After her predecessor complained about the moves, Kathy Hochul all but buys residents one-way tickets.
As Governor Ron DeSantis has most anyone on the left these days enraged beyond pragmatism, we here in Florida have a sense of a reality those same outrage merchants refuse to admit exists. For years, they have tried to slander DeSantis as an out-of-control tyrant and insisted that Florida is a hellscape of COVID infections and citizens helplessly watching their rights be stripped by a fascist regime. There’s only one small problem with this scenario; make that a huge problem:
People cannot stop stampeding to the Sunshine State.
Far more than immigrants working to breach our shores, residents are relocating here at an alarming clip, to the detriment of blue states. California has entirely run out of U-Haul Trucks. Illinois sees its residents walking away from political incompetence. Even Puerto Rico has been sending its professionals long before the hurricane disaster so today, the mainland now has more of its residents than the island itself.
However, the biggest exporter of citizens is New York. Before the pandemic, this was an issue, as then-Governor Cuomo was blaming his budget shortfall on the claim that Florida was “stealing” his wealthy residents. (The severe tax burden was not to blame, you see.) After COVID hit, New York was placed on a strident lockdown by Cuomo – except for the nursing homes – and this only led to more issues. During the pandemic around 350,000 citizens left the state, feeding a total of 1.5 million evacuees over a decade and seeing the state losing representation in Congress.
Now, new Governor Kathy Hochul has been looking over these figures and has decided the best remedy for her state is to – insult millions of residents and tell them to bugger off. Her state budget is facing a five-year debt estimated at $14 billion, and she thinks that instead of enticing businesses and the wealthy, her best option is to tell Republican New Yorkers to get the hell out.
As she is running for reelection, Hochul took the bold step of not trying to win people over to vote for her, choosing instead to divide and stumble. During a campaign event, Hochul got caught up in political fervor, telling her opponents, and those voting for them, they have no place in her state.
“We are fighting for democracy. We’re fighting to bring government back to the people and out of the hands of dictators. Trump and Zeldin and Molinaro – just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong. OK? Get out of town. Because you don’t represent our values.”
Well, Kathy, a large number of those Republicans heard your messaging and they are responding – by saying, “Your terms are agreeable.” When the New York Post looked into driver’s license records, it noted that a record number of New Yorkers switched over their ID to Florida — nearly 6,000. This was not a yearly total; that took place just in August. And that does not account for moves by her citizens to other states during that period.
Hochul’s comments were made late that month, but her divisive directive to move out, coupled with rising taxes to cover shortfalls and crime rates spiking as the police force endures resignations and retirements due to political hostilities, means there is a growing incentive to vacate the state. It also means it is not just the wealthy moving out but also the middle class and families seeking safer locales.
The irony is in the Democrat governor failing to see the folly of her words. She is in a campaign to secure votes but instead is inspiring New Yorkers to vote with their feet.