I never acted like this.

Pave paradise; put up a parking lot.

I think it's because younger Americans are getting CRUSHED by the older generation and establishment pols who don't give a fuck about them.

Like what?

The information is in regard to each state's financial situation. That a company may have jobs in New Jersey doesn't mean the state isn't financially strapped.

>They’ve also changed some of the tax law to help attract bigger companies to PA with bi-partisan legislation prior to COVID.

Yeah, they're lowering the corporate tax rate which means the tax burden gets shifted to working Pennsylvanians, because retirees pay no state income tax.

And that rainy day fund won't last long.

>Democrats: "We wanna take your rights and force you to rely on the government while we take your money"

I still loathe the lazy Dems. That being said, every time I propose cutting HEAVILY taxpayer-subsidized Medicare and veteran benefits, people lose their shit.

Nobody's forced to sign up for any government program, btw.

And to keep yourself out of prison for sedition, the 2A is intended for tyranny by ANOTHER government, not your own. Take up arms against your own government and you're headed for pokey.

That Entity R sucks doesn't mean that Entity D does NOT suck.

I anticipate I won't be the only one in the outflow from Pennsylvania.

30 states are lower.

https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm

OK:

Pennsylvania 2022 unemployment rate: 3.9%

Pension funded ratio (2019): 58.0%

1 year GDP growth: 4.4%

Poverty rate: 12.2%

Moody's credit rating: Aa3 (AAA is the best)

---

It's barely an improvement

Pay attention: I'm a former Democrat who worked for Democrats in the State House.

They're garbage.

And it's definitely a mystery as to how the Legislature & governor are going to wring additional taxes out of people working low wage jobs (PA's minimum wage is STILL $7.25/hr), struggling to breathe where air quality is horrible, and are FREE caregivers to their elderly relatives.

I won't be here, so they won't get any money out of me.

Oooh. Big bucks. The most recent PA budget was $44 billion, and the Legislature and the governor continue to lower the corporate tax rate. We'll blow through that $5 billion pretty quickly.

Now do pensions. And no, Act 5 0f 2017 isn't pension reform; it's just more screwing over of the young.

Yep. In Congress, it's just good cop, bad cop.

The overpaid Pennsylvania Legislature is just corrupt AF.

I don't understand the downvotes. Pennsylvania isn't losing population because it's so fabulous that people can't stand it; it's losing population because it's turning into more of a polluted shithole.

THe only reason the population decline isn't more severe is because retirees are moving to W. PA to avail themselves of the low cost of living, abundant healthcare and no state tax on retirement income.

https://triblive.com/local/regional/western-pennsylvania-population-continues-to-trickle-downward/

The unemployment rate might have ticked down, but everything else is still the same.

I posted it upthread.

As a former Democrat, now independent, who once worked for Democrats in the state House, Democrats are just as awful.

That doesn't mean it isn't a backwater.

PA is where I was born and raised and it's turning into Kentucky.

"I have started using a combination of existing U.S. Highways like Route 22, Route 30. and smaller state roads, that meander through the mountains and small towns that dot the land."

It's not the win you think it is.

This is why I have to move. I live 500 feet from US 22, which was widened from 2 lanes to 4 about a decade ago, and as more and more motorists and tractor-trailer drivers avoid the Turnpike, the increased traffic and much higher levels of pollution where I live is literally making me sick.

Politicians are like a zit.

You only get something out of them if you pressure them. HARD.

It's a gross analogy, but it's accurate.

When I worked for a member of Congress, he'd always ask how the mail and calls were running.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

> industrial sites, fracking and vehicle exhaust

We also have the new cracker plant, which 'cracks' natural gas into plastic nurdles for making plastic stuff. Lots and lots of plastic stuff.

Usuallly the Pittsburgh area has worse air quality, from industrial sites, fracking and vehicle exhaust, and this pollution gets trapped in our many valleys, where it lingers.

Inversions make it worse.

If you're always groggy and sleepy, even after a full night's sleep, it may be due to pollution, which seeps in from outdoors and makes you congested.

Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) commonly comes from industrial sites, car exhaust and chemical reactions in the atmosphere. The particles can lodge in the lungs and bloodstream, causing respiratory complications.

During winter, when air is warmer in the atmosphere than at the surface, temperature inversions can occur.

An inversion happens when the warmer air acts like a lid above the cooler air underneath, preventing pollutants from rising and dispersing, trapping them at breathing level.

Inversions are strongest in the winter months when pollution from vehicle exhaust, industrial sites and wood burning can fester near the ground, leading to poor air quality.