I was asked by Angela Toft, a Political and Public Relations Consultant in the Greater Los Angeles Area, to review this book for The Minority Report. I said I was honored to be asked to perform this important responsibility. As a matter of full disclosure, I will share that this is the first time that I have publicly reviewed a book since college, lo those many years ago. I hope the review will help you buy and enjoy the book as much as I did.
Jim Lacy is a long-time figure in California politics, having worked along side Howard Jarvis during the formulation and passage of Proposition 13, the act which finally placed controls on California's escalating and increasingly unaffordable property taxes. This proposition is still in effect today and seems to work very will in controlling those taxes. He also worked in the Reagan Administration as a senior executive in the Commerce Department and as General Counsel for the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, so he knows what of he speaks.
The Honorable Darrell Issa (R) Representative from California's 49th Congressional District and Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform wrote the Foreword, and gave a nice synopsis of what was to come.
Mr Lacy presents a detailed and yet, very understandable view of what is wrong today in California politics, how we got here, and as the sage expression has been stated so many times before, "As California goes, so does the Nation". He overviews in the very first chapter the problems besetting California today: High taxes, especially California's tax rate of 13.9%, the "Jock Tax", the huge disparity in the sales tax across the state, and other taxes, which are killing California's ability to grow; the continuing unemployment; widespread fleeing by business across all employer groups, including but not limited to, Banking and Finance, telecommunications, technology, manufacturing and even the military.
His statistics are both mind-boggling and easy to comprehend, because we see it in our own states and communities. For example, in 2012, 73,000 companies closed their doors in California. The next highest state with the second most business closures was Massachusetts with 5,300 companies lost. That's just astounding.
He reviews the reasons why millionaires like Phil Michelson, Tiger Woods and others are leaving the state for states with no personal state income taxes, like Florida, Texas and others. But the state which seems to benefit most is California's neighbor, Nevada. Those people who go there, especially from Southern California, don't need to travel all that far to vacation where they used to live. AND NOT PAY TAXES.
The author discusses so many other areas for the failure of California's economy, as well. Other states like New York, Texas and so forth are luring business in television spots to those states by offering middle class tax relief, tax free zones, lower corporate taxes and a better regulatory environment. In addition, he spells out how the Obama administration has actually manipulated the unemployment rate in California, and elsewhere, by changing the methodology. If the methodology were the same today as it was in 2008, the real unemployment would be over 13% in California, rather than at 8.9%, as of September, 2013.
The 2010 census revealed several important changes in the demographic, as well. Latino and white non-Hispanics are both at 39%. When you add in the next largest non-white group, the Asian population, those two groups far and away exceed all other groups combined. He explains the decline of the once-dominating African American community of south central LA and Watts, which are now 80% Latino.
The public employee unions control lobbying and election campaigns in the state. Mr Lacy reviews in detail how out of the $1 BILLION spent for the 2012 election by all groups, $212 MILLION was spent by the California Teachers Assn and $107 MILLION by the SEIU, to advance candidates which will perpetuate liberal control in the statehouse and the 10 constitutional elected officers. Liberal Democrats control 73% of the State Senate, 69% of the State Assembly, the two US Senators and 72% of all congressional seats. Obviously, the GOP is virtually powerless.
In addition, Mr Lacy reveals that the GOP does not fare well with the modern Hispanic in California, either. For example, in 1984 Ronald Reagan received 47% of the Hispanic vote, whereas Mitt Romney received only 21% of the Hispanic vote in 2012. This decline does not bode well in future elections, either, for Republican Presidential candidates.
All in all, I found Mr Lacy's book an enjoyable read, with so much detail, easily understood. It was, for me, a quick read. I found his discussion of the problems facing California to actually be much of the same problems causing America's economic decline. Basically, California is the petrie dish for America's Economic Future.
Go and buy the book. It is an enlightening review of what is yet to come. At least, you wont be surprised this time when the economy comes crashing down around us. You will thank Jim Lacy for writing this book, giving us the clues to our future and a huge heads up.
Enjoy!
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