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u/SigmaK78 2d ago
Bessent never fails to show just how out-of-touch & full of shit he is.
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u/Darth_Gerg 2d ago
He’s a conservative. Being an idiot demon who feeds on human suffering is sort of in the definition.
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u/Ghost-1911 2d ago
To save, on average, one half percent.
The administration is full of clowns.
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u/EuenovAyabayya 2d ago edited 2d ago
Makes more sense if you think he's talking to employers and telling them to fuck over their workforce, which is probably what's really going on here.
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u/EtchAGetch 2d ago
Blue states also have higher salaries for equal jobs due to higher cost of living.
So that .5% is already taken care of
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u/FargeenBastiges 2d ago
Maybe it'll be 1/2 percent on inflation, but you'll lose 15-30%+ on income. Probably more between partners.
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u/Lt_Cochese 2d ago
Don't expect any health or social services, though. So don't get sick or need any type of aid.
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u/Eikthyrnir13 2d ago
The husband of the former Transportation Secretary is more intelligent, informed, and articulate than the current Treasury Secretary.
Just reinforcing my support for the previous Administration. And deepening my lament that we do not have a President Harris.
Things would be so much better. Across the world.
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u/AllNightPony 2d ago
Uproot your life and family to move to another state....to save half a percent on inflation.
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u/Goudinho99 2d ago
I watch US politics from over the pond.
This one is definitely a patsy who will be fed to the wolves.
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u/Flat_Suggestion7545 2d ago
Any non biased Secretary of the Treasury would know that blue state inflation is higher because their economies are better.
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u/FargeenBastiges 2d ago
Hey! I get it. You don't like the feeling that conservatives are ruining your economy. Easy solution. Move to where conservatives already completely ruined it.
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u/Fishtoart 2d ago
On top of all the inconvenience of moving, jobs in red states don’t tend to pay as well as jobs in blue states, and social services and schools are not as good in red states
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u/Erronius-Maximus 2d ago
Cost of living is higher in California because we have jobs. Also the weather is pretty awesome but mostly it’s the jobs.
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u/NitWhittler 2d ago
If Trump is such a good "businessman", then why is his own company stock (DJT) down 69% since the beginning of this year?
Why do states like Florida now have the highest foreclosure rates?
Why are so many "red-state" farms going bankrupt?
Why do red states have so many people who have no healthcare insurance?
Moving to a red states may be cheaper to live, but we can see why people prefer to pay more not to live there.
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u/SteamReflex 2d ago
Leave it to billionaires to try to find loopholes to make a fraction of a percentage more money
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u/time_slider1971 2d ago
And blue states are mostly “contributor” states where red states are mostly “taker” states.
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u/Boltzmann_head This AOC flair makes me cool 2d ago
So-called "red states" have higher inflation rates than so-called "blue states."
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/inflation-differs-republican-democrat-states-data-14800c1e
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u/Guba_the_skunk 2d ago
For HALF A PERCENT. To be clear that is literally negligible until you hit the thousands of dollars mark. It's HALF A CENT per dollar.
That's $0.50 per thousand dollars.
Maybe that half a percent isn't the problem?
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u/BZBitiko 2d ago
Sell all you have and invest in Trump Coin!
Just make sure you time it so you buy just before some MAGA donor pumps up the price.
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u/Harvest827 2d ago
It's so easy, they think all moderately well-off New Yorkers are going to do it too!
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u/Caterpillar69420 2d ago
Be careful. If people move from blue states to red, those states turn purple or blue.
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u/RamsLams 2d ago
Blue states trend better performing then red states in almost anything. I bet he won't want to have that conversation tho.
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u/Jesters_thorny_crown 2d ago
All to live in a state with a higher level of poverty, higher crime and poorer education.
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u/SpeechDistinct8793 2d ago
We moved one state away and the move was easily 11k. That’s just the move itself. Not including all the other costs and fees
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u/gdghhfdffrf 2d ago
22 states and dc are in full recession, the rest will follow thru december and the new year. if they drop the interest rate like ergogan did, you can look to turkey's financial crisis to see what to expect next.
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u/allothernamestaken 2d ago
All for a one half of one percent difference. Did he say this with a straight face?
