I grew up in a Republican household in Southern California.  When it comes to social makeup, I had fairly broad exposure.  My father was a successful small businessman who was raised by immigrant Russian Jewish parents that came up from absolute poverty.  My mother was an Italian Catholic who came from a classically middle class family.  We were upper middle class living in a suburban area of Los Angeles.

I had a great deal of exposure growing up to everything from poor to very rich.  Furthermore, we were a very color blind household, to the extent that for me, skin color was about as meaningful as hair color.

I credit my parents for raising me (surely they hadn’t thought about it) with no preconceived notions.  They had friends and family members that were of various ethnicities, straight, gay, socio-economic status, etc.  And as far as religion, I had a Christian mother and a Jewish father, so I grew up in an extremely prejudice-free environment.  I even grew up in a single-parent household, as my parents divorced when I was eleven, giving me exposure growing up to a mother struggling to raise her child alone.

As for politics, I remember hearing my father say that he would vote for Mickey Mouse if he ran on the Republican ticket.  That didn’t fall in line with most of his family, as they were Jews, and lets face it… Jews were all democrats.  I never quite knew why, but my upbringing causes me to be predisposed to think “Republican”.  Even on my mom’s side, they were all middle class, but invariably Republican.

So I had a strong tendency to think Republican is better than Democrat when I was little, but I had no idea why, nor did I care.  But as I grew to understand the world around me, there were other forces that strongly supported my leaning Republican.

I remember watching Nixon resign, but I had no idea what it meant.   I watched Ford stumble on the evening news a few times, but still I was too young to really grasp who he was.  But  I was eleven when Jimmy Carter was elected, so between ages 12 and 15, I was quite a bit more aware of what was going on.  Half my family rejoiced when he was elected, half hid their heads in their pillows.  Of course, at that age you really don’t have much understanding, but you begin to pay more attention and align what is going on in the world with what your opinions are.

The Carter years through the eyes of this teenager were, for lack of a better word, sad.  I remember overhearing the adults talking (both the Democrats and the Republicans), and I picked up on a general sense of decline.  Surely that is summed up at the Carter “malaise” now.    There was this general sense that America was in decline.  Our best days were behind us, and the question was how much worse it could be.  I remember having a small savings account that earned me 12% interest,  I had no idea that this was a bad thing, because I obviously had no comprehension of what this meant for borrowing.  But everyone complained, and that sunk in.

I remember the gas lines, with odd and even days for refueling.  I remember hearing about everyone buying gas tank locks to stop neighbors from siphoning fuel, and I remember the words “Tax Shelter” were a big topic of conversation among the adults, although I didn’t understand how they worked.   I remember all the complaints of high inflation and unemployment.  I recall being in school and seeing a picture of a shrinking dollar, but not understanding how a dollar could shrink, and my father talking to me in the car about how the “recession” was hurting his business.  I also remember being at places of business that regularly requested cash, and people openly talking about what they report and what they don’t report.

I was a kid, so my problems in life were grades and a measure of how much fun I was having at a given time.  But I understood that things were bad, and there was a sense of decline with little hope.  In fact, the general feeling of 2008 – 2012 reminds me of the late 70′s all the time, except now I understand, but I digress.

When Reagan was running for office, I was fifteen. He spoke to all of the things I heard everyone complain about, but more importantly, his speeches and a positive theme of a better future.  He spoke of hope, success, growth.  He explained why the high taxes were strangling us, and it resonated with me.  I remember hearing people supporting Carter make their case, and heir arguments never seemed rational.  I knew even then that these were merely political speeches by someone running for office, but still, I noticed how people reacted.  There was a general uplifting feeling, a “Let’s do this!” feeling.  In my mind, you had to believe things would be better before they actually could be better.  In contrast, when I would listen to the Carter supporters, I never got a sense of what great things Carter could help the country achieve.  It was always about how this actor guy was unqualified.  So I was there thinking that the choices our nation had were that of sitting back and watching Carter talk us down for four years, or see if Reagan’s positive attitude toward our nation’s prospects carried any weight.  It was really a no-brainer, and clearly much of the nation agreed.

I liked Reagan, but in 1981, he became my hero.  His response to the air traffic controllers strike cinched it for me.  It was simple, to the point, and made sense.  I thought, if you are not happy with your situation, find a better situation.  So when he issued the ultimatum that they would be fired if they didn’t go back to work, I thought it was the perfect reaction.  Add that to the hostages in Iran being released, and the Economic Recovery Tax Act, and I was a Reaganaut!  Reaganomics just made sense to me.  If I owned a business, lower my tax hit, reduce regulations, and I will be able to breathe more easily.  I would have more to grow my business, hire more people, and spend on expansion.  In the end, I would make more money and wind up paying a larger dollar amount by giving the government a smaller piece of a bugger pie.  Unemployment was a huge problem, so this could only help.  There would be more production, so prices would not inflate as much.  It all made sense.  Was it an overly simplistic view of supply side economics?  Of course, but I was only sixteen at the time, right?

