Valuetainment - May 05, 2026


“Saved $29M in Taxes” - Maryland Governor CONFRONTED on States High taxes

＂Trump Is The Anti-Christ＂ - Tucker Carlson CORNERED In Explosive NYT Interview ＂Who The Hell Is Wes Moore？＂ - The 2028 Democratic Frontrunner NOBODY Saw Coming

Episode Stats


Length

12 minutes

Words per minute

203.74

Word count

2,456

Sentence count

164

People

Also mentioned:
Preston Hollow Wes Moore DeSantis Tuscany Ravens

Harmful content

Misogyny

3

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode, I sit down with Florida Governor Rick DeSantis to talk about immigration and the future of Florida's economy. We talk about how important it is for entrepreneurs and small business owners to move to Florida, why they should do so, and how they can get there.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
00:00:00.000 How do you make a dramatic policy change today for a business owner?
00:00:04.920 Because here's a massive opportunity to have.
00:00:07.840 You think people from New York want to move to Florida or you think they'd rather move to Maryland?
00:00:11.680 You think people from New York want to make that massive?
00:00:14.020 Some people like East Coast, the cold weather.
00:00:16.180 Some people like that area.
00:00:17.520 Proximity to Washington, D.C.
00:00:18.900 I agree.
00:00:19.800 Oh, my God.
00:00:20.560 Totally.
00:00:20.920 So if I was a governor of a blue state like Maryland, and I know New York is royally screwing up.
00:00:28.820 Now, you may not say it because, you know, it's party lines and, you know, some of the stuff that—
00:00:32.640 I don't do party lines.
00:00:33.420 Okay, so I'm just saying they're really screwing up, and I don't know if you would agree with that or not.
00:00:37.280 They're losing business owners, right?
00:00:39.020 New York is losing business owners, so is California.
00:00:42.000 It's a lot easier for me to move from New York to somewhere in Maryland to move down here.
00:00:45.940 And, frankly, we've seen that, right?
00:00:48.140 We've seen businesses who, you know, for whatever reason, have chosen and chosen Maryland because they like the regional access.
00:00:55.240 They'll have a negative in that migration.
00:00:56.600 It needs to be bigger than that.
00:00:57.780 Yeah.
00:00:57.920 It needs to be bigger than that because right now, you know, I'll walk around.
00:01:02.260 I'll go to Palm Beach, okay, and I'll run into it.
00:01:04.340 So, hey, where are you from?
00:01:05.280 Oh, I'm from Illinois.
00:01:07.100 What part?
00:01:07.940 Chicago.
00:01:08.480 What brought you down here?
00:01:10.020 Taxes, lifestyle, safety.
00:01:12.060 Really?
00:01:12.420 Yeah.
00:01:12.820 Where are you from?
00:01:13.480 New York.
00:01:13.800 Where are you from?
00:01:14.380 California.
00:01:15.180 It is, you know, when I was in California, when I was in Texas, we saw a lot.
00:01:18.780 We moved to Plano, Texas, and Addison, and Preston Hollow.
00:01:21.720 So you run into a lot of Californians that are leaving.
00:01:24.240 Here, it's a lot of New York.
00:01:26.380 You know, it's a lot of D.C.
00:01:27.860 It's a lot of Illinois that you'll run into people, you know.
00:01:31.920 And you see DeSantis.
00:01:34.140 DeSantis created policies that got people to say, you know what, I'm moving to Florida.
00:01:38.360 And in a major way, in a major way.
00:01:42.380 But if you guys, a blue state like Maryland, and I think you're reasonable enough to think about ways to bring small business owners.
00:01:50.120 And that, you're on the stage, 2027, 2028, and it shows, hey, net migration for small business owners.
00:01:55.300 Look what's going on. You're going to get conservatives who are going to be like, wait, we have to choose between who and who?
00:02:00.940 Because right now, I think on paper, choosing a Democrat 10 out of 10 times, I choose you over over Newsome.
00:02:08.860 And it's not even close. Well, and I'll say this.
00:02:11.860 And for me, this has, you know, nothing to do with with what anyone else is doing.
00:02:16.420 Right. It's about what can we do to make my state win?
00:02:20.960 And I know there's more we've got to do.
00:02:23.200 I know the kind of hole that we had to walk into.
00:02:26.740 I know we walked in with a multi-billion dollar structural deficit.
00:02:29.800 And part of the reason is because our state is very good at spending, right?
00:02:33.480 If you look at the seven years before I became the governor, spending in Maryland increased by 70%.
00:02:39.180 In the previous 10 years?
00:02:41.480 Yes.
00:02:42.120 Seven years before I became the governor.
00:02:43.980 Seven zero.
00:02:44.600 It's nuts, right?
00:02:45.480 And GDP stayed relatively flat.
00:02:47.640 So I'm like, so hold on.
00:02:48.820 So we were spending.
00:02:50.180 We just weren't growing.
00:02:51.760 Wow.
00:02:52.500 And so one thing that's what I said, you know, so what do you do to be able to address that?
00:02:56.260 I, frankly, just put on my business hat and say, what do you have to do addressing?
00:02:59.760 You have to control your spend.
00:03:01.460 You have to increase your top line, right?
00:03:03.500 You do those two things.
00:03:04.560 That actually increases growth.
