I don’t know if folks read the Wall Street Journal editorial today entitled “New York vs. Florida, by the Numbers.” If you haven’t read it, please do so. It’s incredibly important. It’s a story about two completely different states, one red and one blue, but it’s also a national story. It’s going to be a presidential story in 2024.
Basically, you have two different economic models. Blue state New York, and you can throw in California too, is crazy high spending, crazy high taxing, with very low economic growth and way above average unemployment.
This is New York. This is California. This is Illinois and a few others. Also, this is Joe Biden, and the national Democratic Party. Tax, spend, regulate, don’t bother to work. Florida, on the other hand, is the anti-Joe Biden.
Florida governors like Jeb Bush, Rick Scott and now Ron DeSantis are running a free market, supply-side model of lower spending, rock-bottom taxes, very limited regulations and a strong economy and people are working. In fact, people are leaving New York and going to Florida with good reason — not just retirees, but businesses of all stripes.
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You’ve got a socialist model in the blue states and a free enterprise model in the red states. Here’s a neat thought: people nowadays can cut their own taxes.
All they have to do is move from the blue states to the red states. Move to Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, Texas, Arizona and on and on. I don’t mean to leave anybody out because red state Republican governors are cutting taxes everywhere.
Now, here are some of the numbers.
First, Florida has a higher population than New York, roughly 3 million higher. So, with a higher population, Florida’s annual state government budget is roughly one-half the size of New York’s budget.
Florida is $115 billion, New York is $227 billion. Let me repeat, with 3 million more people, Florida spends $112 billion less. If that isn’t an extraordinary factoid, I don’t know what is. Ok, let’s go back to the scoreboard.
New York State has a 10.9% top income tax rate. Florida is zero. Wait a minute, it gets better. If you live in New York City, the top income tax rate is —hold your breath — keep holding it in —14.8%. Now, wait a minute folks, if you live in Miami, your combined state and city income tax rate is — please hold your breath again — zero.
Ok? Zero. Now, free enterprise Florida spends vastly less than New York. Free enterprise Florida taxes vastly less than New York and free enterprise Florida grows vastly more than New York.
Between 2016 and 2021, adjusted for inflation, Florida’s real state GDP growth increased 17% over that five-year period, while New York State increased 8%.
Kind of symmetrical, don’t you think? Florida’s budget is half of New York’s, but Florida’s growth rate is double New York’s and, by the way, Florida’s unemployment rate is 2.5%. New York’s is not quite twice as much at 4.3%.
Now, I could go on and on. For example, Governor Ron DeSantis building on his Republican predecessors, especially Jeb Bush, has made Florida the huge school choice state, with far better education opportunities and performance than New York and Governor DeSantis has made important moves not only to take crazy woke out of the colleges and the school systems, but even fearlessly going after big companies like Disney.
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New York unfortunately is virtually the woke capital of the country, maybe tied with California. So, let me just repeat quickly: more people, half the spending, virtually no taxes, twice the growth and better schools. People call it “the free state of Florida,” but, really, it’s the red state model of economic policy and I’m going to predict that whoever the Republican presidential nominee is in 2024, that person will campaign on the Florida red state economic model.
In contrast, I will predict that whoever the Democratic presidential nominee is in 2024, that person will campaign on the socialist New York blue state model. Once again, hat tip to the Wall Street Journal’s editorial “New York vs. Florida, By the Numbers,” and, finally, please, save America, vote Florida red.