With the election for New York governor taking place this year, attention is beginning to focus on just how far the Empire State has fallen. We now top nearly every bad list there is: highest taxes, soaring utility costs, crushing insurance premiums, rising crime, mass out-migration, poor business outlook—you name it.
Florida, which has more residents thanks to people fleeing New York, spends less than half of what we do—and it doesn’t even have a state income tax. That enormous gap boils down to a simple truth: the danger of one-party rule. When those in power control every lever of government, they can spend whatever they want, and the results speak for themselves.
In such an entrenched system, taxpayers are forced to fork over their hard-earned money so politicians can redistribute it at will. That money is then used to buy votes—pure and simple. The numbers tell the story. Florida’s annual budget is $117.4 billion, while New York’s is $254.4 billion, a staggering $137 billion difference. Florida’s population of 23.3 million people is roughly 3.5 million larger than New York’s, so what are we getting for our money?
Minnesota offers a clear illustration of how the redistribution model works. The self-described “sanctuary state” welcomes in thousands of immigrants and showers them with taxpayer dollars. Those beneficiaries, in turn, vote to keep the politicians in power—wash, rinse, repeat. When watchdogs finally pulled back the curtain, they uncovered fraud running into the billions.
In New York, taxpayers were stunned when the Biden administration opened the borders and revealed the perks provided to the migrants: hotel rooms, cash payments, health care, transportation, legal aid, cell phones, not to mention education and emergency services. Former Mayor Eric Adams had it right when he said the scam would “destroy” the city.
Lord knows how much of this is happening in the “Vampire State,” but the evidence shows something truly rotten. We have been a sanctuary state for years, and the mayor of the nation’s largest city has openly promised to take money from those who earn it and give it to those who don’t. The promise alone was enough to get him elected by those who want the payout.
This year’s gubernatorial race pits an incumbent who has spent her entire career inside this system against a challenger calling for change. Let’s hope there are still enough people left who make the money to outnumber those who want to take it.