Conservatives are decrying New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan to impose a pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes, calling it the beginning of a slippery slope that could eventually affect us all.
First They Came for the Billionaires
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The TMI Show" talk show. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
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Yes, affect us all, if “all” is defined as those who own at least one pied-à-terre.
Ted, how about an illustrated laughing square on “affordable housing”? As in, “to qualify for it, you must make at least $60,000.”
Now there’s the Ted I know…………………looking up “pabulum.”
The NYC budget (recent) is > $100 billion. This tax is expected to generate is $500 million, 0.5% of the budget.
The reaction of conservatives confirms the political significance of the tax but a 0.25% on every Wall Street transaction would be lot more financially significant.
Yes, tax the income and assets of the rich, but this selective tax leaves me with some unease. Why tax the billionaires who buy a pied-à-terre but not those who instead by a super yacht, etc?
At the national level, I’d rather have a 50% across-the-board income tax rate to replace both the current federal income tax and the employee side of federal payroll taxes — and have a $18K per person universal basic income. A single person who makes $36K more than their standard deduction ends up paying no net income tax or payroll taxes. Those who make more will pay some tax, though perhaps less than they pay now unless they are rich. Those who make less will get a net payment from the government instead of having to pay taxes. Win, win, win, and it avoids this somewhat random selection of which things to tax.
From the penthouse
To the prison
To the humble pied a terre
Are they taking up the cry?