No surprise here. Those of us who believe in the expansion of freedom understand that when freedom is limited personally it spills out into economics as well and vice versa. New York and California both have a misconception of what freedom means. It's not by accident that the areas of the country who ranked highest in freedom, are the same areas that have the fastest growth in population as well as economically. When people are left free to pursue their own happiness, good things happen. When government steps in and attempts to redistribute the benefits of hard work and success to those who aren't producing, the result is less production from those succeeding or flight to an area where these efforts are appreciated. The same holds true when limiting the freedom of those who wish to be left alone to enjoy their lives. Whether their particular enjoyment is eating foods they love, such as high in fat content, or slurping a "Big Gulp", these folks just want to do as they please. It's strange that the same folks who yell constantly about the "unfairness" of traditional beliefs, prayer in schools, pledges, display of religious symbols, traditional definition of marriage. etc., are the same folks who are pushing the limitation of freedom from these traditionally held beliefs, in the name of intolerance. At the same time, the leftists are limiting the freedom of those simple things in life such as enjoying a "big gulp" if one so chooses. The fact is, that leftists are all about "no limits on anything" except those things that leftists choose. If your values are different from the elite leftists, too bad.

California and New York are both losing population for the reasons mentioned. However, what is frustrating for those of us in the South, one of the freest and most traditional areas of the country, many of these transplants are moving here to enjoy our way of life. While we welcome the growth and boost to our economy, these folks bring with them the ideas of these failed economies. They then vote to expand our government to include the wonderful socialist concepts that they are seeking to escape. They lobby our local governments for the expansion of government and bigger budgets to supply the demands of these policies. Some of the ideas are bike trails, walking trails, art districts, mass transit, etc. Voila, the cost goes up and freedom goes down. Eventually, we all become New York and California. No thanks. We must guard against this expansion of government in our communities and preserve our way of life.