Sinkhole States vs. Sunshine States - You Decide

In a previous post, within our ongoing “by the numbers theme,” we explored a bunch of numbers as they applied to ten states. Five of those states were nicknamed “Sinkhole States” since they were being overcome with state government debt that was turning the states’ finances and the financial future of those state residents into sinkholes.

The second set of five states were nicknamed ‘Sunshine States” since their state government had either a budget surplus or a very small, manageable debt load that wouldn’t be a financial burden to future residents of those states. Thus, while the first five states were mostly likely to get lost in a sink hole of debt within the fifty states, the Sunshine States were mostly likely to be basking in sunshine, given their better fiscal skills.

We extended that distinction in that post to look at other numbers of those ten states including maximum state income tax rates, unemployment rates, and buying power of residents within each state. Our findings were often dramatic and indicative of what government should do and not do:

• Sinkhole states had much higher debt levels than Sunshine states.
• Tax rates in Sinkhole states were higher.
• Unemployment levels were higher in Sinkhole states.
• Consumer buying power was less in Sinkhole states.

Thus, Sunshine state residents enjoyed lower taxes, lower unemployment, more buying power and a financial future that was not weighted down with debt. In other words, most people, from a financial perspective, would likely chose to live in a Sunshine state than a Sinkhole state.

All of those numbers and analyses can be accessed at the following post:

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2014/09/september-2014-by-numbers-part-1.html

Since that post, we came across some more data that shows how much better it is to live in a state with lower taxes, lower debt, better purchasing power, and a brighter future. A recent Gallup poll asked state residents to rate whether their state was the worst state to live in and whether it was the best state to live in. The results were quite interesting and consistent:

Sinkhole States - home state is the worst state to live in:

1. Connecticut - 17% of state residents say it is the worst state to live in (rank = 2)
2. Illinois - 25% of state residents say it is the worst state to live in (rank = 1)
3. New Jersey - 10% of state residents say it is the worst state to live in (rank = 7)
4. Massachusetts - 6% of state residents say it is the worst state to live in (rank = 15)
5. Hawaii - 4% of state residents say it is the worst state to live in (rank = 23)

Average - 16.8%, Rank Average - 9.6

Sunshine States - home state is the worst to live in:

1. Alaska - 4% of state residents say it is the worst state to live in (rank = 22)
2. North Dakota - 2% of state residents say it is the worst state to live in (rank = 42)
3. Wyoming - 1% of state residents say it is the worst state to live in (rank = 46)
4. Utah - 2% of state residents say it is the worst state to live in (rank = 40)
5. South Dakota - 3% of state residents say it is the worst state to live in (rank = 29)

Average - 2.4%, Rank - 35.8

Comments:

• Sinkhole states on average were seven times more likely to rate their state as the worst state to live in vs. Sunshine states.
• Sinkhole states ranking as far as having the worst state to live in was about four times worst rank wise vs. Sunshine states.
• Four out of five Sunshine state residents were far more optimistic about their states than all of the Sinkhole states.
• The worst Sinkhole state, Illinois, had residents that were more than ten times more pessimistic about living in their state than the average of the Sunshine states.

You get idea. Sinkhole state residents are far more likely to hate living in their states than those people living in Sunshine states. Could it be that Sunshine states have lower taxes, lower debt levels, lower unemployment levels, and higher purchasing power? 

In that same poll, Gallup also reversed the question and asked state residents if their state was the best state to live in.

Sinkhole States - home state is the best state to live in:

1. Connecticut - 31% of state residents say it is the best state to live in (rank = 41)
2. Illinois - 19% of state residents say it is the best state to live in (rank = 49)
3. New Jersey - 28% of state residents say it is the best state to live in (rank = 44)
4. Massachusetts - 46% of state residents say it is the best state to live in (rank = 24)
5. Hawaii - 68% of state residents say it is the worst state to live in (rank = 6)

Average - 38.9%, Rank Average - 32.8

Sunshine States - home state is the best state to live in:

1. Alaska - 77.0% of state residents say it is the best state to live in (rank = 2)
2. North Dakota -66% of state residents say it is the best state to live in (rank = 8)
3. Wyoming - 69% of state residents say it is the best state to live in (rank = 4)
4. Utah - 70% of state residents say it is the best state to live in (rank = 3)
5. South Dakota - 57% of state residents say it is the best state to live in (rank = 14)

Average - 67.8%, Rank - 6.2

Comments:

• The Sunshine states were among the top states, among all states, where state residents feel their state is the best place to live, placing four of the five Sunshine states in the top eight best states to live in.
• The Sinkhole states were among the bottom states where state residents feel their state is the best place to live, placing three states in the bottom six best states to live in.
• Residents in Sunshine states were almost twice as likely to think their states were the best places to live vs. the Sinkhole states.

Different numbers, same result. People like living in Sunshine states much more than living in Sinkhole states. Could it be that having less of a state tax burden, less of a state income tax burden, better purchasing power, and lower unemployment is what makes for happy state residents?

And if that is true, why would politicians not strive to provide those conditions for their state residents since it is what apparently makes them happiest? And taking the analogy a step further, why wouldn’t Washington strive to do the same thing? Lower taxes, lower debt, lower unemployment, and better purchasing power? 

But that is the exact opposite of what Washington has done over the past few years:

• National debt, and the burden it places on all Americans today and in future generations, has skyrocketed as a result of out of control Washington spending.
• Taxes have gone up across a wide spectrum of taxes and rates, much of which has been driven by the many, many new taxes and increased tax rates caused by Obama care.
• Despite what the Federal government says, Americans purchasing power has dropped dramatically over the past few years with food prices going up substantially and the price of a gallon of gas up over 70% since 2009.
• And while the unemployment rate has come down somewhat from the depths of the Great Recession, there are still about 17 million Americans who are unemployed or under employed, indicating that high unemployment is still a large and persistent problem.

Thus, the numbers show that the Washington political class is utilizing the same political strategies and policies of Sinkhole states, higher debt, higher unemployment, higher taxes, lower consumer purchasing power, and applying it to the national levels. The numbers do not lie.

The question we face is whether we want to continue abiding by Sinkhole policies or make a fresh start and start looking at Sunshine policies. The numbers indicate the latter while we have allowed our politicians to pursue the former. One option to start down a Sunshine path is to impose term limits on all current Sinkhole era politicians. Until they are changed, the sunshine we will see is whatever gets to the bottom of the sinkhole that we find ourselves in today.

You can help us start climbing out of the sinkhole by joining the term limits effort at:

www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com

Because, really how much worse could it get if we changed out every Washington politician. From the bottom of a sinkhole, the way only is up.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w