If Texas governor Rick Perry's logic is right, there is literally no way that Cliff Lee is coming to Boston. The good news, though, is by the same logic, there's even less chance he ends up in New York.
Appearing on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart on Monday night, Perry spoke with host Jon Stewart about the point of time in which the country "ran off the rails." According to the Republican governor, that came a long time ago when the state income tax was instituted.
"The 16th Ammendment, giving [the government] the opportunity to take your money with the personal income tax — that's the reason Cliff Lee is going to stay in Texas, the personal income tax, you know that," Perry said.
The studio crowd laughed at Perry's assessment, prompting Daily to tell the crowd to "settle down," adding, "He doesn't realize you're Yankee fans."
That's of course because the state of Texas does not have an income tax, a tidbit that has caught the ire of athletes' eyes for years.
By contrast, Massachusetts has a fixed 5.3 percent income tax, while Lee would obviously earn enough to be taxed in New York's highest bracket, which would be 7.7 percent.
If Lee is to receive the type of money that Yankees ace CC Sabathia is making — which is expected — he'd stand to lose quite a bit in Massachusetts and even more in New York.
Sabathia made roughly $24 million for 2010. If Lee gets a deal worth $25 million this offseason, he would pay roughly $1.325 million in Massachusetts and about $1.925 million in New York in income taxes alone.
