Run Billy Run!
NYC Comptroller Bill Thompson (D)
While Mayor Mike spread the green (so to speak) at the Staten Island St. Patrick’s Day Parade this weekend, his so-far-only-kinda-officially-announced major Democratic competitor (sorry Tony A) stepped up his “Mike’s out of touch” attacks.
Comptroller Bill Thompson launched into a (for him) blistering blast on Bloomberg — specifically the Mayor’s comments during his radio show on Friday morning when hizzoner responded to questions about the fairness of hiking taxes on the rich in these tough times.
Here’s what Bloomberg said on Jon Gambling’s show: “We can tax the rich, except that, if you haven’t looked at the stock market lately, they aren’t making any money.” Bloomberg went on to say, “You know, the yelling and screaming about the rich – we want rich from around this country to move here. We love the rich people.”
And here’s what Thompson had to say about that on Sunday:
This is one of the clearest defenses I’ve ever read of the Reagan-Bush Republican philosophy of trickle-down economics. For eight years, George Bush said virtually the same thing our Mayor said on Friday – we need to give tax cuts to the rich, because it will trickle down to everyone in society. I have a very different philosophy. I believe that our working families and small businesses are the ones who drive our economy. I believe that government should be focused on helping the middle class. And I believe that the trickle-down philosophy has caused us to be in the mess that the country is in today. I think that at times, the Mayor’s wealth has caused him to be out of touch with what most New Yorkers experience every day.
It’s by far the toughest language the generally congenial Comptroller has used in describing Bloomberg or his policies. He’ll follow up this morning with a proposal to hike the city’s current 3.65% income tax rate to 4.3% for those making more than a half-mil per year with the rate going to 4.8% for folks earning more than a million in taxable income.
But Thompson probably should talk to his state counterpart Tom DiNapoli before accusing the mayor of “not getting it.” DiNapoli reported just six weeks ago that bonuses to taxpaying New Yorkers in the financial industry fell 44% in 2008 costing the state a cool billion in tax revenue and the city $275 million. Indeed Thompson himself noted last September that Wall Street accounted for almost half NYC’s tax revenues in the past few years.
So it’s hard to argue with Bloomberg saying “We love rich people,” since it’s those rich people with their rich, taxable bonuses that have filled the city’s coffers for much of this decade. Thompson sure as hell better love rich folks if he wants to bring in an extra billion in revenue from them. Everyone acknowledges the era of easy Wall Street money has come to an end and honest minds can disagree over the wisdom of hiking taxes on the rich at this time. Is it killing the golden goose or sharing the pain?
So while recent polls show most New Yorkers actually agree with Thompson that Bloomberg is a bit out of touch with the average person, the Comptroller’s latest broadside takes the mayor’s perfectly rational (if politically tone-deaf) statements and turns them into something they are not.
If Thompson can follow up and engage Bloomberg in a real debate about the merits of hiking top tax rates, however, he could do himself and the rest of us a lot of good.
The public is made to be a political pawn in these arguments about income taxes, who should pay and who does pay. Non-factual characterizations about the tax code are made to get a rise out of a certain section of the population, and that is done to get certain person or party elected.
The percent of taxes paid and the total amount of income taxes paid are two separate things. Most people don’t know that at every level of government, the upper income people pay the vast majority of income taxes when measured in dollars. So, you can gripe about the rich, but they pay a lot of tax dollars. If the state tax upper income tax rates rise too much, you risk driving them to another state. If the federal tax upper income rates rise too much, you risk driving them into non-productive tax shelters. One has to find the right balance.
We are now in an era of populism. The media is taking advantage of it by covering and publishing populist stories to help their ratings. Most politicians are trying to use it to their advantage to win elections.
One thing to know about Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, is he knows his numbers — stone cold. He may not be the most sensitive communicator, but he knows his numbers. I don’t work for him, but I have seen him in action once. He rattled off numbers to a major state legislator about the state of the city’s finances. He knew exactly where the city’s revenues were coming from (Broadway, restaurants, tourism, etc.) and he knew the state of those businesses. The interesting thing is this legislator acted like they didn’t even care, even though all their constiuents live in New York City. But Mr. Bloomberg knew the facts, and that was impressive.
I guess you dont’ get to be a self-made billionaire without knowing about revenues and how you get them.