But even with that simplistic view, the economy boomed, inflation was brought under control, unemployment went down, and I no longer heard people talking about tax shelters.  More importantly, there was a more positive sense of national pride.  I didn’t fully grasp why, but things were MUCH better.

The 1984 election was the first time I was of age to vote, and there was simply no question.  I voted for The Gipper!  I was officially a Republican, and remained so for the next 26 years.

But I never saw another Reagan rise.  I mean, I voted for H.W. Bush both times, Dole, “W” Bush both times, McCain, and most recently Romney.  But none of them ever grabbed me.  ”H.W.” seemed almost like an absentee  President to me, I I honestly thought that Reagan had to be a very tough act to follow.  Dole seemed like the lesser of two evils, as did “W.”

But it was “W” that really had me more and more frustrated.  I remember thinking that if he had run against 2nd term Clinton, “W” would better fit the Democrat ticket and Clinton would better fit the Republican ticket.  That si not to say that I like Clinton, but Bush was so far away from my memory of Reagan, that if just seemed like I was choosing between Bush, a somewhat liberal and Gore, a more liberal liberal.  I felt the same four years later.  I was voting for the lesser of two evils.  Socially Bush was quite conservative, but fiscally, I felt like the Bush and Kerry would have made no difference.  This posed a problem for me, as I agreed with neither party on social issues.

Finally came the 2008 election, and I was honestly scared.  I watched Obama speak, and I knew he was going to win.  He was the Anti-Reagan.  He had the same charisma Reagan had, but with opposite argument.  And Bush had proven to be the Anti-Carter.  Who did the republicans put up against him?  John McCain.  It was as though they offered up a sacrificial lamb.  I’ll never forget being in the voting booth, thinking “Why the hell am I even casting a vote?”

I didn’t feel Republican anymore.  When I would listen to the pundits, I agreed on some points, but I was enraged by others.  The republicans talked about smaller government, lower taxes, etc.  But look at how Bush grew Federal programs!  Yeah, he was in favor of lower taxes, but his spending policy was out of control.  You just cannot have it both ways.    But I also saw religious issues take more and more center stage in the Republican platform, and it really puzzled me.  Why are we fighting gay marriage, I thought?  Why does the federal government care?  Why do we waste national resources on an issue of morality?  If we are the party of smaller government, why do we make this argument?  Furthermore, why do we make 10th amendment arguments, then support policies that expand the Department of Education and HHS?  I was feeling more and more disenfranchised.

And then the Tea Party movement happened.  I drove by all of these protests and read all of the signs.  They resonated.  None of the signs ever yelled anything about social issues.  It was all about fiscal responsibility, the constitution, etc.  They blasted Obama and Bush on the same counts.  But while the Republicans tried to own the Tea Party, it was increasingly clear that they didn’t agree with them.  It was as though the Tea Party was the cousin you hate, but still invite to Christmas because they always spend big on presents. The way the party reacted to them, keeping the movement at arms length, was a clear signal.  The Democrats were the party of high taxation and big government, and the Republicans were the party of slightly less taxation and talk of small government.  The left and the not quite as left.  Neither was a real choice for me anymore.

I began to read Ron Paul’s point of view, and while I agreed with most of it, I didn’t fully agree with him.  Through all of this, I ended up looking into the Libertarian party, and I was wowed.  For the most part… not 100%, I really saw my own thoughts and beliefs.  I instantly realized I was a Libertarian all along.  But let’s face it, we are in a two party system, so I figured the Republicans were closer to the Libertarians, so I’ll just be a libertarian that votes Republican.

I crossed a new threshold  with the 2012 election cycle.  Starting with the primaries.  I’m not gonna lie.  I couldn’t stand Mitt Romney.  He made me cringe four years earlier, and even more so now.  When I looked at the Republican contenders, he was my last choice.  And as I watched the Iowa caucus move into the primaries, it was clear that most of the republicans felt the same way.  Every candidate had a surge, and Romney never did.  With each surge, the Romney team would spend insane money on carpet bombing with negative ads.  The GOP would send their crew to Fox news to begin a subtle campaign of political assassination against whichever candidate was beating Romney today, while they would hammer on how Romney is “The most electable candidate”, a really good guy, and the best for the job.  During the primaries, it was brutally obvious that the GOP had picked their horse and would accept nothing else.  This infuriated me as I watched the population of each state get moved by the strings of the GOP.

Finally Romney won the nomination, and the roar of excitement out there would have been drowned out by a pin dropping.  We had ourselves another Bob Dole.  Yay!   It was abundantly clear that the only hope he had was to get elected by a public that was voting Obama out of office.  Not very promising, and nothing like Reagan vs. Carter.

