Northern Idaho?

[Toby Bradshaw]

I'm hoping it happens with Eastern WA first. We've been talking about building a wall at the top of the passes to check the papers of people traveling east. The papers would be their voting record. A lot of them would be turned back.

Sure would save those of us on the west side a ton of our tax dollars that subsidize the east side.

"It's straight-forward economics, Washington State University Thomas S. Foley Distinguished Professor Cornell Clayton explains.

"In terms of looking at tax revenue and government expenditures, it's clear the western side of the state subsidizes eastern Washington," he said.

According to the latest data from the Office of Financial Management - based on fiscal year 2015 - eastern Washington counties pull in about $2.2 billion in tax revenue. The state returns roughly $2.9 billion. That means, according to Clayton, eastern Washington receives about $733 million in subsidies from western Washington.

Another way to look at it is that for every $100 paid in taxes in eastern Washington, the state returns $133."

 

[Toby Bradshaw]

P.S. For those who haven't read the Greater Idaho proposal, it's worth your time. It's well thought out and researched. For instance, it explains why moving borders is much more legally/politically feasible than splitting a state in two.

 

[Brians356]

"In terms of looking at tax revenue and government expenditures, it's clear the western side of the state subsidizes eastern Washington,"

Last I heard, Asotin County in the far SE corner of WA has the smallest tax base, or is the "poorest" county in the state.

Sales and "sin" taxes might be higher than in Idaho, but you have no state income tax.
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[spencerhenry]

Ive been fighting snow for 30 years. I’ve spent thousands of hours, tens if thousands of dollars and fixed a lot of equipment. I’m tired of it, I’m going somewhere with less snow. But then I live at 8500’ where a light snow year is probably about 200” of snow, a big year around 350”.
it is something to consider.

 

[Brians356]

This has been the worst so far, in 4 years. One storm after another. The pile in the yard is from shoveling the drive and putting it in the yard.

The Pacific Northwest and Sierra Nevada are off to a good start for snowpack. A wet winter is forecast, but it's early days yet.


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[Papa Charlie]

Sure would save those of us on the west side a ton of our tax dollars that subsidize the east side.

"It's straight-forward economics, Washington State University Thomas S. Foley Distinguished Professor Cornell Clayton explains.

"In terms of looking at tax revenue and government expenditures, it's clear the western side of the state subsidizes eastern Washington," he said.

According to the latest data from the Office of Financial Management - based on fiscal year 2015 - eastern Washington counties pull in about $2.2 billion in tax revenue. The state returns roughly $2.9 billion. That means, according to Clayton, eastern Washington receives about $733 million in subsidies from western Washington.

Another way to look at it is that for every $100 paid in taxes in eastern Washington, the state returns $133."

And this is why the city of Seattle and our State Attorney sold us out on the $30 tabs. Because Seattle wanted the to fund free transit.

 

[INTJ]

Don’t ‘Californicate’ The Rest Of America

California residents are fleeing to other states – let’s hope they leave their far-left politics behind.

issuesinsights.com

 

[ronsatspokane]

Sure would save those of us on the west side a ton of our tax dollars that subsidize the east side.

"It's straight-forward economics, Washington State University Thomas S. Foley Distinguished Professor Cornell Clayton explains.

"In terms of looking at tax revenue and government expenditures, it's clear the western side of the state subsidizes eastern Washington," he said.

According to the latest data from the Office of Financial Management - based on fiscal year 2015 - eastern Washington counties pull in about $2.2 billion in tax revenue. The state returns roughly $2.9 billion. That means, according to Clayton, eastern Washington receives about $733 million in subsidies from western Washington.

Another way to look at it is that for every $100 paid in taxes in eastern Washington, the state returns $133."

I think you should be allowed to save your money. If I were you I'd kick us out.

 

[Brians356]

From the Lewiston Morning Tribune (Friday 20 Nov 2020):

Idaho Fish and Game commissioners moved Friday to limit the number of nonresidents who can participate in the state’s deer and elk hunting seasons.

The quotas that will take effect next year were adopted at the behest of resident hunters who have increasingly complained about overcrowding.

“We heard our resident hunters, and took a careful and thoughtful approach to developing this plan to manage nonresident participation in deer and elk hunts at a finer scale,” said department Director Ed Schriever.

Commissioners approved the plan while meeting in Lewiston under the state’s new COVID-19 measures that restrict gatherings to 10 people or fewer. The meeting, at the Idaho Fish and Game Clearwater Regional Office, was closed to public observation and instead streamed online.

The new rules, two years in the making, cap general season hunts for elk, mule deer and whitetail deer on a sliding scale based on recent nonresident participation in specific game management units and elk hunting zones.

Deer hunting units and elk hunting zones with a recent five-year average of nonresident participation levels at or exceeding 15 percent will now be limited to 15 percent. Deer units and elk zones with nonresident participation less than 15 percent will now be capped at 10 percent. About a dozen backcountry deer units with high nonresident participation will be capped at current levels.

The change will require for the first time that nonresident deer hunters choose a specific unit in which to hunt. That rule does not apply to resident deer hunters who will still be allowed to move between units.
Nonresident participation has been limited for years, but the commission has enforced the limit only on a statewide basis, allowing the sale of 12,815 nonresident elk tags and 15,500 nonresident deer tags. Other than for controlled hunts and elk zones subject to overall quotas on the number of tags sold, the state had not previously limited nonresidents by hunting unit or elk zone.

Under the new system, the number of elk tags available to nonresidents will drop to about 11,700 while the number of available nonresident deer tags is not expected to decline below 15,500.

