XPost: alt.politics.democrats, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics   
   XPost: alt.gossip.celebrities   
   From: felcher.adam.schiff@sacbee.com   
      
   Democrats are fighting mad — at each other. For once, President   
   Trump is not the prime target of their rage.   
      
   Amazon’s decision to scrap plans for an HQ2 campus in New York   
   sent the circular firing squad into action. The blue-on-blue   
   attacks pit the far left against the far, far left in yet   
   another front of the party’s civil war.   
      
   In addition to sharp differences about a Green New Deal, taxes,   
   socialism, Medicare-for-all and open borders, Dems are now split   
   over how and whether government should work with the private   
   sector to create jobs and boost the tax base.   
      
   POLITICAL MALPRACTICE FORCED AMAZON OUT OF NYC – AND IT WASN’T   
   JUST OCASIO-CORTEZ   
      
   The more moderates, a very relative term in this showdown,   
   eagerly engaged in a form of crony capitalism. The $3 billion in   
   tax incentives that Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio offered   
   Amazon included $500 million to subsidize the salaries of   
   construction workers.   
      
   The officials argued that the public “investment” would pay huge   
   dividends because Amazon promised to create 25,000 new jobs,   
   many of them high-paying. Politicians often describe these   
   arrangements by saying the government will “partner” with the   
   firms, which always reminds me of how the ­Mafia likes to   
   “partner” with businesses.   
      
   At any rate, Cuomo and de Blasio forgot that Rep. Alexandria   
   Ocasio-Cortez and her socialist ilk tend to see capitalism in   
   any form as evil. Her side didn’t want Amazon to get taxpayer   
   help and demanded instead that it be forced to contribute   
   millions to schools and subways.   
      
   At the heart of their argument is a narrow view of private   
   rights, one that believes government should use its immense   
   power to make it nearly impossible for companies to operate   
   unless they fund the pols’ social-justice and climate-change   
   boondoggles.   
      
   When the clash is a binary one like this one, the so-called   
   moderates clearly have a more reasonable view. After all,   
   incentive-based private-sector growth has been a guiding   
   principle of urban development for decades as officials override   
   the thicket of laws and regulations they create to lure new   
   buildings and jobs.   
      
   Naturally, the sweetheart deals ­often involve pay-to-play   
   campaign contributions to the pols from ­developers, lawyers and   
   lobbyists. Too often there is also outright thievery of the kind   
   that marks most big developments under Cuomo and de Blasio.   
      
   Politicians point fingers after Amazon ditches NYC headquarters   
   But while the battle still rages and analysts study the entrails   
   of Amazon’s decision-making, here’s a thought: What if both   
   sides of the Dem battle are wrong? What if even crony capitalism   
   is a big part of the reason for the epidemic of the blue-state   
   blues?   
   The migration of jobs and families out of high-tax, high-cost   
   states has been going on for years, but is becoming a stampede   
   because of the new federal tax law and because of how Democrats   
   are reacting to it.   
      
   The provision limiting state and local tax deductions at $10,000   
   wiped away a preferential treatment for high earners in those   
   states, and helps explain why about 20 percent of filers will   
   either get no benefit or see an actual hike in their federal tax   
   bills. The resulting rush for the exits is putting pressure on   
   government budgets in New York, New Jersey and elsewhere while   
   creating a real-estate boom in Florida and other low-tax states.   
      
   Throw in the fact that some Democrat-controlled states,   
   especially Illinois and New Jersey, already face huge problems   
   with their civil- service pension funds and it’s obvious that   
   the blue-state model is ­undergoing a major stress test.   
      
   Incredibly, the leaders of most are responding in self-defeating   
   ways. Simple math suggests they should find ways to lower their   
   spending, and pass on the savings as tax cuts to give mobile   
   citizens reasons to stay.   
      
   Instead, driven by a hatred for Trump and a demented desire to   
   do the exact opposite of what he does, many are actually   
   countering his tax cuts and deregulation efforts.   
      
   Cities from Seattle to New York are raising taxes, or trying to,   
   imposing minimum wages of $15 an hour and requiring even small   
   businesses to give workers expensive health and vacation   
   benefits.   
      
   Simultaneously, many of those same cities are driving up their   
   education and health costs by declaring themselves sanctuary   
   cities for illegal immigrants — in direct reaction to Trump’s   
   push for secure borders.   
      
   These and a host of other radical ideas are playing out in the   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)