Somebody must have reminded Donald Trump Tuesday that he hadn’t sounded like Louis XIV for a few hours, so he posted an angry Truth Social rant against New York City’s planned “pied-à-terre tax” on second homes with market values over $5 million, He also claimed he was “looking into” whether the federal government might be able to put a stop to the law, which was passed by the New York state Legislature in May. Trumpers everywhere oppose it not only because it’s a tax, but also because it’s French.
A judge in Staten Island Monday temporarily blocked the city from moving forward on the tax, after which the city filed a motion to appeal, which put an automatic stay on the judge’s order, so the policy will remain in place for the moment while the case grinds through the courts. That doesn’t mean the rich will be eaten or even defenestrated just yet, but administrative work needed to implement the tax can continue. Most of that involves determining which properties will be subject to the surcharge.
Trump insisted that the tax, which might at the outside affect 17,000 properties in New York City, was already leading “tens of thousands of people” to flee to Florida and Texas, taking all their money (and potential tax revenue) with them, a population drain that hasn’t actually happened, and he complained as usual about the “Radical Left Jihadists” running New York, like Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul we guess. Here’s a screenshot of his dumb little rant:
Trump fretted that “This dangerous political ‘experiment’ in New York will destroy what was once a great City and State,” which seems a tad hyperbolic considering that taxing the rich has never once resulted in the collapse of an entire state’s economy. (Remember, after Massachusetts instituted a “millionaire tax,” the number of millionaires in the state actually increased.)
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While he was at it, Trump also griped yet again about how leftist jihadists instituted congestion pricing in Manhattan, terrorizing the population with cleaner air and less traffic, insisting, “This doesn’t work in America, and must be stopped, NOW!” We’re pretty sure the great thinker meant both congestion pricing and the pied-à-terre tax, since he then said he’d make the federal government put a stop to them.
But in case you were wondering about how the $9 toll on cars entering Manhattan’s Congestion Relief Zone really is working, it’s going quite nicely, as Gov. Hochul noted in January after the program’s first year. Traffic was reduced in the zone by 11 percent, which brought down traffic accidents and injuries as well. Notably, the air quality in the area is also significantly better, with 22 percent less fine particulate pollution in the zone and reduced levels in surrounding neighborhoods, too. Those tiny particulates are the ones that lead to lung and heart disease, so it’s great for the population’s health when they’re reduced — at least when Canada and the Midwest aren’t on fire.
Trump eventually got to his point: To protect himself from a tax surcharge on his Trump Tower penthouse, which would almost certainly be subject to the tax, Trump will magnanimously protect everyone in New York from having their multimillion-dollar penthouses taxed, too.
“I am looking to see if the Federal Government has any legal right to avert this disaster, before it is too late, for the millions of people who cherish New York and want to see it thrive, as opposed to becoming a filthy, crime ridden, decrepit place of mockery and scorn,” Trump said, because if you tax the rich, they’ll be sad, the economy will collapse, and the filth and crime will migrate from the White House into the streets.
Yr Wonkette is not a lawyer, but we aren’t at all sure the federal government is allowed to interfere in how states choose to raise revenue unless they’re actually violating federal law. Trump didn’t identify any US laws that might be involved, but that’s what he has an army of Heritage Foundation lawyers for.
Still, the really important thing is that Trump is pushing the fear button yet again, because only jihadists support taxing the rich. OK, jihadists and over 60 percent of Americans in a Pew Research Center survey last year, who said taxes should be raised on big corporations. A good 34 percent said those taxes should be raised “a lot.” Similarly, nearly as many people in the survey (58 percent) support higher taxes on household incomes over $400,000, with 23 percent saying those folks should be taxed “a lot” more.
The Wall Street Journal also found (gift link) that voters in the state of New York want to do jihad on the rich, because they too are wild-eyed radicals:
Just over half of those polled by the Siena Research Institute support the state raising personal income taxes for those earning at least $1 million. New York City voters are also enthusiastic about the idea, with 62% of those polled by Siena supporting the idea.
Wow, that’s a lot of jihadists! These must be terrifying times to be a rich fuckwad, and isn’t that a shame?
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Zohran Mamdani Ate The Rich 🙁
New York City Oppressing Manhattanites With Cleaner Air, Less Traffic
[Politico / CNBC / WSJ (gift link) / The Hill]
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