Last month when Speaker Quinn gave her State of the City address, many were surprised by her sudden willingness to take on the Mayor. I for one was thrilled to see her think about average New Yorkers and help pay for our deficits by taxing the rich instead of always taking from the poor (as Bloomberg has...or more appropriately, driving them out of the city). Of course, she had no problem going around the voters' will last year and extending term limits so that Bloomberg and herself could run for another term, so my trust in her leadership abilities was beyond shattered. So when she hedged on her idea to increase taxes on the rich yesterday, it wasn't too suprising.
From PolitickerNY:
Asked about the prospective of a perfect storm of taxation on upper-income New Yorkers, Ms. Quinn seemed at least willing to entertain the possibility of altering her plan.
“We are going to follow after the state to see what the state does,” she said. “I think that, although I very clearly believe that those who make more have to help out at times like this, we still have to be mindful of a piling-on effect, and even for a multimillionaire, there is some point at which, with A, B, C tax increase, tax increase D will be too many.”
So is she backing off her plan already, should the state adopt a new tax increase?
No, she said. “We just have to see what happens.”
That means she's still on the right side of the issue, but her slight waver is troublesome from a politician such as herself. After slush-fund scandals and the term limits fiasco, her credibility is shot. I certainly hope she comes through on this small city tax hike for the wealthiest among us, but it isn't set in stone.
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