Deborah Glick on (Hypothetical) Progressive Tax Increases
I just got off the phone with Manhattan-based Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, a members of the Ways and Means Committee, about the possible need to raise taxes in the next budget. (Eliot Spitzer already backed off one such revenue-generating idea.)
Glick said she’s unsure if the state budget is in that much trouble, but indicated that if it's determined that there is a need, raising taxes on the wealthier taxpayers would be her preferred option.
“I can’t envision, in this incoming budget, a significant raise in any taxes, although there is probably enough money in the top tier. We’ve tended to flatten out our tax structure and I would hope, as time goes on, to increase the progressivity of that, of our state tax structure. I don’t envision that happening, but I hope at some point, if there are serious needs in health care and infrastructure, that we wouldn’t be too afraid to address it appropriately.”
- Poll
- Obama (D)
- McCain(R)
- Spread
- RCP Average
- 46.6
- 44.2
- Obama +2.4
- Candidate
- Favorable
- Unfavorable
- Spread
- Obama
- 55.8
- 35.8
- +20.0
- McCain
- 54.8
- 36.6
- +18.2
Deborah Glick is a true gem amidst the pebbles and stones of Albany. Not only is she smart as a whip, she also works hard for her district, and is ethically above reproach. The people of the 66th A.D. are lucky to have her.
"The people of the 66th A.D. are lucky to have her."
But the people of New York State are not. Additional taxes, even if they're limited to the top tier of payers, is a wrongheaded approach to dealing with the State's enormous budget. There is no way to tax your way out of the multi-billion dollar deficits that are coming New York's way.
Why don't lawmakers do some real work and set up oversight hearings where they can demand full accountability from State agencies about their spending? More regulation and disclosure of State contracts and State authorities would be revealing: the amount of waste that has yet to be discovered is probably in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
And as for Spitzer, he should take a page from Bloomberg and order his agency heads to prepare draft budgets with a specified amount of proposed reductions. There is no way around it.
More taxes is the last thing New York State needs.
You are both right.
1. We need to shift the burden onto the super-rich and off the backs of the people who can least afford it. Driving a wedge between the lower and middle class and the super-rich is not in our communal best interests.
2. We must reduce the size of government at all levels. NYS advocates shared services between and among local governments. I would advocate shared services in and among the state and federal government. Duplication of services only promotes middle class welfare - the growth of employment in government - and does not promote economic productivity or growth of the gross domestic product.
Promote work over wealth. Cut government employment without cutting services. Clean up our environment with effective pollution control enforcement against our largest offenders. Promote premier education.