Eating My Venison Steak With Abandon

The United States is seeing new trends in where people are going to live.

Due to the general economic woes, the states of Florida and Nevada are seeing droves leave. Need real estate quick? Got a nice used Florida/Nevada model right here for you!

But the Top 5 states being abandoned are:
#1 California. The Golden Dream has, at least for now, gone dim.
#2 New York. You like taxes? This is the place for you!
#3 Michigan. Perhaps you thought cars where made in Michigan.
#4 Illinois. Geese are moving in, people and the Obamas moved out.
#5 Ohio. Best example of the Rust Belt. Expect next bridge collapse here.

I have been to all these states. The people are pleasant, the scenery charming. In a country this large, some movement of the populace is to be expected. But ECONOMICS is at the heart of all these shrinking states and the shrinking is not going to make it easier to turn things around.

The Top 2 states growing in 2009 were Texas and Wyoming, undoubtedly due to their jobs in energy.

Of course not all states have energy jobs to offer, so how do we grow? First and most obviously, is to make it easy to create a job. Then make it desirable to expand economic activity.

Let’s say I want to open a Boarding Stable for horses, and a Kennel for dogs and cats. If I try this in California I run into numerous laws regarding disposal of manure, noise regulation, and benefits for staff. If I try this in New York I can be fined for my animal urine showing up in a pond a half mile away and have to pay for clean up. In Florida and Nevada my staff will be harassed by ICE because they look like undocumented residents. In Michigan I find that I must buy carbon offsets because horses emit sulfurous gases. In Illinois the only people who could afford horses have moved to Virginia. Etc.

In Texas and Wyoming, they greet me with open arms. They know that horses are equipped with tails because flies like them, they know that coyotes cause dogs to bark in the night, and the girlfriend of the football star needs a place for her kitty to stay while she travels with him to another whupping on a Rust Belt team.

This is just a fanciful depiction but I think I’ve painted the picture.

If you live in California and believe that deep environmental regulation is necessary then you must not complain when half your family moves to Houston for work.

If you live in New York, you must accept higher auto premiums for deer-auto collisions. Think of it as a tax due to the sensibilities of New Yorkers offended by sport hunting.

While out West here I enjoy a sizzling venison steak. Thank you. I left New York in 1978.