The results of the decennial Census, announced today, show that the states that gained population (and congressional seats) track pretty closely with the list of states with lower state and local tax burdens. Nevada, Texas, and Florida, all of which showed strong population gains from 2000 to 2010, have no state income tax.
Meanwhile the list of states that had the slowest population growth include high-tax Rhode Island and New York, which will lose congressional seats as a result. A lot of the press coverage is going to portray this as not about taxes, but about the weather, as if the population gains in Nevada, Texas, and Florida are because it is warm in those places and the slower growth in Rhode Island and New York are because it gets cold there in the winter. Remember this is the same press corps that tells you global warming is a terrible disaster that must be averted at all costs.
