One of my escrow officers just sent me an email telling me the Riverside County is raising it's recording fees. I also hear that the California State legistalators are proposing (maybe it's already passed) a sizeable increase in the state income stax as well as other massive tax increases to make up for their $15 billion shortfall.

I am native Southern Californian and I love this place like no other, but I don't know how much longer I can take it here. I read an interesting article the other day that in the 1950's all taxes accounted for less than 2% of our income. Today all taxes (income, sales, etc...) account for over 50% of our income. Wow!

We are in the midst of possibly one of the worst financial disasters in our nation's history and our governments are raising taxes and fees. Is this how we get out of this mess. At some point, it all collapses. At some point, Californians start leaving in droves. Actually that has already happenned. Goodbye middle class.

The rich can stay for the weather, beacuse they can. The poor donot need to worry to much about taxes and fees, because they rarely pay them. The governments can't squeeze enough out of those two groups so they squeeze the middle class. What will happen to our economy when regular Joes like me decide we can't take anymore and leave. The alternatives like Florida and Nevada, who have no state income taxes, are looking much better.

When are the legistaltors in Sacramento, Washington, and Riverside going to learn that in harsh economic times, you make cuts, not raise taxes? When are they going to run the government more like a business? When are they going to represent us rather than govern us?