For anyone who believes standing idly by while the government makes outlandish decisions is not harmful, think again. If you think the farcical behavior will remain only in the blue states, please wake up.
Here is what happens if you follow the Marxist dogma of the blue states. In a piece entitled “The blue state exodus accelerates,” the Wall Street Journal editorial board writes that IRS data shows a net 105,000 people left Illinois in 2021 taking with them some $10.9 billion in adjusted gross income, an increase from $8.5 billion in 2020 and $6 billion in 2019.
New York’s income loss increased about $25 billion in 2021 from $19.5 and 2020, and $9 billion in 2019. Likewise, California lost $29 billion in 2021.
Of course, the income is migrating to red states like Florida and Texas which appear to have maintained their sanity for the time being.
In another moment of self-destruction, California banned diesel trucks starting in 2036. In New York, the governor and legislators just agreed to ban gas stoves, reportedly banning natural gas in new buildings starting in 2025.
The key point to consider is the government officials in the blue states are well aware of the intense collateral damage they are causing in their states. They simply do not care. This is the inherent danger that we must recognize, they place their Marxist ideology over the prosperity of their state and constituents.
California has become a modern slave state. Their schools are designed to put Black and Hispanic students in psychological bondage. About 70% of Black students failed to meet state testing standards for English Language Arts in the 2021-2022 school year according to state data. About 84% of Black students didn’t meet math standards. Academic failure and governmental dependence are the status quo. Officials attack anyone summoning alarm to the disaster, calling them “racist” and punishing them for “hate speech.”
Blue states now have lists of permissible crimes that are no longer subject to prosecution. Large corporate retail stores are abandoning crime and drug-ridden urban areas in blue states. They have no choice, allowing stealing without consequence is a losing business model.
Citizens in neighboring DeKalb, Fulton, and Clayton Counties are gullible enough to fall for the machinations of the Democrat elitists. Gwinnett and Cobb Counties have gone from stalwart conservative locations to questionable, at best. They overbuilt their rental housing sectors, crowded their schools, and have a diminished quality of life.
To all the metro Black voters and White college-educated women who have been the core of the recent Georgia Democrat voting bloc, your idol, Stacey Abrams, joined a leftist environmental advocacy dark money group, Rewiring America, that is pushing to ban your natural gas-powered stoves, hot water heaters, and central home heating systems. And forget about keeping that gas-powered vehicle you own.
Rewiring America is an arm of the shady Arabella Advisors organization, a radical financial base wanting to destabilize our nation’s energy production and prosperity. In April 2021, the New York Times criticized Arabella’s “system of political financing, which often obscures the identities of donors,” as “dark money,” calling the network “a leading vehicle for it on the Left.”
Please do not be naive enough to believe that Georgia’s two U.S. senators and Democrat representatives have not already bought into this dark money stratagem. The crazy objectives and proposals you see in the blue states, causing masses to flee, are coming to Georgia. There are billionaires wanting to profit off the extreme changes forced onto our economy by the federal and state governments.
Just like when the Republican leadership in the state legislature began fronting corporations and special interests to pour state tax dollars into the failing MARTA mass transit system, they will also be tempted to support the perverse energy proposals making us totally dependent upon the electrical grid.
Fayette County has an opportunity to be the beacon on the hill if the local voters will stop electing people in Peachtree City and Fayetteville who continue to want to overbuild multi-family rental housing complexes.
Stable incomes, home ownership, and solid education prospects keep us one of the strongest and most prosperous counties in the southeastern United States.
When our state legislature begins considering radical energy proposals and mandating restrictions, we all must become active, calling and writing our state officials.
Prosperity, no matter where you live, comes from well-meaning, educated citizens who have the undivided attention of their elected officials.
[Brown is a former mayor of Peachtree City and served two terms on the Fayette County Board of Commissioners. You can read all his columns by clicking on his photo below.
Blue States have 2x the GDP of Red States so yea, sure.
But hey maybe MTG’s whole split the country up idea isn’t bad. It’d save Blue states a ton of money in having to subsidize their poor performing Red state friends.
I’ll go for the Blue states, they tend to have lower crime rates and wiser Governors
Consider Red states – they offer Fox News for free.
swac – While you’re packing up for California or New York, you may want to consider some facts to prepare for life when you arrive.
