72% Of Voters Want To Extend NY's "Millionaires Tax," Despite Cuomo's Objections

Governor Cuomo and Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano (Levittown Patch)

According to a new poll conducted by the Siena Research Institute [pdf], 72% of voting New Yorkers favor hiking taxes on those making $1 million or more annually. 83% of Democrats support the measure, but 70% of independents and 55% of Republicans do as well. “It is supported by more than two-thirds of voters from every region of the state," pollster Steven Greenberg says. So why is Governor Cuomo death threats or no, still opposed to extending New York's so-called "Millionaire's Tax?"

While he's in favor of higher federal taxes on the wealthy, Cuomo has said that because New York is one of the most heavily taxed states in the country, keeping taxes high would lure all those "job-creating" wealthy people to Connecticut or New Jersey. Yeah, imagine how terrible New York would be if all the rich people left!

But the truth is that they probably wouldn't flee. A study conducted on New Jersey's experiment with raising a tax on those making $500K or more from 6.37% to 8.97% showed that over seven years, "the tax rate…had no measureable impact" on whether these wealthy people would stay in-state. True, the tax that Cuomo wants to expire affects singles who make $200K and couples who make $300K, but Cuomo can't be bothered with reading "studies" while he's out back waxing the Corvette.

Perhaps Cuomo should be confident in so brazenly bucking public sentiment: the poll also shows his approval rating at 71%, and notes that his "Honeymoon with Voters Shows No Sign of Faltering." And 70% of voters also believe he should suspend the layoff of 3,500 PEF employees and negotitate instead, which it appears he has just done.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Christopher Robbins in News on October 17, 2011 3:17 PM

Comments [rss]

ThePresidentialCandidates.us

Come on Cuomo! Rich folks ain't goin' to New Jersey. It's New Jersey.

Nikki May

FYI Christopher your caption is wrong. The Nassau County Exec's name is Edward.

Christopher_Robbins

Thank you!

ANGRYGOD11

but Cuomo can't be bothered with reading "studies" while he's out back waxing the Corvette.

Forget the taxes, I want every filthy detail about "waxing the Corvette" .

Miles Bader

Sorry, Cuomo's no doubt learned that little lesson from Weiner: Don't post the videos to the internet!

BottomlessChips

No mention of the fact, not a study, that educated African-Americans are moving from NY to the south at a staggering clip?

Of course not.

(high taxes make things more expensive for all of us...)

matteus

Why there is not a "millionaire+" tax-bracket is beyond me. That should be enough I think to quell OWS

shocktheday

OWS wants to topple Wall St. but extend the Millionaire tax to generate revenue for the state, but who do you think most of those Millionaires work for ?

EdwardAmame

OWS doesn't want to "topple" Wall street, it wants to reform Wall Street.

And the millionaire's tax extension proposed last year during budget negotiations by the Assembly was an income tax surcharge on households earning more than $1 million/year. Skelos shot it down.

seattlesnow

so you are a fan of Bank Bailouts?

shocktheday

http://www.adbusters.org/blogs... .

This doesn't sound like reform to me. Although I agree that we need much more stringent oversight of the banks, what they're advocating would at the end hurt the 99% , not help them. The middle class is always left to absorb defaulted loans.

Len_Drexler

I've been saying this years. Tends to get you ignored on the boards, though. Probably for making too much sense.

shocktheday

Given your retraction of who this tax will affect, you may want to retract the part of the fleeing ... http://online.wsj.com/article/...

EdwardAmame

Sorry to repeat myself, but last year during the budget talks in March Silver was pushing for an extension of the millionaire's tax that was a real millionaire's tax: an income tax surcharge on NY households earning more than $1 million per year. GOP Maj Leader Skelos declared he'd kill that in the Senate and also said Cuomo shared his POV.

delicats

Oh please, Cuomo. You and your cronies would never, ever leave Westchester.

goodbyewren

If only we had elected Carl Paladino.

Eggcream

Yeah, if only. Porno email for all citizens sent directly by the Governor himself.

theevilerone

I don't think anyone objects to a true millionaires tax. Hitting dual-income families making a combined $300K with the same tax is the problem.

Miles Bader

Why is this a problem?

Yeah, I'm sure they'd whine up a storm, just like those making over a million, but "families making $300k" is not a particularly sympathetic cause...

theevilerone

Depends on where you live. I'm not saying families making $300K are crying poverty, but extending a "millionaire's tax" on them like they has oodles of excess income is ridiculous, esp in the parts of NY where cost of living is high - downstate.