Another Vacation, Another Survey of Liberal Paradise

I love when I travel around this great country and partake of the service economy in such a way that those providing service to me wear name tags with their name and hometown. It is a way to start a good conversation, but it also gives you an opportunity to look at how citizens view what their politicians have wrought for them. Naturally, people move for alot of reasons - the weather, jobs, spouses, etc., but whenever I chat with a native of the tri-state paradise of NY, NJ, and CT that has moved away, these excuses are the minority. Usually I hear, "taxes to high", "schools suck", or "too much crime." Sure enough, on my Thanksgiving foray down to the lovely Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina, I met Jackie the hair salonist from Jersey City, NJ. "Too expensive, taxes are crazy" was her retort to my standard question "Why did you leave?" Then there was Bill, the landscape contractor orginally from Long Island. "Raise my kids on Long Island? Forget it" was his reply. No surprise here. South and West.