Some things never change, and the way that happens in politics is that elected leaders continue to follow the same policies year after year after year.

When policies are effective, this is a good thing, of course. But when policies are failing and obviously so, it is ludicrous to continue doing the same thing but expecting a different result.

In fact, some say that is the clinical definition of insanity.

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Speaking of insanity, California – the country’s most populous and wealthiest state with an annual GDP larger than most nations around the world – once again clocks in as having more poverty than any other U.S. state.

“California’s political leaders talk of the ‘utopia’ they are building,” State Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, said. “A new Census Bureau report once again shows that we have the highest poverty rate in the nation.”

The Washington Examiner reports: 

California has the highest level of functional poverty in the U.S., according to U.S. Census Bureau data. ...

The Census Bureau reported that of California’s roughly 40 million residents, an average of 18.2 percent have been impoverished during the three preceding years.

The number comes from a supplemental poverty method (SPM) report used by the Census Bureau to calculate poverty. It includes a wider array of income measures, and also adjusts for cost of living increases.

“Since the publication of the first official U.S. poverty estimates, researchers and policymakers have continued to discuss the best approach to measure income and poverty in the United States,” the Census Bureau says. 

“Beginning in 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau began publishing the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), which extends the official poverty measure by taking account of many of the government programs designed to assist low-income families and individuals that are not included in the official poverty measure.”

Meanwhile, the poverty rate in California is three times what it is in Iowa, the latter being 6.8 percent – the lowest in the country.

"It’s also notably higher than its neighboring states’ poverty rates of 13.7 percent in Nevada, 12.8 in Arizona, and 11.1 in Oregon," the Washington Examiner adds.

A little more than 36 percent of California’s residents -- more than one-third of the state's population -- are living at or below the poverty level. In the third quarter of last year, fewer than one-third (31 percent) of the state's residents could afford to buy a median-priced home.

“The high cost of housing has emerged as a threat to California’s future,” the Public Policy Institute of California says. “Many Californians see homelessness and housing costs as the state’s most important challenges, according to a 2019 statewide survey."

“California has the second-highest homelessness rate in the nation and ranks near the top in cost-burdened households – second among homeowners and third among renters,” the PPIC states.

Again, this isn't new. 

A year ago, CalMatters reported that "California poverty ranks number one in the nation due partly to high costs for essentials like housing, gas and electricity,” meaning a sizeable portion of the population can’t even afford most of the basics in the state.

And now for the really bad news: Things aren’t going to get any cheaper anytime soon, meaning poverty in the land of Hollywood and the Silicon Valley billionaire is only going to deepen.

So much for ‘closing the wealth gap’ in the country’s most liberal state.