NOT THE SHARPEST KNIVES IN THE DRAWER: Miami Posterized The Competition For LeBron James
The Stiletto is extremely indifferent to basketball, but was nonetheless interested in where LeBron James would ply his trade next. To The Stiletto’s thinking, the only reason to leave home was to give himself a promotion and a raise, so Miami was the logical choice. Why? Leaving aside the sad fact that the Knicks suck (the basis of The Stiletto’s indifference to the sport), his salary will go a lot farther in glam Miami than homespun Akron. The Wall Street Journal explains:
Florida has no income tax. The rate in Akron, Ohio is a little over 7%. Mr. James figures to earn close to $100 million in salary over five seasons in Miami. According to an analysis by Richard Vedder, an economist at Ohio University, Mr. James's net present value tax savings on his salary are between $6 million and $8 million by living in Miami versus his home town of Akron. …
The tax comparisons looked even worse for two other teams in the LeBron bidding, the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets. The New York Post estimated that New York City and state taxes of 12.85% on high income earners would have taken more than $12 million from Mr. James. New Jersey's rate is nearly 9%. Both of those teams are lousy, but it can't help their free-agent sales pitch to start out $9 billion to $12 billion in the after-tax hole.
Carving out a special tax break for Brand LeBron to relocate to The Big Apple probably would not have been enough to induce him to put on a Knicks uniform. But all the pols in OH, NJ and NY whose pat answer to budget deficits and runaway spending has always been “tax the rich” have themselves to blame for James following Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano and countless other wealthy Americans to the Sunshine State. You can bite the hand that feeds you only so many times until the hand – and the fat wallet it’s holding – is yanked away.
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