Hunters speak, Idaho game managers listen

Idaho Fish and Game commissioners moved Friday to limit the number of nonresidents who can participate in the state’s deer and elk hunting seasons.

lmtribune.com

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[dc.fireman]

The big problem is there is hardly anywhere left to go to get away from leftists. The lib hordes just keep pouring in everywhere. I'm beginning to understand a bit how the Indians must have felt but at least the settlers improved the quality of life where they went unlike the misery and decline leftist ideas/policies cause.

Too true! But, I'm fairly sure that if you ask the native American Indians, their quality of life wasn't improved.

My wife and I are looking to flee Virginia when we retire. We were both military brats, who had lived all over the world (She was born in CO, me in SoCal). We've both been here for 30+ years now, and have seen the state change from solid red to solid blue, almost over night.

Our influx has been from people moving here from NY, NJ, DE, MD, and Eastern PA. While I have been looking at Tennessee for the last 2 years, something made me look up Idaho last night. As the old U2 song goes, "I still haven't found what I'm looking for."

Oddly, the people who come from the 'other' states, come here for work and affordable housing - which have been mostly eradicated where they live. They move to a new location, where they set about "improving the quality of life for the natives."

 

[6xcshooter]

Washington is just as blue as Oregon. To bad you have to work there and give them tax money.

 

[Brians356]

Washington is just as blue as Oregon. To bad you have to work there and give them tax money.

With no state income tax, and living so near the Idaho border for cross-border purchasing (firearms being the one complication) about the only unavoidable taxes would be property taxes (I assume those are are all local) and motor vehicle registration.
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[Papa Charlie]

Washington State has no Income tax but make up for it in every other item. Sales tax is on everything (material, food, labor, shipping, etc) and generally runs around 10%. Then there is the vehicle registration, we voted for $30 tab to counter a huge increase the state put on us for their light rail system which only a very small portion of the state would benefit from and they decided we didn't know what we were doing and had our vote overturned in the state supreme court which they control. Property taxes are also as high here as they are in California. God help you if your land boarders a water way, lake or river. You will pay dearly for those.

I checked heavily into Oregon taxes, they do have a 9% income tax but when you total up everything else it would be much cheaper to live there than in Washington. Which was our original plan to return to the coast where I grew up for retirement.

The wife has several family members who have fled CA for Idaho some 10 years ago. I think that land was a lot cheaper as this was before the land rush. Now prices have risen as is the Blue thinking (or stinking thinking if you will).

 

[Brians356]

Property taxes are also as high here as they are in California.

Uh, where are you? And vs where in CA? Locale makes a big difference in any state.
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[Dusty Stevens]

I wish all the good folks could move from that tri state charlie foxtrot. I know how it is to leave and how tuff it is.

 

[Brians356]

A relevant curiosity not apparent to most folks in the country is that southern Idaho (the majority of the state) and even a large chunk of eastern Oregon (most of Malheur County) are in the Mountain Time Zone. Seems crazy considering both are Pacific Northwest states (and Idaho even has a Pacific seaport). Anyone care to guess (not research) how and why this anomaly came about?
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Well, scant interest in such riveting trivia. Only one guess from INTJ.

The reason southern Idaho (and much of E. Oregon) was snagged by the Mountain Time Zone comes down to one word: Mormonism. Idaho politics have long been dominated time by the LDS Church. The large majority of Idaho's population live in the south, and the predominant religion there is Mormonism. LDS leaders take an active interest in civic duty, and have always been prominent in Idaho politics. It has long been conventional wisdom that there are more Mormons in Idaho than in Utah. So when the time zone boundaries were being established, the Idaho men with influence in DC saw to it that they were in the same time zone as Utah.
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[INTJ]

So why did Northern Idaho not follow suit?

 

[Brians356]

So why did Northern Idaho not follow suit?

Follow suit, as if each region of a state got to choose? I think you really mean why didn't the Mormons just get the whole state into the Mountain zone? There were very few Mormons north of the Salmon River, so when folks in North (near Spokane) expressed the desire to be in the Pacific zone, the Mormons were happy to propose the win/win solution and have peace in the family, so to say.
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[Papa Charlie]

Uh, where are you? And vs where in CA? Locale makes a big difference in any state.
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Agreed, I am in Everett and I was living in the Bay Area in California.

 

[Brians356]

You really ought to go back and read my earlier posts about the history of Nevada flipping from red to blue. I lived through the entire process. There's also AZ and CO to review. It may take a decade or two, but if Idaho continues to be the state more people are moving to than any other, mark my words. The Ada County reference is only to point out ground zero. By far the most populous and fastest-growing city has almost flipped to blue. In 2016, Trump only got 48% in Ada (but McMullin and Johnson peeled off 11% and Trump still beat Hillary.)

In 1988 Bush got 63% in Ada County, in 1984 Reagan 72.5%, 1980 Reagan 64%, 1976 Ford 64%, 1972 Nixon 68%, 1968 Nixon 68% at the height of the Vietnam War.
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Let's revisit Nevada, a poster child for migrant political change. Nevada has 17 counties, but Biden only won the 2 most populous ones, and not by landslides: Clark County (53.7%) and Washoe County (50.8%). Trump won the remaining 15 counties with an average of 73% of the votes. Yet Biden (allegedly) won Nevada with 50.1%!

This illustrates how, in a sparsely-populated rural state, one or two of population growth centers can and will dominate election results in due time, if the rapid influx continues long enough. And if the local officials in charge of counting votes in the most populous county are all partisans, it doesn't take much creativity to swing the statewide totals.
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