How my BRAC policy would affect your state

Since January, I’ve issued several successive draft versions of my Defense Reform Proposals Package. A BRAC policy has been a part of each version.

So, I’ve prepared a list of bases that I would close, written on a state-by-state basis, to show you how my BRAC policy, if implemented, would affect your state.

My BRAC policy currently calls for the closure of 25 unneeded big military bases (16 Army bases, 1 USAF base and 8 Navy bases) and 1 unneeded small USMC base (Henderson Hall), plus 1 unneededed small USAF base (Bellows AFB). A few other military bases would be reduced. If your state is not on the list, that means it won’t suffer any base closures.

The state-by-state list of those bases is as follows:

AL: The Gunter Annex would be closed.

AR: Fort Chafee (which houses no soldiers) would be closed.

CA: NB Point Loma would be closed.
DC: The DC Naval Observatory would be closed and the Vice President would relocate to the WH. He would share it with the President of the United States. Bolling AFB would be reduced.
GA: Fort Stewart, Fort McPherson and Fort Gillem would be closed. The 3rd Infantry Division would be relocated to Fort Benning (GA).

HI: Fort Shafter and Bellows AFB would be closed.

IN: The Heslar Naval Armory would be closed, but the units and equipment based there would be relocated to NSWC Crane Division, IN.
KS: Fort Riley would be closed. The 1st ID would be relocated from Fort Riley to Fort Dix (NJ).

LA: NSA New Orleans and NASJRB New Orleans would be closed.
MD: NSF Anacostia would be closed.

ME: NSY Portsmouth would be closed.

MN: The 80th Regional RC would be relocated from Fort Snelling (MN) to Fort McCoy (WI).
NJ: Camp Kilmer (which houses no soldiers) would be closed. The 1st ID (and a few other units from NY and PA) would be relocated from Fort Riley (KS) to Fort Dix (NJ). Thus, NJ would benefit from this BRAC round.

NY: Fort Totten and its Reserve Center would be closed. Fort Hamilton would be closed, but the command based there would be relocated to Fort Drum, NY.
PA: NIMSF Philadelphia and the Pitt Army Reserve Center would be closed.
VA: Fort Myer and Henderson Hall would be closed. All units based at Fort Myer would be relocated to Fort Belvoir (VA) or Fort Meade. The unit based at Henderson Hall would be relocated to Quantico (VA). The 80th TASS would be relocated to Fort Lee or Fort Pickett.

UT: The 96th Regional RC would be relocated to Los Alamitos, CA.
WA: Fort Lawton would be closed. The 70th Regional RC would be relocated to Los Alamitos, CA.

A ranking of American states by the Tax Foundation

The Tax Foundation annually ranks American states by “state business tax environment”, and the FY2010 ranking is available here: http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/bp59.pdf

The higher the rank of a state is, the better business tax environment it is, i.e. the more business-friendly the tax regime of that state is.

Alaska – until July 2009 governed by Sarah Palin – is ranked third. That means its tax regime is the 3rd most pro-business tax regime in the US. It levies a high CIT rate but no PIT and no general sales taxes. Alaska trails only SD and Wyoming.

Nevada, which levies no income tax and relies on taxes on casinos (LV is in Nevada), is ranked 4th.

Liberal states – the same states which are now experiencing high unemployment rates and a high number of corporation delocalizations – are the ones with the most oppressive tax apparatuses. New Jersey ranks 50th, which means its tax regime is the most oppressive one in the US. New York was ranked 49th. California, governed by Arnold Schwarzennegger, ranks 48th; its taxes are absurdly high and cannot generate sufficient revenue for its huge, bloated, liberal bureaucracy. Intel has recently set up a facility in Arizona (ranked 28th).

Ohio, governed by Ted Strickland, ranks 47th. Not surprisingly, since Strickland was elected, over 1 mn Ohioans were laid off by their employers.

Iowa, governed by Chet Culver, ranks 46th; MD ranks 45th; Rhode Island, the smallest state in the Union, ranks 44th. Pawlenty’s Minnesota ranks 43th, i.e. eighth-worst.

Wisconsin was ranked 42nd, and Vermont was rated 41st. Arkansas – thanks to liberal governors Mike Huckabee and Mike Beebe – ranks 40th. Mike Huckabee raised taxes, on net, by a larger amount of money than Clinton did (as governor).

North Carolina ranks 39th; CT ranks 38th; West Virginia, the 2nd poorest state of the Union, ranks 37th. Massachusetts, governed by Deval Patrick, ranks 36th.