• Avid Amoeba@lemmy.caOP
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    13 hours ago

    This is how you do it when you’re serious about achieving what you promise for your constituents. Use your tools as needed, demand cooperation, when you don’t get it, use your tools as leverage. Even if you fail, people see you did what you could and then they’re ready to punish whoever stood in your way at the ballot box. This is why the oligarch class is so afraid of Mamdani who’s just a mayor.

    • cybervseas@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      I’m a NYC resident, and I pay property taxes. If this is the stick that will (hopefully) get us the carrot of a wealth tax, I’m all for it. If property taxes end up going up, and we can use it to make the city better with the services Mamdani wants to get going, well then let’s go. I will figure out how to pay the additional taxes somehow. With that said, let this be a bargaining chip. Working with the rest of NYC’s political class is like a bunch of toddlers. The best thing you can do is give them two options, one you want (which they won’t like) and one you don’t want (which they really won’t like). And make them pick. So they feel like they have agency, it’s their decision, don’tchaknow?

    • homes@piefed.world
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      12 hours ago

      It’s a little bit misleading to refer to as any mayor of New York City as “just a mayor“.

      • Asafum@lemmy.world
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        12 hours ago

        It’s just a tiny little financial capitol of the world with a measley population of only 8.4 million people.

        • cecilkorik@piefed.ca
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          11 hours ago

          And California is the world’s 4th largest economy, behind only the entire rest of the United States, China, and Germany. New York State would be 8th.

          The Democratic states and cities are economic and sociopolitical leaders for a reason. Don’t listen to the bullshit calling them socialist hellholes. The evidence suggests that taking care of your people (and maybe even having illegal immigrants too gasp or better yet legal immigrants) is actually an economically sound, and maybe even economically preferable strategy overall.

          • Pennomi@lemmy.world
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            11 hours ago

            Illegal immigrants are one of the strongest boosters of the economy, since they are a source of cheap skilled labor. You’d have to be totally stupid to intentionally throw away that advantage.

            I agree that it would be better to make them legal however. I believe in free movement and commerce.

            • FauxLiving@lemmy.world
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              2 hours ago

              I agree that it would be better to make them legal however. I believe in free movement and commerce.

              100% Nobody wants to be in this situation.

              The system simply doesn’t allow for people to enter ‘in the right way’, as far as the vast majority of non-rich people around the world are concerned the US Border is closed unless you win a literal lottery.

              We clearly need these people and benefit from their presence both economically and culturally. Instead of creating an immigration system that reflects that reality, we have one that makes them live in the shadows and deal with exploitation because they cannot access normal public services, including the police, for fear of being arrested (possibly violently) and thrown in detention for an unspecified amount of time.

              It has to be different, and not in the ways that these white nationalists cosplaying as law enforcement are envisioning.

        • deadmyk@lemmy.world
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          12 hours ago

          I love when people say the us should get rid of CA. Yeah let’s just throw away the worlds 4th largest economy because you’re anti woke 🙄

          • pachrist@lemmy.world
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            12 hours ago

            You can also casually remind people that more Republicans live in California than Texas, which usually makes their head explode. It’s an enormous state, with a huge economy, with tons and tons of people.

          • homes@piefed.world
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            12 hours ago

            People like that are willing to do or say anything in order to get validation for their shitty beliefs

            • FishFace@piefed.social
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              6 hours ago

              I mean everyone has something they value more than economics… For some, those are bad values, but it’s not unique.

    • errer@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      Uh doesn’t this just inflict pain on the middle class if it ends up passing?

      • kinther@lemmy.world
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        56 minutes ago

        Most people dont make over 1,000,000 a year. A millionaires tax, like the one passed in Washington state, only taxes 9.9% of every dollar OVER ONE MILLION. The first million has the same tax rate as everyone else.

        They still keep 90.1% of every dollar over one million. It is not as if it is forfeit. They will still be making a shit ton of money.

        • errer@lemmy.world
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          53 minutes ago

          Talking about the property tax, not the wealth tax. And even though it’s lower than other parts of the country, a third of NYC denizens own their homes, so a property tax increase seems like it’d have a lot of collateral effects on the not-so-wealthy.

      • LordCrom@lemmy.world
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        10 hours ago

        Does the middle class own property in New York at all? I thought most just rent apartments.

        • vortic@lemmy.world
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          9 hours ago

          And you think land lords won’t pass increased property taxes on to their tenants?

          I don’t live in NYC so I won’t give an opinion on this but landlords won’t just eat increased taxes.

          • porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml
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            9 hours ago

            No, in a market like NYC rents are already the maximum that the market can bear, and a lower percentage of property prices than elsewhere. Landlords in fact will eat at least part of the increased taxes because the only other option is to not rent the property. That’s exactly why they’re so upset about it.

          • iopq@lemmy.world
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            9 hours ago

            Property taxes are paid by the renters. Landlords don’t have any money other than rent. This is a tax on tenants with extra steps

            • FauxLiving@lemmy.world
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              3 hours ago

              Landlords don’t have any money other than rent. This is a tax on tenants with extra steps

              The landlords that this is targeted against are not the slightly rich guy who owns an apartment building, it’s people like Citadel LLC who has nearly $70 Billion dollars of assets under management, a large portion of which are rental properties.

              Those landlords have the money to pay the taxes. They own much more expensive properties, many of which are held empty and are limited in how much they can raise their prices indirectly, due to them already charging as much as the market will bear and also directly by Mamdani freezing rents.

              In addition, many wealthy people in NYC own expensive housing (including Trump) that they use and do not rent.