Want to know what sky high taxes, oppressive regulation, and a vindictive and overbearing government get you? Well, not an increase in tax revenue. Americans for Tax Reform has released a study based on IRS data that shows the impact of pursuing the same policies at the state level that Obama is trying to impose at the federal level:

That year [ed–2013], Democrat-run states lost a net 226,763 taxpayers, bringing with them nearly $15.7 billion in adjusted gross income (AGI). That same year, states with Republican governors gained nearly 220,000 new taxpayers, who brought more than $14.1 billion in AGI with them.

Only one-third of states with Democrat governors gained taxpayers, compared to three-fifths of states with Republican governors.

Top 5 loser states for Democrat governors in 2013:

·      New York (114,929 people with $5.7 billion in AGI)

·      Illinois (68,943 people with $3.8 billion in AGI)

·      California (47,458 people with 3.8 billion in AGI)

·      Connecticut (14,453 people with $1.8 billion in AGI)

·      Massachusetts (11,915 people with $1 billion in AGI)

Top 5 winner states for Republican governors in 2013:

·      Texas (152,912 people with $6 billion in AGI)

·      Florida (74,094 people with 8.3 billion in AGI)

·      South Carolina (29,176 people with 1.6 billion in AGI)

·      North Carolina (26,207 people with $1.5 billion in AGI)

·      Arizona (16,549 people with $1.5 billion in AGI)

The single largest net migration from one state to another took place between New York and Florida (17,355 people).

Andrew Cuomo, being a left wing hack and, therefore, by definition reality-based and science-y, denied the data:

New York gained 272,066 people, said Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi.

“Looking at one-half of the equation is not how you do math, even if you’re a right-wing think tank trying to take a partisan cheap shot,” he said.

The result was a tragic self-beclowning that put the Cuomo administration in the position of arguing that the IRS data was wrong.

While it is obvious to most people with a couple of functioning neurons that people respond to economic incentives, it speaks ill of our society and the public education monopoly that it is necessary to actually produce a study that proves what should be self-evident. It is an even greater indictment of our society when a governor sends out his minions to deny arithmetic.