It’s always fun to use hyperbole and rhetoric when describing politicians but it can get out of hand. Unfortunately, for New York City, calling Mayor Bill de Blasio a communist really isn’t hyperbole.
Bill de Blasio was swept into office on a big wave of progressive support. No, wait. Actually, only 29% of New Yorkers bothered to even vote in the 2013 mayoral election.
Bill de Blasio gave a “State of the City” speech which was about as much of a waste of time as the State of the Union speeches are. This is particularly true since de Blasio has been in office for about six weeks and his notable mayoral achievements are limited to banning horse-drawn carriages in Central Park and shoveling snow into a New York City street, which is illegal. Oh, he also was thought to have delayed plowing the Upper East Side as a token attack on “the rich.”
The State of the City speech was something that Marx would be proud of–and that’s no hyperbole.
The crown jewel of the de Blasio campaign was intertwined with his promise of universal pre-kindergarten for New York City’s children. In a city like New York, this doesn’t sound like an unusual thing for a politician running for mayor on the Democratic ticket to promise. However, Bill de Blasio insisted on making this possible through a tax hike on “the rich.”
Creating Truly Universal Pre-Kindergarten and After-School Programs for ALL Middle School Students. In front of some of New York’s wealthiest residents, Bill de Blasio called for an increase in taxes for New Yorkers earning $500,000 or more to dramatically expand after-school programs for all middle schools students, and to create truly universal pre-K programs.
This is an election year for New York State politicians, including Governor Andrew Cuomo. Is there any reason for Cuomo to raise taxes on anyone in 2014? Hell no:
Gov. Cuomo will teach Mayor de Blasio a lesson Tuesday in power politics — pledging to fund de Blasio’s signature proposal of universal prekindergarten but without raising taxes.
Cuomo will use his annual budget address to call for $1.5 billion in state spending over five years to make pre-K available in every corner of the state, sources told the Daily News.
For those unfamiliar with New York tax law, the State of New York would have to hike the tax rate on New York City residents. Thankfully, the City Council and the Mayor can’t do it on their own. Cuomo, a liberal with sights on the White House in 2016, wants to appear as a pro-business Democrat. Raising taxes could haunt him now and in 2016. So, Cuomo throws Bill de Blasio a bone and says that he’ll fund universal pre-kindergarten without the tax hike. Sounds pretty reasonable for New York, right? Everyone wins?
Wrong. Bill de Blasio wants to make the rich hurt.
We’re simply asking Albany to allow New York City to tax itself – its wealthiest residents…those making a half-million or more a year.
Raising taxes on the rich makes our commitment to our kids more than just words. It makes that commitment REAL. It makes that commitment fair. And it offers a promise to our kids that they can count on.
What chutzpah! Allow New York City to tax itself?
Hey, Bill – if “the richest New Yorkers” wanted to pony up more money to pay for your pipe dream of universal pre-kindergarten, they wouldn’t need to do so under penalty of imprisonment.
The worst part about these taxes is de Blasio is floating proposals for them to be “temporary.” Nothing is more permanent than a “temporary” government tax, to paraphrase. How can New York City establish universal pre-kindergarten forever with a temporary tax?
This tax is a direct target towards folks who earn a sizable paycheck through wages. This won’t affect the white shoe, tony trust fund crowd because they have trusts, tax planning assistance, and make money through corporations and LLCs, which are not paid as wages. This will affect the people who went to school, worked hard and became successful doctors and lawyers who make good money and already pay nearly half of their income to government. These people will pay more because they cannot use tax shelters and deductions.
It’s plain that the laws of economics are not applicable in the mind of de Blasio. New York will suffer because of it.
Frankly, if New Yorkers (of which I am one) are so apathetic, so powerless, or so foolish to permit this man to run our city for any long period of time, we get what we deserve.