If we leave California... where to?

[shinyhappypeople]

I'm sad.  I don't actually want to leave California, but leftist BS out of Sacramento and the Bay Area dealing with the increasing political garbage flowing from the political toilet that is our state government is becoming unbearable. (ETA: I want to escape our terrible state government not specifically Californians.)  We're finally to the point of seriously considering pulling up stakes and moving to a free state.  Our home state is so broken and corrupt, I just don't know what else we can do to fix it.

Assuming DH can find a job pretty much anywhere, our only other requirements are that it be a place with low humidity, low or moderate cost of living and that it be mostly politically conservative.

I want Midwest, DH wants Arizona.  I'm also up for Texas (not Austin or Houston, a small town somewhere).  Where else would work?  It doesn't have to be desert, but the humidity thing is actually important, because DH has breathing issues.  I've never done a very cold, snowy winter, but I assume we'd adapt okay. 

I'm serious, y'all.  Hit me with your suggestions.

[Katy]

Other low humidity states are New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and Oklahoma.

I don't recommend Oklahoma. There is so much mismanagement in the other direction (possibly because of multiple tribal governments) it's enough to make you rethink being a conservative at all.  Colorado and Nevada probably aren't as conservative as you want either.

[Ravin]

Well, it might not be a priority if you're homeschooling, but AZ's schools are craptastic, and the high sales taxes are regressive. It's really only a "free" state if you're a big corporation. If you're going to Texas, stay in the western part of the state if you don't want to deal with humidity. There are plenty of small towns to choose from.

[HomeAgain]

2 minutes ago, Ravin said:

Well, it might not be a priority if you're homeschooling, but AZ's schools are craptastic, and the high sales taxes are regressive. It's really only a "free" state if you're a big corporation. If you're going to Texas, stay in the western part of the state if you don't want to deal with humidity. There are plenty of small towns to choose from.

But be warned in the west, the dust clouds are horrendous and can lead to Texas induced breathing problems.  I gave up a cabinet full of inhalers when we left Texas.

[Lanny]

Native Californian here. Primarily I left because of the high COL.  I lived in Texas for 28 years and I vote absentee there.  If you are in West Texas, you can find places with much lower humidity than in Central/East/South Texas.  A smaller city, maybe Lubbock or El Paso?

You are not alone!   Within the past week, I read a news story that reported that 46% of the people in California would like to leave, within the next several years. Most are moving to TX, NV, AZ and I think to ID.   Las Vegas and Phoneix have "low cost" houses available, with a median price of about $230K or something like that.

A childhood friend is from Las Vegas but they live in S.W. Utah now.  The metro Las Vegas area is huge now and he remembers it as a very small city, as I do.

Every place you consider will have pros and cons. Try to find the place that meets most of your needs/desires.

ETA:   I don't remember the numbers or which state it was from, but the cost of renting a UHaul or something, from one location, going to California, was about $300.  Going from California, it was about $3000.  That indicates they are trying to move units back into California and which way the people are going.

 

[Annie G]

Scratch Illinois off your list, as our state is a financial mess and has been for years, with no end in sight. 

[rebcoola]

Eastern Wa, Yakima,or Tri Cities their are quite a few California refugees here.  The area is in a rain shadow and is very sunny all year round with little to no humidity. COL is rising but still very reasonable. The area is conservative and family friendly.  

[marbel]

I spent most of my life in California, but left when my first kid was born.  It was too hot, too crowded, too fast, too expensive. 

At that time we moved to Oregon (Portland area).  Yes, we were part of the wave of the Californication of Oregon.  We didn't want to turn it into another Cali, though. But now it seems it's gone that way too.  (We left there 10 yeas ago but not because of politics or anything like that, just a career move.)

Low humidity, though. The eastern part may still be conservative and affordable?   I know you were thinking more south.  

[Mommyof1]

California girl here born and raised. Left my mountains for the Plains of Kansas almost a decade ago. 

Things are better here. Lots of jobs. The people here are a lot nicer and not so wound up.

Lots of small rural areas out here and you can get a lot of land to boot. Prices for houses and land are really good, at least to me.

Have to trade earthquakes for tornadoes though.

[elegantlion]

Avoid Missouri if you don't want humidity. I work at a museum and a few weeks ago we had people in from Florida complaining about the humidity. Last week a couple from Arizona had walked from their hotel, about 1/2 mile. They were regretting that decision and covered in sweat. 

