As more people leave the Bay Area, local moving companies are struggling to keep up.

As more people leave the Bay Area, local moving companies are struggling to keep up. https://t.co/vylEZpkYvp

— The Sacramento Bee (@sacbee_news) July 19, 2018

...From Santa Rosa to San Jose, more and more residents are making the bittersweet decision to leave the Bay Area, abandoning its near-perfect weather, booming economy and thriving arts, culture and food scenes in favor of less-glamorous destinations like Austin, Boise and Knoxville.

Some are fleeing the Bay Area's sky-high housing and rent prices, both among the most expensive in the nation. Others are cashing out, selling their homes to get more for their money in a less expensive city. Nearly all of them are fed up with miserable, hours-long commutes on snarled freeways.

More people are leaving the Bay Area than are moving in...

How Control of Congress Could Swing on a Fight to Repeal California’s Gas Tax

Political futures of McCarthy and Pelosi could hinge on home state of California... https://t.co/9wjsq95VAZ

— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) July 7, 2018

Read ⁦@adamnagourney⁩ on the great gas tax gambit of 2018 https://t.co/ZlyZX1oZOM

— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) July 7, 2018

...California is one of the highest-taxed states in the nation. President Trump and congressional Republicans have repeatedly assailed California for its taxes. And John Cox, a Republican candidate for governor, has embraced the repeal of the gas tax as a centerpiece of his uphill campaign against Gavin Newsom, the Democratic candidate....

California Republicans have seized on the issue. Taxes have long been a point of divisions between Republicans and Democrats, and all the more so since Mr. Trump and congressional Republicans enacted a tax reform bill that severely reduced deductions for state and local taxes, posing a particular burden for California homeowners. Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican who is the House majority leader and looking to become its next speaker, has contributed money to the repeal in an effort to save seven Republican congressional seats.

Mr. Cox said he had found a “ton of support” for the repeal.

“Whenever I am out campaigning, I always talk to working people — valet parking people, the desk clerks, the people behind the counter,” he said. “I ask people what do they think about the cost of living and the gas tax. And they say: ‘We can’t take this. We had to move an extra 20 miles away because we couldn’t find an apartment we could afford. And now we are sitting in traffic burning up gasoline at almost $5 a gallon.’”

“Mr. Brown and Mr. Newsom are being dishonest when they say these projects will come to a halt if we don’t have this tax,” he said. “They know that these road projects could be done if we changed work rules, if we used money more efficiently, if we cut better deals to make the process more efficiently.”

A U.S.C. Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll in May found 38 percent of voters said they supported the gas tax, a perilously low number...

Sky-High Deductibles Broke the U.S. Health Insurance System

Skin-in-the-game isn't working. Average deductibles for employer health plans tripled, and most patients can't afford to do anything except forgo care and treatment. @business https://t.co/E8ijQ5yEQT

— Atul Gawande (@Atul_Gawande) June 27, 2018

(E)mbrace the “health care wars”—because with the help of the Trump administration and free-market state lawmakers across the country, consumers have more options now than at any time since Obamacare was first imposed.

Sarah Lee - We Should Welcome the ‘Health Care Wars’ https://t.co/ODEpleWUEz

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 14, 2018

...as the histrionics over who is to blame for today’s rising health care costs has already begun. Democrats blame Republicans for effectively getting rid of Obamacare because insurers are threatening higher premiums, but Republicans have the better argument because premiums and deductibles were rising before Obamacare started its death spiral.

As of yet, there aren’t hard and fast solutions to these problems, but there are good reasons for Americans to feel hopeful about health insurance again. They need only look in the right place. And that place is much closer to home than Washington, DC.

Reporters are doing their best to convince Americans health care should be the primary issuein the 2018 midterm elections and that Trump and Republicans deserve the blame for the system’s current woes, but many average Americans desperately looking for inexpensive health insurance should stop looking to the federal government for answers and start examining what the legislators in their own state are doing to make health care more affordable. Many states are now introducing numerous cost-saving innovations and utilizing market forces to improve health care access.

