THIS IS WHY I KEEP SAYING GOP DONORS NEED TO SET UP A SORT OF “WELCOME WAGON” TO TARGET BLUE-STATE EMIGRANTS AND EXPLAIN WHY THE RED STATES THEY’RE MOVING TO ARE BETTER THAN THE PLACES THEY LEFT: Democrats Fleeing Blue States, Infecting Red States With Failed Liberal Disease. It would be inexpensive, and with today’s data, easy to spot the movers.
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IF I WERE A GOP DONOR, I’D FUND A “WELCOME WAGON” EFFORT TO EXPLAIN TO THESE TRANSPLANTS WHY THEIR NEW STATES ARE DOING BETTER THAN THEIR OLD ONES: People flocking to low-tax states could swing future elections. It wouldn’t be hard to identify the movers, and reach out to them.
MICHAEL WALSH LIKES MY WELCOME WAGON IDEA.
WELCOME TO THE TRUMP WAGON TRAIN: A bunch of Amish folks held a Trump parade yesterday with horses and cows and carriages and wagons.
JOSH BARRO: Gavin Newsom Is Gross and Embarrassing and Will Never Be President.
Dear readers,
I have a rant.
In theory, Gavin Newsom is running for re-election as governor of California. But he is also, in the least subtle way possible, trying to position himself for a presidential run.
He’s challenged Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — also nominally just a candidate for re-election — to a national debate on CNN. And he’s used re-election campaign funds to put up billboards in South Carolina and six other states advertising the availability of abortion in California. And there has been a steady stream of news stories, obviously fueled by the governor’s allies, about how he stands ready to run for president as soon as the Democratic nomination becomes available.
I hate this for a few reasons.
First: The posturing is gross and cheap. The abortion billboards say “California is ready to help,” but they direct readers to a website that does little more than inform readers that abortion is legal in California and they may travel there to receive one. Gee, thanks. California does not, in fact, offer anything especially useful to women living 2,000 miles away who need abortions — if you need an abortion you can’t get in South Carolina, your likely best option is to travel to North Carolina. The billboards amount to using women in red states as a prop to burnish Newsom’s image. Similarly, proposing to debate DeSantis on CNN (about what, immigration policy neither of them controls?) does nothing to address migrant issues. It’s all about how these issues can be used to draw attention to Gavin Newsom.
Not surprisingly for a flailing governor of a failing state, Newsom has a serious case of TDS: Gavin Newsom Tells a Whopper During Discussion About Massive California Exodus. “Newsom says people are fleeing California ‘because of visa policies in the Trump administration.’ I know Newsom relishes residing in fantasyland and also enjoys the luxury of a dutifully compliant state and national press that rarely challenges him, but this is just straight-up bull. One doesn’t need to take my word for it, either. As recently as July, even the Democrat apologists at the Los Angeles Times wrote a report on why people were leaving and – shocker of shockers – the main reasons people were packing up and moving out of California in record numbers were the high cost of living including outrageously high home prices, rising violent crime including deadly smash and grabs, and out of control homelessness[.]”
How many people are leaving California? U-Haul Literally Ran Out of Trucks Leaving California.
How’s that Welcome Wagon program coming along?
THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: Here is the exact type of person who was most likely to leave San Francisco in the pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic stripped San Francisco of a decade’s worth of population gain in a single year — mostly by hollowing out its population-rich downtown and neighborhoods close by.
Now, thanks to detailed data from the U.S. Census Bureau, it’s possible to identify the greatest losses by demographics, too. Last week, the census released data population trends by age, sex, race and ethnicity. And it turns out that young adults, particularly white people in their late twenties, drove S.F.’s historic decline.
From April 2020 to July 2021, the city lost nearly 7% of its population, going from 873,965 to 815,201 residents — the lowest number since 2010. Among those age 25 to 29 who identified as female, white and non-Hispanic, the population dropped by 26%. White men of the age group saw nearly the exact same decline.
* * * * * * * *
The disproportionate number of white people leaving the city may have to do with the increase in remote work. White people in the Bay Area are more likely than Hispanic and Black people (and roughly as likely as Asian people) to work in remote-friendly occupations, according to a report by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute.
But isn’t the loss of whites in the city really for the best? What white Americans need to learn from Germany about handling our brutal history of racism.
—Headline, the San Francisco Chronicle, January 27th.
