The Suburban Times

A community bulletin board for Western Pierce County.

Letter: Leaving Washington

By

Submitted by Jim Bisceglia, Tacoma.

The natural cure for an ill-administration, in a popular or representative constitution, is a change of men. Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 21, 1787.

This option is clearly not available to the people in “one party rule Washington state.” For years leaders in state government have been increasing the tax burden and imposing ever-tighter regulations that limit personal opportunity, lower household incomes, and fall hardest on working people, middle-class families and small business owners.

Additionally, Washington has experienced deadly political violence in its largest cities, accompanied by rising crime, reduced enforcement of laws, public camping, public drug use, streets and side walks being used as sewers, breakdowns of civic order and widespread lawlessness. The result is small and large businesses closing permanently and larger companies vacating office buildings hollowing out the core of these cities, never to return.

Washington’s governor has steadfastly held tight to his “so called” emergency orders issued in March that remain to this day with little concern for their destructive effect on the people, businesses and children, all without serious scientific support or passing actual laws enforcing these rules. Our public schools are an especially glaring example of being out of touch with both the science and wide spread examples of public schools in other states and private schools in our state operating safely with social distancing.

The result is an economic and emotional strain that feels worse every passing week. While other states and even whole countries are opening their economies with health guidelines, Washington, remained in lock-down long after most of America has begun reopening.

We all recognize that bad government makes people want to leave, and there are a number of ways to measure the exodus. One method is to use U.S. Census estimates. Another is to track income tax filings with the IRS. As people reach the breaking point we hear reports from Realtors, friends, neighbors and family recounting the frustration of those who have given up and moved to another state to escape the abuse.

Recently we have discovered that U-Haul is providing data reflecting the out migration. Those leaving are fleeing high taxes, poor public services, purposeful increasing of traffic congestion, disregard for fiscal accountability, constricted freedoms and a sharp decline in personal safety.

U-Haul knows exactly where its customers are moving to, and just as importantly, from what states they are fleeing. The latest annual report from U-Haul on some two million, one-way household moves in 2020 shows Washington dropping precipitously from the number five spot as most desired place to live all the way down to number 36. That position of unpopularity is not as bad as California, at number 50, but it is a long way from top-ranked Tennessee, Texas and Florida as the most-sought destinations for one-way U-Haul movers. The only reason Washington hasn’t dropped to Californians level is Washington lacks an income tax, for now. If Washingtonians were to lose their collective minds and allow an income tax the exodus would become a flood.

Twenty-twenty was tough on everyone but, Washington’s governor managed to make it tougher than most. Washington has faced far more restrictive and long-lasting restrictions than the rest of the country along with tighter economic closures, more restrictive social restrictions and permitted schools to avoid their responsibilities to teach. Meanwhile, children suffered from lack of education and socializing. Children who were unable to attend classes have lost from one half to a full year’s education and socialization, suffered greater depression, suicidal thoughts and greater numbers of suicides nationally.

How do, so called, leaders close their eyes to the suffering of their citizens and act like dictators from third world countries? The unfortunate and tragic answer is they are both incompetent and beholden to factions that support and fund them politically. An example is the teacher’s unions. While citizens suffered the loss of income, the disruption of their children not being educated properly, the need for one breadwinner to remain with children and attempt to educate them, all public employees, including school teachers were paid during this painful period. Does this sound fair to you?

As a large portion of the public get vaccinated and metrics improve we should expect relaxing of restrictions and hopefully a return to normalcy. The only thing standing in the way is the autocratic nature of our states governor who has demonstrated a complete ignorance of science and an unwillingness to listen to citizens during this pandemic.

Even after a return to something closer to normal, Washington state will exhibit a multitude of negative factors that will continue to cause our citizens to leave for states with far better governance. The current political leadership has shown no understanding or respect for the states’ citizens as they indulge their appetite for spending without regard to their fiscal responsibility or stewardship of other people’s money.

After COVID Washington State will continue be burdened with incompetent governance, high taxes, restrictive regulations and wild ideological policy priorities. The first and most expensive policy is so-called climate change, otherwise known for eons as weather. We all remember global cooling, followed by a flurry of the end of the world predictions due to global warming a term used to claim that Earth’s average surface temperature was increasing quickly. We now have the more palatable and politically easier to swallow term Climate Change.

In order to convince the pubic that Climate Change was real, politicians gave cash grants to their favored so-called scientists for confirmation. The politicians got what they paid for, as those who received grants obliged, so the public would accept taxes and radical changes to their way of life. This has been happening without “real” scientific proof or political debate.

Welcome to Washington continuing to pick your pocket and enforce life choices on you in the name of an unproven and disputed theory that man has the power to change the course of nature. This is the hubris that only an ignorant, blind politician can embrace, and remember with crisis comes greater power for politicians as we have learned the hard way over the past eleven months.

Are you packing yet?

The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.

Comments

  3. I think it is being very neighborly to offer to help you pack.

    Each and every state will have members of their population that are unhappy with part of or all of their state’s government. But we are a Republic that utilizes a democratic process to elect our leaders. Citizens have given their lives to defend that process.

    I grew up in a Republican household in a Democrat County and Democrat State. I exercised my rights to vote for the best candidate running for an office. Sometimes they were of my party, and sometimes not.

    Believe it or not, there are states with more restrictive Covid rules. For taxation, wallethub lists Washington as number 29 in tax burden.

    I have seen many U-hauls, even a couple on my street. While people may be moving out, people always seem to be moving in. Average time for change in occupation on my street… 3 days.

    While I have not lived in many other states, I am very happy to be a citizen of Washington State.

    So I ask again, need help packing?

