It really is no surprise, unfortunately, that the country is spinning out of control, the middle-class is dying and we are trapped in some of the dumbest debates imaginable–chief among them the entirely phony argument over a non-existent debt and deficit "crisis". Not surprising because many of these debates have political leaders essentially taking the same side of the argument. That is, that the economic crisis we face is the fault of the middle-class, workers, unions, and a generous way of life–not the fault of a greedy elite, the very rich, and the fools who believe in the bankrupt so-called "free market" who have robbed this country of its wealth over the past 30 years.
What is most appalling about the positions taken by our leaders is how often they reflect not intellectual honesty but more political ambition. Which brings us to the case of King Cuomo, the governor of New York who is perfectly willing to destroy the middle-class in the state and leave hundreds of thousands of people with a crippled retirement if it furthers one goal: his own political career.
Ah, yes, we know how richly those public workers live in retirement. So, King Cuomo will take care of that:
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, joining a parade of officials from across the country who are seeking to rein in spending by limiting public employees’ pensions, proposed Wednesday to broadly limit retirement benefits for new city and state workers in New York.
Mr. Cuomo said New York State and New York City simply could no longer afford to offer new employees the generous benefits their predecessors received.
Among the most significant changes the governor proposes is to raise the minimum retirement age to 65 from 62 for state workers, and to 65 from 57 for teachers.
“The numbers speak for themselves — the pension system as we know it is unsustainable,” the governor said in a statement. “This bill institutes common-sense reforms to bring government benefits more in line with the private sector while still serving our employees and protecting our retirees.”
In one sense, I am not surprised. Right after King Cuomo was inaugurated, I termed him the poodle-for-the-rich. Out of the gate, the poodle (and, I know, this is a smear on that canine breed for which I apologize) was out to freeze pay for the people who got screwed but would not dare ask for any sacrifice from the people who are filthy rich (and who contribute piles of dough to his political career). And he was clear: he would gladly cut pensions for the people who have worked for decades at 9-5 jobs, who packed their own lunches and ate out on the streets, in parks, or in souless cafeterias–but would never ask the people who were served by the regular people to pay a bit more in taxes–such a relatively small amount that those people could still be assured that they would continue to dine in those hushed dining rooms with fine wine, play golf at the exclusive members-only country clubs and board their private planes to the tropics while the working stiffs stayed home to count their pennies.
And all this is lathered with lies. Let me just pick out the most bald-faced lie.
"The pension system is unsustainable." That’s a complete and utter lie. It is a lie because it makes it seem like we have no money in the state.
Oh, to be sure, there is a lack of money–if you are not rich. Though a lot of New Yorkers who live on the Upper West and East sides like to make jokes about the poverty in Alabama and Georgia, the truth is "New York state is the most polarized among the fifty states, and New York City is more polarized than the state overall and is the most polarized among the twenty-five largest cities in the United States," as the Fiscal Policy Institute demonstrated.
King Cuomo, the poodle-for-the-rich, will only make that divide bigger. Who does he think will suffer with these pensions cuts? His campaign contributor friends?
We have plenty of money in the state to keep giving people decent pension–if the poodle-for-the-rich decided to act like a Democrat–or at least what Democrats once stood for–and went after the people who actually have the money.
A bit of history. Because of the disastrous tax cuts enacted in 1994 by the previous governor, Republican George Pataki, the state takes in $16 billion less each year. $16 billion. Thanks to tax cuts favoring the rich enacted by a Republican, tax cuts that King Cuomo, the poodle-for-the-rich, sees no reason to reverse or change.
As a result of those tax cuts, as New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness shows:
Low and middle-income families in New York pay a far higher share of their income in state and local taxes than the richest New Yorkers. The richest 1% – those with an average income of $1.6 million – pay only 9.1% of their income in state and local taxes; after the federal offset, the effective tax rate is only 6.5%. The tax rate on families in the middle-of-the-income distribution ($27,000 and $44,000) is 11.9%; 11.6% after the federal offset. The poorest New Yorkers – those below $15,000 – pay at the highest tax rate, 12.6%.
Raising the state tax rates just slightly, by level, on those earning more than $200,000, $500,000, $1 million, $5 million and $10 million could raise $6 BILLION. And those rate hikes are modest.
Or as The New York Times pointed out:
In New York, an increase of two percentage points in the state income tax could raise about $9 billion and perhaps tip the state into surplus.
There is plenty of money here. Recall this: As I wrote recently, quoting The Wall Street Journal, "In 2010, total compensation and benefits at publicly traded Wall Street banks and securities firms hit a record of $135 billion, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal." So, the very people responsible for the financial criminality and/or incompetence on Wall Street are now the beneficiaries–again.
On the other hand, we have a demand in New York, by King Cuomo, to cut the pensions of millions of workers, who were the VICTIMS of the financial criminality and/or incompetence on Wall Street.
The other immoral, intellectual dishonest, utterance coming from King Cuomo is his argument that we should bring pensions more "in line" with the private sector. "In-line" means lower. "In-line" means unsustainable. "In-line" means living in poverty.
Since 1978, the number of defined-benefit plans (meaning, real pensions where you can count on a set amount of money no matter what greedy Wall Street traders do) plummeted from 128,041 plans covering some 41 percent of private-sector workers to only 26,000 today (source: Employee Benefit Research Institute). Only 21 percent of workers in the private sector have defined-benefit pensions. And almost half of the people with pensions today don’t have them through the companies they work for–basically, because the CEOs are taking whatever cash is left on the table.
The pension King Cuomo wants everyone to be "in-line" with are the crappy 401ks that have left millions of people shit out luck since the financial implosion–seniors, for example, being kicked out of their retirement homes because their 401ks are gone.
So, what is going on here? King Cuomo does not care how many people he has to step on to further his political career. That’s been obvious ever since he has inhabited the political scene.
But, he is part of a dialogue of stupidity layered with lies that has infected the country. The bi-partisan blather is pretty simple to sum up:
1. There is a "crisis". (because that’s what all the "smart people" and "talking heads" are saying)
2. Oh my god, what do we do? (because most political leaders are entirely devoid of independent, critical thinking)
3. Let’s screw everyone but the rich. (because I don’t have the spine to take on the rich and powerful)
The question is: what do we do? Massive, peaceful civil disorder is called for. We need to bring this state to a halt. Close it down. Take over the governor’s mansion.
We should march to the high-end restaurants and the private country clubs, carrying pictures of loves ones who will be hurt by the public execution ordered by the hired-gun, poodle-for-the-rich governor. Let’s fill the jails.
If you think that is extreme, let’s compare the options: allowing a public execution of the livelihood of thousands of people, and flushing down the drain any semblance of a fair society, versus a little inconvenience and public disruption.
Maybe, then, Democrats will stop acting like Republicans.
