You don’t need a degree in economics to understand the common sense principle that you can’t spend more money than you have.Yet year after year, our City Council and mayor are in a race to outspend prior fiscal years.
The most recent budget proposed by the mayor is well over $98 billion and fails to take into account the money from the federal government , without which the city and state would be reeling in bankruptcy. Instead of proposing a lean and responsible budget, the mayor is driving the city into further debt.
The city’s out of control taxation, fines and fees is causing a population shift away from New York City to states like Florida and Texas. People who move to Florida can save up to 33% of their income taxes.
Our elected officials tax the heck out of the rich and big corporations, failing to understand that they can easily leave and cause decreasing revenue collections as a result of their departure. We saw this in Long Island City when Amazon was chased out by our elected officials, devastating collateral businesses and causing tremendous job loss and opportunities.
Supporting businesses and companies meant creating good-paying jobs and opportunities. Today’s Democrats believe that the rich are evil and that corporations are demonic.
More pernicious is the real truth. The budget gets bigger and bigger on the backs of the working class. Our elected officials pander to special interests and lobbyists for donations and endorsements.
John J. Ciafone is a lawyer and Democratic candidate for City Council in northwest Queens.
