Donald Trump and Rush Limbaugh are sending the same message to New York’s Governor David Paterson: Hike taxes for high-income earners and your major taxpayers will leave the state.
Trump told FOX host Neil Cavuto that the “millionaire’s tax’ is going to be “total disaster” for the state and will consider leaving New York. Trump warned that he also spoke with 25 to 30 people “leaving or going to consider leaving.” Limbaugh went a step further on April 11 when he told Cavuto he will leave the high-tax state and is happy to “lead the way.”
In Limbaugh’s interview with Cavuto, the talk radio host said New York will suffer by smacking the successful with even higher taxes. Limbaugh predicted that New York’s tax increases will cause an exodus of high-income earners leaving the state. “They have no idea the shortfall of revenue that their own policies are going to be creating,” Limbaugh fumed.
Clips of the interview aired during “Cavuto On Business,” the same day that The Wall Street Journal crowned New York the “Tax Capital of the World” for having the highest tax rates in the country.
New York legislators will impose an additional two percentage point “millionaire tax” on singles who earn $200,000 and couples that earn $300,000 a year according to the Journal. This puts New York’s top income tax rate at 8.97 percent, and 12.62 percent for those that live in New York City. With the additional “millionaire tax” and additional taxes and fees on bottled water, cigars, hunting and fishing, utilities, and various city services, New Yorkers will pay roughly $7 billion in new or higher taxes next year, according to The New York Times.
Journal also noted, “According to Census Bureau data, over the past decade 1.97 million New Yorkers left the state for greener pastures – the biggest exodus of any state.”
According to Limbaugh, even higher taxes will accelerate this flight from New York causing a decline in tax revenue – not an increase. Limbaugh mentioned Yankees have already been moving to lower-taxed southern states like North Carolina and Florida.
“They’ve got their own separate welfare state that people like me are promoting in New York, and yet, we’re held out as the villains,” Limbaugh complained. “We’re the targets, the evil CEOs, the evil rich and so forth. I think, in an economic climate like this, if they’re going to raise taxes on people they ought to start wining and dining them. They need to be thanked. These people need to be praised and encouraged to keep working and earn money so that New York can siphon it from them.”
Limbaugh pointed out the backwardness of government charging higher taxes and fees intending to increase revenue. “When the airlines have problems, what do they do?” he asked. “They lower fares. When the New York public transit problem – has problems, what they do? They raise fares. I mean, the government sector does everything the opposite of what the private sector does to compete. And they drive out their best customers. Now, this is – this is, uh, uh I think, ridiculous to assume that this is going to raise a lot of revenue, and is going to be temporary."
Limbaugh didn’t think everyone would leave the state. “I am sure that there are people in New York who will stay and put up with this. I mean, liberals are liberals first, and they will be convinced that they’re doing the Lord’s work here by having more taxes confiscated.”