Perhaps though, the Dobbs decision will limit the need for an expanded Welcome Wagon program:
—A since-deleted tweet by E. Jean Carroll.
IN BIDEN V. TEXAS, SUPREME COURT RULES FOR BIDEN. Roberts and Kavanaugh join the three liberal justices. Opinion here. Biden’s decision to end the “Migrant Protection Protocol” — better known as the “Remain In Mexico” policy — is held to be lawful.
Republicans should set up a special “Welcome Wagon” program for these immigrants, explaining that the Democrats are the ones who want Drag Queen Story Hour in the schools. . . .
INSIDE THE END OF SILICON VALLEY’S DYNASTY:
Tesla was one of Silicon Valley’s higher-value companies — then it moved its HQ to Texas. Following the move in December 2021, the company’s new HQ is listed as a “gigafactory” near Austin. Although they maintain a presence in California, up to 50% of the company’s Palo Alto workforce is expected to follow Tesla to Texas. One of the reasons Tesla owner Elon Musk cited for the shift was the high cost of living in California, which he claims made it difficult for workers to afford homes. Musk first hinted at the move after a disagreement with Alameda County health officials in 2020 (via US News). The world’s richest man is also expected to save around $2.5 billion in capital gains tax because of the move (via Business Insider).
Musk’s electric car company wasn’t the only Silicon Valley giant to make the move and is unlikely to be the last. Bloomberg reports that Hewlett Packard made the shift after citing the difference in real estate expenses between the Golden and Lone Star states, with Oracle Corp also making the move. If other major companies also make the decision to leave Silicon Valley, it could spell disaster for the area — especially given how income and employee numbers are split. If just Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon, and Cisco left Silicon Valley would lose 20% of its employees and billions of dollars in GDP. High taxes and living costs may soon drive companies and workers away from Silicon Valley, and towards cheaper states with Texas a regular target. If it declines to nothing, there may never be another Silicon Valley, but if a second tech hub springs up it will likely be in the Lone Star State.
How’s that Welcome Wagon program coming along?
GOT WOKE, GOING BROKE: New Analysis Details Enormous Economic Consequences as Earners Flee Blue States for Red.
Say, how are those red state Welcome Wagon programs coming along?
GOODER AND HARDER, CALIFORNIA: USPS Cancels Mail Delivery in L.A. Neighborhood Amid Crime Spike.
Authorities have indicated they are familiar with the individual responsible for the January attack and have a record of “domestic” incidents with the suspect.
This is a recurring theme in California justice. A disturbed, violent individual severely injures (or worse) an innocent citizen and almost without exception it turns out that individual has a long history of interaction with law enforcement. They’ve simply been dumped back onto the streets by a feckless system that no longer has the teeth to hold and prosecute criminals or protect innocent taxpayers.
This suspension is not simply about one attack. It is a sign of a larger issue. “Defund the Police” initiatives, Prop 47, and a cold-hearted, ruling elite class have all combined to create a chaos that is nearly unbearable in the once great state of California.
Hence the Fresh Start States Welcome Wagon project.
THEIR APPEAL IS BECOMING MORE SELECTIVE: California’s big cities are shrinking.
How’s that Welcome Wagon program coming along?
QUESTION ASKED: “So how do you repel liberal blue state colonizers who will do to red states what they already did to states such as Colorado and Oregon? Inez Stepman recently posed that question:”
Related: The Fresh Start States Welcome Wagon project.
BLUE STATE BLUES: Even Mark Zuckerberg is leaving California for Texas. “Months of speculation have come to an end as California-based Meta Platforms Inc. — the parent company of Facebook — recently leased the entire commercial half of Sixth and Guadalupe, the 66-story high-rise under construction downtown that will be Austin’s tallest building when finished. The social media company has also pledged hundreds more jobs in the Texas capital.”
Presumably related: How High Will California’s Taxes Go Before There’s No One Left To Tax?
UPDATE (FROM GLENN): This is why I’m supporting the Fresh Start States “Welcome Wagon” Initiative.
DON’T GET COCKY, BUT IMMIGRATION IS MAKING FLORIDA REDDER: “Millions of Americans are fleeing blue states for freer, more prosperous red states. Many have worried that these refugees may be foolish enough to bring blue-state politics with them. This could happen, but recent voter registration data from Florida suggest that it isn’t happening there.”
Anecdotally, that may be happening in Knoxville. In general I think people who move on their own tend to lean right, while people who follow their employers bring lefty politics with them.