  4. Mr. Jim Bisceglia,

    Thank you for you well thought out, on target, words and descriptions of what Washington State has become.

    I turned the lights out on the home I lived in for 43 years, in the city I resided in for 51 years, in the state I was a citizen of for 77 years for the last time on January 8, 2021.

    I picked up my toys and moved 2,800 miles cross country.

    My best day was watching Washington State disappear in the rearview mirror of the Alaska Airlines jet I used to extracate myself from Washington State.

    Joseph Boyle

  5. While providing an interesting statistic, the U-Haul numbers will be skewed because they include only those who moved themselves using U-Haul. What about Penske, Budget, and the big moving companies? The US Census numbers for state-to-state migration in 2020 will be the best estimate, unfortunately they are not out yet. Washington was #8 in 2019.

  6. Joe,

    Personal question here – did you use U-Haul at all? If not, then you are not part of those statistics.

    My brother moved to California in 2019 using Penske. It took two trips a month apart and two Penske rentals. So 1) he wasn’t included in U-Haul’s statistics, and 2) if he had used U-Haul, he would have counted as two moves.

    My point is that the U-Haul statistics aren’t the best indicator of state-to-state migration.

    • Gary,

      I make no arguement for or against your thought process related to U-Haul statistics.

      My answer to your question, “Personal question here – did you use U-Haul at all? If not, then you are not part of those statistics.” will be a truthful answer, albeit misleading.

      My answer is YES, I used U-Haul cube trucks. 3 of them to be exact.

      To move closer to the accurate truth I feel compelled to erase the picture a reader might have in their mind of my loading 3 trucks and driving cross country.

      What I did was rent 2 U-Haul trucks in Washington and used them to shuttle my stuff from my Washington house to a tractor trailer moving rig.

      The tractor trailer rig moved my stuff cross country.

      Upon arrival in Delaware, I rented a U-Haul to shuttle my goodies from the tractor trailer rig to my house.

      Based on access conditons, it was not prudent to allow the tractor trailer rig to get too close to my residence.

      My orioginal commdent had not much to do with U-Haul or statistics. I was just thanking Jim Bisceglia for writing his letter and agreeing that Washington State is mismanaged in so many ways. I am happy to be a former Washington State resident.

      So, to your point. I probably do not count.

      Joseph Boyle

  7. People move for many reasons. I believe you are drawing a conclusion with little supporting evidence. Yes, Washington currently has an outward migration but U-Haul statistics offer no evidence as to why people are moving.
    I could just as well make the case that people are moving to cheaper areas because our economy is so strong. I, like you would have no evidence linking the outward migration to my opinion.

  8. While we are one family moving from this state, we are not using U Haul so their statistics mean nothing to me. In fact, no statistic in this state means anything to me since the government has chosen to lie about any number. We have the opportunity to move, something most people who live here don’t, so we are taking it and leaving. People still moving to Washington? Many fulfill military duty obligations, many leave their states because Washington is not as low on the list as their home state. Many from those states find out once they get here that not much is changing so stay because they have just paid for a big move. They may like it and stay but they may not, their choice, as is the choice for us to move from Washington to other states. So numbers for leaving and moving here are null and void because there are too many variables you have not considered. And the keys are the variables chosen to move.

    Thank you Mr. Bisceglia for your letter, U Haul has good information but not all the numbers, again I don’t trust numbers because there are too many variables to consider. They can only state their numbers. I can tell you the reason we are leaving (2/27/2021), for this is more important than any other reason,

    “ Those leaving are fleeing high taxes, poor public services, purposeful increasing of traffic congestion, disregard for fiscal accountability, constricted freedoms and a sharp decline in personal safety.”

  9. I was with you until you started attacking the teachers. My mother is a public school teacher. She’s working almost twice as hard to work virtually for half of her classroom’s parents not actually being involved in their children’s schoolwork. That isn’t her fault. I also worked alongside CPSD staff as a volunteer to distribute food to families in need during the initial stage of the virus. These public servants are heroes who get no recognition. The governor and unemployment system is where you should have the most focus on total mismanagement and negligence. Washington has problems, but so does every state on the west coast. Be glad it’s not California!

  10. Well stated Jim Bisceglia, not only do I agree with all you stated in particular this comment “This is the hubris that only an ignorant, blind politician can embrace” which doubly applies to all of the ignorant, blind citizens who voted for these ignorant & blind politicians!
    I can’t believe we have that many ignorant Liberals, that being said I have to think that how these politicians got into and stay in office is by mail in ballot fraud. We haven’t had a sane governance since WA state went to only mail in ballots, so therefore one has to conclude that our voting system became corrupted when that law was passed and it should be repealed so we can get sane politicians back into office and rid the old corrupt politicians out of office thus bringing WA state back to the gem it used to be a long long time ago!

  11. Economic freedom allows people to vote with their feet. The main reason people are currently leaving the State of Washington is the high cost of living. Cost of living is in some part driven by the “Cost of Government”. In our area that especially shows up in the cost of housing. You can sell your Puget Sound area home, move to Idaho, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, etc and buy a very nice home for 25 to 50% less. We have 4 children, two live in Steilacoom, WA, two live in Boise, Idaho. But 7 of 11 grandchildren live here. Currently that is the “tie breaker”. Plus I enjoy my military veteran community. Having JBLM next door makes all this “progressive” nonsense palatable.

  12. Some more boomer garbage op Ed. Dope dude— go move. I’ve lived in 4 different states within the past 15 years. Washington tops them. AZ, NM, WA, & CA. I’d rather pay taxes to schools I don’t have kids in so that the people raised around my community don’t end up stupid asshats who vote against their best interest.
    The read question is, do YOU need help packing?