….to the bottom, that is!
Gerzofsky reads rankings upside down; lauds entrenched majority role in achieving sole possession of last place.
“Utah tops our annual ranking this year, knocking longtime leader Virginia from the top spot.”
A report released by Forbes Magazine on October 13th, just two days ago, ranks our home state, Maine, last out of the 50 states in their scoring of “Best States for Business and Careers.” Last year, Maine was 41st out of 50, so in one year, we have dropped nine places to dead last.
You can read the Forbes rankings here.
The rankings are based on 6 factors. Maine ranks 28th in labor supply, which given our high unemployment and reputation for a great work ethic, seems pretty miserable compared to those states with whom we compete. But we are 16th in quality of life, which most likely has to do with our physical beauty and recreational assets, something government policy has no bearing on, and our low population, something government policy has a lot to do with.
Here’s how we rate on the other factors:
- 47th in business costs
- 48th in regulatory environment
- 45th in economic climate
- 44th in growth prospects
Overall, these component scores place us dead last out of the 50 states.
Did you get that? In case you haven’t realized it before, states compete against each other. People and businesses are free, generally speaking, to locate where their self-interests are best served. That includes those seeking the most generous welfare benefits, those seeking the best opportunities, and those businesses looking for the best use of their financial capital along with a flourishing supply of human capital.
I repeat: states compete against each other, and those evaluating where to locate read evaluations like Forbes’.
Anyone who responds to these results by blaming things on “the previous administration” is full of Bravo Sierra, to use a military expression. This is a comparative ranking of the 50 states, all of whom have had to deal with the nationwide recession.
In spite of that recession, 22 states improved their ranking in the last year, 4 had their position stay the same, and 24 fell in the rankings.
Only one state fell by 9 positions to dead last: Maine.
Can anyone plausibly argue that the single party Democrat rule of the last 35 years is not wholly responsible for this abysmal showing? Can Libby Mitchell, now running for Governor. say with a straight face that she and her caucus have nothing to do with this, and are the best choice to turn things around, after having run the shop since decades ago in the last century?
Can Stan Gerzofsky, an aspiring member of the lifetime legislator club, plausibly distance himself from culpability, and expect us to believe his claims that he can fix things?
(Pardon this aside: c’mon Libby, c’mon Stan. Just how stupid do you think we are?)
Based on public statements, apparently Stan, at least, thinks we’re very stupid.
In a recent candidate forum held in Freeport, and taped for broadcast on community access TV, incumbent Senator Stan Gerzofsky claimed that “in Maine, we’re racing to the top.” Stan is many things, but we didn’t know he was a star in the Theater of the Absurd.
This followed his assertion that “if we race to the bottom. all you get is to be on the bottom.”
The Forbes report shows that we’ve already won the race to the bottom, compliments of Senator Gerzofsky, Libby Mitchell, John Martin, and the rest of his friends in the Democrat ruling majority of the past 35 years.
The good news is that when you’re dead last, there’s nowhere to go but up. The bad news is that when you’re dead last, you can’t go any lower, no matter how destructive your policies may be.
Stan and friends want to dig the hole we’re in even deeper. They really don’t know what else to do; they’ve spent their careers at it. If you’re in the deep end of the pool, over your head, it really doesn’t matter much whether your head is one foot under, or three foot under. Either way, you can’t breathe.
After 35 years, it’s time to get our heads back above water.
Now. Before we run out of breath. And run out of people.
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