Last updated: 9:38 am March 23, 2009 Posted: 1:41 am March 23, 2009
GOV. PATERSON and legislative Democrats have secretly agreed on an $8 billion, two- year tax hike on individuals making more than $500,000 a year that will "sunset" around the time he plans to run for election in 2010, legislative sources told The Post.
Also under intense discussion yesterday as lawmakers rushed to complete a budget by April 1 is a proposal to raise the state's 4 percent sales tax to 4.5 percent the total of which would jump to close to 10 percent in parts of the state with the addition of local sales taxes.
By IRENE JAY LIU, Capitol bureau Last updated: 1:40 p.m., Monday, March 23, 2009
ALBANY -- Gov. David Paterson's favorability and job approval ratings continue to plummet, according to the latest poll from the Siena Research Institute.
In short:
Paterson is viewed favorably by 29 percent of voters and unfavorably by 58 percent, down from last month's 40-47 percent rating.
His job performance rating is 19 percent positive, 78 percent negative, down from 28-69 percent last month. His performance rating has plummeted since Jan. 26 - three days after he announced his selection of then U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate.
Days of critical news coverage followed that questioned Paterson's handling of how he made the choice.
This is a horrible idea, one that I am not surprised to see Patterson attempt. (This particular proposal certainly doesn't personally affect me) Why can't politicians understand one simple idea; less government ='s less taxes. Don't raise taxes on any segment of our society or institute new taxes----- LESS GOVERNMENT!
I say that you have to cut the wasting and raise the taxes so you can the good services for kids and seniors and we dont do enough to help the people and working familys at all over there
Hey....go ahead and tax the rich. Ya know, the ones that employ us? They will just flee the state, there will be less jobs, less money going into the tax base...hence our taxes will increase.
Great idea! NOT!
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison
New York’s most famous billionaire, Donald Trump, is furious over his state’s proposed “millionaires’ tax.”
He hasn’t yet said he would leave the state, but he did place an angry phone call to New York Gov. David Paterson to complain about the plan to impose new taxes on residents earning more than $500,000 a year.
“It’s very dangerous, what’s going on in Albany,” Trump — host of the hit TV show “Celebrity Apprentice” — told New York Post columnist Linda Stasi after his call to Paterson.
“Rich people are going to leave this state. Why should they pay New York State taxes on money they made out of state?”
He added: “I told the governor, everyone is going to move to Palm Beach [Fla.], the nicest place in the world, where there is no income tax!”
Asked by Stasi if he would be leaving New York, Trump replied: “No comment. And you know what that means.”
Trump, of course, lives part-time at his world famous Mar-a-Lago mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, so finding new permanent digs in a state with no income tax would be easy.
Trump’s tirade against New York’s vampire-like tax squeeze came on the heels of last week’s announcement by conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.
Limbaugh, who resides in Florida, but occasionally broadcasts from New York and pays taxes when he doesn’t, vowed to sell all his Manhattan property and shut down his operations in New York. He is threatening to move them to Texas, another state with no income tax.
“I'll sell my apartment. I'll sell my condominium. I'm going to get out of there totally,” Rush said.
Limbaugh usually broadcasts from Palm Beach County but said he may need another location to broadcast from in case of hurricanes.
Not me, but I'm sure that most business owners do. So what the heck, penalize them for taking a risk, employing people and giving them benefits. What the heck is our government even thinking?
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -James Madison
Did you hear the latest from our illegitimate Gov Patterson? He stated that there are 3 branches of government; State Senate, Assembly and Executive! He forgot judiciary-and he's an attorney!
How much longer are Gov Dean, Sal and Andrew Cuomo going to support this guy? Patterson couldn't win dog catcher in 2010. Even in Schenectady County-or Bronx North.
Should the government tax the rich to provide needed services or should we average people pay increased property taxes, lose our homes, go without medication, etc?
Suppose a rich person is going to buy a modest car and is looking at the same car that I'm interested in, a $20,000 car. Once sales tax is added on, that may cause me to decide not to buy that car because I won't have the money. The rich person doesn't have any concern about paying those sale taxes.
Rich people pay a substantially smaller percentage of their income in taxes overall than the average person. And look at social security. A person earning $50,000 a year pays that, what six point something percent of their income into FICA tax. What percent of their annual income does a rich person with a $500,000 salary pay in FICA tax?????? And then, like a neighbor of mine who died a few years ago, worked 38 year, paid a fortune over his lifetime into Social security and then when he died, what was the return on all that money? A measly $255 to his wife (their kids are grown).
The down side to taxing the rich is that they have the money to move out of the state and take their money with them and the end result is we get none of their money in taxes as Tom Golisano and Rush did.
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Did you hear the latest from our illegitimate Gov Patterson? He stated that there are 3 branches of government; State Senate, Assembly and Executive! He forgot judiciary-and he's an attorney! 