The next nail in the coffin was the convention.  I sat there and watched the GOP make rule changes that would make it even easier for them to pick their horse in the future.  They were not making rules that would ensure a more democratic process.  Instead they were making rules that would allow them to assure the candidate they wanted got nominated more easily (less expensively?) the next time around, despite what the public actually wants.  They effectively turned their base into puppets.  This is NOT what I signed up for in 1984, but as much as I hated it, it was not as bad as Obama.

Finally we had the election.  I stood in line at the polls, and here was a group of people wearing Ron Paul shirts.  It turns out that they were going to vote for Gary Johnson.  GARY JOHNSON?  REALLY?  Why vote for a guy that has absolutely no chance of winning this thing?  As everyone says, it is the same as giving your vote to Obama.  Why on earth?

TO MAKE A STATEMENT.

Click.  Not immediately, but yes, to make a statement.  I walked in, I voted for Romney; A guy I could not stand.  A candidate that was my last choice among Republicans.  A guy that I saw as only slightly less intolerable than Obama.  And by casting my vote, I was a pawn of the GOP again.  I bought into the “anyone is better than Obama” argument.  But then I thought about it, and I wondered how many people felt the same way?  I mean, there is something I have noticed over the past few years that I thought was interesting.

Until four years ago, if i asked anyone what their political alignment was, the answer was always either Republican or Democrat.  You might get the occasional “Libertarian”, or “Neither”, or “Moderate”, but I would say 99% of the time, it was one of the two.  I even had one person tell me he was a “Statist”. Yikes!   But in the last four years, I have found that most people I encounter have disassociated with the Republican  association.  More often they say “Conservative” or “Independent”.  When asking about this, almost everyone tells me they no longer identify with either party.  WOW!  Think that one through!  If a large contingent of the population does not identify with the two major parties, abut they also believe that the two parties are their only real choices, what do we have?  Certainly not a representative government.

That brought up another question for me.  What if every citizen looked at a set of ideals for each candidate and simply voted for the one they most align with, never considering advertising or who they perceived the potential winners might be?  What would those results look like?

It occurred to me that the people wearing those Ron Paul shirts in line at the polls were the most honest and patriotic people there that day.  Whether you like Ron Paul or not, some things cannot be contradicted.  Those people were not subjected to billions of dollars in political advertising that swayed their vote.  They knew what they stood for because they could only support their candidate by seeking out the information.  They were not dissuaded by the “your guy can’t win” arguments.  They voted for who they believed in, not who would win.  Right or wrong, good for the country or not… they voted honestly.  Their votes were more honest than that of any person that voted for Obama because they perceived Romney as a “woman hater”, or any person that voted for Romney because Obama “builds Jeeps in China.”

They voted the way we all should vote; With their conscience.  And if we do not all do the same, aren’t we guilty of subverting our own system?

That is how I left the Republican Party.  As Ronald Reagan once said of the Democratic Party, “It actually left me”, and it did so long ago.  I just never knew what to do about it.

Change can only happen if people get in front of it.  Right now, the Republican party is fractured.  I believe that if people begin to choose based on their beliefs, a third party can rise.  Furthermore, I believe that the Libertarian party represents, for the most part, what many Republicans (especially those that now call themselves conservatives) believe.

• Our constitution was drafted to protect our nation from the tyranny we fought to break away from.  Every time we ignore it out of convenience, protection, or expediency, we are giving up something greater that will hurt us in ways we cannot imagine.
• Our constitution creates a slow and often ugly process that makes it hard to get things done, but that is the price of protecting ourselves from the type of government we fought to break away from.
• Our tax code is overly complicated and extremely broken, and simply raising taxes on a group of successful people will not fix it.
• Special interests have too much control over our politicians and the policies they implement.
• Too many of our personal and economic freedoms are being taken away in the name of “fairness” and “safety”.
• We have a need to restore our competitive edge on a global scale.
• Debt is bad, savings are good… for families, businesses, AND governments.
• Live and let live; No Harm, No Foul.
• We should protect people from others trying to do them harm, not from themselves.
• The laws of supply and demand are a natural order, and government manipulation of markets will always do more harm tan good.

And much more, all of which basically boils down to one idea:  ”Freedom is good”.  I would argue that most conservatives would look at the platform and think that they agree with the fiscal arguments, and while many may not like some of the social arguments, the “government shouldn’t be involved in morality” argument would resonate.  I believe that many democrats would agree with most of the social arguments, and when looking at the big picture, would have a difficult time arguing with the fiscal arguments.

I think the Libertarian platform, fo the most part, would be attractive to most, but it has one fatal flaw:  It doesn’t help career politicians raise the kind of money they need to stay in office… and who doesn’t like that?

But if it were to ever happen, once of two things would have to occur:

1. People would have to stop voting for who the pundits and polls tell us can win, and go with who the actually want.
2. or the Republican party would have to experience an all out coup by the Tea Party and Libertarians.

Option number two looked like a real possibility in the 2010 elections, enough that it was clear the GOP panicked.  That is surely what brought on the rules changes at the 2012 convention, essentially guaranteeing that #2 cannot happen.