It’s the blue cities that have the crime problem. “One ranking says the top 20 most dangerous cities are run by 18 Democrat mayors and two mayors who were elected in nonpartisan races.” Daily Signal 6/24/20
“In February 2022, CBS News published a report about cities with the highest homicide rate, “Murder map: Deadliest U.S. cities.” Of the top 10 deadliest cities in the country, all of them are cities with Democratic mayors. Moreover, of the 65 cities on this list with the highest murder rates, the overwhelming majority had Democratic mayors.” Washington Examiner 11/6/22
So if we could get Kamala to do a root cause analysis once she’s solved the border crisis, it would be clear that we have a blue city crime problem, not a red state crime problem.
My. Citing old statistics from dubious sources is not convincing. Here’s a more recent statistic from Forbes in 2023 “Most dangerous Cities in the US”
St. Louis, Missouri
Mobile, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Baltimore, Maryland
Memphis, Tennessee
swac – do you realize that the Forbes’ article cites a crime report from MoneyGeek (a dubious source?), who used FBI crime data from 2021 (old statistics?)?
But let’s go with it. MoneyGeek’s methodology uses an assumed dollar value for each crime, with murder being 2,571 times as costly as a larceny.
Smaller populations have fewer people to spread the impact of a murder across, so they appear on this list vs Chicago, San Francisco etc. It’s one way of assessing “Most Dangerous”, just not the way most people think about it.
And on your list, 4 of the 5 cities’ mayors are Democrats. Go to Top 10, and 8 of 10 mayors are Democrats, with #9 Shreveport electing its first Republican mayor in 28 years in 2022.
So your point was, what?
swac – Do you realize that the Forbes article cites a report from MoneyGeek (a dubious source?) using FBI crime data from 2021 (old statistics?)?
MoneyGeek also uses a methodology that assumes a murder is 2,571 times as costly to a community as a larceny. That’s why smaller cities appear on the list, since they have fewer people to spread the estimated cost of a murder across.
It’s not the way most people would think about “Most Dangerous”, but let’s go with it.
Of the Top 5 cities you list, 4 out of the 5 are run by a Democrat mayor. Pull back to Top 10, and all the added cities are run by Democrat mayors, except for #9 Shreveport, whose Republican mayor was elected in 2022 after 28 years of Democrat mayors.
“Most Dangerous Cities” numbers 11-15 (Little Rock, Oakland, Milwaukee, Kansas City and Philadelphia) are all run by Democrats.
So your point again was, what?
First. I do not recognize the term Democrat mayor. The correct adjective being Democratic mayor. Second. Most cities are run by Democrats what does that have to do with crime?
Good grief I can imagine the word salad Kamala would produce trying to explain anything more complicated than the process of paint drying. She’s the dumbest, most unqualified VP we’ve ever had. See also “incompetent”.
I’ll take Kamala over Dan Quayle for the win!
You’re right swac, Dan Quayle was certainly the most dimwitted VP in the last 100 years, but that is only because John McCann lost the 2008 election.
swac – Pull up a chair and listen.
It’s really quite straightforward: If you are a member of the Democratic Party, you are a Democrat. Example – “Nebraska Democrats look to 2024 after Tuesday election wins” ABC News 5/3/2023
Mayors are responsible for the safety of the city’s citizens, and oversee the public service departments, such as fire and police. Democrat mayors have more responsibility for high crime in their cities than Republican governors do.
Your attempt to redirect blame failed.
Speaking of failures, Dan Quayle doesn’t have the failure of the worst illegal immigration ever as “border czar” on his resume. Kamala owns that.
2 Cents – Stay in that chair and listen. I like your logic. Google the states that have the highest crime rates, the poorest educational outcomes, the poorest healthcare, the poorest standard of living, and the highest poverty rates.
What you find is that the vast majority are governed by a Republic governor, Lt. Governor, and have a majority Republic legislature.
So, by your clear logic, never elect a Democrat mayor to a city, but for God’s sake, never ever elect Republics to state leadership positions.
I like your reasoning.
Penny – I love this new logic. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel. The poorest states are Mississippi, LA, NM, AR, WV. The most dangerous states are LA, MS, TX, AR, OK. The states with the poorest education are WV, MS, AR, SC. The states with the poorest healthcare are WV, MS, AL, TN. I can go on forever.
