Both Maryland and Virginia are trying to lure the Northrop Grumman headquarters to its state.  Who will win this selection?  It will be based on taxes, safe neighborhoods, quality of life, transportation, office space, a business-friendly approach, and other perks that are normally offered by the state's business development office. 

I predict Virginia will offer Northrop Grumman the best option as I will discuss below.

Defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. says it's moving its corporate office from Los Angeles to the Washington area to be closer to key government customers and will move by 2011. Northrop said it was looking for a location in the Washington area, including the Maryland and Virginia suburbs. It plans to pick a site by this spring and open the office in summer 2011.

The corporate office will house only 300 of Northrop's 120,000 employees worldwide but give it a symbolic and physical tie to the nation's capital. Other defense contractors are located near Washington, including Lockheed Martin Corp., which is based in the suburb of Bethesda, Md.

Northrop said about 30,000 employees would remain in California to perform research, development and manufacturing. The company's aerospace systems sector is based in Redondo Beach, Calif.

Jack Northrop founded Northrop Aircraft Inc. in California in 1939. The company built jet fighters for the United States and other militaries, then expanded to make guided missiles, the B-2 stealth bomber and other defense systems. Northrop also provides electronics, shipbuilding and technical services to government customers and other companies.

Virginia has lower taxes, a business-friendly Governor and legislature, more affordable housing, a better quality of life that includes safer streets, better road and mass transit ssytems, and better office space choices.

Maryland offers a union mentality, a spend-thrift Governor and legislature, higher taxes, and a lower quality of life.  This includes the fact that Maryland welcomes illegal immigrants so there is more crime, more MS-13 gangs, and higher taxes to pay for the illegals.  Also, the state has pushed the fact that they are gay and homosexual-friendly and are pushing this unpopular liberal agenda.

Maryland is losing more and more citizens because they are getting fed up with a Democrat controlled state that taxes too much, spends too much, does not protect their citizens, and pushs  ultra-liberal social agendas.