New York Governor Caves to Occupy Wall Street
The Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo may finally understand the ultimate outrage from Occupy Wall Street. That ultimate outrage appears to be that the rich are not paying their proportionate share of discretionary income as compared to the share of discretionary income paid by the middle class and poor. The outrage from various news media outlets that the governor is failing to live up to a promise to not extend the millionaire's surcharge may be misguided in failing to understand the support that Occupy Wall Street has in the United States.
The millionaire's surcharge is the temporary tax hike of up to thirty-one percent introduced in 2009. The surcharge can in fact burden people earning as little as $200,000 a year. The surcharge is set to expire on December 31, 2011.
Not too long ago, Governor Cuomo publicly made statements to not allow the millionaire's surcharge to be extended. Just last month he said, “You are kidding yourself if you think that you can be one of the highest-taxed states in the nation, have a reputation for being anti-business, and have a rosy economic future.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Governor now plans to overhaul the state's personal income tax rates by raising revenue from the wealthy and lower taxes for others. The state of New York faces a budget gap that is more than $3 billion next year. From a speech the Governor made in November in Puerto Rico, “Fairness in the tax code is a very important issue.”
Ultimately, whether the media or the Governor of New York or realizes it or not, the Governor has sided with Occupy Wall Street and its protest of the fairness of the wealth distribution system in the United States.
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