Oye! That's Gonna Hurt

I used to live in NY and know the state and the city pretty well. The vast majority of my college friends live in NYC and all of them make very good salaries (>$150k) as doctors and lawyers. And all of them voted for Obama (I did not).

Which makes this story in today's NY Post all the more interesting.

First the headline: DEM HEALTH RX A POI$ON PILL IN NY

And now the meat:

Congressional plans to fund a massive health-care overhaul could have a job-killing effect on New York, creating a tax rate of nearly 60 percent for the state's top earners and possibly pressuring small-business owners to shed workers.

New York's top income bracket could reach as high as 57 percent -- rates not seen in three decades -- to pay for the massive health coverage proposed by House Democrats this week.

Remember, NY State is already reeling from the implosion of the financial markets last year and from the collapse of a number of investment banks. Upstate NY, with the exception of a few counties around the capital region (and Ithaca), have experienced many years of job and population loss.

Using a combination of Federal, State and Local taxes to driving more wealth out of the state (Connecticut? NJ? Florida? NC?) will do nothing to revive the state or local NYC economy. I still do not understand my friends who 1) stay in NY and 2) continue to vote for Democrats. The fact that my friends who are doctors still vote for Democrats eludes me as well but that's for another post entirely.