Shortly after he was confirmed governor of New York earlier this year, David Paterson told a group of business executives that when he received congratulations from old friends he hadn't heard from in years, he was surprised how many no longer lived in New York.
"All of them basically said the same thing," Paterson told the group. "'Good luck in New York state, but we can't pay the taxes. The opportunities aren't there.'”
After that experience, Paterson presumably can understand the complaints of corporate executives recently surveyed by Development Counsellors International (DCI), which advises companies on where to locate their facilities. More than four in 10 of them have ranked New York as the worst state to do business--second only to California in unfavorable mentions.
The most common gripes included high taxes and anti-business regulations. Joining New York and California on the list of most unpopular states were New Jersey, Michigan and Massachusetts.
The DCI study, coming as it did amid growing talk of state fiscal crises around the U.S., is particularly revealing. Of the approximately $48 billion in accumulated budget shortfalls that the 29 states with projected deficits are facing, $33 billion, or two-thirds of the gap, is concentrated in those five states considered by corporate executives to be the least friendly to business.
Meanwhile, among the five states ranked as having the best business environments, Texas and North Carolina have no projected budget gaps, and Georgia, Tennessee and Florida are facing shortfalls amounting to about $4.1 billion, or less than one-tenth of the states' total.
I'm still waiting on a "progressive" who can point out one thing that democrats run that isn't falling apart.
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