[SamanthaCarter]

I like the hill country of Texas. Many fond memories of camping at enchanted rock when my family was stationed at ft Sam Houston. Perhaps Wimberley? Good economy, arts, situated within easy  driving distance from large metropolitan areas, but not a large metropolitan area itself. 

[Carol in Cal.]

Wyoming comes to mind.

I'm not sure where you are in CA, but the eastern part of the state and much of the area near Shasta and that far north are much more conservative than the coasts.  

Eastern WA state is very conservative, and has milder winters than the Midwest, and no humidity to speak of, but I don't know how long it can stay conservative in 'feel' being so outweighed in the state population by the coastal cities, similar to in CA.

It's really sad to feel like an alien in your own home area.  

[Ravin]

1 hour ago, HomeAgain said:

But be warned in the west, the dust clouds are horrendous and can lead to Texas induced breathing problems.  I gave up a cabinet full of inhalers when we left Texas.

 

Dust is just as much a problem in Arizona.

[maggie18]

I sent you a PM. ?

[Momto6inIN]

Indiana has bad humidity, but we have a very low COL, lots of small towns, super easy hs laws, and we are almost solidly a red state ?

[KrissiK]

We’re in the same boat you are. And now with this mandatory water rationing coming down the pike..... We also have no idea where we would go. This is an absolutely beautiful state, but the taxes and political insanity are killing us.

[Selkie]

1 hour ago, Lanny said:

ETA:   I don't remember the numbers or which state it was from, but the cost of renting a UHaul or something, from one location, going to California, was about $300.  Going from California, it was about $3000.  That indicates they are trying to move units back into California and which way the people are going.

 

We have the same situation with UHaul rates here in Illinois because so many people are leaving. Illinois is following right in California's footsteps.

[Jann in TX]

1 hour ago, SamanthaCarter said:

I like the hill country of Texas. Many fond memories of camping at enchanted rock when my family was stationed at ft Sam Houston. Perhaps Wimberley? Good economy, arts, situated within easy  driving distance from large metropolitan areas, but not a large metropolitan area itself. 

Have to agree with the above!

I live just outside of Wimberley-- we LOVE the Hill Country.  DH travels a few times each month for work and we have easy access to the Austin airport (or San Antonio airport).  We can easily drive (pretty drive too!) into Austin, San Marcos, Kyle, San Antonio if we need too.  The economy is pretty good too.  Land prices are still going up--  in our area (Wimberley) a 3000 sq ft house on 10 acres is around $500,000 (just outside of Austin towards us you can get 1/2- 1 acre lot with same size house for same price in gated community)-- if you go out away from the bigger cities you can find some great deals.  Anything directly west of Austin/San Antonio  will be in the 'hill country'-- lots of trees and hills!- and some great small communities like Fredericksburg and Kerrville.

DH and I are in the position to move just about anywhere we want as soon as youngest dd finishes high school (2 years).  Right now we rather stay put in Wimberley-- it just feels like 'home' to us!  

Today oldest dd has the day off and is coming to Wimberley and will take youngest dd to the Blue Hole Park for some swimming this afternoon-  even in the heat of the day (upper 90's) it will be in the low 80's by the creek! 

I homeschooled the older 2 all the way through high school-- so easy to homeschool in Texas!

The temps and humidity are LOWER in the hill country too--

[Ellie]

I love California, but in many ways, I'm glad I don't live there any longer. Mr. Ellie was born in San Diego, and we lived there until 1987, when we moved to San Jose because of a job. We left there in 2004 to come to Round Rock (just north of Austin) to be close to Mr. Ellie's mother, who was living in San Antonio in an assisted living facility. We don't love Texas with all our hearts, but we are content. The Hill Country is not as populated as Houston or San Antonio; it is also not nearly as humid, but it is still more humid than California. Real estate is reasonably priced. You can't beat the homeschool laws (there are none to speak of). It's very Southern in its culture, less so further into Austin.

Don't underestimate the impact of living somewhere less sunny than California can have on you. A friend who has lived in California most of her life sold her house and moved to Kentucky last January. She cannot bear it, and is moving back to California. Too many dreary, rainy, snowy days for her. You might like El Paso better than other parts of Texas.

[Ellie]

4 minutes ago, Jann in TX said:

Anything directly west of Austin/San Antonio  will be in the 'hill country'-- lots of trees and hills!-

Austin counts as Hill Country. FYI. :-)

[Scarlett]

I think trying to flee a state because of politics is a losing game.  COL would be a factor for me.....and the weather.  I can't bear dreary climate.  I don't love OK, and I really miss AR but it is ok here...weather is ok because we live in 'green country'....I could not tolerate the OK City or further west landscape.  

