The Reno Air Races attracts a political demographic more or less 180-degrees opposite of what prevails in the Boston area. The national anthem was played every morning around 10:30 pm as a military parachute team carried the flag down from the sky. As shown in the photo below, it was hands-on-hearts (easy to find your heart when you’ve been breakfasting on deep-friend Twinkies and Snickers, both readily available at the races) and hats-off time. I didn’t see anyone protesting!
I shared a table in the VIP tent (highly recommended for food, drinks, and shade!) with a local divorce litigator: “I’ve been in Nevada nearly all of my life because I like my guns, my space, and low taxes.”
The other locals at the table agreed that they did not want to hand over their wages to the government so that it could be redistributed to the non-working. (Fact check: Nevada taxes are low, at 8.1 percent of income and $3,349 per resident (Tax Foundation); compare to New York at 12.7 percent and $6,993 per resident. On the other hand, the state has a full range of welfare programs and for many citizens it will be better to collect welfare than to work.)
[The divorce litigator would be a lot better off in Massachusetts. She is able to charge only a flat $3500 per divorce, plus $6000 additional for the 5 percent of cases that go to trial. Compare to $100,000 to $300,000 (or more!) in the Boston area. Her female customers would also be a lot better off financially if they’d chosen a different state. “We got a new law in October 2015 that slipped by the lawyers and judges,” said the litigator. “Judges are interpreting 125c.0035 to require joint custody [a 50/50 schedule] in almost all cases.” What about the domestic violence escape clause that works for plaintiffs in Alaska? “It works only if she can get an actual conviction for domestic violence,” said the litigator. “Most moms are going into court saying ‘I want primary custody because I’m the mom’ and judges aren’t persuaded.” The law also applies to children that result from one-night encounters. Let’s compare outcomes for a woman earning $125,000 and suing a father earning the same.
| Massachusetts | Nevada |
| Mom wins “primary parent” status with greater than 90 percent probability. Free babysitting from the defendant every other weekend. Along with primary parent status comes $20,000 per year until child reaches 23 years of age (up to $460,000 total, tax-free). Given approximately equal costs of having a child around 1/3 time versus 2/3 time, assuming continuing equality of income at $125,000/year, winner parent will be nearly $900,000 richer than loser parent after 23 years. | Child receives week-on/week-off access to both parents. (better expected well-being for the child) No winner/loser parent division. Mom receives no cash due to equal incomes and equal schedule (her revenue would have been limited to $13,000 per year per child regardless). Potential for litigation and child support profit ends when child turns 18. Minimal opportunity to become wealthier than defendant; parents who start with equal incomes will have approximately the same level of wealth after 18 years. |
]
Affection for Donald Trump was in short supply but resistance to Hillary, the Democrats, and the idea of a bigger government was strong.
Of course this is a selected group due to the passion for aviation and the tendency of pilots to valorize personal responsibility. On the third hand, the folks with whom I had lunch were not pilots, just airport neighbors.
Related:
There aren’t any protests or national anthem scandals in Berkeley either. It makes you wonder what planet the media is covering to secure H-Rod’s re-election.
> The other (Nevada) locals at the table agreed that they did not want to hand over their wages to the government so that it could be redistributed to the non-working.
Did anyone ask how Nevadans feel about being a net beneficiary of federal taxation? On the order of $1.30 of federal benefits for every dollar collected.
Aside from gunnery ranges and hosting burning man, can Americans really say that Nevada is *working* for us?
Surely it must shame them to be dragged along as dependents of this great nation. They should just pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Dig for silver, pray for rain, whatever. Something to contribute back to states like Minnesota, who have been working hard on Nevada’s behalf.
Nevada is better than average on the dependency scale. Plus the federal government spends substantially more than a dollar for every dollar that it receives in taxes, so that puts the $1.30 figure in a different context. Of course that same context does make Minnesota’s deal look even rawer. Maybe they need some more military bases to protect us againt the northern hordes.
Andrew – Blaming a state for receiving more federal dollars is like blaming children for their parents’ bookkeeping. Criticize the parents, not the kids.