Watch what they do, not what they say

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There are 18 states in America that are solid blue. In these states, Democrats control all levers of power. They run the government and write the laws. 

With this control, Democrats cannot blame Republicans for standing in the way of their policies. The question is, what do liberals do when they have all this power? 

Video journalist Johnny Harris and Binyamin Appelbaum, with the New York Times editorial board asked that in a video entitled “Blue States, You’re the Problem.”

Harris and Appelbaum compared what the 2020 Democratic Party Platform says with what Democrat-controlled states do.

You may be surprised to learn that for three core values of Democrats — affordable housing, economic equality, and educational opportunity — blue states are worse than Republican-controlled states.

Applebaum, who covers economics and business for the Times said, “Blue states are where the housing crisis is located. Blue states are where the disparities in education funding are the most dramatic. Blue states are the places where tens of thousands of homeless people are living on the streets. Blue states are the places where economic inequality is increasing most quickly in this country. This is not a problem of not doing well enough; it is a situation where blue states are the problem.” 

At one point, Harris noted that “affluent liberals tend to be really good at showing up at the marches and talking about how they love equality, [and] at putting signs in their lawns saying, ‘All are welcome here.’”

“But by their actions,” he continued, “What they are actually saying is, ‘Yes, we believe in these ideals, just not in my backyard.’”

Democrats repeatedly profess that “housing is a human right.” The word housing is found over 100 times in their 2020 platform. 

One of the most liberal states in the union, California is also one of the most expensive places to own a home. This is not by accident.

It’s done with zoning laws restricting duplexes and apartment complexes in favor of single-family dwellings.

The authors of this video point out that the San Fransisco Bay area has added over 676,000 jobs over the past eight years, but only 176,000 housing units. The law of supply and demand means that prices must go up. San Fransisco had a median price of $940,000 per home in 2019. The median price of a home in California was $605,280, more than double the U.S. median. 

The next thing Harris and Appelbaum cover in their video is taxation. Democrats believe in a progressive tax system where the rich pay more, as stated in the 2020 platform.

When you look at the state of Washington — another bastion of liberalism — you discover they have the most regressive taxation system among the 50 American states. In the blue state of Washington, the poorest 20 percent of families pay 16.8 percent of their income in state taxes. The top one percent — like billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon — pay just 2.4 percent. Now we know why they live there — low taxes.

Number two on the list of regressive state tax systems is the red state of Florida. Illinois, another blue state, is number five. 

If you wonder where Missouri is on the list — we’re about in the middle at number 30. In Missouri, the poorest 20 percent of families pay 9.5 percent of their income in state taxes; the top one percent pay 5.5 percent — over twice as much as Washington.

In the examples above, liberals don’t put their money (actions) where their mouth is.

If you would like to see the complete opinion video by Harris and Applebaum just search “Blue States, You’re the Problem.”

Perhaps Andrew Carnegie said it best, “As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.”

I have more examples of progressive/liberal hypocrisy that I would like to share with you. So, watch next week’s column for part two.