00:03:06.420 And so that's what we've had to do.
00:03:07.740 That's why, you know, like we mentioned, for four years in a row, decrease the general fund within the state of Maryland, control your spend, and actually invest in industries that are going to help you to grow.
00:03:15.860 So while we've made movements on those things, there is no doubt there's still more that needs to get done.
00:03:22.060 And there's a measure of urgency that we've got to move at from our state that, you know, I, you know, for anyone who wants to sit there and say, oh, no, they have it all figured out or any of these people have it all figured out.
00:03:31.440 The answer is no, we don't, because as long as you're dealing with some of those data points, it means we still got work to do.
00:03:36.700 Why do you think DeSantis is winning?
00:03:39.720 You know, listen, I mean, winning with getting businesses to come down, winning with a lot of different things, winning with businesses, winning with people that are here who are staying,
00:03:48.660 winning with, you know, younger generation coming.
00:03:52.160 There's many ways Florida's winning right now.
00:03:54.160 Why do you think he's winning?
00:03:55.100 So, I mean, honestly, the same way when I've not spent my time
00:03:59.500 digging into other states, I would include Florida in that category.
00:04:03.040 The thing that I do think is this,
00:04:05.460 and here's the thing that I think we want to make sure
00:04:07.460 that we are modeling and making an offer for,
00:04:10.040 is that when people are trying to decide between, okay,
00:04:13.020 am I thinking about Maryland or am I thinking about Florida?
00:04:15.640 I want to be able to leverage the things
00:04:17.260 that I think we have a unique competitive advantage at.
00:04:19.400 So, for example, there's a proximity leverage to Washington, D.C.,
00:04:23.740 and that whole area that I think we have a specific focus on.
00:04:26.860 I think if you look at things like health care,
00:04:28.840 I think if you look at things like education,
00:04:30.360 I think if you look at things like both K-12 education and higher education,
00:04:33.320 we've got to make sure we're leveraging that.
00:04:34.900 But also we have to make the business community feel like they are not just welcomed,
00:04:42.060 but supported in that.
00:04:43.460 Florida is winning the business community.
00:04:45.380 So if you take the business community, Florida is winning in business community nationwide.
00:04:50.160 The only one that maybe you can make an argument for is Texas.
00:04:52.720 Why do you think they're winning?
00:04:53.820 Why do you think Texas and Florida win in the business community?
00:04:56.260 Well, I think it cannot just simply be, and the answer is not just simply, well, it's just tax policy.
00:05:02.760 I think that's one of them.
00:05:03.700 I don't think it's the only thing.
00:05:04.620 I do think it's one of them.
00:05:05.900 But I think you've also got to be able to compete and win in other areas.
00:05:08.880 So listen, is Maryland or any of these other places, are we ever going to say this is going to beat Texas on tax policy?
00:05:16.920 No, right?
00:05:18.120 And I don't think that's actually even a realistic expectation.
00:05:21.500 However, do you know what is a realistic expectation?
00:05:24.440 Find the things that CEOs care about when they're making their decisions.
00:05:28.960 So when I'm speaking to CEOs all the time, and listen, I always say when I go to different places, my intention, I'm bringing three businesses back with me, right?
00:05:36.740 So I spend a lot of time talking with CEOs because that's also part of my job, and it's also my background.
00:05:43.600 And so when I'm talking, I'm saying, like, what are the things that you're most interested in and you're focused on?
00:05:47.900 And they'll talk about tax climate, but in many ways, tax climate for a lot of these states, it's the same when I was doing banking.
00:05:56.020 And I'm really thankful for the time that I had to do banking, but you realize that whether it was Goldman or Morgan Stanley or Citi offering something, we're talking bips of difference on a deal.
00:06:05.660 A company didn't choose to go to Goldman or Morgan Stanley
00:06:08.360 because one was offering a better deal
00:06:10.240 because generally all the deals were in a similar type of bandwidth
00:06:12.580 in terms of the offering.
00:06:13.680 That is a very small difference.
00:06:16.120 Right.
00:06:16.400 Here it's massive.
00:06:17.980 Yes.
00:06:18.320 I'll give you an idea.
00:06:19.740 I had my business in the state of California,
00:06:22.740 and I started hearing California's whispering about clawback taxes.
00:06:26.880 Like you know how Canada does exit tax?
00:06:28.760 I think it's called exit tax.
00:06:30.300 Clawback taxes.
00:06:31.260 My clawback taxes.
00:06:32.220 What do you mean?
00:06:32.500 If you leave, but this, you come back, you have to pay for this.
00:06:35.700 I'm like, wait a minute.
00:06:36.660 I know my business was going to sell.
00:06:38.920 So I started doing the math.
00:06:40.660 I said, okay, if my business sells for $50 million,
00:06:44.420 I'm going to have to pay 13.3% here.
00:06:47.760 What's 13.3%?
