Yesterday while Governor Cuomo was addressing the state democratic committee in Albany, 500 people from Albany, Rochester, Buffalo, Newburgh and elsewhere were marching on the state capitol. One of the more popular chants was about millionaires paying their fair share. One of my favorite signs was from the people dressed up as "the rich". It said, "We own Cuomo. Go buy your own Governor".
And it would appear Cuomo is beginning to take note of OWS. He has tried to shut down Occupy Albany to no avail. He wants the people gone when he tries to get rid of the New York State Millionaires tax in January. But the people will still be there and I think this is an early opportunity for OWS to claim a real victory and a very clear example of the 1% vs. the 99%.
This was the governor speaking yesterday. He really wants the 99% to try to get along better with the 1%.
“The plan is going to be fair to all New Yorkers. The plan is going to unite this state and not divide this state,” Cuomo said. “I understand the climate out there, but I’m not going to allow people to use the anxiety and use the fear and use the frustration to pull us apart. I’m not going to allow them to separate us.
He just isn't going to allow it. But he has a couple of problems.
First, the people.
The so-called millionaires tax on New York's top wage earners is set to expire at the end of the year, even as the state struggles to balance its books. A poll released Thursday shows that New Yorkers favor extending the tax by more than 2 to 1.
Second, the economy
The governor also addressed the $350 million budget gap that was announced earlier this week.
“We’re getting to the point where we need to make real decisions,” Cuomo said. “This is not about closing a gap in a budget. Frankly this is worse than that. This is a significant economic slowdown for this state which mirrors what is happening nationwide.”
And third, the Occupy movement. While I doubt it was intentional, the timing and location of the Occupy movement in New York in 2011 dovetails perfectly with the Governor working hard to give a tax cut to the wealthy while cutting services for the rest of us. Even when a large majority of the state's population opposes this. He has earned the nick name Governor 1%. And if he goes ahead with his plan he will be stuck with it. Listen to Ron Deutsch of NYFF two weeks ago:
"We have such great need in New York. And we also have the greatest income disparity of any state in the nation," says Ron Deutsch of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, who has been arguing for years that the state needs to shift more of its tax burden to the top wage earners.
Deutsch credits Occupy Wall Street protesters with giving the issue more visibility.
"They're concerned about income inequality. They're concerned about the tax code and how it favors the wealthiest among us," he says. "The Occupy movement has really created space for dialogue that we haven't had for far too long."
Cuomo took $75,000 in campaign donations from one of the Koch brothers and his wife. When he talks about a plan to be "fair to all New Yorkers" he is lying. This issue could be a real early win for OWS. Or, if Cuomo gets his way, it will continue to raise awareness about how the system is broken and just strengthen the movement.