New York Governor: Florida Is Stealing Our Population

We’ve previously talked about the problems that New York State has in terms of hanging onto its population. People have been fleeing the state’s high taxes and oppressive liberal government for years now, dropping the state’s congressional representation by several members and putting the state through redistricting every census cycle. Rather than acknowledge what’s really the problem, however, Democratic leaders in the state government continually come up with new and interesting theories to blame these changes on. The latest is a real humdinger. Governor Andrew Cuomo came out this week and blamed the exodus on… Florida. (CBS Miami)

This week the Governor of New York blamed budget shortfalls on the state of Florida.
He said New Yorkers are fleeing to the sunshine state to save big time on taxes.
It all goes back to the tax reform passed by Congress. The changes increased the incentive to move to the sunshine state dramatically.
On Sunny Isles Beach, developer Edgardo Defortuna has a lot to smile about. His development Jade Signature, an ultra-luxury beachfront condominium building, is nearly sold out.

The developer in Florida they interviewed, Edgardo Defortuna, is a pretty happy guy. He owns a luxury condominium that’s opening up right on the beach and has sold all but seven of nearly 200 units before the doors even opened. In the past, Defortuna (who is a big name in Florida real estate development) received only a handful of calls per year from New Yorkers for the units that sell for up to $30M. Now he says he’s getting several calls per week.

The last two units were sold to New York CEOs from Wall Street and an investment banking firm. We recently looked at the impact of the new tax law and I noted that not many people would be affected by the deductions limits for state and local taxes (SALT). Only those raking in annual incomes well up into six figures and beyond would take a major hit. Well, these are the people who felt the bite, and they’re leaving the state.

It’s probably not going to do any good, but somebody should really ask Governor Cuomo if it’s really fair to “blame Florida” for the exodus of New Yorkers. If you tax people heavily enough while doing your level best to suppress their constitutional rights, they’ll eventually just leave. And if you’re bleeding out all of the top earners and replacing them with lower skilled labor or illegal immigrants, that’s not going to do much for your budget situation. If you want to blame somebody (besides yourself), try blaming Canada. That’s more fun and I’m sure a lot of people will agree with you.

For years, people who earned their public pensions in California—firefighters—cops—etc—were forced to file a California income tax return-—even when they moved to another state. Calif got away with that for years.

Finally, a lawsuit was brought against the state, and those pensions no longer could be taxed by Calif. Calif sure was pissed.

The lawsuit was based up: ‘Taxation without Representation’. They couldn’t vote in Calif. They lived elsewhere & had driver’s licenses in other states.

I moved out of Calif after living there 40 years. My license plates from my 2 vehicles were removed, surrendered at the Nevada DMV, and they were sent back to Calif, with info that I now lived in Nevada. I asked the clerk clearly about all that info going back to Calif. She assured me it is done monthly.

When it became time for renewal on each of my vehicles, I got notices to MY NEW ADDRESS directly from California, demanding that I register each vehicle in Calif. This notice was NOT FORWARDED. It came direct. SO-—Calif KNEW where I was & still tried to extort funds from me to register both vehicles in that state. Same thing when my driver’s license was up for renewal.

The 2nd year I was hear-—a complete repeat.

Think about all the $$$$ they spend when is is totally unlawful to have 2 different driver’s licenses & 2 sets of vehicle registration.

They are completely nuts over there.

Finally, a lawsuit was brought against the state, and those pensions no longer could be taxed by Calif. Calif sure was pissed.

The lawsuit was based up: ‘Taxation without Representation’. They couldn’t vote in Calif. They lived elsewhere & had driver’s licenses in other states.

The 2nd year I was here-—a complete repeat.

Think about all the $$$$ they spend when is is totally unlawful to have 2 different driver’s licenses & 2 sets of vehicle registration.

They are completely nuts over there.

On the whole, the Florida GOP owes much of its current dominance to newcomers to the state, to Cuban refugees and to politically conservative retirees and tax migrants from the Northeast and Midwest. Especially after Motor Voter, they tend to register and vote Republican as soon as they move here.

There are exceptions, of course. Liberal Jewish New York teachers cluster at the south end of Palm Beach County and usually vote en bloc as liberal Democrats. Happily, Southwest Florida -- from Naples up to Sarasota -- is strongly Republican due to newcomers from the Midwest, along with many CIA, FBI, and military retirees from throughout the country.

The recent flow of Hispanic immigration to Florida has been dominated by poor and illegals from Mexico and Central America and threatens to turn Florida Blue. Yet even with Hispanics, there is cause for hope. Black identity politics does not sit well with them, and the aggressive Leftism of so many Democratic candidates is a major vulnerability with middle and upper class Hispanics -- especially with the recent influx from Venezuela.

There is also cause to be cheered by individual examples: a young Brazilian woman I know recently became a US citizen, pushing the process as much as she could because she wanted to vote for Donald Trump. She did so, with pride, and has also touted her recent vote for Bolsonaro for Brazilian president!

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