I thought I would check in with you loyal Nuze readers .. well, just in case you happen to log on during my practice retirement.  This time it’s a two-week rehearsal. In December I’ll give it a four-week try, and then in January we’re off for the real thing.

I’m in Southern California right now visiting some old haunts.  I lived in SoCal longer than in any other area of the country before I moved to Atlanta.  Addresses included Laguna Beach, Beacon Bay in Newport, Balboa Island, Wherry Park outside of El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, and the El Toro base housing as well.  This means there’s a lot of familiar old trails to travel. 

Along the way I’ve fallen into several conversations with young people --- and here is my big surprise of the trip.  From the young people who work at the hotel to the wetsuit-clad surfers I’ve talked to on the beach, there is one common thread.  These kids can’ wait to get the hell out of California.  To my surprise they seem to understand how much trouble this state is in --- and they’re planning their escapes just as soon as they get through school.  Their most common complaint?  The taxes.  That’s really surprising, because most of them aren’t at an age where they’re paying income taxes anyway .. but they seem to be paying attention to someone ... their parent’s possibly ... and they sense that they will have a difficult time becoming financially successful and secure living in a high-tax, heavily regulated state like California.

One problem they don’t see clearly is the rampant enviro-radicalism that is taking place in California.  This state is the epicenter of the environmental whack-job population of this country.   Let me give you just a few examples:

They don’t like motorboats because they foul up the water with oil and gas, and they scare the fish.

They don’t like sailboats because the sails scare sea birds.

They don’t like power plants because the pollute the air

They don’t like electricity generating windmills because they kill birds.

And they’ve shut down tens of thousands of acres of rich agricultural and in the central valley because the irrigation water is endangering a putrid little fish that they won’t even let you eat.

California is becoming a three-class society  You have retirees who want to live near the coast, but don’t have to worry about making a living or heavy income taxes.  You have the very rich ... including the entertainment and sports class ... and you have the tax consumers who get checks from the government.  It is almost impossible to start and maintain a small business out her ... resulting in a net migration of small businesses and businessmen FROM California to neighboring states -- especially Arizona. 

It’s a beautiful state ... still ... and I urge you to come and visit.  But you would have to be some kind of a serious fool to consider coming out here to make your fortune.  The state is on its way to certain bankruptcy, and the people are convinced that the federal government will be here to bail them out when that happens.  That’s why Obama must be kept in the White House.  Obama gives them access to your money to bail them out of decades of fiscal irresponsibility.

Dig deep, folks.  It’s gonna be costly.