It enrages me when right wingers use California as an example of the "failures" of "leftist policies". Most of California's issues nowadays stem from RIGHT WING POLICIES when it was a Red State.

One thing that absolutely enrages me is when Republicans and conservatives try and use California as a "gotcha" for the "failures" of leftist policies. In fact, most of California's problems are because of CONSERVATIVE/RIGHT-WING policies.

I'll make this as simple as possible so even the most uneducated hillbilly can understand this. First off, California was a red state for DECADES, especially during its important formative years. From 1952 to 1992, California voted red in every single election except for 1964.

Second off, California would not be considered a "leftist" state at a global scale. The US political spectrum is so far shifted to the right that even California would be seen as a right-wing state in most European countries.

In any case, the policies that California enacted back during its days as a red state are the root of nearly all the problems it has now. From traffic, to unaffordability, to healthcare, to taxes. (Crime will be addressed separately at the end).

First, the most obvious problem. Traffic and pollution. California has so much traffic and pollution because of city planning that was centered around cars and single-family homes. Which side advocates for more suburban, car-centric single family homes? Oh that's right, REPUBLICANS!

A map of the zoning laws in Greater Los Angeles. 78% of the land is zoned for single-family homes. So much for a failure of "left-leaning" policies, right?

Studies show that car-centric single-family home zoning is economically insolvent in the long-term

All this brings me to the second issue: housing affordability.

Not building enough housing is the reason California is so unaffordable.

Cost of living is the primary reason people are leaving California

And yet, sprawling car-centric development (which again, REPUBLICANS and CONSERVATIVES are the ones advocating for) exacerbate this issue. Why? Because not all land is suitable for development, and single-family homes eat up what limited land is available for settlement, which in turn limits the amount of housing units that can be built.

Another issue? Let's talk Healthcare. Let's make something clear here: universal healthcare isn't just morally right, it makes economic sense.

45 million Americans are uninsured, and 18,000 die annually as a result.

Medicare for All would save the country $650 billion annually

Yet, the supposedly "liberal progressive California" killed the idea of universal healthcare back in 2022.

Finally, the big one. Prop 13. For those that don't know, Prop 13 was a major tax cut that was passed back in 1978 that did four things:

• Rolling back property values to 1975-1976 valuations
• Limiting total taxing district levies to 1 percent of total assessed valuation
• Limiting increases in annual assessments to 2 percent except in the case of property sales
• Requiring a supermajority vote of two-thirds to pass any new local taxes or pass municipal bond offerings

What this means in simple terms is California essentially limited its own property tax revenue, while also ensuring that increasing existing taxes to cover budget shortfalls is difficult, if not impossible.

All of these policies that were enacted by REPUBLICAN California governments led to all the problems California has nowadays.

And before you say "Oh well California had 30 years to fix this!" Again, 1) California isn't a left-leaning state, it would be a right-wing state compared to the rest of the developed world, and 2) The Republicans in charge of California during the 60s, 70s, and 80s worked to ensure their damage would be lasting for a very long-time. Car-centric sprawl and convincing the wealthy to pay their fair share is difficult to undo. And yet, Republican governments in other parts of the country are doubling down on these very same failed policies. Sooner or later, states like Texas and Florida will end up with the problems of California but at a much worse scale.