So that leaves us with #1, and it can only happen if people begin to think in those terms.  I’m in.

If I could go back to November 6, 2012, I would punch my ballot for Johnson.  And THAT is how I left the Republican party.

 

 

 

I’m not going to lie… I am a politics junkie. I really do enjoy following the political firestorm of the day. And if you have read much of this blog, it should be clear that I think of myself as a Libertarian. What really amuses me is that people reading that last statement automatically grab a list of 10 or 15 Libertarian principles and apply them to me as an absolute. Furthermore, if anyone were hell bent on discrediting me, they would look at what I have written and certainly find something that does not perfectly line up with one or two of those principles, and declare “Hey! He’s not a Libertarian… He said THIS.”

To that, I would say: Wake up. There are no absolutes. But it seems that when people want to make a baseless argument in politics, they so often resort to questioning honesty or motive based on absolute principles.

I regularly scan various news websites with different perspectives, watch cable news with different perspectives, and even listen to XM Right AND Left. Not a day goes by that some pundit doesn’t attack someone on a set of ideals. Or worse, they attack a group based on one person’s ideals. Take it back to the Tea Party demonstrations, and all we needed was one whacko with a somewhat violent slogan on a sign, and the media of the left painted the entire movement with that brush. Look at Occupy Wall Street, and if there was a violent moment somewhere, FOX painted the entire movement with THAT brush. Should a Republican politician happen to be pro-choice, they are instantly seen as not republican, even if every other belief they have is with the party line. If a Democrat was not comfortable with Obamacare, they were suddenly attacked for not being true to the party.

The point here is that if we want our politicians to be honest, we cannot expect them to have a belief system that is 100% in agreement with their party line. It just is not possible.

What brings all of this to mind today is news of Glenn Beck popping up all over this morning. Last night he made an announcement, stating that his company was working to become a global news network with Libertarian leanings. He said “I consider myself a libertarian… I’m a lot closer to Penn Jillette than I am to Chuck Hagel.” What I found to be astounding was he number of comments people have posted on news sites that picked up this story. Then general theme of the comments is to say that he is not a Libertarian because he is religious.

But look at the statement. He said he is CLOSER to Penn Jillette, who is an atheist, while Beck is a Mormon. CLOSER. So considering they have vastly different religious beliefs, does that mean one is a Libertarian and the other is not? Beck also stated that he would not be in favor of legalizing drugs, which is a central issue for many Libertarians. Does that mean that since Beck does not agree with that ONE point that most Libertarians support, that he is not Libertarian? Of course not. It simply means he agrees with more Libertarian principles than he does Republican or Democrat principles, making him lean heavily Libertarian. Consider also that in an interview between Jillette and Beck, they both stated that while they wholeheartedly disagreed with one another on religion, they would strongly defend one another’s rights to practice their beliefs in the open… and THAT is Libertarian.

I had considered myself a Republican for years. When I perceived my choices as either Republican or Democrat, I looked at what each stood for, and found myself agreeing more with Republicans than Democrats, so that was my choice. But wait! I have no problem with gays marrying. I also don’t like the idea of abortion being illegal, and the thought of laws being enforced by a single set of religious standards bothers me. One might say I am a Democrat. But wait, I also believe in minimal government, fiscal responsibility, supply side economics, etc. Wait! I must be a Republican. But then over time, I learned more about the Libertarian message, and found it to be more in line with my beliefs. That is, fiscally conservative and socially “get out of my way”. For example, I remember being given a different perspective on the gay marriage question. That gay marriage should not be made legal, because even straight marriage should not be legal — That is, why is the government even involved in marriage in the first place? Looking at it through that lens made a light bulb go on for me. of course! I don’t care if gays marry. I don’t care if straights marry… I simply don’t care. Why on earth does the government care? Why are they even involved in it? Why do we spend tax dollars arguing these things? Looking at this issue, as well as many others really caused me to realize I lean very much Libertarian.

But I LEAN Libertarian. Does that mean I am 100% in agreement with every published Libertarian principle? Well, no. There are certain things I remain uncomfortable with. Drug legalization, for one. I honestly don’t see a good outcome sprouting from allowing your local pharmacy to sell over the counter heroin. I am also uncomfortable with the live and let live stance with regard to foreign policy. But given a list of 25 principles of each party, I find myself checking off more boxes for Libertarian.

So to end this rant, I would ask people reading this to examine their beliefs against whichever political party they align with. Read the party line and ask yourself if you agree 100% with every point they make. I would argue that it is nearly impossible that any single person would.

Every American that reads this grew up with all sorts of buzz words and phrases that talk about how we are “The Land of the Free”, the “Freest Place on Earth”, etc.  We sing songs about  being proud because “At Least We Are Free”, and we call ourselves patriotic, “Freedom Loving” Americans.  I would argue that no other nationality talks “freedom” like we do, but do we know what it actually means?  More importantly, do we actually have it?  But most importantly of all, who among us actually votes for it?

