Breaking News: High Tax States STILL Hemorrhaging Income

The stories of businesses and people exiting high tax, deep blue states for the friendlier economic confines of low-tax, largely red states are readily available using a simple Internet search but the recently released IRS data is damning. The data shows that the mass income exodus from high tax states is continuing.

So, who are the losers? The deep blue, high tax states – New York, California, Illinois, and Connecticut – on net, lost a staggering 15 billion dollars in taxpayer income.

And, who are the winners? My home state of Florida gained an incredible 8.3 billion dollars and the top four states, low-tax Florida, Texas, South Carolina and North Carolina gained an enormous 17.5 billion in income.

Despite all the nonsense from the Left about how taxing away people’s hard-earned income magically makes them wealthier, people vote with their feet, while their wallets are voting for states with low taxes, right-to-work, sensible regulation, and smaller government burdens. And, although the standard progressive response which states “taxes aren’t the only reason people leave” is true, it ignores the obvious point that it is a reason, and a significant one. This is a silly, delusional point to make. Is the Left’s question that people leave the states they govern for all kinds of reasons – so let’s ensure that we make that decision easier for them by taxing them to death?

With the collapse in global equities markets today, there is no better time to sound the alarm about the dangers of high tax rates. The Obama administration and their, “Never let a crisis go to waste” opportunism are already using today’s economic trouble to call for MORE government spending despite the trillions they have already thrown down the drain.

Today’s data is additional evidence that this is economic poison, not an elixir.