Vote NO on November’s $4.2 Billion Dollar Environmental Bond Act
This November, a tax increase is on the ballot.
New York is addicted to spending and borrowing, and state taxpayers are drowning in debt, thanks to some of the highest taxes and fees in the nation and a financially devastating 9.1 percent inflation rate that shows no signs of abating.
Now, predictably, the State wants to borrow and spend even more, as Empire State families find themselves forgoing simple necessities like milk, cereal, and eggs because they just don’t have enough money to pay for them.
It’s a hard slap in the face when you consider that Albany increased the State Budget from $177 billion to $220.5 billion — a $43 billion increase! — in the past two years alone. Unsatisfied, Democrats in Albany want more. Always more.
Governor Kathy Hochul and her Democrat colleagues in the State Legislature are now promoting a $4.2 billion Bond Act that voters will decide on in November. It’s being trumpeted in the loftiest terms — “The Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022” — but in reality, it’s a vague and amorphous ballot proposal that’s more about politics than it is about clear environmental goals.
It’s no coincidence that Mrs. Hochul is promoting this Act in the same year she’s running for governor. The Bond Act would provide millions of dollars to various environmental interest groups that Mrs. Hochul wants in her corner. Call it pork barrel borrowing.
What Governor Hochul and her Democrat colleagues in Albany don’t want you to know is that money from New York’s 1996, $1.75 billion Environmental Bond Act remains unspent. If it’s so essential to borrow an additional $4.2 billion this year, why haven’t we spent down the environmental funds we borrowed 26 years ago?
The New York State Conservative Party cares about environmental conservation. But it also cares about working- and middle-class families that are having trouble making ends meet. Almost a million and a half financially beleaguered New York families have fled the state for friendlier tax climates over the past dozen years, and Albany Democrats still don’t get it. The Conservative Party does because it is rooted in reality.
To get a sense of how out of whack New York taxing and spending has become, consider this: Florida and Texas each have larger populations than New York with annual budgets about half the size of ours. And Texas and Florida enjoy faster growing economies than New York’s. That’s no coincidence.
You’ll soon see ads extolling the urgent necessity of borrowing billions more this year. It’s a sham. How about using the billions we’ve already borrowed first?
Another Hochul Emergency Order
In the world of Governor Hochul, the COVID emergency never goes away. As Hochul, like her predecessor Andrew Cuomo, renews pandemic-related emergency orders, she is also suspending many state checks and balances designed to keep government honest.
The Empire Center’s Bill Hammond recently addressed the dangers of these executive orders.
The Conservative Party together with the State Senate and State Assembly Republicans have been advocating since early 2021 that all special executive authority that emanates from renewing pandemic-related emergency orders come to an end. The State Legislature has the authority. The Democrats who have the majority in both houses appear not willing to take back the responsibility that comes with being an equal branch of government. Its high time they do.
Biden Again Misses the Point
We certainly hope President Biden overcomes his bout with COVID soon. Maybe the time he is resting will give him an opportunity to better see the sad ongoing failure of his foreign policy.
His trip to Saudi Arabia can best be described as sickening. The United States has rightfully held the leader of Saudi Arabia responsible for ordering the killing of Jamal Khashoggi within the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Now we have the President of the United States coming close to begging for increased Saudi energy support through a visit with the Saudi leader that has the two acting like the best of friends. A sad state of affairs for America and the Biden Administration.
Maybe if Biden had allowed the continuation of American energy independence achieved under President Trump with the Keystone Pipeline and offshore drilling, we would not have the President of the United States graveling to Mohammed bin Salman.
White House Says It Doesn’t Matter Where Biden Got COVID-19.
Biden-era Democrats learn to love emergency powers after hating them under Trump
Van Jones makes revealing admission about black Americans under Biden: ‘The pain is more intense’