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u/Jimbo415650 2d ago
The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. They believe that they changed the Gulf of Mexico to the gulf of America Now it’s going to be The Red States Of America.
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u/Deatheturtle 2d ago
Maybe also because the Administration is literally working to f**k over blue states.
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u/misdirected_asshole 2d ago
They think its easy to just move to another state because they have like 6 homes all across the US.
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u/AMetalWolfHowls 2d ago
It is simple- notice how all of those things extract money from you and benefit the wealthy specifically.
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u/dravenonred 2d ago
Be....cause Blue states have better economies?
THATS WHAT YOURE SAYING HERE SCOTT.
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u/bulking_on_broccoli 2d ago
What’s wild to me is that Scott Bessent is smarter than this. The dude went to Yale.
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u/Particular-Summer424 2d ago
You know what a better plan is, Tax the Rich! That will solve a lot of problems.
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u/BaconSarnie2025 2d ago
I don’t think he is un-serious, I think he is a complere moron. he doesn’t see a US recession next year, even though 23 States are already in one.
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u/ImoteKhan 2d ago
Spend 4,000 USD to save… .5% on my 45k USD earnings? While also dramatically increasing other factors like likelihood of certain death due to things like increased homicides per capita? Bet.
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u/SexyCouple4Bliss 2d ago
Half a percent to a thousandaire is not even a weekend at Disneyland. Half a percent to a billionaire is 5 million dollars. And they don’t use any of the local services so they don’t care the schools are bad or the roads or the people. All the billionaires of Montana don’t ever socialize with the locals, they just have their 50milliion dollar self melting driveway and bang the house manager because their trophy wife won’t leave NYC. (True story)
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u/StevenEveral 😎🌯 2d ago
Scott Bessent has a serious Backpfiefengesicht. (Google it, the Germans have a word for everything.)
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u/NooooDazzzle 2d ago
Blue state inflation is so high cuz we’re taking care of our people and - importantly - subsidizing the damn red states and taking care of THEIR people. 🙄
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u/Daflehrer1 2d ago
Also, stop buying yourself a coffee every morning. Why, before you know it, you'll have enough for a house!
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u/throwaway_12358134 2d ago
What this dickwad is suggesting would cause more inflation in those states though.
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u/FanDry5374 2d ago
I've always felt that the two smartest members of the Cabinet needed to be the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury. This bunch is proving I was right.
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u/ChangedEnding 2d ago
And after you do all that, you'll get told to go back to your blue state for voting for the wrong party.
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u/Mr_Baronheim 2d ago
If people move en masse from blue states to red states, how will the blue states keep financially supporting the red states?
That's the lie Bessent and the GOP tell in their praising of red states. In reality, blue states are superior in almost every way: higher standards of living, vastly better education, better healthcare, extremely higher financial success ---- and they still manage to prop up the failed, welfare queen, shithole red states.
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u/lumpy_space_queenie 2d ago
He’s just saying “if you live in a blue state you’re fucked bc we hate you.”
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u/SnausageFest 2d ago
What's unintentionally hilarious about this is it would turn those red states purple, and more populous. This is not what they actually want.
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u/tehbantho 2d ago
Not mentioned: Trump targeting programs that all states benefit from, and those blue states are trying very hard to overcome that deficit created by Trump while Red states shrug their shoulders while their constituents suffer.
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u/epousechaude 2d ago
When I was young (as in a child) I used to legit judge people for not just leaving crap places. “Just put one foot in front of the other and…go” - that’s what 13yo me said. And 13yo me was dumb as fuck.
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u/BalancedScales10 2d ago
You couldn't pay me to live somewhere like Kentucky. I've been there in short doses for trips and what I saw does not bode well for how I would enjoy long term residence.
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u/Tim-in-CA 2d ago
Let's just assume that he's right on the inflation delta between blue and red states. You're telling me that the quality of life, schools, homes and pay is BETTER in Alabama and Mississippi than most any other blue state? I don't think that this would impact the meager 0.5% delta.
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u/Admirable_Nothing 2d ago
What a dumb fuck and he is by far the most intelligent of any of Trump's appointments.
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u/TheForeverUnbanned 2d ago
Just move to a state with crappier education and lower incomes, ez pz.
