Poverty in California remains highest in US, tied with Louisiana, report says
Poverty in California remains highest in US, tied with Louisiana, report says
www.theguardian.com
Poverty in California remains highest in US, tied with Louisiana, report says
A new report shows California has the highest poverty rate in the US, alongside Louisiana, and rates have shown little improvement.
Despite the abundant wealth in the state – more billionaires live in California than anywhere else in the US – in 2024 about 7 million people, or 17.7% of residents, could not afford to cover their basic needs. In 2021, California’s poverty rate reached a historic low of 11%, but as pandemic-era policies came to an end, rates surged in the state and across the US, according to the report from the California Budget and Policy Center released last week.
And people wonder why I dislike Newsom and his Democratic allies. They're experts at passing laws and crafting ballot measures which sound progressive, but are actually schemes for padding the pockets of wealthy interests. Raising sales taxes which disproportionately impact poor people, only every trying to address the housing crisis with more construction of houses, even cleverly passing a measure for funding ecological projects that give capitalists an opportunity to profit(it's been a bit since I heard about the details, but it was in the last election and I was blown away by their ingenuity).
Our state is not some shining beacon of liberalism, but fucked by capitalism just like everywhere else.
I'd say it is (along with my state next door, Oregon) a shining beacon of liberalism. It's just that liberalism isnt what we were lead to believe it was and with events of late, the mask has finally come off.
Up north, we've been getting bills passed like road tolling into all the major population areas (where poor and middle class can't afford to live but have to drive to in order to get to work) and taking money from rehabilitation and homelessness programs in order to give it to police, while all our politicians go on TV and talk about how concerned they are with the cost of everything 🙄
I don't get the problem with trying to solve housing by constructing more???
The housing crisis is not a problem of lack in supply. More than enough houses exist in the US for everyone to have a roof over their heads. The houses they are building are not going to go to houseless people or even bought by renters or families trying to expand their spaces, they will either be rented out at rates the houseless still can’t afford or used as tax havens.
I get what you’re asking but just building new buildings without programs to make sure they get into the hands of people in need it’s just spinning wheels. Things like what I just described combined with rent control and regulate the use of real estate as an investment would go a long way to fixing things.
I looked into the history of the state recently. Knowing what I now know about the Spanish Mission System, it makes perfect sense that our laws look very much like they were written by The Mob.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but those aren’t contradictory. Liberalism is fucked by capitalism, right?
No, you're 100% right, but people who think California is good tend to think liberalism isn't a justification for an empire to serve the wealthy.