From factcheck.org:

“According to the Urban Brookings Tax Policy Center it is true that 38% of tax units which can be singles, couples or families are projected to have zero or negative tax liability in 2009. About 60% of these households make $20,000 per year or less.
However, being exempt from income tax does not mean you exempt from federal taxes. Everyone who works is liable for the payroll tax, and contributions to medicare & social security that come out of every paycheck.

http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/do_40_percent_of_americans_pay_no.html

http://taxpolicycenter.org/numbers/displayatab.cfm?Docid=1973&DocTypeID=7

IMHO the people who left NYC between 2000-2008 (aside from job loss) did so because of the outrageously high increased cost of housing during the real estate bubble. (Nice 2 bedrooms were $1 million to buy and rents of $5,000 and more were common.) The increased housing costs were a much greater burden than the “increased taxes.” This was especially true for those who choose to move to NJ, PA and CT and suffer longer commutes as their taxes in many cases would be higher but their housing dollars would go farther.
(Public schools were often usually better in suburbs of NYC.)
Now that the bubble has burst rents are coming down and we just might see even more people returning to NYC once the job market improves.

There really is no objective data or research cited to support the claim that “1.1 million” left new York City between 2000-2008 because of the increased tax burden.

In fact according to the US census data released in July 2009 there was a reported increase in NYC population with the largest National gain of 355,056 residents. The report also noted a numerical increase during 2007-2008 of 53,000. NYC continues to be the most populous US city with 8.4 million residents.

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/013960.html

I know most here would probably disagree with a flat tax but the older I get and the more I learn I am inclined to believe that a flat tax of 15-20% with no deductions and an exclusion for those making under say $35,000 per year, is the way to go.

It actually frees up an incredible amount of money spent yearly on compliance with new tax laws. It would also limit the lobbying that various companies do to place themselves in a favorable position in respect to taxes.

I truly believe that if we can promote business and a vibrant economy, enough revenue will be generated to take care of our social responsibilities. However we would need a fiscally responsible congress and a financially literate populace that would veto programs such as the “Bridge to Nowhere” and other congressional make work programs.

I recently was looking through my current ENR (Engineering News Record) magazine and they had a list of stimulus projects and the associated cost and number of jobs created. It was not a very good ratio.

Osage River Bridge
Jobs Created Direct Labor: 30
Total: 250
ARRA Contract Amount $213 Million
$852,000 per job

Route 52 Causeway
Reconstruction Phase 2
Jobs Created Total: 500
Current: 121
ARRA Contract Amount $70 Million
Actual Contract Value $251 Million
$502,000 per job created

U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters
Jobs Created Anticipated: 1,000
Number of Firms: 100+
ARRA Contract Amount $162 Million
Phase-One Cost $435 Million
$435,000 per job created.

They have included indirect jobs as well. I would say not much of a deal. And I think an argument for the private sector being able to allocate resources more efficiently.

This is probably why government spending does not really stimulate an economy. The cost of labor is way to high.

From your post:
“More than 1.5 million state residents left for other parts of the U.S. from 2000 to 2008 and, of those 1.1 million were former residents of NYC meaning 1 out of 7 taxpayers moved out.”

It seems very doubtful to me that all “1.1 million(?) of the former residents” were all “taxpayers” given the demographics of NYC, and the “somewhere between 30% and 50% of Americans who pay no federal income taxes at all” that you quote.

The New york Times in April of this year stated in “City Gears Up for 2010 Head Count” that “Based on the most recent estimates released in July (2009) there are 8,363,710 people living in NYC which is 4% more than in 2000.”

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/city-gears-up-fo-2010-head-coun/

By the way what percent of corporations pay no income tax?

That means it can’t be true then …

Professor Turley,

Clearly this means that New York is soon to be annexed by The Colbert Nation.

Yikes!

See Elaine there’s a bright side to every story!

There are two types of people in the world Elaine and they both bring you happiness. Some when they come and some when they leave…

So Limbaugh left the state because of high taxes. See…there’s a bright side to every story!

The primary cause was no surprise but overbuilding and greedy banks.

Oh the great financial guru’s that have helped this country into financial disaster was predicated by the computer manufacturing crashes of the 2000′s. The bubble had burst and banks had to look else where for increased revenue and profits. Ah, the insurance companies seemed to be the next natural market, see where that go us.

FDR was not off when he separated the Bank, Insurance and Financial Markets to where the twain shall not meet. His family suffered greatly in all of the bank failures and at that time they did not have the FDIC to cover the losses.

If people were only aware of the historical repetition of greedy banks causing the collapses. They are insulated because who do people look at when a company has gone bad. Certainly not the Government but when banks do, hell yeah they robbed me and I want justice, and I want it now.

The exception to the above was the Railroads (Privatized because of failure) were taken over by the Government and this included the Railroad Retirement which is the only “Private Government Funded Pensions.”

I guess we all got married, because we have something old, something new, something borrowed something blue. And bend over and I’ll do you….

I am from the Government and I am here to help….

You do know that NYC consists of 5 boros not just Manhattan – are there any studies which show the incomes of people who left vs the people who moved in for the other 4 boros??

What about the disintigrating quality of life as the city services decline and the zietgiest of the city grows increasigly angr ad fearful?

What about the fact that many formerly well paid Wall Steeet workers are out of work?

I get his point, but I think he’s missing the bigger picture, too.