We Are Not Nearly As Free As We Think

Let’s get this article going by bursting your bubble.  In some ways, we are one of the least free people in the world.  That is, al least in terms of economic freedom.  Now, I say “one of”, only because we share this designation with the country of Eritrea.  If you are geographically challenged, I understand.  It is a tiny little nation sandwiched between Sudan and Ethiopia in north-eastern Africa.  This little country with just six million citizens and a whopping $4 billion GDP shares something exclusive with The United Stetes of America:  We have something called “Citizenship-Based Taxation”.

Huh?  OK, let me explain.  All over the world, countries have “territorial taxation”.  What that means, is that if you live somewhere, work there, etc.  You pay taxes there.  So, for example, if a German citizen moves to America and begins working there, he pays taxes to the American IRS, not Germany. After all, he is now using resources in the United States, so he owes taxes to them.  That is fair, right?  He is no longer connected to Germany, so he doesn’t pay taxes there.  BUT THE REVERSE IS NOT TRUE!

If an American citizen moves to Germany, he still owes income taxes to the United States.  To make this clear, you move to Germany, get a work visa, and open a store.  You are no longer using American roads and bridges.  Your kids don’t use the public schools in the states, and you are not using American health care.  You are not even a resident of the United States anymore.  The IRS still wants its “fair share”.  You are required to file income taxes in the U.S., and pay them accordingly.

Now there are all sorts of complicated rules that say if you pay taxes to the other country, that you can deduct from your US taxes, there are exemptions up to a point, etc.  But the point here is simple:  You do not have economic freedom.

Even Eritrea is More Forgiving in Some Ways

Eritrea only taxes 2% of your international income.  The United States is the only country in the world that applies the same tax to all its citizens, regardless of where they live, anywhere in the world.

The FACTS of FATCA

There is a cool little law that most don’t know about called FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act).  This is a law that deals with American citizens reporting their foreign assets to the IRS.  This way, the government knows everything you have.  OK, cool.  We really don’t want cheaters out there.  Makes sense, especially when they are really cheating.  But it does something else!  It also requires foreign financial institutions to report on Americans and withhold their funds.

Huh? OK, think this one through.  The United States is now telling banks overseas that they need to do special (costly) reporting and accounting for any accounts held by Americans.   In other words, if you open a bank account in France, that the US is requiring an institution in a sovereign country to play tax man on behalf of the US government.   That is, if an American holds an account, all sorts of documents need to be filed, tracking must be done, etc.  Again, stop those cheaters.   The problem here is that they don’t have to do all of this for anyone else.  So guess what the world’s biggest non-American banks, investment companies, etc. are doing?  They are shutting down accounts held by Americans!  Yes, if you are an American, you are now blacklisted in the global financial market, simply because your government is overextending its reach.   Our own government is effectively crippling its own people in global markets.

 If You Don’t Like it, Renounce Your Citizenship

When I have talked to people in the past, this is a great line.  If you don’t like America, you can just renounce your citizenship.  Well, on one hand I argue we should not have to.  On the other, it actually isn’t a solution!

To argue the first, let’s be real.  If you don’t like it, leave?  What kind of argument is that?  No, we try to change it.  We make people aware, and we govern our government.

But to answer the second, renouncing your citizenship is actually not the simple answer.  You see, because they even get you there.  For one thing, you are automatically required to pay income taxes in the US for 10 years after renouncing your citizenship.  Additionally, for those with a net worth of more than $2 million, they look at any property you own, and assess a liquidation value as though you had sold it.  So you get massive penalties.

Many of these rules even apply to non-citizen residents!!

What This Actually Means To You

OK, most of us don’t have millions and don’t have bank accounts in far off lands.  I get that.  We think of people with offshore accounts as the elite super rich that are trying to beat the system.   But that is really just how it is all sold to us.  The larger issue is more important:  FREEDOM.

Take it all to a smaller level.  You think you are in a free country, right?  So suppose you are a middle class person that decides to sell your house with a $100,000 profit, move to Mexico, and sell coconuts on the beach for the rest of your life.  In every other country on earth (except Eritrea), you are free to do this without government intervention.  But if you are from the United States, the IRS wants to charge you income tax on your Coconut sales in Mexico.

…And there is nothing FREE about that.

Rewind to 2009.  I would get in my car and drive down the street.  People would be on street corners waving signs, asking people to honk, making their voice heard.  Every sign I saw was about wasteful spending, corrupt government, gridlock, and the national debt.  These corners were full of people like grandma, your favorite uncle, and local veterans.  They were clearly the silent majority, and they had been awakened.

This was the Tea Party.  I remember when they started, before Obama was elected president.  It was not a republican thing, nor was it  a democrat thing.  It was a “get control of my country” thing.

The Tea Party was a movement that, in 2010, gave new life to conservatives.