[Carrie12345]

13 minutes ago, Arctic Mama said:

Well that’s weirdly rude.

Yeah, that read pretty harsh.

Kind of like reading that someone needs to escape the awfulness of people like us.

[rjand6more]

3 minutes ago, Carrie12345 said:

Yeah, that read pretty harsh.

Kind of like reading that someone needs to escape the awfulness of people like us.

I read it like Denver has become so much more populated in the last few years...It was supposed to be funny?  I think? I hope?

[lexi]

49 minutes ago, Momto5inIN said:

Indiana has bad humidity, but we have a very low COL, lots of small towns, super easy hs laws, and we are almost solidly a red state ?

 

I don’t feel that the humidity is very bad here. But I moved from the Houston area where the air is like soup from the humidity. 

So I actually think it’s nice here! The COL is low and there’s very little traffic compared to what I experienced in TX. 

I love the 4 seasons!

[Scarlett]

5 minutes ago, Carrie12345 said:

Yeah, that read pretty harsh.

Kind of like reading that someone needs to escape the awfulness of people like us.

Except she didn't single you out.  (We need to leave CA because Carrie12345 is so horrible!)

[catz]

Just now, Arctic Mama said:

 

 

Or, you know, you can read into it all sorts of political vitriol, instead of just a disagreement about what constitutes the best balance of state government and what one family prefers.

A person could have said that a whole lot more diplomatically than "leftist BS".  That does read as political and vitriolic.  I don't think it should be surprise that the OP was called on it.  

If you come to Minnesota or Wisconsin, stay away from urban areas if you want a more conservative leaning.  

[J-rap]

I'm from California and I miss it, but then I haven't lived there for years and years!  Now I live in the upper Midwest, and I don't think it's what you're looking for regarding humidity.  It can get very hot and VERY humid here in the summer.  (As in walls sweating.)  And, our state does lean Democrat, so maybe that's not what you want either.

[mamaraby]

2 minutes ago, FuzzyCatz said:

A person could have said that a whole lot more diplomatically than "leftist BS".  That does read as political and vitriolic.  I don't think it should be surprise that the OP was called on it.  

If you come to Minnesota or Wisconsin, stay away from urban areas if you want a more conservative leaning.  

Yeah, it was really rather the equivalent of me saying that since Republicans have ruined my homestate, I’d be kind of tempted to ask that the OP not move here either because we have enough reactionary folks.

I imagine one could have a discussion about where to move without also trying to get a dig in. Heck, you could even say one could have left that part out and still have a useful and productive discussion

[Carol in Cal.]

I imagine that the trigger might have been the latest lovely gift from our incompetent state government having to do with personal water usage reduction to pretty much untenable levels:

http://thefederalist.com/2018/06/11/yes-california-effectively-banned-showering-laundry-day/

How incompetent is our state government?  Glad you asked.  Our state government is SO incompetent that for quite a while they never passed a budget on time.  What fixed this?  Again, glad you asked.  A citizen initiative was voted in that stopped legislators from getting paid from the time a budget ran out to the time they passed the next one.

This is not specifically left or right.  This is irresponsible incompetence.

[shinyhappypeople]

3 hours ago, Ravin said:

Well, it might not be a priority if you're homeschooling, but AZ's schools are craptastic, and the high sales taxes are regressive. It's really only a "free" state if you're a big corporation. If you're going to Texas, stay in the western part of the state if you don't want to deal with humidity. There are plenty of small towns to choose from.

Doesn't every state have sales tax?  The Phoenix tax rate is very close to what we pay where I live. 

[Frances]

7 minutes ago, shinyhappypeople said:

Doesn't every state have sales tax?  The Phoenix tax rate is very close to what we pay where I live. 

Nope, no sales tax in Oregon. I love OR, but not sure you would like it.

How about Utah? I don’t know much about it, but a coworker’s nephew just moved from CA to Utah for some of the reasons you’re stating.

[shinyhappypeople]

2 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Wyoming comes to mind.

I'm not sure where you are in CA, but the eastern part of the state and much of the area near Shasta and that far north are much more conservative than the coasts.  

Eastern WA state is very conservative, and has milder winters than the Midwest, and no humidity to speak of, but I don't know how long it can stay conservative in 'feel' being so outweighed in the state population by the coastal cities, similar to in CA.

It's really sad to feel like an alien in your own home area.  

