I do think that zohran is very charismatic and the type of leader that will win votes for the dems, basically a populist with mostly ineffective policy goals like trump.

that said, I’m not really sure how these folks get away with lying about taxes. top 1% of earners in NYC paid nearly half (~48%) of all personal income tax in 2021, so the solution is to tax them…?

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I mean if it were up to me wed turn them upside down and shake them until all their money comes out.

I don’t necessarily disagree, my post is more about populist myths along the lines of “the 1% don’t pay taxes.” it’s pretty silly to claim people aren’t taxed in NY state when the effective rate is around 45%.

I would argue that 48% is not enough. Also “earners” is a pretty vague term when so much of their wealth is not from direct income.

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It’s certainly misleading and an oversimplification of, “The rich don’t pay their fair share”. However, that doesn’t roll off the tongue for campaigning.

that’s great, doesn’t require lying about the rich not paying taxes though. the top tax brackets in pretty much all developed countries pay the vast majority, it is what it is.

the type of reductive rhetoric like the example I shared is embarrassing to any thinking person with an ounce of common sense.

What Zohran is proposing isn’t arbitrary—it’s a 2% city income surtax on those earning over $1 million, plus a corporate tax increase to match New Jersey’s rate (11.5%). These two steps are projected to raise nearly $25 billion annually. That money would go directly toward expanding affordable housing, fare-free public transit, universal childcare, and tuition-free colleges—all issues that directly affect working- and middle-class New Yorkers.

So it’s not about “punishing” the wealthy—it’s about funding the kind of infrastructure and support that makes the city livable for everyone.