New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is trying to get panicky New Yorkers to take a cleansing breath over the possibility of Zohran Mamdani making good on his plan to tax the daylights out of the uber-rich of the Big Apple. According to the New York Post, Hochul put in an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" to tout all of the hand-holding she has been doing:
I’ve spoken to hundreds of business leaders saying, ‘Listen, nothing is going to happen to this city without me being aware of it and involved in it. So don’t talk about packing up and leaving and all these other overreactions. I’ve become the therapist in chief, it seems. So I’m saying to everybody, ‘We’re going to be okay.’ Maybe it’s the mom in me. I know how to calm down situations, and we’ll get through this. Don’t panic, everybody. Let the process play out, let the voters decide, and then we’ll deal with it.
Don't talk about packing up and leaving? If memory serves, at the height of the Biden era, Hochul was more than happy to tell disgruntled New Yorkers that they were welcome to decamp from the Empire State and set out for Florida. Back then, it was "don't let the door hit you." Now, it's "Baby, please don't go."
Well, there is a difference. When the working Joe or Jane declares New York City to be unlivable and starts making their way south, that's no big loss. Conversely, when high-earners and corporations start looking for the exit, that's a whole new ballgame, sports fans.
The outlet noted that after Mamdani had scored his primary win, Hochul commented, “I’m focused on affordability, and raising taxes on anyone does not accomplish that. I’m making sure that people who create jobs will stay here so that we can have good-paying jobs.” The Post noted that Hochul stated she would utilize her power to prevent any tax hikes on millionaires and corporations. Who else is going to pay for all that free stuff?
As I have said before, what Hochul does not realize is that wealthy virtue-signalers will be more than happy to vote for Mamdani for no other reason than to tell their girlfriends about it over mimosas during brunch. Then, they will high-tail it out of town faster than you can say "Allied Van Lines."
And who will be left to cope with the aftermath? The working-class people who could not afford to make tracks to the Sunshine State. And that's because it's the big-ticket residents Hochul wants to keep. Never mind the neighborhood bodega owners who will have to shutter their stores once Mamdani's city-run grocery stores commence operations:
Miguel Valerio, 51, who owns two bodegas in the Bronx, said he worried for the welfare of his dozen employees — and pointed out government workers may not be suited to running a business like his.
“I don’t want to lose my job,” Valerio, a dad of two, told The Post.
“The government doesn’t want to do the same thing I do every day. I wake up at 5:00, I go to sleep by 11:00 every day,” he added.
“What is going to happen to people running their business?” Valerio asked. “I have 12 people working for me, that’s what I care about.”
Valerio may be an "acceptable loss" in Hochul's eyes, but she is all too aware that there are those who will mouth the words to maintain their progressive image and then go on being capitalists in another state. With that in mind, Hochul may have finally realized that it is one thing to spur young radicals to stage a revolution so long as they color inside the lines. It's another thing to realize that they are serious about it, and someone is going to have to pay the tab.
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