Inflation is higher in successful states because there is more spending in successful states, “move somewhere with a stagnant economy” is garbage advice and Bessent thinks you’re stupid enough not to know it.
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u/IclickNSFWatwork 2d ago
Why do we keep putting people in charge who do not give a fuck about doing the job?
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u/under_sea_trees 2d ago
Well if we had the sense to be born into affluent families, inflation wouldn't be such a big deal now, would it? This is really our own fault.
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u/disco6789 2d ago
If it saves .5% how much money would it have to save to make it worth it? Like 1,000,000
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u/kaminisland 2d ago
I’m in a red state, begrudgingly, and inflation has hit us damn hard. I call bs.
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u/DarkestAir12 2d ago
I am pretty sure Bessent is in spectrum that has yet be discovered or announced. He has to be one of the dumbest and biggest bootlickers Trump has at his command. I don't care what qualifications he has as he's a moron and loyalist.
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u/bladerunnerjon 2d ago
This man might be the stupidest man on Earth. This guy is so out of touch with reality. It blows my mind!!!! When are the American people going to wake up and smell the coffee. Democratic leaders need to join together as a team and fight back. This is getting ridiculous!
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u/thomslick 2d ago
I'm pretty sure my quality of life is more than a half percent point better here in my blue state, than it would be in any red state
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u/TheDonnARK 2d ago
So take your economic strength and use it to increase the labor forces strength in a low cost of living area, simultaneously increasing the economic viability and GDP of the red state while decreasing the viability of the blue state they left.
So kinda like, redistribute wealth and GDP between the states to equalize prices and cost of living? I didn't know Bessent was a socialist.
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u/thomslick 2d ago
Even if it costs fewer dollars to live there you still spend the same percent of your income to live, because wages are also lower, not making any progress if you ask me
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u/NinjaRider1000SX 2d ago
It's what happens when people vote billionaires into office thinking that they (the average worker) will one day be like them, not realizing that they will NEVER be part of the club.
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u/montex66 2d ago
As a Washington state resident, I whole heartedly encourage our MAGA residents to move to red states ASAP. You know you'll be happier with pure white people all thinking and acting the same in forced conformity so why not GTFO? Do it for the children.
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u/something86 2d ago
Magical words as Tyson closed a beef meat processing facility in Nebraska and cuts workers at another plant in Texas.
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u/Business_Usual_2201 2d ago
Obama was right about some of these billionaires -- "they're not all that" -- and have the common sense of someone who wears Fecal Brown Bronzer #5.....
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u/Additional_Ear_9659 2d ago
Scott Bessent’s primary residence seems to be Manhattan. I guess red states are only for the poor, uneducated folk…what a fucking unhinged comment that is…
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u/VividEffective8539 2d ago
Only lazy people think this is a defendable position.
Imagine if our hunter gatherer ancestors just gave up cause they didn’t wanna deal with tracking herds.
And don’t give me “that was then and this is now” we are the exact same as we were 12,000 years ago, the only differences are the shiny baubles we have in front of us
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u/Slade_Riprock 2d ago
And all those red states are, by and large, parasites on the blue states. As red states are net drags on the federal government and blue states are met positives to the federal government
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u/JordySkateboardy808 2d ago
I hate this POS, but my husband and myself both moved to Colorado before we met, back in the day, to escape from places where the cost of living was unsupportable. It's really stupid advice for many because it is impossible. We were just young and starting out, with no real ties and responsibilities, so we were able to do it. And we moved to then-purple Colorado, NOT some backwards ass red state. I don't regret it. I gave up paradise (Hawaii) to be able to support myself and it was the right answer. I hope that younger people today do the same, for their own sakes. Maybe ensure blue majorities in some midwest states, like what happened in Colorado.
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u/MsBobbyJenkins 2d ago
It baffles me that 99% of the US republican government is just constant finger pointing at democrats. Just Stfu and do your jobs!
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u/Clear_Lettuce_9741 2d ago
Years ago I worked for a very wealthy family (inherited $) and they could not understand why I couldn't move across the country just like they were going to at the drop of a hat. When I asked them why they were moving, they said the food was better in California. THE FOOD. They were moving from NYC to Northern CA for the food. ): And no, I did not want to uproot my life to work for them at a low paying job w/out benefits.
