Cuomo Is No Christie! Abandons No-Tax Hike Pledge

Andrew’s surrender

New York Post | Last Updated: 11:12 PM, December 5, 2011

Posted: 10:03 PM, December 5, 2011

A scant 11 months into his incumbency, Gov. Cuomo this weekend surrendered to New York’s culture of corrupt profligacy — abandoning the no-tax-hike pledge that was a core campaign principle and laying to rest the notion that he’s a Democrat of a different sort.

How high will taxes go now? Who knows?

Right now, “negotiations” are under way — apparently intended to get the tax-hike heavy lifting out of the way before the Legislature convenes in a month.

Time enough then to divvy up the spoils; just rest assured that every penny raised by the hikes will be spent in a flash — and then the clamor for more will commence.

Yesterday, Cuomo said that New York needs the hikes because it’s “the progressive capital of the nation.”

Well, of course it is. That’s why the demand for more taxes never ends: All that “progressivism” must be paid for.

We thought Cuomo understood the consequences of that approach to government.

“You are kidding yourself if you think you can be one of the highest-taxed states in the nation, have a reputation for being anti-business — and have a rosy economic future” is how he put it in October.

And on the day he was inaugurated, he put it this way: “No new taxes, period.”

Now, you can bet there will be no end to the sophistries explaining how the forthcoming imposts won’t really be new taxes at all. No, siree.