What do the great majority of these states have in common? A Republic governor and legislature of course!
Again, do not elect Democrats to be mayors, but for God’s sake, don’t elect Republics for anything else.
I love this simple way to view the world.
Penny – I love this new logic. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel. The states with the worst healthcare are West Va., Miss., Ala., Tenn. The states with the worst education are West Va., Miss., Ark., S. Carolina. The most dangerous states for crime are Louisiana, Miss., Texas, Ark. Ok. The poorest states are Miss., Louisiana, N. Mexico, Ark. West Va. I could go on and on.
What do most of these states have in common? They are all led by Republic governors and legislators, of course.
So logically, you would never elect a Democrat to be your mayor. You would never elect a Republic to have any executive or legislative power in your state.
I love this simple logic. Who knew the world could be so uncomplicated?
Penny – I love this new logic. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel. The states with the worst healthcare are West Va., Miss., Ala., Tenn. The states with the worst education are West Va., Miss., Ark., S. Carolina. The most dangerous states for crime are Louisiana, Miss., Texas, Ark. Ok. The poorest states are Miss., Louisiana, N. Mexico, Ark. West Va. I could go on and on.
What do most of these states have in common? They are all led by Republic governors and legislators, of course.
So logically, you would never elect a Democrat to be your mayor. You would never elect a Republic to have any executive or legislative power in your state.
I love this simple logic. Who knew the world could be so uncomplicated?
Penny – I love this new logic. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel. The states with the worst healthcare are West Va., Miss., Ala., Tenn. The states with the worst education are West Va., Miss., Ark., S. Carolina. The most dangerous states for crime are Louisiana, Miss., Texas, Ark. Ok. The poorest states are Miss., Louisiana, N. Mexico, Ark. West Va. I could go on and on.
What do most of these states have in common? They are all led by Republic governors and legislators, of course.
So logically, you would never elect a Democrat to be your mayor. You would never elect a Republic to have any executive or legislative power in your state.
I love this simple logic. Who knew the world could be so uncomplicated?
Y’all crazy
ST Fiction – I’ll be in my chair. You will need to go to the back of the class.
We’ve already established factually that Democrat mayors are overwhelmingly responsible for the highest crime rates. Obviously, Governor Kemp doesn’t run the city of Atlanta.
But here you are, again, with no facts to support your theory. And you do not account for the impact of blue cities on the statistics of red states.
You should follow my reasoning: it is sound and factual. Yours?
Penny – I love this new logic. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel. The states with the worst healthcare are West Va., Miss., Ala., Tenn. The states with the worst education are West Va., Miss., Ark., S. Carolina. The most dangerous states for crime are Louisiana, Miss., Texas, Ark. Ok. The poorest states are Miss., Louisiana, N. Mexico, Ark. West Va. I could go on and on.
What do most of these states have in common? They are all led by Republic governors and legislators, of course.
So logically, you would never elect a Democrat to be your mayor. You would never elect a Republic to have any executive or legislative power in your state.
I love this simple logic. Who knew the world could be so uncomplicated?
I have read articles in both the Wall Street Journal and the New York times about this southern migration. The reasons given by most people moving are that southern states have better weather, lower taxes, and cheaper housing. Few cited political reasons for the move. That may be because political reasons are really not involved in the decision or that they don’t wish to appear unsophisticated to the pollster (like the 2016 polling responses to the presidential election).
It will be interesting to see if the newcomers adopt the more conservative politics of their new surroundings or if they bring their more progressive political ideas and turn the southern states bluer. Most of the large cities are blue everywhere in the country anyway.
Stranger – NPR (a lefty outlet) disagrees with your view that people don’t move for political reasons. “Americans are fleeing to places where political views match their own” NPR February 18, 2022
According to the article, many left blue areas due to COVID lockdowns, masking and vaccination requirements, but also because of the massive taxes and regulations there. “Residents have been fleeing states like California with high taxes, expensive real estate and school mask mandates and heading to conservative strongholds like Idaho, Tennessee and Texas.”
And outside of weather, politics causes or highly influences lower taxes and cheaper housing, again supporting the idea that politics are behind the mass migration to red states.
To those coming here, welcome, but please don’t California my Georgia.