00:06:49.780 $6.5 million.
00:06:51.940 If it sells for $100 million, I'm saving $13.3 million.
00:06:56.100 I sat there. 0.99
00:06:57.040 My wife did not want to leave California. 0.99
00:06:58.640 She's from Houston, Texas. 0.87
00:06:59.900 She does not want to leave.
00:07:00.780 I said, babe, you don't have an option.
00:07:01.720 We're moving to Texas. We moved to Texas in 2016. We moved to Florida 2021. We sold the business June 27th of 2022 for $250 million. Do you know I owned 88% of the company? 13.3% equals what? If I take, let's just do the math right now so we kind of see how this works.
00:07:25.540 I just want to say how much money was saved, and I'm just giving basic math here, right?
00:07:30.740 If I take 250 times 88%, okay, times 0.133, my kid's got an additional $29 million net in my pocket.
00:07:45.180 Why would I stay in California?
00:07:47.160 Why would I stay in some of these states that I have to pay?
00:07:49.200 So people are starting to sit there and say, why would I do so?
00:07:52.000 at the end of the day people who are small business i'm not a not running open ai i'm not
00:07:59.320 you know sergey brand worth 265 billion dollars or musk who left california or some of these other
00:08:04.380 i'm not ken griffin in illinois i'm a small business owner that grew it and i sold it for
00:08:08.300 a good amount family's got some money i sat there i'm like i'm not paying that 29 million dollars
00:08:13.020 that's me it's a meaningful difference and that's the thing right it's like and i think part of the
00:08:17.160 thing that we all have to do as chief executives is is you have to be able to make an argument
00:08:23.280 to business leaders and to and small business leaders large large large corporations say like
00:08:30.260 what is staying here worth it to you for right me let me keep more than my money to make the
00:08:37.580 decision instead of giving it to the federal government or the state or the state but but
00:08:41.180 and it's also what are the things that you care about right and so part of it is going to be
00:08:46.460 Absolutely. Taxes, regulation, talent. Yes. Quality of life. Quality of life. Where do I want my kids to be able to grow up? Where do I want them going to school? Where are they going to feel safe? You have a sense of the historic. Maryland has a sense of historic. Exactly. You have baseball. You have Ravens. You have Ori. You have a lot.
00:09:05.100 But we have to also be able to move with a sense of urgency on economic diversification and attractiveness when it comes to businesses.
00:09:13.620 Listen, since I've been the governor, and I'm very proud of this, since I've been the governor, we have added over 35,000 new businesses to the state of Maryland.
00:09:20.840 Either businesses that have grown within Maryland or businesses that we've gone and stolen from other states.
00:09:25.720 So we're happy that we're actually making progress on that front.
00:09:28.780 Since I've been the governor, and this is despite watching what's happened with our federal workforce, which I talked about, we've added nearly 100,000 new jobs to the state of Maryland.
00:09:39.160 And by the way, that's a majority private sector jobs that have been added.
00:09:43.280 So we're very happy about that.
00:09:45.080 But I'm also very clear we've got to move faster because that economic diversification, being able to focus on these new industries of the future, the places that we can uniquely capture that type of alpha and that type of growth for our state is something that we can't compromise on.
00:09:58.680 And I think for too long, we've been a state that has relied on asking more of the people who were there and not producing enough to be able to keep them.
00:10:08.620 And I think if we can change that mindset and change that mentality, as we started making move towards, we know we have more work to do.
00:10:14.880 I think that's going to be the right answer, particularly in the neighborhood that we call home as well.
00:10:19.640 I think when your age starts with 65, maybe 70, I think we're going to be neighbors in Palm Beach.
00:10:28.680 down here. Who knows?
00:10:30.940 I don't think you will be because you have to stay
00:10:32.560 as a Maryland guy.
00:10:35.140 And I honestly, and here's
00:10:36.740 the thing, it's like, and I
00:10:37.800 love my state and I love what it offers.
00:10:41.080 And honestly, do you know what I'm trying
00:10:42.720 to do right now? I want to make sure that
00:10:44.780 you don't have to be in Palm Beach.
00:10:47.460 I want to make sure that every single
00:10:48.860 Marylander doesn't feel like they have to go anywhere.
00:10:51.120 I want people to know that Maryland is
00:10:52.740 a place that you don't just want to
00:10:54.360 grow and stay and build, but you want to have
00:10:56.800 your kids and your grandkids. You can do something special, man.
00:10:58.400 You can do something as a blue state.
00:11:00.440 You can truly confuse Republicans to say, this guy, Wes Moore, is very confusing.
00:11:07.800 What is this guy?
00:11:08.560 You truly have a shot at changing the face of the Democratic Party because it's lost right now.
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