Covid lockdowns may’ve undermined Gottheimer’s “moocher state” talking point

Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D, NJ-05) and his fellow Democrats have made hay in recent years of the disproportionate flow of cash from wealthy, populous blue states to comparatively poorer “red” states. Gottheimer derisively refers to them as “moocher states.”

He might need to find a new talking point?

According to a new report from Bloomberg, there are six Southern states (including the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida and Texas) which now collectively boast a larger percentage of the national GDP than the legendarily-wealthy D.C.-to-Baltimore megapolis:

“A flood of transplants helped steer about $100 billion in new income to the Southeast in 2020 and 2021 alone, while the Northeast bled out about $60 billion, based on an analysis of recently published Internal Revenue Service data.

The Southeast accounted for more than two-thirds of all job growth across the US since early 2020, almost doubling its pre-pandemic share. And it was home to 10 of the 15 fastest-growing American large cities.”

I wonder what happened in 2020 and 2021? Hmmm…

Beth Woods, 47, and her husband were eager to escape the Covid-19 shutdowns and shuttered stores up north, so they started making bi-weekly trips from Mount Olive, New Jersey, soon after the pandemic struck. Before long, they decided to make the move permanent.

“You could get your hair done, your nails done, you could basically live your life. And it has lower property taxes here, too,” Woods said.

A few feet away, Rosemary Taibi, 59, concurred. She and her husband slashed their property taxes to $2,000 from $16,000 after moving from Randolph, New Jersey: “It’s a big difference.”

How much more evidence do the blue states need to see that their policies are ending their own supremacy as the nation’s economic engines?

Can any blue state Dems ever own up to the human-made catestrophe that was the coronavirus lockdowns?

I don’t think they’ll ever be enough evidence for Josh Gottheimer and those who think like him. Admitting their error would spell the end of progressivism as we know it.

Matt Rooney
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MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.