Every Red State resident has a California import story and we’re not talking about cheap wine at Trader Joe’s.
One of our wives was in book club discussing a story where the daughter discovers her mother — who had been passin’ for white all these years — was really Black.
That led to a discussion of retirement village demographics.
There is no red lining, no sunset laws and no restrictive deed covenants; so why weren’t more Black families retiring there?
The recent wealthy import from California interjected, "Because you’re all bigots!"
That was simultaneously the high point and the end point of her book club membership.
We’ve written in the past about the dangers of red state politicians welcoming blue state companies to their low-tax environment.
Take the move of Peter Thiel and his Palantir from Colorado to Florida.
Thiel was a visible, enthusiastic Trump supporter. Surely that’s a safe company to invite.
A comforting thought. But disastrously wrong.
Thiel may support Trump, but for the company there was no trickle-down ideological effect.
It’s a hotbed of leftists.
A sample of the first 200 Palantir political donors from the Center for Responsive Politics shows only 4.5% of the employees donated to Republicans.
Democrats received 95.5% of the employees and their votes. (Complete column here.)
You may be thinking individuals are different.
When they retire to a red state it’s voluntary and surely due to political affinity.
Wrong again.
They may just be cheap leftists who want lower taxes without changing their politics.
Fox News tells the bracing tale of Eagle, Idaho.
This city has a potentially disastrous distinction.
"The zip code receiving the most California state government pension money outside California, according to the Los Angeles Times, was Eagle, Idaho."
These are California government retirees having served their time in the belly of the leftist beast and taking their lucrative pension checks to red state Idaho.
That is causing problems.
"The Los Angeles Times reported this month the town of Eagle, Idaho, has seen an influx of retired cops and firefighters moving to their town with many of them identifying as conservative but who "seem practically socialist to the old guard" with their large pensions."
Retired cops who claim to be conservative probably are, but not firefighters.
Their union and their management are big government leftists all the way down.
The most recent mayor’s race in Eagle featured a new California import with his six-figure fire pension squaring off with a long–time resident who moved from California over 20 years ago.
Jason Pierce, the long-time resident who lost, says California imports don’t realize how different they are from locals, "You find a lot of Californians who move here don’t realize how much [liberal] baggage they’re bringing with them."
After that much time in California it seeps into their veins.
Pierce explains, "Californians have been programmed in a way that they think they're conservative, but then they move to a place like Eagle, Idaho, and they start asking for the same things that the government was providing them in California.
"Honestly, they don't even realize what they're doing, but you have to kind of go, 'Wait a minute, so you want your taxes to go up?' Oh, I'd be willing to pay a little bit more, and it's like, wait a minute, you just left all this."
As an example, Pierce mentioned the new import seeing trash on the street and they want to know why the city hasn’t picked it up yet.
Once you get past the shock of a recent California resident complaining about dirty streets, Pierce has a point.
Government services cost money and when your pension is larger than what locals are making working fulltime there is going to be pushback.
Eagle residents — and other red cities attracting California migrants — had best saddle up.
If they can’t make their case for smaller, less intrusive government, they are going to wake up one morning to a local government with DEI initiatives, affordable housing programs, PRIDE month, sanctuary city announcements, wind and solar sustainable city power, electric vehicle mandates, same day voting registration, city-owned internet, adult daycare, bike lanes and city-run health clinics.
Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker's bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now With Added Humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.