Talk about unfair taxation!

[Mr Khan]

thranx said:

Mr Khan said:

killerzX said:
well apparently the government can force you to buy things as a condition of living, and they can tax you if you dont want to. so this doesnt seem to surprising.

anyway, why are there still businesses in the Peoples Republik of Kalifornia, havent they all left for free states by now?

Because of momentum and other such things. If you're a tech sector company, you have to weigh California's tax code against the fact that all the other tech sector companies are there, so it's easier to find experienced people who you won't have to pay relocation fees for, and have all the expertise you could want local and immediately accessible.

Plus it's hard to convince people to move from a place like California to a place like, say, Oklahoma. The lower cost of living doesn't make up for the fact that a lot of the red states are cultural wastelands.

Most parts of CA are cultural waste lands too. Unless your rich and live in nice parts of hollywood/la/San diego/San ransisco/ and some beach cities. The rest is crime ridden and crumbling.

Right, and for major businesses trying to attract top talent, that's what matters. South Central LA is, for all intents and purposes, a world away from Orange County, Silicon Valley, Napa Wine Country or upscale San Francisco. And you're not going to get anything close to any of those cities anywhere in the South or the sunbelt. Closest would be Austin, Texas (which does do a good job of attracting and retaining up-and-comers) and southern Florida (but even then, Southern Florida is just pretty, and doesn't have the oomph factor of the hotspots in California or Austin).

Certainly the states trying hardest to attract businesses aren't going to get everything out of California. Though Alabama is doing well with foreign car-makers. Tennessee has some strength, but then again Tennessee is also a cultural hub of its own.