 

Wyoming sounds beautiful.  I'll message you where I am.  Really though, the population centers (yeah, I'm glaring at the bay area right now) have so much influence that there's no escaping it.  Even in the Cal3 plan, based on location I'd be stuck with the bay area, so there'd be no improvement.  Actually, it would be worse, because the bay's influence would be even more concentrated.  I propose making the SF Bay Area it's own state.  That would fix things nicely.  I could deal with crossing state lines to see my Giants play.

[Scarlett]

Just now, Frances said:

Nope, no sales tax in Oregon. I love OR, but not sure you would like it.

How about Utah? I don’t know much about it, but a coworkers nephew just moved from CA to Utah for some of the reasons you’re stating.

Also, DE, MT, and NH have no state sales tax.

[shinyhappypeople]

3 hours ago, Lanny said:

Native Californian here. Primarily I left because of the high COL.  I lived in Texas for 28 years and I vote absentee there.  If you are in West Texas, you can find places with much lower humidity than in Central/East/South Texas.  A smaller city, maybe Lubbock or El Paso?

You are not alone!   Within the past week, I read a news story that reported that 46% of the people in California would like to leave, within the next several years. Most are moving to TX, NV, AZ and I think to ID.   Las Vegas and Phoneix have "low cost" houses available, with a median price of about $230K or something like that.

A childhood friend is from Las Vegas but they live in S.W. Utah now.  The metro Las Vegas area is huge now and he remembers it as a very small city, as I do.

Every place you consider will have pros and cons. Try to find the place that meets most of your needs/desires.

ETA:   I don't remember the numbers or which state it was from, but the cost of renting a UHaul or something, from one location, going to California, was about $300.  Going from California, it was about $3000.  That indicates they are trying to move units back into California and which way the people are going.

 

Yup, that's an actual thing.  I've heard of people in SoCal driving to Arizona to rent UHauls for long distance moves.

 

[Katy]

Western Kansas and Western Nebraska are both pretty dry. 

We liked Iowa, although like anywhere the larger few cities and one of the university towns are more liberal. I used to feel that most people there were fiscally conservative and socially liberal (they were the third to legalize gay marriage, there are a lot of small business owners who are anti tax but don't care what anyone does in the privacy of their own home) but ever since Trump swept the caucuses and the Kim Reynolds thing with limiting abortion to a fetal heartbeat I don't know if that's still true. I do see friends from there complaining about humidity this year, though I don't think it's typically as bad as it is this year. There is some common chronic fungal lung disease that people get in the upper midwest that might be a concern though.  I don't remember what it's called.

Having lived in Colorado, I think the hatred of people moving in, especially from California, has been an ongoing complaint/joke for decades.

I've heard amazing things about the business climate in Fargo, but I don't know how anyone could stand the harsh winters long enough to find out.  I think most of the time it's colder than most populated areas of Alaska.

[Reefgazer]

4 hours ago, shinyhappypeople said:

I'm sad.  I don't actually want to leave California, but leftist BS out of Sacramento and the Bay Area is becoming unbearable.  We're finally to the point of seriously considering pulling up stakes and moving to a free state.  Our home state is so broken and corrupt, I just don't know what else we can do to fix it.

Assuming DH can find a job pretty much anywhere, our only other requirements are that it be a place with low humidity, low or moderate cost of living and that it be mostly politically conservative.

I want Midwest, DH wants Arizona.  I'm also up for Texas (not Austin or Houston, a small town somewhere).  Where else would work?  It doesn't have to be desert, but the humidity thing is actually important, because DH has breathing issues.  I've never done a very cold, snowy winter, but I assume we'd adapt okay. 

I'm serious, y'all.  Hit me with your suggestions.

Well, that means west of the Mississippi River, for sure.  I'd think the Midwest would be humid, so I think Arizona or Utah would be the logical choice.  But maybe northern US (Montana, North Dakota)?  Either way, it doesn't have to be a permanent move - if you don't like it, you can move again.  Good luck with whatever you choose!

[Ravin]

43 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

I imagine that the trigger might have been the latest lovely gift from our incompetent state government having to do with personal water usage reduction to pretty much untenable levels:

http://thefederalist.com/2018/06/11/yes-california-effectively-banned-showering-laundry-day/

How incompetent is our state government?  Glad you asked.  Our state government is SO incompetent that for quite a while they never passed a budget on time.  What fixed this?  Again, glad you asked.  A citizen initiative was voted in that stopped legislators from getting paid from the time a budget ran out to the time they passed the next one.

