California Is Doing Well? If You Say So...

From the letters to the editor at the Wall Street Journal:

Although not an Okie, I arrived in the Sacramento area as an uneducated 19-year-old in 1953. I was an airman second class (two stripes) who had finished ninth grade.

Because of the Air Force and the state of California, I received a GED, went to a junior college and received my electrical-engineering degree from San Jose State. California was in fact the land of milk and honey. Fees at SJS were less than $30 per semester. The state understood that if I made more money, it would receive more taxes. This all changed in 1975 when Jerry Brown became governor, and I beat feet.

George F. Fike
Buford, Ga.

And at that top link, don't miss the fantasy-land letter from Riley Robbins of the California Governor's Office.

Background here, "The Reverse-Joads of California."