Voting With Their Feet, New England Edition

Thousands have been fleeing Massachusetts for the “Live Free or Die” State of New Hampshire.

This editorial in the Manchester (NH) Union Leader looks at what will and won’t work to stop the bleeding:

Mass. exodus: How to lose a city in five years
Monday, May. 22, 2006

PUT ALL the people who have fled Massachusetts in the past five years into one place and they would form a city the size of Norfolk, Va. Last week the candidates for governor of Massachusetts presented their plans for preventing further population loss. New Hampshire should fear Kerry Healey.

Candidate Chris Gabrieli proposed investing $1 billion of state money in embryonic stem cell research. Evidently he thinks Massachusetts is losing hundreds of thousands of Ph.D.s. Deval Patrick said he would keep people in the Bay State by raising the minimum wage by $2 an hour and building high-speed commuter rail from Boston.

Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, a Republican, proposed cutting the state income tax rate to 5 percent, slashing unemployment insurance taxes, and giving tax-free savings accounts to first-time home-buyers. A recent Boston Globe survey found that the top two reasons people gave for leaving the state were to find a better job and a cheaper place to live. Healey’s proposals have the best chance of stimulating job growth and cutting the cost of living.

Southern New Hampshire is booming partly because people continue to flee Massachusetts. So we have one bit of advice for Bay Staters this year. Vote Democrat. New Hampshire wants more economic growth.

One hopes that those who remain in Massachusetts get the message.