SeeCalifornia.com

Throughout the U.S.’s history there have been battles over rights of its citizens. Sometimes the battles involve lifestyle, religion, wars, laws,  and certainly taxes and money. The U.S. has a runaway debt that maybe won’t be fixed, but instead will collapse. While many are betting on this scenario, the citizens of municipalities and states are responsible for paying their bills and must balance the budget on local levels, regardless.

Stockton, Calif. this past week determined that it is broke and can no longer meet its debt obligations. Cited by news media as the first major city in the U.S. to experience a re-organization, California, in reality, is no stranger to this last ditch method of keeping the ball rolling. It has seen other bankruptcies with the city of Vallejo, and County of Orange. You’d never know by looking at Orange County that it was bankrupt at one time. It remains a top tourist draw where you’ll find some of the most expensive houses in the nation selling for millions of dollars.

Battles continue currently between cities and the State of California over debt and spending. In nearly every city the local officials blame the Governor and the state for raiding municipal budgets. Of course the state blames the national government, too! While we are in a state of blame, we are all citizens of a city, a county, a state and a country. Today we fly the American flag in celebration of the good things and ideals such as freedom. Some of us also fly the California flag, or other flags representing causes, people, and places.

As we pay our taxes to the U.S., the state, the county, and the city, many of us have reached or soon will reach a time when there’s nothing left to give. That’s pretty much why the U.S. was formed –immigrants sought a new way of living, free from burdensome taxation.  What’s next?