Tell Cuomo we want progressive tax reform!

If you’ve been watching the gubernatorial race, you’ll know that Andrew Cuomo has been knighted as Democratic candidate. What you may not know is that he appears to have his head in the clouds about what could help New Yorkers: progressive taxation.

It is true that the average worker is paying more taxes than they can afford but what about the ultra wealthy? As Ithaca’s representative in Albany, Barbara Lifton, has written: “Most people’s taxes are too high, but it’s not their income taxes that are killing them; it’s the property tax that’s killing people! Our income taxes rank 25th out of the 50 states, largely because the wealthiest New Yorkers went from a 15% tax bracket to under 7% during the late ‘80’s and early 90’s. The top 4% of New Yorkers, those making $250,000 per year and up, had their tax rates cut by more than 50%. Most other New Yorkers had perhaps a one percent drop, from say, 5% to 4%, but have more than paid for those cuts by property tax hikes that resulted from the shift from state support to local support for schools and other critical services.”

Andrew Cuomo is currently traveling through New York in a camper, meeting and greeting. He’ll be at the Women’s Community Building tomorrow, Thursday August 19th, at 11:00 am. Join us if you will, poised by the front door with our signs for taxing the rich, when Mr. Cuomo makes his entrance. Let’s tell him that we don’t want cuts to services for the working people and we want everyone to pay their fair share, even his rich pals.

The Women’s Community Building is at the corner of Seneca and Cayuga Streets in downtown Ithaca.