California, New York Politically Similar

Fred Siegel writes a very interesting article for City Journal. He finds New York and California politically similar in a variety of ways, and observes that they differ from the rest of the country. I particularly appreciated this description:

New York and California lead the country in middle-class—often white—outmigration. That has produced a vicious circle in which the very wealthy, the urban poor, and the public-sector unions who define the Democratic coalition create a high-taxing, heavily regulated polity that drives business and the upwardly mobile to the exits.

As you see, Siegel agrees with my "banana republic" analogy of two days ago. He concludes that NY and CA will demand the solvent red states bail them out of impending bankruptcy, leading to an epic battle Siegel describes as follows:

The upshot would likely be a high-stakes conflict about free trade, globalization, social class, race, illegal immigration, and public-sector unionism.

I can hardly wait.