This caught my eye:
We’re going to jumpstart our economic recovery by being the most business-friendly and worker-friendly State in the nation.
— Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) January 5, 2022
The Democratic Governor of New York declaring that she’s going to make New York “the most business-friendly State in the nation” is like Danny DeVito declaring that he’s going to become an offensive lineman for the New York Jets; nothing in the rules actually forbids it, but everyone involved knows it’s not going to happen.
New York is generally ranked as the second most business-hostile state in the nation behind California. Texas is generally ranked as the most business-friendly, followed by Florida.
New York is one of the most tax-unfriendly states in America, always in a race with California and Illinois to see who can put the biggest bite on breadwinners. New York state income tax starts at 4% on the first dollar earned, and goes up to 10.9%. No wonder wealthy New Yorkers are fleeing the state as quickly as they possibly can.
Texas and Florida have no state income tax.
Texas and Florida are also both right-to-work states, but in New York workers can still be required to join a union. Hochul will never agree to make New York a right-to-work state because money from unions is the lifeblood of the increasingly bankrupt Democratic Party.
Texas has a minimum wage of $7.25. New York has a minimum wage of $13.20, third highest in the nation behind California and Massachusetts. This hardly entices labor-intensive industries to set up shop in your state.
New York ranked second to last (again behind California) for net out-migration in 2020, with 352,185 leaving the state. Florida and Texas ranked 1-2 in net in-migration.
New York citizens and companies are fleeing her failing, high-tax, high-regulation state in droves, and Kathy Hochul thinks New York can be “the most business-friendly State in the nation?”
That’s not happening. And it’s not happening not because it’s impossible, but because Hochul’s Democratic Party (which currently controls the state senate and the assembly in addition to the governor’s mansion) doesn’t do “business friendly,” unless the businesses in question are writing big campaign checks for crony favors. Democrats treat businesses as pinatas, something to bash until they dispense treats. The Democratic Party’s business model isn’t economic growth, it’s managing decline to rakeoff all the graft and kickbacks possible from an ever-expanding welfare state. Economic growth isn’t a low priority, it’s not a priority at all, and a significant fraction of its increasingly radical base thinks that capitalism itself is evil.
Hochul should probably aim for New York not being the worst state in the union for business for starters. It’s less a case of “you have to walk before you run” than “you need to climb up out of the grave before you can even start to crawl.”
Tags: California, Democrats, Economics, Florida, Illinois, Kathy Hochul, New York, Regulation, Texas, Welfare State
What is she going to do about AOC?
NY could have solved a number of its economic challenges by allowing fracking.
“New York Governor Kathy Hochul Is Delusional”
She’s the governor of NY.
Where would we be without our traditions?
She’s a Democrat. It does not matter what actually happens. What matters is what she says. Simply saying New York will be the most business-friendly and worker-friendly state in the nation makes it so, regardless of reality.
Reality does not matter to these people. Only spin.
“Business friendly” is too often carved out tax breaks and tax-funded grants to political buddies who open business in a state.
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