By Ray Cardello for April 1, 2026, Season 34 / Post 45

Bernie Sanders was in New York this week to support Mayor Mamdani’s effort to raise taxes on the wealthy to close the budget gap caused by bad Democratic management of the world’s greatest city. Bernie attacked the rich who are leaving New York to avoid the high cost of residence in NYC as enemies of Democracy. He contends that these people are holding the city hostage, that if the mayor raises taxes on them, they will pack up and leave. No, Bernie, you are so wrong. These people are not traitors or anti-Democratic; they are exercising the freedom that this great country affords them. They do not have to remain in place and be penalized by the government for success.

Let’s look at this from two viewpoints. The first is that we are a Constitutional Republic composed of 50 states, each with its own constitution, identity, and political ideology. Yes, every state falls under the U.S. Constitution, and federal law does usurp state law in the case of conflict, but for the most part, every state is independent. We are not beholden to any state and can live wherever we choose. I left Massachusetts when my kids were born because I did not want them growing up in a high-crime area with a poor educational system. It was also beneficial that New Hampshire had no sales or income tax. That made NH a better choice for my family. According to Bernie, I should have sucked it up, put my family at risk, because I was indebted to Massachusetts. Sorry Bernie, you are wrong. I had the choice and made it.

I have lived in Vermont, and it is a beautiful state, and I had two wonderful years living there. My job transferred me back to the Boston area, but Vermont was expensive, the pay scale was lower, and I did not agree with the Progressive government, so I would not have stayed if given the choice. We are having a similar conundrum with Maine. We love our summer place and actually have a year-round second home in Maine, but there is no way we can leave the favorable economic environment and Red New Hampshire for the heavily taxed and Blue state of Maine. That is our choice, and Bernie, we have the freedom to make that choice. Bernie, the wealthy folks who are threatening to leave New York because of the increased tax burden, can, and they should. That does not make them enemies of Democracy or Oligarchs, a word you use freely because your advisors said it plays well with the Left. It makes them intelligent for excercising their freedom of choice.

Now let’s turn our attention to legal immigrants, whom we know you are fond of. We rarely know why people pack up their entire lives and come to America, but most of our ancestors did just that. Many, like my grandparents, did not come from countries of oppression. They simply came for the opportunity that America offered, the American Dream. In your view, they were obligated to remain where they were born, regardless of opportunities in the New World. You and your Liberal friends have been telling us for years that we must open our doors and let every Tom, Dick, Harry, and Jane in with welcome arms. America would have never grown west of the Mississippi River under your watch. I need to check, since you might have been in the senate when Lewis and Clark made their journey West.

Can I remind you that you were born a long 84 years ago in Brooklyn, New York? Apparently, the Green Mountains of Vermont were far more appealing than the hot streets of Brooklyn, or was it that Vermont reminded you of your beloved Soviet Union? Whatever the reason, you had the freedom to make that choice, and should any of the wealthy folks of New York decide to escape the ridiculous taxes and policies of a Communist mayor, we have a condo they can buy in tax-free New Hampshire.

So here is a thought. How about you get your hypocritical mind off the stage in New York and get back to Washington to vote YES on the Save America bill and get our TSA agents paid for the work they are doing.