The week in whoppers: Gavin Newsom flips reality on Cali taxes, NY Times downplays Paul Ehrlich’s doom-mongering and more
Diary of disturbing disinformation and dangerous delusions
This tweet:
We say: Not even close: California’s top income-tax rate, 14.4%, is America’s highest. Texas and Florida have no income tax. Adding in property and sales taxes, WalletHub ranks Cali’s tax burden fourth-highest, Texas’ 40th and Florida’s 45th. Also including corporate and other taxes, the Tax Foundation puts Cali’s taxes third-highest, Texas’ 44th and Florida’s 46th.
This headline:
“Paul R. Ehrlich . . . faced criticism when his predictions proved premature.” — NY Times, Sunday
We say: Premature? How about wrong? On all of them, starting with his 1968 book “The Population Bomb.” Rising populations meant 4 billion people would starve to death by 2000, he said; in fact the global head-count doubled, with less hunger. The world would see pervasive “scarcity,” he insisted; it actually enjoys unprecedented abundance. Because it shares his biases, the Times won’t admit it — but Ehrlich’s predictions were the opposite of the truth.
Spot the difference:
Gov. Kathy Hochul, 2022: “[Republicans should] jump on a bus and head down to Florida . . . Because you don’t represent our values.”
vs.
Hochul, March 11: “[Millionaires should] go down to Palm Beach and see who you can bring back home. Because our tax base has been eroded.”
We say: Wealthy folks and GOPers have fled in part because New York’s climate lunacy, pro-crime laws, and, yes, nation-leading tax rates didn’t represent their values. Now she’s noticed that her “tax base has been eroded”? Hmm: Maybe she should give people reasons to come back — like locked-up criminals, climate sanity and lower taxes.
This claim:
“Muslim Americans are confronting a new surge of hateful rhetoric.” — PBS News, Monday
We say: Let’s count hateful actions: Islamic terrorists just rammed a synagogue in Michigan, tossed IEDs in Manhattan, killed a prof and wounded students in Virginia and shot up innocents in Austin, Texas. The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy found a 34% spike in already-raging antisemitism just since the Iran war started. But PBS chooses to focus on Islamophobia, even as much of it is merely criticism of the terrorists.
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