Nearly 50 percent of Californians say they want to move out soon, poll finds

Vote out the Democrats..Bay Area exodus? Nearly 50 percent of Californians say they want to move out soon, poll findshttps://t.co/pzsVdTC2S7

— Michael Reagan (@ReaganWorld) June 4, 2018

Californians are willing to repeal the gas tax, but...

Californians are willing to repeal the gas tax, but...https://t.co/6MOdknmliF pic.twitter.com/RpsWFeLrtE

— Jazz Shaw (@JazzShaw) May 26, 2018

A movement began to repeal the tax by referendum and a petition to do so quickly amassed far more than the needed number of signatures. Now, a new poll indicates that support for the repeal measure has reached majority numbers. But there’s more going on here than just the removal of a set of taxes and fees. (LA Times)

...The economy in California works out fabulously for celebrities and the mega-wealthy. But for most rank and file workers, it’s virtually impossible to afford a house anywhere in the state that’s even marginally habitable. Businesses and workers are already fleeing the state in the more expensive areas, yet residents still seem to be fine with the idea of taxing “somebody else” as long as their gas prices don’t go up further....

Majority of California voters want to repeal gas tax increase, poll finds https://t.co/HVbtTYZrvh pic.twitter.com/A5Zh9ACnbw

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) May 24, 2018

A new poll found a majority of California voters want to repeal increases to the state's #GasTax and vehicle fees: https://t.co/57YnomPyyU

— NFIB California (@nfib_ca) May 24, 2018

Unlike my opponent, I would never had voted for this regressive tax that disproportionately affects poor and rural communities! https://t.co/fTZeP6hHXL

— Matt Heath (@heath4freedom) May 24, 2018

Sacramento's high taxes and extreme regulations are making the state unaffordable for anyone but the very rich.

Sacramento's high taxes and extreme regulations are making the state unaffordable for anyone but the very rich. https://t.co/4u4NqGsIhR

— HJTA.org (@HJTA) May 21, 2018

"The only way to bring down prices is to build more housing. But you can't do that with rent controls, mandatory solar panels, strict zoning limits, ridiculously high taxes and absurd environmental restrictions." https://t.co/6aCvOJ93hR #CAPolitics #rentcontrol

— HJTA.org (@HJTA) May 21, 2018

Home prices in California are sky-high and our political leaders mouth platitudes about the “housing crisis.” So what’s their answer? Adding $10,000 to $30,000 to the cost of all new homes in California whether homebuyers want solar panels or not. https://t.co/5kHXs5DOmt

— HJTA.org (@HJTA) May 21, 2018

"With the individual mandate dead, the rest of Obamacare is unconstitutional"

"With the individual mandate dead, the rest of Obamacare is unconstitutional" https://t.co/K7dKmq2uYC pic.twitter.com/ICtxzJurUa

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) May 20, 2018

How Trump Can Dismantle Obamacare Without Congress https://t.co/uciXX79Rde

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 21, 2018

As Obamacare Premiums Soar, Dems Lie

As Obamacare Premiums Soar, Dems Lie https://t.co/1m9wkf7WQu

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 16, 2018

70 year old Sonoma manufacturing business moving to Idaho

Must read! 70 year old Sonoma manufacturing business moving to Idaho. #CluelessPoliticians. "Price Pump to leave Sonoma for Idaho." https://t.co/xBSRqdkFau

— Jon Coupal (@joncoupal) May 15, 2018

It’s the end of an era. Price Pump has grown and thrived in Sonoma for 70 years. But before the end of this year, the manufacturer of high-tech pumps will pull up stakes and move its headquarters – lock, stock and pump – to Boise, Idaho.

“It has simply become too difficult and too costly to run a manufacturing business in Sonoma Valley,” said Price Pump President Bob Piazza....

“I don’t love change,” he said, “But the way things are going, we don’t have a choice.”

...One of his employees is 66 years old and has never worked anyplace other than Price Pump.

