LeBron’s Wise Decision

Not only will LeBron James win an NBA championship next year with the Miami Heat, but by signing with Miami, he saved himself millions of dollars in taxation.

From today’s Wall Street Journal:

We come not to praise or bury LeBron James, but only to note that by moving to Miami he’s going to save a bundle on taxes. We’ll take the King of ESPN’s word that he’s jumping to the Miami Heat from the Cleveland Cavaliers mainly for basketball reasons, but it is also true that Florida has no income tax. The rate in Akron, Ohio is a little over 7%.

Mr. James figures to earn close to $100 million in salary over five seasons in Miami. According to an analysis by Richard Vedder, an economist at Ohio University, Mr. James’s net present value tax savings on his salary are between $6 million and $8 million by living in Miami versus his home town of Akron. Professional athletes do have to pay other state taxes for the dates they play in visiting team arenas, but most of Mr. James’s considerable endorsement income would be taxed at Florida rates.

The tax comparisons looked even worse for two other teams in the LeBron bidding, the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets. The New York Post estimated that New York City and state taxes of 12.85% on high income earners would have taken more than $12 million from Mr. James. New Jersey’s rate is nearly 9%. Both of those teams are lousy, but it can’t help their free-agent sales pitch to start out $9 billion to $12 billion in the after-tax hole.

While LeBron’s departure got extraordinary media attention, it is hardly unique. In the early 1990s, Ohio was the home of 43 Fortune 500 companies. Twenty years later the number is 24. Census Bureau data show that from 2004-2008 Ohio saw a net outmigration of $6 billion of income and some 97,000 taxpayers. Even Ohio’s famously liberal Senator, the late Howard Metzenbaum, moved to Florida late in his life to reduce his estate taxes.

We feel for Cleveland fans, but maybe they should allocate some of their wrath to the state politicians who keep driving high-income individuals and their businesses to financially sunnier climes.

When it comes to basic economics, self-identified Liberals/Democrats show they’re not too bright

From Daniel Klein at the Wall Street Journal:

Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
Self-identified liberals and Democrats do badly on questions of basic economics.

Who is better informed about the policy choices facing the country—liberals, conservatives or libertarians? According to a Zogby International survey that I write about in the May issue of Econ Journal Watch, the answer is unequivocal: The left flunks Econ 101.

Zogby researcher Zeljka Buturovic and I considered the 4,835 respondents’ (all American adults) answers to eight survey questions about basic economics. We also asked the respondents about their political leanings: progressive/very liberal; liberal; moderate; conservative; very conservative; and libertarian.

[…]

How did the six ideological groups do overall? Here they are, best to worst, with an average number of incorrect responses from 0 to 8: Very conservative, 1.30; Libertarian, 1.38; Conservative, 1.67; Moderate, 3.67; Liberal, 4.69; Progressive/very liberal, 5.26.

Color me not surprised. These are the same people who think global warming is as big of a threat to America as Islamic terrorism, after all.

Make sure to click the link above to read about what questions the respondents were asked.

This Week’s Best Conservative Political Cartoons

From Gary Varvel at the Indianapolis Star:

From Nate Beeler at the Washington Examiner:

From Rick McKee at the Augusta Chronicle:

From Randy Bish at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

From Michael Ramirez at Investor’s Business Daily:

From Eric Allie with Cagle Cartoons:

Another good one from Allie:

From Jeff Koterba at the Omaha World Herald:

What Recovery?

From Ed Morrissey at HotAir:

The White House leaked to several media sources that the number of new jobs would exceed a half-million positions, mainly through temporary Census Bureau expansion, and that the private sector would gain around 150,000…

Yeah, about that…

Here’s the reality:

1. 95.5% of all job growth in May came from the government, as 411k temporary census workers were hired.
2. Private sector employment, however, grew by only 41k jobs.
3. Meanwhile, 322k people dropped out of the labor force.

And as a result of all that, Wall Street tumbled 3% today.

Heck of a recovery, wouldn’t you say?

Obama at yesterday’s presser: “The easily accessible oil has already been sucked up out of the ground.”

Mr. President, as Congressman Joe Wilson would say, “You lie!”

Or maybe you just conveniently forgot about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska…

Charles Krauthammer, also a proponent of drilling in ANWR, writes in a new column:

There will always be catastrophic oil spills. You make them as rare as humanly possible, but where would you rather have one: in the Gulf of Mexico, upon which thousands depend for their livelihood, or in the Arctic, where there are practically no people?

All spills seriously damage wildlife. That’s a given. But why have we pushed the drilling from the barren to the populated, from the remote wilderness to a center of fishing, shipping, tourism and recreation?

Hear, hear.

Fortune Mag: In Wake of ObamaCare, Companies thinking of dumping their health care plans in exchange for paying fees to the government

Woooow.

From Fortune:

Documents reveal AT&T, Verizon, others, thought about dropping employer-sponsored benefits

The great mystery surrounding the historic health care bill is how the corporations that provide coverage for most Americans — coverage they know and prize — will react to the new law’s radically different regime of subsidies, penalties, and taxes. Now, we’re getting a remarkable inside look at the options AT&T, Deere, and other big companies are weighing to deal with the new legislation.

Internal documents recently reviewed by Fortune, originally requested by Congress, show what the bill’s critics predicted, and what its champions dreaded: many large companies are examining a course that was heretofore unthinkable, dumping the health care coverage they provide to their workers in exchange for paying penalty fees to the government.

