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Some very interesting points made by many.
But I would inform those outside the US that are not aware that even within this country, the spread of cost of living and taxes has some very wide divisions.
As I look at it in a historical sense, I find those with the highest costs of living and taxes are those communities that had very poor planning for growth. What you fail to do today will cost you multiples more in the future.
California's lack of mass transit has made the necessity for more roads to carry more cars to nowhere fast. Think how much taxes are required just to maintain that failing system.
You definitely can't afford more lanes now and if you could, you can't afford to maintain them.
The expansion needed at this point has a pretty high price tag on it. Taxpayers would be far better off funding mass transit rail to connect key points. It's also good for commerce, and that is good for the tax base. History has proven this time and time again.
I never thought I would even support such a thing, but when you look at the tax money, it's all there.
So everyone with the money to do so moves to a new area where the same will exist in 20-40 years. But leaving the previous area in blight for revenue. So higher taxes are the quick easy answer to pay for what you failed to do in the past.
Who do you blame that on. It's not that the answers are not out there. Just nobody wants a shift on where and how the money is spent. And the longer it goes on, the longer and more costly it becomes to correct. Expensive Band-Aids are all we get.
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