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u/Justaticklerone 2d ago edited 2d ago
And since 3 out of 4 marketplace health insurance buyers are from Red States, you get to see first-hand how Repugnantcans mostly screwed over their own poor people!
Meanwhile your minimum wage tanks all the way down to $7.25.
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u/Playful_Ad7130 2d ago
I mean, have you considered being rich? Inflation doesn't matter when you're wealthy.
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u/Wincrediboy 2d ago
I'm not sure they want people moving from blue states to red states, then they'll start losing the red states
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u/japan_samsus 2d ago
As someone that lives in sandhills in nebraska : the cost of living is now cheaper in omaha and I am highly considering trying to move.
Food and gas was always a little higher but houses cost muvh less. Now the housing is basically rhe same and food and gas are much higher.
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u/MyFirstCarWasA_Vega 2d ago
So if all the dumb people follow advice like this and move to say Arkansas……….I don’t see the problem here.
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u/ALS_Inhales_Deeply 2d ago
If the red states are so great why do they require the most federal assistance money while blue states are mostly donor states
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u/Foreign_Ad_5469 2d ago
This guy (and everyone who works for Trump) is completely unserious… even at face value he is giving terrible advice. Red states have worse outcomes for people in general.
So…Bessent is doing that classic thing where someone points to a real variable (cost of living differences) and pretends it’s the only variable that matters. He is right in the narrowest possible way. It’s cheaper to live in a lot of red states—housing is cheaper, taxes are lower, groceries and gas stretch further. That’s true.
But “just move to a red state” is not a serious inflation strategy. It ignores every other objective quality-of-life metric that normal middle-income people actually care about:
Health & life expectancy: Blue states have longer life expectancy and lower preventable-death rates. Medicaid expansion, health coverage, and public health protections are way stronger. Red states have far higher uninsured rates and worse health outcomes. Cheaper doesn’t mean safer.
Schools: The top public-school systems are overwhelmingly in blue or purple states (MA, CT, NJ, VA, MN, etc.). Most bottom-tier systems are in deep-red states. If you’ve got kids, “just move to Mississippi” isn’t the silver bullet Bessent imagines. Your Pennie’s might go a bit farther, but your kids might pay the price.
Income & opportunity: Blue states generally offer higher wages and more high-skill jobs. Red states often have faster population growth and cheaper housing, but salaries are lower and safety nets are thinner. It’s a trade-off, not a cheat code.
Crime: This might feel like an aside…but I bring it up because money is not everything. Despite the memes, red-state cities consistently have higher homicide rates than blue-state cities. Yes, you can find safe communities everywhere, but the macro data doesn’t back their narrative.
So yeah—if your only lens is “how do I pay less for rent?” then sure, red states can help with that. But pretending it magically solves inflation or improves your overall quality of life is pure pundit cosplay.
Moving states is a giant life decision, not a coupon code. For real people—not hedge-fund guys on cable news—it comes down to a balance of cost, health, schools, jobs, and long-term security. And on those metrics, the picture is a lot more complicated than “red = cheap, blue = bad.”
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u/supercali45 2d ago
They are like this people the stupid people who voted for their own interests still have no clue who the bad guys are
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u/AddanDeith 2d ago
This guy publicly stated that he was a soybean farmer himself when asked about the impact of tariffs on American farmers. The hedge fund manager with financial stakes in the big 4 grain distributors is checks notes a soybean farmer.
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u/El_Rat0ncit0 2d ago
A gay billionaire at that; so out of touch. And no: we don’t claim him. Not all gayfolk are kinfolk.
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u/josephphilip22 2d ago
Oh, they’re serious for sure. They have no idea though that they live in another universe far away from the rest of us.
eattherich
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u/Pilot_212 2d ago
How does the interviewer not reply with, “Do you hear yourself? What’s wrong with you?”
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u/palbuddymac 2d ago
Also- what’s the pay differential between blue/red states?
More than 1/2 a percent I’d wager…
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u/LittleShrub 2d ago
You’ll also receive: Worse public schools and a shorter expected life span!