Governor v. Mayor

There's a long tradition in NYS of struggles between the governor and the mayor of NYC, whomever they might be. Few of those struggles have excited me, but the current one strikes close to home. I found this article interesting, although I'm not sure I buy 1) that Cuomo is in any way progressive or that 2) de Blasio's motives are nearly as sinister as described. But I like the distinction drawn between populism and progressive liberalism, and I think it may be useful.

It's worth noting that the amount Cuomo has "found" in the budget for pre-K will not nearly cover the costs, and that he has "found" it while continuing to shortchange public schools through the gap elimination adjustment.

"Tax-the-rich" populism is nothing new in NYS, of course. It's been our local assemblywoman's clarion call throughout her term, and it's a fond dream of many Assembly Democrats. But none of them has put his or her mouth where the money is the way de Blasio did right out of the box. Fun to watch. Although I am a longtime fighter for pre-K (and brought it to Dryden after a decade of fussing), I do think we need to fund K–12 first. But if NYC can get a functioning program solely through a single tax, more power to them.

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