The NPR take may be accurate. It will be interesting to see what ideas our new neighbors bring with them.
BTW, If you see NPR as biased, I can’t imagine how far to the right your center of ideological gravity is.
Stranger – NPR might have been center-ish years ago, but I’m not the only one who knows NPR is biased left nowadays.
“The average NPR listener is white, older than 44, and “somewhat or very liberal,” according to data compiled by Nielsen and the consulting firm GfK.” Washington Examiner 4/21/23
“… anyone who’s listened to NPR for more than five minutes scarcely needs to be convinced of its extreme liberal bias.” The Hill 7/11/22
AllSides media research rates the online version of NPR as “Lean Left”. MediaBiasFactCheck says “(NPR) often publish(es) factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by appeals to emotion or stereotypes) to favor liberal causes.”
So, perhaps NPR is not MSNBC or Vox flaming liberal, but definitely in the over-regulate, tax and spend, culture warrior camp.
2 Cents – What news sources do you consider to be reliable? I’m not seeking this answer for ridicule, but rather, I want to know what sources you deem to be factual. Where would you find a story you trusted the facts about the war in Sudan? Climate change? The 2020 election results?
If NPR is assumed to be heavily biased, I’m unsure of the litmus test that any factual outlet could pass.
Both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times have been writing about this southeastern migration recently, and it is, as Steve reports, a significant population shift. The reasons given by most of the people relocating that were reported in the two papers above were lower state taxes, cheaper housing, and a warmer climate. Few relocators cited political affinity with the red states as their motivation.
It will be interesting to see what this will mean. If more progressive people move to Georgia and other red states without also changing their political alliances, this could change the electorate. Indeed, most large cities all over the United States are more blue than red. Perhaps some are coming because they want a more conservative agenda but just don’t report that when asked for fear of looking unsophisticated.
Again, it will be interesting to assess the consequences of this migration.
I am having difficulty posting a message for Mr. Brown’s latest column. Is anyone else experiencing any difficulties?
Not sure it’s going to reach him anyway. Steve has gone so far off the rails I’m genuinely concerned for him. He’s a good guy and has good points though increasingly they’re mixed in with such outlandishly hyperbolic rhetoric, I’m hoping he’s doing it for the low-road pop appeal but laughs in private about what he gets away with. Hoping…
I assume it’s just rabble rousing at this point. Good old Gibberish
https://youtu.be/ke5Mr5eCF2U
Everyone knows you two fools detest Steve Brown. Your responses are so predictable….attack the messenger, belittle and berate him, mock him, come up with some fancy insults that you feel good about, and go on your merry way. Do you know how much mental effort that requires to do that to every Steve Brown letter – zero. Either you fools are just not very smart at all and unable to think logically for yourselves, or you’re intellectually lazy and weak. Giving you the benefit of the doubt would assume you’re just lazy. Why not put a little effort in and come up with some arguments of your own instead of just attacking the person? But I guess that would require too much mental horsepower, now wouldn’t it?
Does that mean that repeating what you heard on Fox News last night constitutes high octane mental striving? No thanks.
Again – a lazy comeback. Not surprised. You’re assuming anyone with an opinion that differs from yours must take their marching orders from Fox News, or that anyone who considers Fox News a worthy source must be bad, therefore vilify them. You might be surprised at how many people are out there who think for themselves and who don’t take everything that’s spoonfed to them and consider it the truth – no matter where the source is.
Actually, I think anyone who espouses far right wing rhetoric that is promoted endlessly on Fox considers Fox a worthy source of news. I would welcome responses based upon reliable sources. Fox just paid our three quarters of a billion dollars because they refused to report the news reliably.
Indolence seems to be the purview of those posters who parrot only what they hear from Sean and Laura.
You can do better than that Wing.
Which part of Brown’s letter is rhetoric? Banning gas stoves? It’s actually happening. Surrounding counties that overbuilt rental houses/apts and their schools are paying the price? Sure seems like it to me. California banning diesel trucks? That’s happening as well. Can you tell me what issues Brown brings up that are right-wing rhetoric?
Hi Wing – If you will read my comments to this Steve Brown column, you will notice that I did not disagree with him. I merely added the ideas I read from the WSJ and NYT.
You threw the gas on this fire.