Andrew Cuomo has become a national star because of his calm, sane commentaries about New York’s fight to stop the spread of the coronavirus and his compassion for those who have lost their lives and those who risk their lives.
But, Liam Olenick writes, Cuomo is already reverting to his role as a fiscal conservative at a time when additional cuts to public services will endanger those who need them most. Olenick, a teacher, points out that Cuomo steadfastly refuses to tax the richest New Yorkers to help those who will suffer from budget cuts.
The headline says it all: “In Cuomo’s New York, Everyone’s Being Asked to Sacrifice Except the Rich.”
Olenick writes:
Gov. Cuomo just announced another round of $10 billion in cuts to public services in New York, including reductions in aid to public schools, health care and social services. This follows the similarly egregious cuts he imposed on Medicaid and public schools through the state budget process in early April.
Although Cuomo presents these cuts as a virtuous necessity in a time of crisis, they are in fact, entirely avoidable and should be reversed immediately by the Legislature.
As a public school teacher, I know firsthand that these cuts will have dire consequences for public school students in New York City. Our students are already disproportionately bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. The vast majority of students come from the very same historically marginalized communities of color enduring the most death, income loss and instability because of the crisis. Now the governor proposes to dig the knife in further by making it that much harder for schools to support their students through this nightmare…
The governor insists these cuts are needed because we’re in a fiscal crisis and tax revenue is decreasing. But he is conveniently ignoring the fact that New York’s ultra-rich are doing just fine.
But instead of taxing their second, or even third homes via a pied-a-terre tax, implementing a stock-transfer tax or passing an ultra-millionaires income tax, he chose to cut funding for Medicaid, public schools and social services.
If these cuts become permanent, when schools reopen, hundreds of thousands of students who need more academic and mental health support than ever will find that their schools no longer have social workers or counselors, that class sizes are dangerously large and that after-school programs are closed for business. Parent associations will also have a much harder time raising supplemental funds because of the deepening economic crisis caused by COVID and many, many more students will require urgent mental health and academic support as they recover from trauma and missed time in school.
It’s no coincidence that the majority of New York state’s wealthiest billionaires are also Cuomo donors. It’s also not a coincidence that many of these same donors are big charter-school funders.
As public schools grow even more decrepit because of Cuomo’s proposed cuts, the charter schools that Cuomo has allowed to expand in New York state with little oversight will be able to recruit more public school students, justifying even more charter school expansion and public school closures.
Cuomo is a national star when he talks about shared sacrifice in confronting the pandemic. His voice is a welcome contrast to Trump’s incoherence and lack of humanity.
But when it comes to education, Cuomo resembles Trump in his refusal to prioritize and protect public schools and their students.
Whoa…so wrong.
Stupefying.
Gov. Cuomo is constrained by the State Constitution when it applies to taxes. These considerations are relevant especially during this pandemic. He cannot do what our friend is suggesting. Nor he can defy the need for balancing the state’s budget.
He can balance the budget by raising taxes on the richest. Why is that unconstitutional?
Cuomo is constrained by his brain.
Those of us who have seen Cuomo for years understand that he is a power-monger. He wants to control everything himself.
Cuomo is constrained by his ego.
Liat Olenick is wrong and repeating an argument put forward by the Alexandria OC, who fights Cuomo regardless of the truth…
In what respect is he wrong?
Cuomo has proposed steep budget cuts.
He refuses to tax the highest earners.
They contribute to his campaigns.
He may be running in 2024. He needs them.
New York can’t tax its way out of this hole. It’s too big—the budget holes will be far bigger than current estimates—and it would accelerate what is already happening, the wealthy leaving the NYC an NY state. (The “top 1%” are bot remotely “ultra-wealthy” in NYC.) The only thing that saves New York is a bailout. Public employee wage freezes are also necessary. I have zero expectation of convincing anyone here of this.
Actually the Federal Reserve could do for the States what they did for Wall Street in 2009-16 . What they did weeks ago when they purchased boatloads of corporate debt. Much of it in oil and oil exploration.
So you are correct NY is already the highest taxed state in the Union and wealth is mobile. A divide and conquer strategy has been in effect since 1947. And wealth has follow industry to the taker states. Where my NY dollars flow to enable them to not raise taxes.
Yet legislators from Blue States keep participated in the charade orchestrating the outflow of dollars to states gaming the system unwilling to raise their State and Local taxes.
