeper look into the jobs report suggests the economy is in face slowing.

The number of unemployed grew by 16,000 in the most recent data, and by more than 186,000 over the past twelve months. The Employment Development Department said employers added just 900 jobs in November, a sign that the weak housing market is still taking its toll.

The construction industry shed almost 40,000 jobs over the past twelve months. Financial services jobs declined by 18,000. These numbers mirror the national trends.

"We have a slowing economy; it's attributable mostly to housing," said Stephen Levy of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy. "I didn't expect the jobs stuff to disappear this quickly."

Economists are fond of saying that if the U.S. sneezes, the rest of the world catches the flu. The same might also be said about California in relation to the rest of the country.

http://moneynews.newsmax.com/money/arch ... 7.cfm?s=st

SOOOOOOOO glad I am out of Ca....bet the guy who bought my fixer upper at the peak is kicking himself now....he was jerk (who would buy it "AS IS" and then DEMAND you fix everything) so he deserves it

I, too, feel that CA is on the decline. Almost like Rome, which fell due to its invaders. I'm just so glad I made the decision to move out of CA in 2006. $14.5 BILLION shortfall! That is a boggling number indeed.

CA can fix this situation so easily: Get rid of the the illegals and watch the cost of education, hospitalization, social services, and incarceration DROP LIKE A LEAD BALL.

Only CA legislators are tooooo PC and liberal to "get it." You guys in Ca should vote all Dems out. They have done NOTHING for you but raise your taxes and invite more illegals.

Here's a point of comparison from a neighboring (although, much less populated) state:

Oregon's total state budget is about $3.5 billion - the last time I checked.
We had a minor surplus in the last year or two to boot (couple hundred million dollars I believe). Oh yeah, our current state population is about 3.8 million residents.

This may just be a blessing in disguise! If CA implodes, MAYBE the rest of the country will wake up and smell the burritos!!!

Originally Posted by grandmasmad

SOOOOOOOO glad I am out of Ca....bet the guy who bought my fixer upper at the peak is kicking himself now....he was jerk (who would buy it "AS IS" and then DEMAND you fix everything) so he deserves it

Me too! I sold an average house in a delapidated, illegal alien overrun neighborhood. The couple who bought it planned to use it as an investment and rent it out. I had no doubt that they'd be renting to illegal aliens on Section 8.

Ha! Some investment. Bet they're upside down in the house by now.

Sure there's plenty of money to feed, house, clothe, educate, support and provide unlimited medical care for all the illegals though. If not, just raise taxes on the middle class to pay for it....right Arnold?

Originally Posted by AmericanMe

This may just be a blessing in disguise! If CA implodes, MAYBE the rest of the country will wake up and smell the burritos!!!

. There are many of you guys on board who ran for your lives from Cali. The illegals have apparently ran away all of the hardworking tax payers.

I have a friend there and she and her husband were so thrilled when they built a million dollar home there about two years ago. They recently told me that their house is no longer worth what they paid for it. Sounds like you guys got out before it was too late. Unfortunately for my friends, they will probably never recoup their loss.

Originally Posted by WhatMattersMost

Originally Posted by AmericanMe

This may just be a blessing in disguise! If CA implodes, MAYBE the rest of the country will wake up and smell the burritos!!!

. There are many of you guys on board who ran for your lives from Cali. The illegals have apparently ran away all of the hardworking tax payers.

I have a friend there and she and her husband were so thrilled when they built a million dollar home there about two years ago. They recently told me that their house is no longer worth what they paid for it. Sounds like you guys got out before it was too late. Unfortunately for my friends, they will probably never recoup their loss.

Your post, WhatMattersMost, make me think.

I don't know if I can speak for the other "California refugees" in this thread, but the main reason I fled CA was because of II. Living in SoCal, it was right in my face everywhere, every day. I saw my once beautiful American city turn into Mexico's ghettos in a span of 10 years only.

Yes, I was one of the lucky ones who were able to sell my home right before the housing crash. I know for sure that the buyers are upside down now coz I look at a website that tells me how much the homes are selling for now. The same model house is now selling $50K less! In just one year! (I sold in August 2006) So I sure lucked out! (Thank you, God!)

But what I really want to say is that those of us who fled just in time were the ones that were REALISTIC about CA's future. No denial here. We kept our eyes and ears open and made the only intelligent choice. The rest of Californians still live in liberal denial. Oh, there are a few who want to move out but can't because of various reasons. I feel really bad for those people, but not for the rest.

