‘Escape from New York’ begins

OPINION:

A red flag is about to be hoisted over City Hall in Manhattan. That will signal the start of the Gucci-clad refugee crisis, and the governors of Texas and Florida are slugging it out to have their state seen as the premier destination for America’s best and brightest.

Wall Street warriors have every reason to fear that Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani will follow through on his threat to redistribute their wealth. The smart ones began packing even before Mr. Mamdani had a chance to wrap his agenda around the memory of revolutionary Socialist Party icon Eugene Debs in his victory speech last week.

“So, Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up,” said Mr. Mamdani. “We will hold bad landlords to account, because the Donald Trumps of our city have grown far too comfortable taking advantage of their tenants. We will put an end to the culture of corruption that has allowed billionaires like Trump to evade taxation and exploit tax breaks.”

As the most famous New York expatriate, Mr. Trump makes an ideal foil for the upstart Marxist’s words of menace. The president fled to the warm sands of Palm Beach in 2019, putting him safely beyond Mr. Mamdani’s grasp. Score one for Florida, but the Lone Star State added a win to its own column in September.

That was when the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the Texas Stock Exchange, an ambitious $250 million investment in the potential of transforming Dallas into a financial hub. “Over the long run, TXSE’s mission is to reverse the decades-long decline in the number of U.S. public companies by reducing the burden of going and staying public while maintaining some of the highest quantitative standards in the industry,” the exchange explained in a press release.

The timing couldn’t be more perfect for corporate titans desperate to find a hospitable base of operations. Sunshine State lawmakers fought back by easing burdens on residents’ pocketbooks.

Major insurance firms, such as Progressive and State Farm, are slashing rates and mailing out refund checks. “Even though auto insurance is still spiking nationwide, the reason why you’re seeing the opposite in Florida is because we did the litigation reform. The litigation costs were driving up the premiums because people are paying a lot of money to lawyers. And that’s not what most Floridians want,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said.

Mr. DeSantis blamed the Ivory Tower for churning out youths willing to cast a ballot for a communist, which was why he pushed state universities to accept the Classic Learning Test. This alternative to the SAT and ACT is a symbol of the return to traditional educational methods that can restore common sense and improve outcomes.

Texas has the same idea. The University of Austin, a newly established, private institution, announced it had just received a $100 million donation to develop its core curriculum, which is rooted in Western tradition. This is the answer to the woke universities that have become breeding grounds for social justice warriors.

“The battle lines between capitalism and socialism were clearly drawn last night,” Gov. Greg Abbott wrote on X after Mr. Mamdani’s conquest. “Texas is now the unrivaled HQ for capitalism in the US. We lead the country in finance sector employment and new stock exchanges. Capitalism always prevails.”

When states compete to attract the victims of socialism, everyone wins — except the socialists.