This is not specifically left or right.  This is irresponsible incompetence.

 

So...the government is to be criticized for not treating water like an infinite-supply resource during a drought? Come to Arizona. They're still totally delusional about this here.

[shinyhappypeople]

30 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

I imagine that the trigger might have been the latest lovely gift from our incompetent state government having to do with personal water usage reduction to pretty much untenable levels:

http://thefederalist.com/2018/06/11/yes-california-effectively-banned-showering-laundry-day/

How incompetent is our state government?  Glad you asked.  Our state government is SO incompetent that for quite a while they never passed a budget on time.  What fixed this?  Again, glad you asked.  A citizen initiative was voted in that stopped legislators from getting paid from the time a budget ran out to the time they passed the next one.

 This is not specifically left or right.  This is irresponsible incompetence.

Yes, it's about the government not the people. Nearly all of my family is here.  Many, many friends.  Me. ? I don't hate Californians.  I do hate our state government.  I feel broken.  I just want out. 

And yes, the water is kind of the straw that broke the camel's back.  They've mismanaged our water resources, refused to build appropriate water storage to manage the number of people that live here, and then penalize residents - in many cases, the same people who have been shouting for years for them to build more water storage.  Drought is nothing new.  It's a natural part of our climate.  Plan accordingly.  

 

[Ravin]

35 minutes ago, shinyhappypeople said:

Doesn't every state have sales tax?  The Phoenix tax rate is very close to what we pay where I live. 

 

Some state rely on them more than others.

This website has a good breakdown by state of various types of taxes: https://itep.org/whopays/

[Liz CA]

2 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Wyoming comes to mind.

I'm not sure where you are in CA, but the eastern part of the state and much of the area near Shasta and that far north are much more conservative than the coasts.  

Eastern WA state is very conservative, and has milder winters than the Midwest, and no humidity to speak of, but I don't know how long it can stay conservative in 'feel' being so outweighed in the state population by the coastal cities, similar to in CA.

It's really sad to feel like an alien in your own home area.  

 

This is true. The inland areas are quite politically active in the other direction. Aside from this though, I would have said AZ but you already have it on your short list. Another option perhaps ID. The area around Boise was voted family friendly in some survey.

[shinyhappypeople]

2 minutes ago, Ravin said:

 

So...the government is to be criticized for not treating water like an infinite-supply resource during a drought? Come to Arizona. They're still totally delusional about this here.

No the government is to be criticized for not acknowledging that, since drought years are a normal part of our climate we need to be building appropriate water storage when the snow/rain does come.  If the government had already been taking all reasonable measures and still honestly felt like we were going to run out of water without strict measures, I would be less angry.  But they haven't, and so I am.

[shinyhappypeople]

1 hour ago, Carrie12345 said:

Yeah, that read pretty harsh.

Kind of like reading that someone needs to escape the awfulness of people like us.

It's not escaping "you."  It's escaping the awfulness that is our state government.

[Carol in Cal.]

7 minutes ago, Ravin said:

 

So...the government is to be criticized for not treating water like an infinite-supply resource during a drought? Come to Arizona. They're still totally delusional about this here.

They are treating it like it is an infinite supply resource for businesses, and only going after homeowners while transporting water in open, sundrenched, leaky, evaporative, state-subsidized systems for the businesses.   They aren't doing anything to increase the supply or improve water storage or deter new home starts/overpopulation.  They aren't even properly maintaining the dams and levees that we already have, not even enough to prevent major safety issues.  Incompetent?  You bet.  Criminally incompetent?  Arguably.  Read up on the Oroville Dam situation for instance.  Completely preventable, foresawn even.  More than 100,000 people had to evacuate for this last year, and the downstream river banks collapsed and so its capacity is severely hurt for the future.  Crazy stupid stuff.

[Liz CA]

5 minutes ago, Ravin said:

 

So...the government is to be criticized for not treating water like an infinite-supply resource during a drought? Come to Arizona. They're still totally delusional about this here.

 

We know all about no infinite supply of water...BUT there could have been measures taken to ensure a more consistent supply during the ups and downs of wet and dry seasons. Instead, money was allocated to other areas. Some of us didn't consider these other areas quite as important or pressing than the need for water.

[Kanin]

I lived in Boulder, Colorado for a time and absolutely LOVED it. It's about as liberal as you can get, though.

Colorado Springs is a big city, with a conservative mindset, I believe. The weather in CO is unbelievably gorgeous - sunny most days, almost no humidity, and although it snows, it melts within a day most of the time.

