Friday, May 13, 2011

MATT DRUDGE PLAYS IDEOLOGICAL TELEPHONE AGAIN

Item at the Drudge Report right now:


Except, um, when you look at the New York Daily News story he links, or the pollster's own write-up, you see that the poll says something a wee bit different:

A sizeable proportion of New Yorkers, including more than one-third of those under age 30, may soon be sending out change of address notifications, but those new homes will not be in New York State. According to this NY1/YNN-Marist Poll, 26% of adults in New York State plan to move someplace else in the next five years while 67% say they will stay. Just 6% are unsure....

The picture is even bleaker when looking at the state's youngest residents. 36% of New Yorkers under 30 years old report they will pack their bags and move to another state....

Of residents who expect to leave New York, more than six in ten -- 62% -- cite economic reasons like jobs, the cost of living, or taxes....


(Emphasis added.)

Oh, I see: they're not "fleeing [the] state in droves because of taxes," they're fleeing in droves because of economic reasons including taxes.

We have no idea how many young people, in particular, are leaving because of taxes, because the poll breakdown (PDF) doesn't go into that much detail. But overall, among adults who want to move, 81% give a reason other than taxes:


The biggest reason isn't taxes, it's cost of living. (And taxes may increase the cost of living here, but another reason the living costs are high is the fact that our Galtian Wall Street Overlords have so freaking much purchasing power, which jacks up prices not only in New York City but everywhere in a two- to three-hour commuting/weekending radius from the city.)

So Drudge lies again -- and then, beyond that, you can bet some winger will lie about Drudge's lie and say it "proves," or is somehow related to, the right-wing truism that higher taxes drive the rich away. Which makes no sense, because most under-30s aren't rich. (And, of course, that bit about the rich isn't true, either.)

I assume a high percentage of under-30s are thinking of leaving the state because under-30s who think they have options are always more mobile than settled old farts like me.

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