“When he said he would move with us, I was surprised,” said Piazza. “But he explained to me that he had planned to work until 70 and it would be hard to get a different job now, but even more… he realized that when he ran the numbers, he wouldn’t even be able to retire in Sonoma at 70.”


Another employee lost his house during the 2009 recession and he’s moving because, he told Piazza, it will be give him a chance to be a homeowner again.

“He gets to keep the same pay, move someplace less expensive and he’ll get a moving allowance and be able to buy a house,” said Piazza.

Piazza’s employees have been pleased to find that they can buy a house in the Boise area that is comparable to their home in Sonoma for less half the cost....

With no letup in home prices, the California exodus surges...

With no letup in home prices, the California exodus surges... https://t.co/UjxuULfh3F

— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) May 5, 2018

California’s train system on track for federal audit

California’s train system on track for federal audit https://t.co/obJeQWcYCq

— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) April 17, 2018

Democrat Governor Kate Brown To Sign Massive Tax Hike That Will Cost Oregon Small Businesses Billions

Dem Gov Kate Brown @OregonGovBrown To Sign Massive Tax Hike That Will Cost Oregon Small Businesses Billions #ORGov https://t.co/jbKvFxf4jy

— The RGA (@The_RGA) April 9, 2018

The middle class is fleeing CA. Normal ppl can't live there anymore. Housing prices are too high, wages too low. CA increasingly consists of tech oligarchs & their imported, low-wage servants.

The mid class is fleeing CA. Normal ppl can't live there anymore. Housing prices are too high, wages too low. CA increasingly consists of tech oligarchs & their imported, low-wage servants. CA is developing the economic structure of Latin America. How long before it's Venezuela?

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 6, 2018

"A complete and viable funding plan does not exist"

Lawmakers skeptical about costly bullet train completion https://t.co/ynez6ra3iu

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) April 3, 2018

Yes, It Was The 'Affordable' Care Act That Increased Premiums

Yes, It Was The 'Affordable' Care Act That Increased Premiums via @forbes https://t.co/kjL79VpBkt

— Mercedes Schlapp (@mercedesschlapp) March 22, 2017

Yes, It Was The 'Affordable' Care Act That Increased Premiums
🔗 https://t.co/vw6rNFCP7y #ObamaCare #healthcare pic.twitter.com/5qoH9RC6QK

— BrokenACA (@BrokenACA) March 5, 2018

MUST READ: Insanity reigns and we must dethrone it

Time to stand against obstructionist insurance company nonsense- real life insanity from the trenches https://t.co/s6Uf9F5K2V via @kksheld

— Kris Held,MD (@kksheld) March 14, 2018

For the majority of us, the majority of the #healthcare that we use in any given year is the same old, boring, routine, maintenance stuff. Which does not - and should not - cost an arm and a leg.

For the majority of us, the majority of the #healthcare that we use in any given year is the same old, boring, routine, maintenance stuff. Which does not - and should not - cost an arm and a leg.

But put it on your health insurance card...and it will. #DPC pic.twitter.com/ke37uUc8ON

— Healthcareonomics (@HConomics) February 12, 2018

High speed rail project continues to be an epic disaster.

High Speed Rail cost estimate up again! $6 bn to now $10 bn for Central Valley portion. We need complete audit of this project. Plain and simple. pic.twitter.com/MbMvp7hCb1

— Assemblyman Vince Fong (@AsmVinceFong) January 16, 2018

High speed rail project continues to be an epic disaster. https://t.co/vYwZeM5nI8 #highspeedfail #CAPolitics

— HJTA.org (@HJTA) January 17, 2018

"Proposition 13 isn’t the problem, pensions and spending are."

Good editorial on an attempt by Sacramento Democrats to weaken Prop 13 taxpayer protections. “If raising taxes was the solution to every problem, California would have no problems.” https://t.co/qLnTVh9dmC

— Ken Calvert (@KenCalvert) January 2, 2018

Bingo. "Proposition 13 isn’t the problem, pensions and spending are." https://t.co/qqxPlbMmUE

— Jon Coupal (@joncoupal) January 2, 2018