The great mystery surrounding the historic health care bill is how the corporations that provide coverage for most Americans — coverage they know and prize — will react to the new law’s radically different regime of subsidies, penalties, and taxes. Now, we’re getting a remarkable inside look at the options AT&T, Deere, and other big companies are weighing to deal with the new legislation.

Internal documents recently reviewed by Fortune, originally requested by Congress, show what the bill’s critics predicted, and what its champions dreaded: many large companies are examining a course that was heretofore unthinkable, dumping the health care coverage they provide to their workers in exchange for paying penalty fees to the government.

That would dismantle the employer-based system that has reigned since World War II. It would also seem to contradict President Obama’s statements that Americans who like their current plans could keep them.

Ed Morrissey has more.

Will WA Have an Income Tax by the end of the Year?

Democrats in the legislature knew they couldn’t cram an income tax down the throats of Washingtonians, so instead, they’re going to be backing a push for a citizens initiative to be put on the ballot this November. Terrific.

From the Seattle Times:

State voters could see income-tax initiative for wealthy

OLYMPIA — Expect a push to seek voter approval in November for an income tax that hits couples earning more than $400,000 a year.

Bill Gates Sr. and others are expected to announce an effort Wednesday to put Initiative 1077 on the ballot.

The group would need to collect the signatures of at least 241,153 registered voters by July 2 to qualify for the ballot. Supporters typically try to collect more than the required number for a buffer.

There are 602,000 people in Seattle alone. The 1077 supporters should have no problem getting the 241,153 required signatures.

I’m just telling you right now, if this passes in November (which it likely will), you’re going to see wealthy citizens leave the state in droves. And they’re going to take their businesses with them.

Higher taxes are like a drug to Liberals in this state. They’re constantly looking for that next fix and are never satisfied when they actually get it. It’s a sick addiction.

Chris Christie’s Day Just Keeps Getting Better

This is a huge feather in Chris Christie’s cap. Is there anything this guy can’t accomplish? I mean, he was able to get 59% of voters (in what was a record turnout) to reject their school district’s budgets. That hasn’t happened in 34 years! All while facing ruthless attacks from the teachers unions, as well as the lazy and pathetic line that he doesn’t care about children.

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Christie is a Conservative rock star.

Here’s the updated story from Michael Winter at USA Today:

Tax-weary N.J. voters reject record 59% of school budgets

New Jersey voters rejected a record 59% of school budgets yesterday, heeding Gov. Chris Christie’s call to vote down property-tax hikes and spending plans that did not include a wage freeze for teachers. Though turnout also set a record, overall only about one fifth of registered voters went to the polls statewide.

Districts on the losing end must now work with municipal officials to craft a funding solution by May 19. Layoffs and other cuts are likely.

The state has the highest property taxes in the nation. Last year, voters approved 73% of school budgets, which included new levies.

[…]

Christie, a freshman Republican, called yesterday’s vote “a seismic change that reflects, I believe, a changed attitude in New Jersey.”

“They’ve had enough. They want real, fundamental change,” Christie said at a press conference this afternoon.

Oh, by the way teachers unions? 80% of budgets were passed in school districts where teachers accepted pay freezes.

Take a hint.

Quinnipiac: Obama Approval Hits All-Time Low

From Quinnipiac:

President Barack Obama’s job approval, which bounced slightly to a 45 – 46 percent split March 25 in the wake of his health care victory, has flattened out at 44 – 46 percent, his lowest approval rating since his inauguration, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.

[…]

“President Barack Obama’s approval rating hovers at an all-time low. The White House had predicted passage of the health care overhaul would boost his fortunes, but that has not been the case, and that legislation itself remains decidedly unpopular,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

[…]

Voters disapprove 55 – 40 percent of the way Obama is handling the economy and disapprove 55 – 40 percent of the way he is handling health care.

53% also disapprove of ObamaCare, which is right in line with every other poll we’ve seen since the beginning of April. Even so, 53% also say it’s a “bad idea” for states to sue to stop it from going into effect. Sentiments about repeal have been fluctuating quite a bit, so I’m not sure how much one can read into that.

Here were some other interesting results from the poll:

• 42% say they’re less likely to vote for their member of Congress if they voted for ObamaCare. That’s up from 38% in March.
• The Republican Party (33% favorable/47% unfavorable)  is less hated than the Democratic Party (32/52). In June 2009, the Dem split was 42/42, so they’re going the wroooong way heading into the midterms.
• 38% approve of the way Obama is handling the task of creating jobs. 56% disapprove. These figures have been steady for months now.
• 32% have a favorable opinion of the Tea Party, while 31% do not.
• 6% of blacks call themselves Tea Partiers. (The NY Times’ Charles Blow thinks these people are all suckers)

Chris Christie’s Massive Win in New Jersey

This is absolutely incredible.

From the Associated Press:

NJ Voters Reject Majority Of School Budgets

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) ― Voters in New Jersey have rejected a majority of school budgets for the first time in 34 years.

According to unofficial results, voters turned down 260 of 479 budgets in 19 counties Tuesday night. Voters have not defeated a majority of school budgets since 1976.

The elections were particularly contentious this year because Gov. Chris Christie and the state’s largest teachers union have been sparring over property taxes and the quality of education.

Under Christie’s proposed state budget, schools would get less money from the government. Most districts are planning layoffs and tax increases.

Christie says layoffs can be avoided. He urged voters to reject budgets in schools where teachers have not agreed to have their salaries frozen and do not contribute to their health insurance premiums.

Teachers union officials say the governor is a bully.

The teachers unions can say whatever they want. The people are on the side of Chris Christie.

Here’s a more in-depth look at the vote from Fox 29 News:

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