But as time passed each and every night when I would turn on the news, all the media would talk about were these crazy extremist tea party people.  They would find one radical in a large crowd that was waiving a questionable sign and that would be the story.  Before I knew it, the “Tea Party” meant racists, bigots, etc.  Furthermore, all the reporting said that the tea party was a “religious right” movement.  But wait, that was NOT what I was seeing.  I saw grandma standing on a corner with a sign about fiscal policy.  I saw young people standing there worried about the economy.  I saw veterans standing there worried that their country had been taken over by everything they fought a war or two against.

Still, it worked.  Anyone you talked to thought the tea party was what the media portrayed, and it became something “normal” people felt the need to distance from for fear of being labeled a racist.  WHAT?

So here we are, a couple days after the 2012 election.  We watched the republican party distance from the tea party, rather than define it.  The movement was killed, and Obama is president once again.

So I ask:  Why did we allow this to happen?  Why did this movement allow itself to be defined by others?  Why did the GOP not completely embrace it?  How on earth did they think that Mitt Romney was the answer?

The bigger question is this: What will it take for another movement to happen?

It used to be that there were more people moving to California every year, chasing that California dream, than leaving.  EVERY YEAR, no matter what.  But now for FIVE straight years, the opposite has been true.

Even worse, businesses are leaving in droves.  It all boils down to high taxes and excessive regulation.  Yes, some leave California of other reasons, too.  But these are the big ones.

I won’t get into why others are getting out of Dodge, as it would be mostly speculation.  So I’ll tell my own story.

California is The Greatest Place on Earth

Everyone is aware of the classic California superiority complex, right?  Hey, I’m guilty!  In fact, I consider myself first Californian, THEN American.  As much as I have traveled, I have never seen a place with such amazing weather, so diverse, and… well, totally and like… y’know… fully cool, dude!  Yeah, I’m from the valley.  The sun is always shining, the plants are always green, the temperature is always fantastic, and nearly 70% the Ferraris that leave the factory in Italy are destined for California!  We have the actors, the music, amazing restaurants, vast beaches, and did I mention the sunshine?

In the winter, you can go skiing in the morning, and spend the afternoon surfing in 80 degree temps.  I grew up in a place where on those rare days that we would get as much as 1 or 2 inches of rain, we had “rain days”, during which we didn’t go to school because it was WET, and if we turned on the TV, we would see reporters standing in the rain describing how wet they were getting in the rain.  They would warn us of “Curbside Flooding”, and all of this with fancy ‘STORM WATCH’ graphics on the TV — My apologies to those of you reading this after shoveling snow.

I love California.

The Land of, Like, Opportunity, Y’Know

All four of my grandparents made the move west in the 40′s.

On my father’s side, they were Russian immigrants, who moved to Pennsylvania.  They were pre-depression mattress-stuffers than ran a shoe store in South Philly and didn’t believe in banks. When the depression hit, they were literally sleeping on their life savings, and began to buy up property at rock-bottom prices.  As we came out of the depression, they sold some and kept some, but were suddenly quite wealthy.  There was only one thing to do at the time for anyone on the rise:  They moved to Beverly — The Beverly Hillbillies tune is now in my head, although they were Beverly Moscovites.

On my mother’s side, my grandparents were second-generation Italians from Buffalo, New York.  They were a simple middle-class family.  My grandfather worked as a meat broker.  He was transferred to Chicago at one point, then had an opportunity to transfer to Los Angeles in the late 40′s.  He seized the opportunity.

Both sets of grandparents moved to California in part because of the weather, but mostly because it was a place of vast opportunity.  On my father’s side, they saw a growing city, ripe for real estate investment.  On my mother’s side, my grandfather chose to open his own meat brokerage in this up and coming place.  They all did quite well.

The California Dream

It was the new version of The American Dream.  The weather rocked, costs were lower, and it was a new frontier where a person could build a future.  What a place!

I Left Once, But it Didn’t Take

Fast forward to me now.  As I grew up, California was obviously well-established and L.A. was a massive city.  The cost of living was extremely high, but that was always offset by the fact that we made more money than everyone else, so it was no big deal.  But in 1994 I left.

When the 1994 Northridge Earthquake hit, our world was rocked.  We were very close to the epicenter, and around the same time we had a business opportunity in South Carolina.  My wife, who is an Italian immigrant, was really shaken up, and wanted to leave.  I more or less caved, but I left my home city in tears.

The business in South Carolina didn’t work out, and we ended up moving briefly to Virginia.  At the time, I had a side business that was growing, so I concentrated on building it, setting a financial goal that, when hit, we would move back to L.A.  Eleven months after leaving California, we were back.

I swore I would never leave again.

The California Dream Tax

That little side business I had enjoyed tremendous success, and continued to grow into a very well-known software company through the 90′s until we took a major hit in the dot.com bust in 2001.  It continued (and is still active), but we also ended up opening a tour company that operated in Italy that has since become extremely successful.  With these companies, it has been hard to ignore what we pay in taxes, and at one point I looked at how much of our tax was avoidable by moving the company.