People in Colorado were extremely friendly - conservative and liberal both! ?

[Ravin]

1 minute ago, shinyhappypeople said:

No the government is to be criticized for not acknowledging that, since drought years are a normal part of our climate we need to be building appropriate water storage when the snow/rain does come.  If the government had already been taking all reasonable measures and still honestly felt like we were going to run out of water without strict measures, I would be less angry.  But they haven't, and so I am.

 

The present drought is more severe than is reasonably foreseeable when you don't take climate change and population shifts into account. To build better storage, they would have had to know and plan many decades ago for what was coming. Blaming the CURRENT government for what past government has failed to do seems rather unfair. Long-term planning is not the strong suit of ANY U.S. government. Our politics dictate this to a large degree.

[Crimson Wife]

One big thing to watch out for in low tax "red" states is if you have a disabled child who needs services, some of the states ignoring Federal law mandates to those services. Texas in particular is fighting several big battles in court over things like not providing legally required special ed services and also Applied Behavioral Analysis therapy through Medicaid.

Certainly I have big disagreements with CA state government over spending and other policies but there's a big difference between saying "we shouldn't be wasting huge sums of money on a high speed train between Bakersfield and Fresno" and "we shouldn't be spending money complying with Federal law mandating services to the disabled".

[Carol in Cal.]

1 minute ago, Ravin said:

 

The present drought is more severe than is reasonably foreseeable when you don't take climate change and population shifts into account. To build better storage, they would have had to know and plan many decades ago for what was coming. Blaming the CURRENT government for what past government has failed to do seems rather unfair. Long-term planning is not the strong suit of ANY U.S. government. Our politics dictate this to a large degree.

Oh nonsense.  They did know that the population growth and inefficient business use were creating a disaster, decades ago, in the 1970s.  Actually the present drought is not that bad, although the last one before this was horrendous and arguably made more severe by the factors you mention.  But the Oroville failure, for instance, was of our newest and I think our biggest dam, and it was entirely preventable and foreseeable.  That is nuts.  And the levees in the central valley are a mess--identified as one of the top three most probable natural disaster issues in the country (another was the New Orleans hurricane) long since, with nothing serious done to fix this.

Our state government is absolutely terrible at preventative maintenance and proactive infrastructure work.  It's horrible.

[KrissiK]

14 minutes ago, shinyhappypeople said:

Yes, it's about the government not the people. Nearly all of my family is here.  Many, many friends.  Me. ? I don't hate Californians.  I do hate our state government.  I feel broken.  I just want out. 

And yes, the water is kind of the straw that broke the camel's back.  They've mismanaged our water resources, refused to build appropriate water storage to manage the number of people that live here, and then penalize residents - in many cases, the same people who have been shouting for years for them to build more water storage.  Drought is nothing new.  It's a natural part of our climate.  Plan accordingly.  

 

If they would be willing to build more storage, the restrictions wouldn’t hurt as much. But they aren’t. The winter of 2016-1017 was a brief respite in this drought, but they couldn’t store all the water and had to let water out of the dams to be wasted. Homes were flooded (my aunt and uncles was one of them) by water that could have been stored, but wasn’t. It’s that kind of mismanagement that has us frustrated and helpless.  And the High Speed Rail?? People don’t even ride Amtrak and they are building a huge new rail project. Really?? And they are building an overpass for the high speed rain right over the Amtrak tracks. Really?? And how the politicians disparage the Ag Industry and blame it for all the state woes, and all the farmers are thinking, “who in the heck do you think puts food on your table?” It’s this stuff that just drives us all crazy. It’s not necessarily a partisan/ political thing. 

[Big Buckin' Longhorn]

8 minutes ago, Crimson Wife said:

One big thing to watch out for in low tax "red" states is if you have a disabled child who needs services, some of the states ignoring Federal law mandates to those services. Texas in particular is fighting several big battles in court over things like not providing legally required special ed services and also Applied Behavioral Analysis therapy through Medicaid.

Certainly I have big disagreements with CA state government over spending and other policies but there's a big difference between saying "we shouldn't be wasting huge sums of money on a high speed train between Bakersfield and Fresno" and "we shouldn't be spending money complying with Federal law mandating services to the disabled".

 

I always chuckle to myself when Texas is referred to as a “free” state.  I am not sure if I am in favor of freedom that abandons its most vulnerable constituents, because “states’ rights.”  But I’m one of those undesirables who lives in Austin, so . . . Don’t mind me.