You are probably familiar with Your Survival Guy's Super States. In 2023, my top 10 Super States included: Rank State New Hampshire Florida Utah South Carolina Arizona Texas South Dakota Montana Idaho Wyoming But do you know about the Escape States? Those are the ten worst-ranked states on Your Survival Guy's annual Super States list. In 2023's rankings, that included: Connecticut Rhode Island Massachusetts Maryland New Mexico Hawaii New York Illinois California New Jersey New IRS data analyzed by the Tax Foundation shows … [Read more...]
Taxachusetts
Here’s yet another reason more homeowners will choose not to sell. What politicians don’t understand is money. Tax more of it and see it dry up. In "Taxachusetts," reports the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal, politicians want to tax high-end home sales by 2%. They write: ‘Affordable housing” is a noble goal and the mother of endless dim policies. The latest counterproductive effort is a push in Massachusetts to fund home construction by taxing home sales. Gov. Maura Healey recently gave her blessing to Bay State towns and cities that want to tax home sales. The Affordable Homes … [Read more...]
Rat City
It’s a shame what’s happening in cities across the country. And it’s not just in blue states. Marc Sternfield and Michael Bartiromo report in The Hill on America's rattiest cities: Orkin has released its 2023 list of the “rattiest cities” in the U.S., which ranks 50 of the nation’s busiest metro regions by “the number of new rodent treatments” performed over a period of 12 months. Specifically, Orkin studied new rodent treatments executed between Sept. 1, 2022, and Aug. 31, 2023, at both residential and commercial properties. Perhaps not surprisingly, Chicago was ranked as the No. 1 … [Read more...]
Texas Homebuyers Can Blame CA Politicians for Their Woes
If you're trying to buy a home in Texas, you can blame California’s politics for driving home prices to unaffordable levels. Adolfo Flores reports in The Wall Street Journal, writing: Texas has long had a reputation as an affordable place to live, in large part because homeownership stayed within reach for the middle class. Now the state is being walloped by the same forces that have made homes a lot less affordable in many cities previously known for reasonable prices: pandemic-era migration from California and other more expensive areas. California to Texas was the most popular … [Read more...]
GHOST TOWERS: A Frightening Reminder for America’s Cities
You have read about China's "Ghost Cities," but America's own ghost towers are a frightening reminder of what's going on in America's major cities. New York's Hudson Yards development was supposed to be a luxury buyer magnet. Instead, it sits half-empty and sells units at deep discounts. Katherine Clarke explains the situation at Hudson Yards in The Wall Street Journal: When the Related Companies set out to build Hudson Yards, a roughly 28-acre mega-project on Manhattan’s far west side, its goal was lofty: The developer wanted to turn a windswept railyard into the next hot destination for … [Read more...]
It Was a Bad Deal
This is a cautionary tale of what happens when governments attempt to insert themselves in fast-moving markets. Look how the taxpayer money was spent without considering that market forces are more powerful than subsidies. Julie Bykowicz and Ted Mann report in The Wall Street Journal: BUFFALO, N.Y.—New York spent nearly $1 billion over the past decade on Elon Musk’s ambitious plan for what was supposed to be the largest solar-panel factory in the Western Hemisphere, one of the largest-ever public cash outlays of its kind. “You almost have to pinch yourself, right?” New York’s … [Read more...]
A Poor Imitation
You may not have guessed it, but Washington State has imitated California's anti-CO2 rules so well that it has become America's new home of the highest fuel prices while making its residents poorer. Imitation is the purest form of flattery, but in the case of California, it's also the fastest way to diminish citizens' standard of living. The Wall Street Journal's editorial board reports on Washington's dubious honor, writing: Congratulations, of the dubious sort, to Washington state. The folks in Olympia have dethroned California to claim the distinction of the country’s highest gasoline … [Read more...]
Now Democrats Are Coming for Your Pizza
Apparently, like your gas stove, wood and coal-fired pizzerias are a climate emergency. New York City wants its famous pizzerias, including Lombardi's, which is known as America's first pizzeria, to cut particulate emissions by 75%. New Yorkers, who enjoy their pizza perfectly cooked are not happy. The Daily Mail reports: Pizzerias which could be impacted include Lombardi's in Little Italy, John's of Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, and Grimaldi's near the Brooklyn Bridge. One anonymous restaurateur told The Post: 'You take away the char, the thing that makes the pizza taste great, … [Read more...]
Covid Low Tide Leaves Mismanaged Blue States Exposed
Warren Buffett famously said that "It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who has been swimming naked." Now that the absolute tidal wave of Covid stimulus money is finally receding, states that have been relying on that money to avoid painful budget realities will be exposed. The editors of The Wall Street Journal explain what future awaits many of the high tax, big spending states as the Covid money runs out: New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said Friday that state tax collections in the past two months are running 32.2% lower than a year ago, with personal income tax … [Read more...]
San Francisco’s Progressive Obsessions
In The Wall Street Journal, Allysia Finley explains that the root cause of San Francisco's disorder is the city's "progressive obsessions." The root of "progressivism" is, of course, redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor. She warns that the city won't recover until it gives up on its "neurotic obsession with eliminating wealth." She writes: The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. Yet San Francisco’s leaders refuse to acknowledge how their own policies have caused the spiral of public disorder that’s driving away businesses and residents in droves. Add to this … [Read more...]