It is the California Dream Tax in my opinion.  That is, what was I paying for the benefit of living in California?  If I were to move my family and businesses to a more tax-friendly state, what would I save?  The results are astounding.

Without accounting for deductions, here is a simple breakdown compared to Florida, the state I ended up choosing.

The corporate taxes, accounting for income, payroll, fees, etc. ended up being roughly 1/2 of California!  So in keeping this simple, if I was paying $100,000 in corporate taxes in California, $50,000 of that was so that my company could enjoy the California Dream.

Personal Income Taxes are a major issue.  California’s state income tax is 9.3% for anyone making a hair under $50,000.  Florida is ZERO.  So if I make $150,000.00, we are talking about nearly $14,000 in state personal income tax for the right to be in California.  The kicker is that my federal income taxes are not even deductible, so as a California, you must pay taxes on the tax money you pay.  Imagine taking $40 out of your wallet EVERY DAY and throwing it in your trash can while saying “Here is my donation to the California Sun”.

Property Taxes in Los Angeles are actually lower than here.  My area of Florida is roughly 1.5%, while Los Angeles was 1%.  However, Real Estate prices in Los Angeles are easily 300% higher, so for the same house, I would actually pay 1/2 what we were paying in L.A.

Sales Tax:  L.A. Sales tax is now approaching the magic 10% mark.  To be exact, it is 9.75%.  Out here, it is a whopping 6%.  A difference of 3.75% is pretty significant.  If I spend $75,000 a year on taxable items, I would pay almost an extra $3,000 for the right to purchase them in L.A.

Other taxes and fees:  The other little things really add up.  Fr example, the registration fees for my car in California would be $700.00 per year.  The same car is $45 in Florida.  Gasoline taxes are higher, payroll taxes are higher, etc.

In addition, we noticed that the purchase of regular every day items was a solid 30% less in Florida than California.

When it was all said and done, we figured that toughly 40% of our gross income was paying for the California Dream.

So we left.

Arnold, Can I Come Home Yet?

I miss it terribly.  Don’t you miss us, Arnold?  After all, by leaving, we reduced your tax base.  By subjecting me to a 9.3% income tax rate, now you get ZERO from me.  By trying to charge me 1,600% more for my vehicle registration, now you get NADA.  By raising the sales tax again, and again, and again…. Now I pay a 0% sales tax in California.  Worse yet, I took with me all the money I contributed to the California Economy, the jobs I created in the state, all of the taxes and economic stimulus those employees created, and so much more.

How many more are like me?  How many businesses have jumped ship?  How many people have joined the exodus?  Are the higher taxes compensating for all the lost revenue from all the lost taxpayers?

Seriously…  because I would like to come home, but can’t reason it the way things are.  Something must change, and I seriously doubt I am alone here.

The Irony of Who Is Leaving

It is almost laughable when you think about it.  California is a very liberal state.  Very liberal politicians like to talk about the poor, shrinking middle class.  But think about who is getting out of California.  If you are too poor, most simply cannot afford to leave.  They are locked in their reality.  The very rich aren’t too affected by the difference in tax rates.  That leaves everyone in the middle, like me.  In fact, every individual I know that has left is middle class or upper-middle.  Yes, many large businesses are leaving, because the millions saved cannot be ignored by them.  But smaller businesses, like mine… you know, the backbone of the economy…  We just cannot afford to stay.  So if we are in a business that CAN leave, we DO.  That is, if I ran an auto parts shop that was dependent on location, I would be locked in.  But that was not the case, so I left for greener (and rainier) pastures.

Doesn’t that sound like a recipe for a shrinking middle class?

I’ll never forget the first time someone called me a racist.  I was in eleventh grade at my high school in Los Angeles.  It was another kid in my class that I had just met.  He gave me some attitude, and I asked what his problem was.  He simply said I was a racist.  I was totally taken back, and when I asked what gave him that impression, his only answer was that I was a racist because I was white.

Until then, I had never thought about whether or not I was a racist.  I had never considered skin color as a factor of anything at all.  I grew up with friends that were White, Black, Latino & Asian…   and I’m not saying that I had some sort of respect for people of a different race.  I didn’t, because it wasn’t even a factor.  I didn’t think of there being anything different to respect or not respect.  To propose it to me would have been no different than asking if I took issue with people that have blonde hair. The question in and of itself is puzzling.

I’m not trying to say that I had no knowledge of racism.  Of course I did.  We studied it to no end in school, talked about it in class, but I never had any connection to it.  To me it was something of a different place and time. 

However, that day in high school something changed.    The kid that had called me a racist for no other reason than the fact that I was white suddenly became different.  He judged me based on my color, and nothing else.  I was suddenly forced to see him as different from me.  I suddenly had to treat him differently than others, causing me to create a category for him in my mind. In other words, with respect to him, I was now a racist.

