STATE OF DENIAL
After four months in Florida, my wife and I flew home to Minneapolis in time for a vicious blizzard that the TV weatherman called a bomb cyclone. Hopefully, this was the final round in what was the worst winter of the century. After a month of record cold, the left-wing Minneapolis newspaper finally stopped running articles promoting global warming. Couple the bad weather with our high state taxes and you have to wonder who is staying in Minnesota and who is leaving. Unfortunately we can no longer deduct state tax payments from our federal tax which gives us close to the highest federal income tax in the country. I’m constantly running into former Minnesotans who have become Florida residents. It’s an epidemic.
We often hear the media referring to us as “Minnesota nice” as if we are nicer than people elsewhere. The Wall Street Journal made me laugh when they referred to our presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar as Minnesota “not-so-nice” for her abusive treatment of her employees. We also think we have a superior health care in Minnesota. However, outside of the Mayo Clinic, I have found Florida health care to be better.
The Florida population is now up to 21 million. Signs of growth are everywhere. They have no state tax, capital gains tax or estate tax. Minnesota’s myopic liberals insist that a 48% tax rate will not be a factor in Minnesota’s economic growth. In fact, a Democrat told my wife they like to pay high taxes to help with social problems. Another one told me how much they loved winter. We have wonderful summers and a hardy population of energetic people in Minnesota. However, the left is doing their best to drive them to warmer climates where the sticky fingers of government are less onerous.
