This just in: If we raise taxes, New York's wealthy elite will not move to Idaho

While Mayor Bloomberg has been telling anyone who would listen that we can't raise taxes on the rich (the ones who caused the whole financial mess in the first place), because they would leave New York City for Montana or some other place with lower taxes, he's been proven wrong (again).

The New York Times, in a recent article, finally acknowledge what the Fair Share Tax movement has been saying for a long, long time: Raising the taxes on the rich will not cause an emigration of wealthy New Yorkers.

Facts are facts: When New Jersey raised their taxes, only 50 to 350 people or households with an income of $500,000 relocated. How many households at that income level are there in New Jersey? About 44,000.

Those who did leave took with them about $38 million in revenue—at max. But the higher taxes, paid by those who stayed, generate $895 million annually. The same has been proven true in California.

What’s more, both New Jersey and California have higher tax rates than New York.

And this is New York we're talking about. In the words of the SEIU 1199 President at the Rally for New York, “Where are all these rich people going to go? To Iowa?”

So... What is the State Senate waiting for? We need to pass a fair share tax bill now.