Spokane pep talk, Part II

In a new online column, the publisher of Forbes magazine asserts taxpayers who pay the most will “flee” if Barack Obama is elected president. Politics aside, Rich Karlgaard’s ensuing conclusion is worth noting:

“Government tax receipts won’t grow at all. The highest taxpayers, feeling assaulted, will flee. To where?

Some will take longer vacations. If your last earned dollar is pinched in the 60%-plus range by the feds, the state and your city, you’ll envy the beach bum’s life.

Some will move to smaller cities. If a $150,000 income in Des Moines or Spokane buys you the same house and lifestyle as a $500,000 income in Greenwich or Palo Alto, why not move? The tax monster will eat most of that $350,000 difference.”

This is by no means the first time Karlgaard has lauded the Lilac City. Last year, he was the keynote speaker at Greater Spokane Inc.’s annual meeting. He “asserted current high costs of living in major cities and communication advances, such as the Internet, make it possible to do business from less-expensive areas,” we reported at the time.

Read his column here .

Do you agree that a smaller salary here will really go as far as a vastly larger one in other cities?