EDITORIAL
READERS WRITE
Don’t worry about being short-changed
A report released by the
Rockefeller Institute of New York
claiming that New York sends
more money to Washington than
we get back, resulting in our
being shortchanged, is
nothing new.
The report repeats the same old
Democratic playbook continuing
to blame Washington for all of our
problems just like their political
ancestors from past decades.
Moving tax dollars from New
York to Washington redistributes
the wealth from the haves to the
have-nots. The late Senator Daniel
Patrick Moynihan documented
how New Yorkers sent more
money to Washington than we get
back. Other states could make the
same argument. This imbalance
also holds true in the distribution
of state aid from Albany to the 62
counties of New York state.
Within NYC, residents of
Queens, Staten Island, Brooklyn,
Bronx and Manhattan (or each
of the 59 community planning
boards) don’t always get back the
same amount of money sent to City
Hall, Albany and Washington.
Within any of our 62 counties,
you could take this analysis down
to every town, village and local
census tract in our state.
Since this imbalance will
never change, we would be better
off leaving tax levies at the most
local level of government. There
will be significant savings in
administrative costs and a
greater percentage of locally
generated revenues remaining in
our communities.
Generating, keeping and
spending local funds in your
communities also allows greater
accountability and oversight by
public officials and citizens from
the same neighborhoods.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
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CABÁN FEVER
One year after Congresswoman Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez stunned the nation by upsetting
powerful Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary,
the anti-establishment progressive left in Western
Queens appears to have done it again.
Public defender Tiffany Cabán declared victory
in the contentious Queens District Attorney’s race
telling a raucous crowd of supporters in a Woodside
nightclub, “We did it y’all!”
They did do it y’all, apparently defeating a fully
mobilized political machine in the process.
After the Cabán campaign got off to a shaky start
it gained strength in the final weeks as an army of
volunteers canvassed relentlessly all over the west
of the borough handing out literature and knocking
on thousands of doors in a truly inspired get out
the vote effort, in Jackson Heights, Sunnyside and
Cabán’s own neighborhood, Astoria.
The Democratic Socialists of America’s NYC
chapter claimed it propelled their candidate to a
historic win while building a movement of peoplepowered
campaigns that can beat big money and
demand real, transformative change on behalf of
everyday people in Queens.
Of course, Queens Borough President Melinda
Katz refused to concede saying the 1,100 vote margin
is narrow enough to wait for a full count of all 3,500
paper ballots. We will see next week if Katz was
right.
Until then, the Cabán campaign and the DSA can
take their victory lap. The presumptive Democratic
nominee was up bright and early Wednesday
morning thanking voters at the Astoria-Ditmars
Boulevard subway station after her neighbors
delivered huge numbers in Astoria’s two Assembly
Districts.
Cabán beat Katz 6,174 to 1,011 in AD36 and 4,658
to 1,364 in AD37 so don’t be surprised if you see “We
did it, y’all” T-shirts in Astoria.
But what of the rest of the borough? Perhaps they
will be wearing “We didn’t do it y’all” T-shirts.
After Governor Andrew Cuomo, who endorsed
Katz, predicted that a low voter turnout would
favor Cabán in the primary, voters stayed away
in droves.
Less than 90,000 people voted in a borough
with 2.3 million Queens residents with 815,272
registered Democrats.
If the results hold up following the paper ballot
count next week, you can complain about the antiestablishment
socialist left handing the office of the
top prosecutor in the county to a 31-year-old public
defender only seven years out of law school -- or you
can blame yourself for not voting in the primary.
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16 TIMESLEDGER, JUNE 28, 2019 BT QNS.COM
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