Every politician eventually runs out of other people's money to spend. Blue state governors and legislators are just running out faster than the rest. --- Right now, there is a coordinated wave of new tax proposals sweeping California, New York, Washington state, Massachusetts, Michigan and Connecticut. The common thread? They all believe the solution to self-inflicted budget crises is to reach deeper into the pockets of their most productive residents. And if those residents decide to leave, they want to charge them an exit tax on the way out -- Let that sink in. An exit tax. As in, we know you're leaving because of our lousy tax structure, and we want the door to hit you on the way out. -- California's Billionaire Tax Act is the crown jewel of this movement. The ballot measure would impose a one-time 5% tax on the total net worth of anyone worth more than $1 billion residing in the state. Not their income. Their net worth ---Washington state, which has never had an income tax in its history, just passed a 9.9% tax on incomes over $1 million. The moment that bill cleared the legislature, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz announced he was moving to Florida. Shocker. Starbucks' own headquarters announced it's moving to Tennessee. Shocker. When the founder and the company both leave at the same time, that's not a coincidence. That's a message we hear in a resounding fashion from high-tax, high-spend states. --- The top 1% of California taxpayers currently supplies nearly half of all income tax collections in the state. Half. That's not a sustainable revenue model. That's a house of cards. And the moment those top earners, who are not just the billionaires, but when the $500,000-a-year business owners, the startup investors, the executives start relocating, the math collapses for everyone else who stays behind. --- When high earners leave a state, the remaining tax base must pick up the tab. Services get cut. Or taxes get raised on the next rung of earners, which are the people making $150,000, then $100,000, then lower. California, New York, and Michigan didn't build world-class universities, hospitals, and infrastructure by accident. They built them on the backs of a thriving private economy. Dismantle the engine, and eventually the whole train stops. ----There's also a broader economic signal being sent here. When Washington state is no longer a zero-income-tax state, when California makes it financially dangerous to be a successful founder, and when Michigan punishes its highest earners at nearly 12 cents on the dollar, innovation, capital and job creation go somewhere else. And somewhere else, right now, is Florida, Texas, Tennessee and Nevada. --- Read about this Blue state socialist lunacy here ------https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/blue-states-changing-tax-rules-wealthy-its-going-cost-all-us
