When New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani took office last week, he faced the daunting challenges of fulfilling his many ambitious campaign promises. One of the greatest will be implementing his pledge to increase taxes on individuals earning over $1 million and on corporations. He must do so if he is to have any chance of having the money to provide free bus service and address childcare and housing needs in the city.
Alas, he cannot enact tax increases on his own. He needs the support of Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and the state legislature. Hochul has been adamant in her opposition to raising income taxes. As she puts it, “I’m not raising income taxes because I believe that we want to make sure that New York is more affordable for everybody, and I want people who are successful to keep creating the jobs and investing here.”
Over the last four decades, such anti-tax rhetoric has become a staple of American political life. For one particularly vivid example, recall what George H.W. Bush said at the 1988 Republican National Convention: “I’m the one who will not raise taxes. … My opponent won’t rule out raising taxes. But I will. And the Congress will push me to raise taxes, and I’ll say no, and they’ll push, and I’ll say no, and they’ll push again, and I’ll say, to them ‘Read my lips: No new taxes.’”…