Blue states have been losing residents to red states for some years now. In some cases (Colorado), the blue state migrants have turned those states into versions of the failures they left. In other cases (Texas), at least some of them left their original homes because they couldn't take the leftist governments anymore.

Case in point: Illinois is bleeding residents, almost a million between 2012 and 2022. Only New York and California are losing more people to outmigration. Where are all those people going, and why? Economist Stephen Moore has some thoughts.

Using data from the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Census Bureau, analysts found that Illinois lost 881,012 residents from 2012 to 2022.

Economist Stephen Moore said only New York and California suffered more domestic outmigration than the Land of Lincoln.

“This is the sad story, same thing. New York and California and Illinois are just being bled to death,” Moore said.

VoteWithYourFeet.net breaks down the Census Bureau and IRS numbers from 2012 to 2022.

The data shows that Illinois was also one of the biggest losers for personal income, with a net adjusted gross income loss of $63,478,115,000 from 2012 to 2022. Only New York and California suffered heavier losses.

This is an eloquent portrayal of a state that is failing. They have driven the productive away, and a society can not survive without the productive, despite what Democrats say. And the very notion that things like horrendous taxation don't matter is laughable. People vote with their wallets, and when necessary, they vote with their feet.

“Some of our friends on the left and some of our Democratic friends like to say, ‘Well, taxes don’t matter that much. They don’t really have an impact.’ You’re looking at the impact of taxes right here,” Moore said.

Illinois has among the highest property taxes in the country. The state also has the the second highest gas tax in the country. Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Illinois’ record-high $55.2 billion spending plan for the current fiscal year was the state’s seventh straight balanced budget. The spending increase included several tax increases and changes in corporate taxes.

On a call with members of the media about the Unleash Prosperity report, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said outmigration means fewer customers.

“And when those people take their money with them and that money represents a disproportionate amount of your state’s economic activity, you’ve got a major challenge,” Youngkin said.

Ay, that's the rub.

It's the policies of these states that are driving everyone who has the means to leave to do so. The only people who aren't damaged by Democrats' high-tax, high-spending policies are the people who are wealthy enough that it doesn't affect them, and the dependency class, who reliably vote for Democrats who promise them more and more of other people's stuff. 

J.B. Pritzker probably wonders why his state is failing. He should look in a mirror.

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What states are winning this contest? The top two, in both population gain and net income gain, are #1 Florida and #2 Texas. There's an obvious conclusion to be drawn here; if you want to achieve personal success, if you want to start a career or a business, if you want to realize your hopes and dreams not by graft, not by mooching or looting, head to a red state. Avoid the blue states.

Our economist, Stephen Moore, has this final warning:

Moore said states like Illinois need to change or die.

What would that look like? Well, probably a lot like those states, and even more so, the cities in those states are already starting to look. Chaos in the streets, rampant crime, looting, and more.

The voters of these states could change things. But thanks to this outmigration, a lot of the people who might have reason to change their voting patterns have already left.

Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats try desperately to stop it.

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