STRANGE BLUE WAVE
The 2020 election didn’t turn out to be “Christmas in November” for the Democrats. They got one big present – Biden edged out Trump. But most of the rest of what Santa brought them was just a bunch of drugs. But 55% of the voters in a deep blue state rejected this referendum – a big blow to Chicago’s notorious public employee unions that were banking on additional revenue streams to line their coffers with other people’s money. It’s still too soon, though, for Illinois residents to be clinking the champagne glasses together... The Prairie State maintains the inglorious ranking of being the highest-taxed state in the union. The Democrats did score a few tax-and-spend wins... While Illinois voters rejected a tax hike, Arizona voters welcomed one. Prop. 208 jacked up the top marginal tax rate to 8% from its current status of 4.5%. This new rate will hit individual incomes over $250,000 and, as the Tax Foundation points out, it will not be adjusted for inflation. Arizona, we see kick ass or chew bubblegum, and I’m all out of bubblegum,” declared one activist. In Illinois, voters found a tax hike that even they oppose... Governor J.B. Pritzker pushed hard for a progressive income tax on the so- called “rich.” Currently, Illinois has a 4.95% flat income tax rate, and the Democrat Party proposed a graduated income tax that escalated it to 7.99% for incomes above $750,000.
your future... and it looks a lot like California. Meanwhile, Colorado voters are about to learn the hard way that there is no such thing as a free lunch... or in this case, “free” family leave. Prop. 118 was overwhelmingly passed, which earmarks up to 16 weeks of paid medical and family leave at $1,100 per week... courtesy of taxpayers. Both employees and employers will be socked with a combined $1.3 billion tax hike to pay for this new government entitlement... But get this... to qualify for paid leave on the taxpayers’ dime, a person must earn a minimum of only $2,500. You do the math... Eligibility for a multiweek program that shells out more than $1,000 every seven days to stay home and not work is reached when an employee brings home just $2,500 in income. Seems totally financially sound. Marijuana was also on the ballot... Voters in Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota all legalized the recreational use of cannabis. They now join 11 other states that have done the same. The 2020 election didn’t turn out to be “Christmas in November” for the Democrats. They got one big present – Biden edged out Trump. But most of the rest of what Santa brought them was just a bunch of drugs. They’d better take some if they want to keep thinking that America is riding a blue wave... Jason Mattera is a New York Times best-selling author and Emmy- nominated journalist. Follow him on Twitter @JasonMattera.
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November 2020
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