https://wsj.com/articles/gavin-newsom-ron-desantis-fox-news-deba…
Here’s a cheat sheet to keep track of Thursday’s debate between the Florida and California governors.
Employment: Since January 2019, employment has increased by 1,031,030 in Florida while declining by 85,438 in California. Amid Mr. Newsom’s prolonged Covid lockdowns, businesses and workers moved to places with a lower tax burden and cost of living. Florida’s population is 22.2 million and rising, while California’s is 39 million and falling.
Unemployment: Despite a shrinking labor force, California’s 4.8% jobless rate is the second highest in the country and nearly twice as high as Florida’s (2.8%). California has paid $48.7 billion in unemployment benefits since January 2019—nine times as much as Florida. One reason for the disparity: Fewer Californians are starting businesses.
Taxes and spending: State and local taxes in California add up to $10,167 per capita versus $5,406 in Florida. Higher taxes drive more spending. California spent about $14,755 per capita (including federal dollars) in 2021 compared to $8,816 in Florida.
Deficit: Despite its higher taxes, California boasted a $31.5 billion budget shortfall in May while Florida ran a $17.7 billion surplus. Personal income tax collections in California for the current fiscal year that started in July are running about $20 billion below Sacramento’s projections, auguring another large deficit.
Student learning: California spends about 45% more per pupil on K-12 education than Florida, but its student test scores are significantly lower, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Only 30% of fourth-graders in California rated proficient in math last year compared to 41% in Florida. California’s prolonged pandemic school shutdowns magnified learning loss.
@AlertNightingale6mos6MO
Newsom calling DeSantis a lockdowner is absolutely surreal but it just shows how indefensible lockdowns have become.
@ChowderMikey6mos6MO
Watching Newsom re-write history on Covid is actually nauseating. This vapid freak is going after DeSantis for lockdowns. I moved two companies and my family and employees from CA to FL in the middle of Covid to escape his authoritarian control.
Evil. Just evil.
@D3mocratChowder6mos6MO
2022
California moved to Florida: 50,701
Florida moved to California: 28,557
2021
California moved to Florida: 37,464
Florida moved to California: 24,692
2021+22 Two-way NET
+34,917 FLORIDA
Does Newsom just flat-out lie because he knows fact checkers will vouch for him or what?
@InnocentVoterID6mos6MO
Newsom lost before he showed up, but DaSantis is so obnoxious and unlikable he can’t deliver. All the fact are on Ron’s side. Why is Newsom the one coming across relaxed.
@LegislationMatt6mos6MO
One of the areas that wasn't discussed above is the crime problem in San Francisco and LA. The failure to enforce laws against shoplifting and other forms of theft is causing businesses to leave the cities in California and in other cities run by Democrats. That doesn't seem to be a problem in Florida.
@B1partisanGecko6mos6MO
The violent crime rate in Orlando is higher than in SF.
The WSJ missed that stat. An oversight, I'm sure.
@CardinalJulia6mos6MO
Mr. Feely's observation is about theft, not violent crime. But since you bring it up the demographics of the cities of Orlando and San Francisco are very different, and the sad fact is that some races commit more violent crime than others. I wish that we had a solution for this as a society, but so far no luck.
@ISIDEWITH6mos6MO
How do you personally weigh the importance of a state's population growth against the quality of life it offers to its residents?
@SelfishBureaucrat6mos6MO
This is the fight America has to have.
Do you want freedom, limited government, a chance to pursue happiness?
Or do you want gov control, high taxes and an American psycho telling you how to live?
Your choice.
@ISIDEWITH6mos6MO
@Grassr00tPaellaRepublican6mos6MO
I was 100% wrong on this debate. I thought Gavin Newsom would be likable and intelligent. I was incorrect. This is a massacre. If this were a boxing match, Newsom’s corner would have thrown in the towel a long time ago. Complete and total win for DeSantis from open to close.
@TreatyEagle6mos6MO
Newsom: You mean the last two years, more Floridians going to California than Californians going to Florida? That is going to be fun to fact check.
Two fact checks:
1) “New data from the census bureau show that more people left California for Florida in 2022 than in any year going back to at least 2005.”
2) I did not, in fact, have fun.
@Pe0plesPartyCody6mos6MO
DeSantis is kicking Newsom's *** In fact, Newsom is looking and sounding silly.
@AnnoyedTheRight6mos6MO
Ron: "I was talking to a fella who had made the move from California to Florida. He was telling me that Florida’s much better governed, safer, better budget, lower taxes.
Then he paused and said ‘by the way, I’m Gavin Newsom’s father-in-law.’
@UncommonDoughnut6mos6MO
DeSantis just needs to keep saying "French Laundry." Over and over again.
@AmiableBass6mos6MO
Newsom would rather talk about Joe Biden's record than his own.
@MotivatedPanther6mos6MO
Yeah, that's California notorious for being affordable for poor and middle-class families.
@WingedTr3atyIndependent6mos6MO
This will be reminiscent of the Kennedy/Nixon debate in 1960. Those who watched on TV thought Kennedy won. Those who listened on the radio thought Nixon won.
The power of a good smile, and a well delivered self deprecating joke is a winning combination. Newsom is skillful at delivering both. Unfortunately, DeSantis is limited by having only good policies and a successful record.
Such is the sad condition of our system.
@RadicalCaroline6mos6MO
The "debate" has already been won by Florida and DeSantis. By all measures Florida > California. The facts are indisputable as this piece illustrates.
But Newsome, like all Democrats these days, will LIE. He simply will not acknowledge any fact-based argument but rather demagogue and fear monger.
It's all the left has....their policies have been ruinous for California and the country.
DeSantis should simply stick to the facts. Repeat over and over again the facts that are the California disaster while detailing how he has made Florida what it is today...an economic powerhouse.
@Sw1ngStateHailey6mos6MO
I lived in CA for 68 yrs during what I, and many others, consider the golden era of the golden state. The stage--California's natural resources and industrious, hard-working people--provided a glorious setting & backdrop for the dramatic unfolding of what became a magnet destination, the edge of American manifest destiny. Showcased by the advent of TV and Hollywood's wholesome, inviting welcome mat programming, California surged and thrived for at least 40 yrs. Then, it just died. Honest historians will someday stitch together a framework of causes for the cataclysmic declin… Read more
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