Later in life, I had been talking with my childhood best friend.  He had developed a huge issue with race.  He was Asian, and said that he often encountered race-related obstacles.  Some of his stories had me feeling for him, and some had me thinking he had a chip on his shoulder and would take any unexplained situation and make into a race issue.  The thing is, that I had never thought of him by his race…. Until then. 

The more he talked about the fact that he was different, the more he became different. He was incredibly sensitive to anything that he might consider racist, to the point that I found myself walking on eggshells to make sure I didn’t offend a person that I considered like a brother.

Doesn’t this create more racism?  If you want me to see you as different and treat you differently than I would treat the person next to you, aren’t you insisting on a racist bias?

So I notice it more and more over the years, especially when people talk about the ‘Race Card’.  Seriously, what did race have to do with OJ?  Do we really believe that if Rodney King had been white, the cops would have offered him milk & cookies?

Now it is getting more and more intense with Obama in the White House.  An overwhelming majority of Americans voted for Obama.  But every time someone has a problem with his policy, people start yelling that they are only complaining because he is black.  Really?

In the history of this country, democrats and republicans have never seen eye to eye.  One has always disparaged people from the opposing party.  They do it because they disagree on the issues.  Why is it that now someone that disagrees with Obama’s issues is accused of only disagreeing because of his color? 

Every time I see this happen, I see people trying to change the rules of politics because of race, which I believe can only lead to frustration and a greater problem with racism.

We are creating Frankenstein’s monster here.

OK, it is time to start writing here, and what better place to start!

I’ve been watching this debate for months now, and I honestly cannot believe my eyes and ears.  I won’t sit here and tell you that we don’t have major problems in the delivery of our health care, but as we learned by electing Obama, ‘CHANGE’ is just change… not necessarily ‘GOOD CHANGE’.  Where do you think we got the term ‘from the frying pan into the fire’, anyway?

I spend a great deal of time in one of the glorious ‘socialized medicine’ countries: Italy.  So let’s look at it for a second:

Free healthcare for all

Right?  WRONG.  Look at your paycheck.  See all those little taxes that get deducted?  Unemployment, Federal withholding, FICA, etc. etc. Italy has a gigantic one for Medical care…  and it is higher than what I pay here in the states.  Of course, if you are unemployed you don’t have that tax taken out, and you still get healthcare.  But here in the states you can walk into any emergency room and get treatment even if you cannot afford it, and the quality of THAT treatment is far superior to what the healthcare in Italy offers.

Quality Healthcare for All

Really?  Are we honestly drinking that Kool Aid?  A friend of ours in Italy needs an MRI, and she needs it STAT!  Since it is urgent, she will only have to wait a few months!  She ended up having to go to a private clinic where she paid thousands.  Yet she still must pay that tax.

Another friend has a 10 year old child with a serious heart condition.  He needed an operation urgently enough hat he was instructed not to play until he got it.  He was put on the waiting list, and finally went under the knife after six months. 

I watch friends go to doctors for routine appointments, and when they do so they need to block off the entire day.  Why?  Because a 9:00 AM appointment means ‘sometime today after 9AM’.  My wife was once in a waiting room awaiting her appointment, and after hours, she watched the doctor walk out to lunch with a waiting room full of people that had been there all morning.

I have yet to see a hospital that looks even remotely sanitary. 

A semi-private hospital room means there are only 6 beds in the room.  Private rooms?  HA!

A job in the system is a job for life.  The net effect is that there is no accountability for much of anything – it’s quite a bit like the DMV.  So if you want care, you must always have a family member by your side to make sure you are always getting it.  And tipping nurses for care is quite common as a consequence.

The funny thing is that when it is really, really serious, many that have access come to the states for healthcare.  Why is that?

But the drugs are cheap

Yes, they are.  I do believe that we need to find a solution to the costs of meds.  Does that mean we need to emulate a world full of broken systems?

But That’s Just Italy

Yes, it is.  It is one example of socialized medicine.  It is where the bulk of my experience comes from.  But I have heard similar first-hand horror stories from all over the world. Go ahead and research the state of the system in the UK, for example.  How about France?

We’ll be more like Sweden and Canada

Will we?  Let’s assume their systems are fantastic  (They aren’t)

Sweden has about the same population as the State of  North Carolina.  That makes the USA roughly 3,300%  more populous than Sweden.

Canada’s population is less than the State of California by itself, making the population of the USA more than 900% larger than that of Canada.
Additionally, every state in the union has its own laws, its own problems, its own culture.  Do we really believe a federal government will come up with a wonderful plan that will be efficient, take care of everyone, and make us feel like we are getting better care?

So what’s the answer?

I don’t know.  I don’t claim to be someone with the answer, just someone that doesn’t like what is being shoved down his throat.  In other words, I don’t have to know how to make a great sandwich in order to know that a dog feces & moldy cheese sandwich will taste bad, do I?

I do know that a government-run healthcare system will most likely look like other government-run systems, and nothing about that sounds like quality to me.