Monday, May 22, 2017

"May Be"? Please, the State's Been Coming After the Middle Class for Some Time Now

Connecticut, the wealthiest U.S. state, may be tapped out on taxing the rich 

The fungibility of wealth is something the state's leadership never took seriously until the wealthy and high-income businesses began to move out.  When General Electric moved from Connecticut to Massachusetts [!] to save on taxes [!!!], that should have caused our elected brain trust to contemplate a change in revenue generation.  Nah.

Now, it's the middle class who are looking elsewhere.  Not only is the state a prohibitively expensive one in which to start and operate a small business or purchase a home, thus limiting the participation of younger people in the state's economy, retirees aren't hanging around, either.  When a move to another state would, between lower taxes and cost of living, earn for me in retirement the equivalent of a month's gross income, I started looking for greener pastures.

The current governor owes his election to the public sector unions, who brought out the vote.  However, it also meant that their overgenerous and underfunded pensions were left untouched.  Wind, meet whirlwind.

Oh, look:  We're now the object lesson in how not to run a state.

Connecticut Fiscal Woes Highlight Blue Model Decay