Just to be safe, I’m backing the the Fresh Start States Welcome Wagon project. I donated.
MICHAEL BARONE: Plague-year immigrants headed to Trump country. Life is better in America.
FOR A WHILE IT WAS CRUMBLING SLOWLY, NOW IT’S ALL AT ONCE: Joel Kotkin: Trouble in paradise: The crumbling California model.
ICYMI: JOEL KOTKIN & WENDELL COX: Here’s Why California Is Losing Population for the First Time.
From 2000 to 2020, Census Bureau estimates indicate that metro Los Angeles has lost 2.2 million net domestic migrants, metro San Francisco 400,000, metro San Diego 200,000 and metro San Jose 400,000—even as the rest of the state saw a net gain of 600,000.
Some California boosters comfort themselves by insisting the people leaving are mostly poor or old. But an analysis of IRS data from 2012 to 2019 indicates that 85 percent of those leaving are in their prime earning years of 25 to 64. In 2019, the largest share of net domestic migrants, 27 percent, was in the 35-44 age category, while 21 percent were aged 55-64. At the same time, the state is seeing a decline in the young, restless new arrivals who have traditionally driven California’s innovative and entrepreneurial economy.
In fact, Los Angeles between 2013 and 2017 ranked only behind New York City for the largest net loss of millennials, notes Brookings Many younger people now choose Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Houston, and Denver metros, as well as Riverside-San Bernardino, Sacramento and smaller interior metros in California. The days when California could depend on accruing brain power appear to be at an end. During the 2010s, California’s rate of college educated (BA and above) residents 25 and over rated 34th among the states, lagging the increase in the national rate and well behind such key competitors as Florida and Texas.
Critically, this is not an exodus primarily of the poor. Only 14 percent of the increased net domestic migration from 2012 to 2019 has been among those making less than $25,000, according to IRS data, while those making more than $100,000 accounted for 38 percent of the exodus (and the rate of departure was even higher for those making far more).
JOEL KOTKIN & WENDELL COX: Here’s Why California Is Losing Population for the First Time.
CHANGE: New U.S. Census Data: Major Migration From Blue States To Red States.
By the way, if you’re looking to make a year-end charitable deduction, consider supporting the Fresh Start States “Welcome Wagon” Project. It’s scheduled to be reaching out to new arrivals in 2022, explaining why they shouldn’t vote for the policies that ruined the states they came from. (Bumped.)
UPDATE: Via a friend:
But funny as this is, it’s important to remember that this isn’t everyone. The people we’ve met in Tennessee who moved here from NYC or LA or Hong Kong are making the state redder. They’re refugees. The people who follow their employers, on the other hand, are likely to be bluer. But it’s important to try to reach everyone who’s persuadable. It’s true that hardcore leftists aren’t persuadable, but that’s mostly the gentry-class baizuo types and they aren’t that big a percentage of the country.
(Bumped again.)
DON’T CALIFORNICATE IDAHO: Sorry, Idaho. Things Were So Bad in ‘Woke’ Places That a Record Number of People Are Fleeing to Spud Country.
How’s that Welcome Wagon program coming along?
ROGER SIMON: So You Wanna Move (to a Red State)?
Who wants to sing “New York, New York” or “I Love L. A.” anymore? And can you imagine leaving your heart in San Francisco? What has happened is a true American tragedy—and it’s not just because of COVID, although that helped. The cancer has been growing for a long time.
It could be said you should stay to help resuscitate these cities although I would argue you do more for them by leaving, making those governing the cities—universally Democrats, as everybody knows—and even more those dopey enough to have voted for that governance, wake up.
And yet… and yet… and yet… moving is not easy. And I’m not just talking about the onerous task of packing up years of possessions and trucking them cross country. That’s bad enough, though transitory.
You carry yourself, your quirks and neuroses, with you wherever you go from Knoxville to Kuala Lumpur and you don’t know exactly the extent of that until you are forced, or force yourself, to change years of habit.
Just as much, the places you are going have their own quirks and neuroses, their own patterns, also established for years. Where do you fit in?
Moving from a blue state to a red state is not an instant transformation yielding spiritual and political liberation. There is work to be done—on yourself and on the locale itself.
I can speak most accurately about what it means to move to the Nashville area but I would imagine it’s a paradigm for some other migrations.
