Classy behavior from Governor Paterson of New York state the other day. In response to the announcement of huge new taxes on high income New Yorkers, Rush Limbaugh announced that he would cut his remaining ties with the state. When Governor Paterson heard about this, he said that, if he knew the tax would get Rush to leave, he'd have raised them sooner.
I love hearing stuff like this because it confirms the wisdom of my decision last year to move to Virginia. I never lived in New York itself (partly to dodge the separate city income tax), but I worked and paid taxes there from 2004-2008. Some of those years, I paid several thousands dollars in New York taxes. And, if I had made partner at my firm, I'd have paid NY taxes on $1-2 million/year. But its a good thing I didn't stay because, judging by Gov. Paterson's comments, it seems that high earners aren't appreciated in New York. Their politicians want to drown their state in debt and run things for the sole benefit of public employees' unions, but they also think they can insult the relatively few people, like Rush, who produce the income that makes their parasitic system possible (the top 1% of earners in NY historically provide 50% of state revenue). Good luck with that.
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