While our home was on the market, we got on the Internet and researched what state to move to. We did extensive research and comparisons, based on our personal needs and wants. Obviously, one of our criteria was no more border states. After much research and discussion, we settled on Idaho. We have NEVER regretted our move. Ya, I had to get use to the cold winters, but hey, that is peanuts compared to living in a sunny winter with a $14.5 billion deficit and illegals right on top of you! It was painful leaving CA; our children still all live there. But we figured if we blazed the trail for them now, they can follow and resettle here in the future.

So the moral of the lesson here is to stay aware of the Big Picture and get out of denial about illegal immigration. Illegal Immigration is now #1 in voters' concerns. It affects EVERY FACET OF LIFE.

California is truly lost. I really believe that. With a liberal mentality, a liberal legislature, and wide open borders, it will continue its downward spiral. Like someone said, maybe this is a good thing coz it will implode and Californians will finally "get it" and run the illegals out for the sake of their future generations. I'm too old to wait for that to happen. That's why we fled; we aren't young enough to wait another 20 years for CA to get it right. We want to live our remaining years in AMERICA, AS WE KNOW IT TO BE.

For you Californians still stuck there, good luck to you all! I really mean that. If you are young and can fight this, do it. But I really don't know how CA can change. I think something BIG has to happen. I just hope it's not violent.

Originally Posted by Ex_OC

Originally Posted by WhatMattersMost

Originally Posted by AmericanMe

This may just be a blessing in disguise! If CA implodes, MAYBE the rest of the country will wake up and smell the burritos!!!

. There are many of you guys on board who ran for your lives from Cali. The illegals have apparently ran away all of the hardworking tax payers.

I have a friend there and she and her husband were so thrilled when they built a million dollar home there about two years ago. They recently told me that their house is no longer worth what they paid for it. Sounds like you guys got out before it was too late. Unfortunately for my friends, they will probably never recoup their loss.

Your post, WhatMattersMost, make me think.

I don't know if I can speak for the other "California refugees" in this thread, but the main reason I fled CA was because of II. Living in SoCal, it was right in my face everywhere, every day. I saw my once beautiful American city turn into Mexico's ghettos in a span of 10 years only.

Yes, I was one of the lucky ones who were able to sell my home right before the housing crash. I know for sure that the buyers are upside down now coz I look at a website that tells me how much the homes are selling for now. The same model house is now selling $50K less! In just one year! (I sold in August 2006) So I sure lucked out! (Thank you, God!)

But what I really want to say is that those of us who fled just in time were the ones that were REALISTIC about CA's future. No denial here. We kept our eyes and ears open and made the only intelligent choice. The rest of Californians still live in liberal denial. Oh, there are a few who want to move out but can't because of various reasons. I feel really bad for those people, but not for the rest.

While our home was on the market, we got on the Internet and researched what state to move to. We did extensive research and comparisons, based on our personal needs and wants. Obviously, one of our criteria was no more border states. After much research and discussion, we settled on Idaho. We have NEVER regretted our move. Ya, I had to get use to the cold winters, but hey, that is peanuts compared to living in a sunny winter with a $14.5 billion deficit and illegals right on top of you! It was painful leaving CA; our children still all live there. But we figured if we blazed the trail for them now, they can follow and resettle here in the future.

So the moral of the lesson here is to stay aware of the Big Picture and get out of denial about illegal immigration. Illegal Immigration is now #1 in voters' concerns. It affects EVERY FACET OF LIFE.

California is truly lost. I really believe that. With a liberal mentality, a liberal legislature, and wide open borders, it will continue its downward spiral. Like someone said, maybe this is a good thing coz it will implode and Californians will finally "get it" and run the illegals out for the sake of their future generations. I'm too old to wait for that to happen. That's why we fled; we aren't young enough to wait another 20 years for CA to get it right. We want to live our remaining years in AMERICA, AS WE KNOW IT TO BE.

For you Californians still stuck there, good luck to you all! I really mean that. If you are young and can fight this, do it. But I really don't know how CA can change. I think something BIG has to happen. I just hope it's not violent.

Ex_OC...I could have written that!

Like you, I was realistic about San Diego and where it is heading. I'm holding out hope that the damage that has been done there will someday be reversed, but I just couldn't stay there any longer and wait it out.

My entire life was tied up in San Diego. I was born and raised there. My family is there, my friends are there, and my career is there. It was heartbreaking to leave, but I have no regrets.

Like you, I also did my research before choosing a new home. I settled on a lovely little cityin the mid-west. True, we have our problems with illegals in this state, but that's in the larger cities. In the smaller cities, there is no work, welfare or driver's licenses for the illegals. They are not welcome here, and there is no reason for them to come.

I love my new home and am slowly getting used to the cold and snow (although I'll never like it).

I suspect the refugee count from Southern California is going to continue to go up as the quality of life continues to take a nosedive in what were once the loveliest cities in the U.S. to live.