In itself Metro Nashville, as they call it, embodies the culture clash we are seeing across America. Nashville the city, contiguous with Davidson County, is decidedly blue, while neighboring Williamson County, really part of the metropolitan area—I described it earlier as “Republican Heaven”—is red, although problems exist there as well, especially in their supposedly vaunted schools. The state is, of course, quite red.
People and businesses are pouring into the area in droves. An article just the other day in the liberal San Francisco Chronicle —‘What Austin felt like 10 years ago’: Is Nashville the next hot spot in the Bay Area exodus?—gives some idea of what is happening.
How’s that Welcome Wagon program coming along?
TV CHEF GORDON RAMSAY DITCHES CALIFORNIA, MOVES RESTAURANT HQ TO TEXAS: REPORT.
Add celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay to the list of people and businesses trading California for Texas.
Ramsay has relocated his North American restaurant headquarters to Las Colinas, Texas, from the West Coast, according to a report.
The 55-year-old Scottish-born “Hell’s Kitchen” host has hired a team of businesspeople and chefs to expand his restaurant empire across North America, according to the Dallas Morning News.
The team has plans to open 18 restaurants in cities like Boston, Miami and Chicago.
Over the next five years, CEO Norman Abdallah says he’ll oversee the debut of 75 company-owned restaurants.
Some of the expansion will be in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
I hope the Fresh Start States Initiative’s Welcome Wagon program is up to the task of reminding leftists fleeing their Blue State blues not to vote again for the initiatives that caused them to leave.
SOHRAB AHMARI: Goodbye, Gotham.
Then there are the addicts and crazies. Please, liberals, don’t gaslight us. Don’t you dare say, “Welcome to New York—it’s always been like this.” No, it was not ever thus. It has gotten much worse, despite the nearly $1 billion City Hall spent on its ThriveNYC mental-health program, with much of the money wasted on fighting mental-health “stigma” and combating generalized depression and anxiety, rather than getting the severely mentally ill off the streets and into the involuntary inpatient programs they need.
Why do ordinary families have to be treated to the sight of a humongous crazy lady taking a dump on the corner? When will the self-talking, needle-jabbed, leaning-over-half-dead heroin addicts be cleared off Broadway and Penn Station? Where is the compassion in letting the crazy lady s**t on the open street? What humane end is served by not confronting the addicts and getting them the help they need, even if they’re too f***ed in the head to realize it?
Now layer the Covid biomedical security state on top of all this: the cruel and development-warping masking of kids, which won’t end anytime soon, if ever, though we have known for more than a year that they are at minuscule risk from the virus and transmit it at a much lower rate than do adults; the prolonged lockdowns that carved a swath of destruction through some of the most beloved small businesses in my little rectangle and many other neighborhoods, as well; the endless vax-mandate and booster-shot treadmill, just extended to children as young as 5; and, yes, the added informal enforcement of it all by sad, mostly childless middle-aged white women henpecking you in elevators and in department stores, even when and where mask mandates aren’t in effect.
You know what? Take the Big Apple dream and shove it—for now, at least.
I hope the Fresh Start States Initiative’s Welcome Wagon program is up to the task of reminding leftists fleeing their Blue State blues not to vote again for the initiatives that caused them to leave.
ROGER SIMON: Abandon Ship! Time for Conservatives to Leave California.
Do not pass GO! Do not collect $200. Just get out and be grateful. You really are getting out of jail free.
California and Californians are beyond repair. If they couldn’t vote Newsom out after all that has happened and after the obvious condition of the state almost everywhere you go, except perhaps the French Laundry, it will never happen. Stop kidding yourself.
And you’ll be surprised there are a lot of good places to eat outside the state at less than a fifth of the freight of that over-priced Napa Valley redoubt.
If you have a house to sell, you can have one twice that size outside California.
I’m not gloating here, just because I got out myself over three years ago. Actually, it makes me sad. I may never see Yosemite, Big Sur, or a single Joshua tree again. But so what? C’est la vie. There are wonders all over the world.
And starting over in a new location has a lot to recommend it. It makes you younger and expands the mind, like learning to use a computer mouse with the opposite hand.
Larry Elder, a fantastic man with a great talent and a wonderful sense of humor, is also more than welcome to come, if he should be, most justifiably in his case, fed up with California.
But to my fellow conservatives and libertarians, if you do come, please remember why you left. Some are concerned here in Tennessee, and I assume in other red states, that you might, I’m sure inadvertently, bring some of your blue state values with you.
How’s that Welcome Wagon program coming along?