Right to Opine

Liberal voters are finding themselves victims once more of their own economic policies, this time in New Jersey as Mercedes-Benz has announced it is moving its headquarters to Georgia. The reason?

Mercedes USA made one thing very clear about its decision to leave — the cost of doing business and the tax environment is just too high here to be competitive with a state like Georgia

This really should come as no surprise. Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Hyundai, Nissan…all have major manufacturing sites sprinkled across the South because of the favorable business environments offered by conservative states. It makes sense to move headquarters as well, since, as a corporate site location specialist cited by the NYT noted,

New Jersey’s high taxes, particularly its tax on personal income, were a factor often cited by corporate executives in deciding whether to move or stay in the state.

Yep. Just like us worker schmucks, CEOs like to keep more of what they earn. Who knew? (Hint: not Democrats or their constituents.)

Not surprisingly, the underlying lesson is completely missed by New Jersey politicians (including the Republican quoted in the article). Incentives offered to businesses are temporary. The real problem is the entire underlying economic policy of high corporate and personal taxes, burdensome regulations, and the rest of the anti-business philosophy of the Left.

There were discussions to offer sizable incentives to retain Mercedes in its current form within the state. But you can’t go beyond a place where it doesn’t make sense from a net positive perspective for the state.

So driving businesses out of your state is a net positive? Sounds to me like a win for us ignorant, cousin-lovin’ rednecks.