Time to give these States what they are asking for and see how long it takes for the Guillotines to come out.
Several of my colleagues and acquaintances whose annual income ranges from $500k to probably $10 million decamped to Connecticut, Jersey, Florida, and Texas in mid-March and have said they likely will not return to the city, as they (and their employers, for those who aren’t self-employers) have been surprised to realize that technology enables them to perform their line of work remotely and efficiently. Businesses are also realizing they can reduce their NYC footprints and save huge amounts spent on commercial real estate.
Meanwhile, I know many less wealthy people who are not yet broke who are planning to leave the area so their children can play with friends, engage in team sports, and the rest of the things that make up childhood but which NYC kids will be forbidden to do for much longer than the rest of the country. I would flee myself if I were a renter (can’t sell property in this market).
A bailout is the only way back for NYC. Even then it will be a long and painful trip.
FLERP!
What you have wrong is the assumption that the carnage you see in NYC will not hit the entire Nation. The rate of transmission in rural or less dense Urban areas may be slower, the amount of transmission will not be. The NYC metro area was crushed harder because of the Mass Transit Infection super highway. Dense Manhattan had a lower infection rates then Queens, Brooklyn the Bronx with longer commutes. . Only Social distancing protects the more affluent from infection. The working classes more exposed are in essential and not quite essential jobs.
Little league is out.
Somebody has to explain to me why the state of Florida (22 million people) has a lower infection rate at this point than Suffolk county (1.4 million) where multi family housing is almost as rare as the extinct Do Do bird
The numbers in both locations have been on par for 5 weeks, long after the transit spread had stopped.
So 90 % of Florida’s infection numbers were over 18 days delayed when I checked a week ago. The State had to be sued to get a list of infected nursing homes .
We will only know the extent of the carnage when year over year mortality is compared. Herd immunity if there is any does not apply till between 60 and 70% of the population is infected .
No doubt some can work from home. I am not sure how productivity compares.
NYC is unique among cities, and obviously among rural and suburban areas. The numbers today bear that out and the numbers in the end will bear that out. It’s not totally clear why but almost certainly has to do with a confluence of factors like extreme density, heavy regional reliance on public transit, and international travel. The nationwide panic over the beaches of Florida just a few weeks ago already seems like a distant absurdity, although some will keep up the panic forever. (Perhaps vast expanses of sand in hot weather isn’t a great place for a coronavirus to spread like wildfire?)
I walked out the front door yesterday and saw a woman being attacked by a lunatic in broad daylight. She made it into a nearby building, where the doorman let her in while beating back the lunatic. This is pretty ordinary in my neighborhood these days. It will probably get worse as the MTA/NYPD are now going to shut down the subways at night to flush the homeless population into the streets (this is a momentous scaleback of NYC’s 24-hour subway service and I suspect it will not be a short-term change, given the MTA’s finances). I started carrying a makeshift weapon when I go outside, so I’ll be ready for the next lunatic I see trying to put a stranglehold on someone.
FLERP!
Unlike New York where the virus was riding the Trains from the second week in February. The virus may not have been as prevalent in Florida at the time . Those spring breaker’s were from all over the eastern half of the country and they did bring the virus home with them .
Manhattan South of 96thst has the lowest case count in the city. Is that because it is less dense than the single family homes in fresh Meadows. Or is that because they are sitting at home on their butts working from home or able to afford staying home. Ordering from Instacart and Grub Hub.
As for Florida numbers they are fraudulent . Suffolk county is certainly less dense than South Florida.
DeSantis is in Major coverup mode on cases and deaths
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article242369266.html
Lot of uncertainties here (although the trends seem fairly clear to me). The only thing you can take to the bank is that the shutdowns will have a disastrous impact on the country, the economy (aka the thing that supports people’s lives), children’s physical and mental health and safety, and the long-term health of adults. To the bank.
Agreed, FLERP.
Andrew Cuomo is “disgusting and disrespectful”: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cuomo-homeless-subway-disgusting-disrespectful_n_5ea8713bc5b62271082f92f8?section=politics&utm_source=politics_fb&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013&utm_campaign=hp_fb_pages&utm_medium=facebook
After the 2008 recession, in 2012, California voters raised taxes to keep schools funded, even though billionaires secretly funded an anti-Prop 30 campaign. New York needs to raise taxes on wealthy individuals yesterday. It’s well worth it, and it’s what blue state voters will choose if given a chance.