Greece is in the midst of a complete economic meltdown, the likes of which the US has not seen since the Great Depression. While we should use caution in drawing parallels between Greece and California, some of the same symptoms are present. If anything, we should look to Greece's suffering as a wake-up call. The similarities in the run-up to Greece's economic collapse and California's current condition are as follow:

1. Out-of-control government spending.
2. Overly generous public employee wages, benefits, and retirements.
3. A high cost to do business, caused by government bureaucracy and certain labor unions, which drives employers and, most importantly, jobs to other places.
4. In terms of the government budget, Greece was guilty of "squandered tax money and falsified statistics."
5. Unemployment rate: California is at 12.2; Greece is expected to hit 12.1 this year.

Does any of this sound familiar? It gets worse in this cautionary tale. While Grecian government has made the correct decision to reign in spending and stop the give-aways to public employees, it also made the decision to raise taxes in the middle of an economic meltdown, just as Democrats in Sacramento have proposed. With less money in the hands of its people, particularly for the purposes of consumer spending, the Grecian economy continues to spiral downward. Take heed.

Read on: http://is.gd/eo2PX