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Voting With Their Feet

April 02, 2009 By: Phred Category: Uncategorized

Check out this chart from Coyote Blog before reading on:

http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2009/02/voting-with-their-feet.html

I find this to be very interesting.  With the exception of Louisiana, every one of the States listed in the bottom 10 is a State that is heavily unionized, has more social programs, and higher corporate taxes (and even Louisiana has high corporate tax rates).

The States with the highest positive net migration, however, are all “business friendly” states.  In these States, unionization is minimal, corporate taxes are generally low, and social programs are not as abundant.

You might think that people would want to live in places where corporations are taxes at a higher rate (so that they pay their “fair share).  You might think that people want to live in a place where there are more social programs to help those who are less fortunate.

The numbers, however, tell a different story.  While sticking a faceless corporation with a higher tax bill sounds great, higher taxes mean more expensive goods and either fewer jobs, or jobs that pay less (or give fewer benefits).  Social programs might help people temporarily, but they are no substitute for jobs.  The States above that taxed their corporations at higher rates and spent more of their budgets on social programs saw people leave.  Those people came to States like Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee.  States with low (or no) corporate income taxes and little if any union control over jobs.

While automakers in Detroit are moving out and leaving the country, foreign automakers from Toyota, to Kia, to Honda have built plants in the South where labor unions do not have an iron grip and corporations are not taxed for the “social good.”

There was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal back in September comparing the economic policies of Michigan with those of then-Senator Obama.  Here is an interesting excerpt from that article:  “While the population of the three highest-performing states grew twice as fast as the national average, per-capita real income still grew by $6,563 or 21.4% in Texas, Florida and Arizona. That’s a $26,252 increase for a typical family of four.”

Policies of higher corporate taxation, heavy union control, and costly government programs impede economic growth. Would you rather have a government run safety net, or an extra $6,563 for each person in your family each year?

And more importantly, will people begin to leave this country if we pursue these policies on a national level?  They just might.  I just might too…

Americanly Yours,

Phred Barnet

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4 Comments to “Voting With Their Feet”


  1. well done sir, well done

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  2. This reminds me of the old adage that Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.

    If the US were to continue on said path of over-taxation with too many social programs and much union control, what are the top 3 alternative countries one might look to for migration?

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  3. Neww Zealand and Australia two great options

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  4. My favorite part is that they speak English (albeit with a twist) in those countries.

    4


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