CHAIRMAN KASSAR’S WEEKLY WRAP-UP 5-5-23

Unstable Budget

Give the Democratic progressives some credit when it comes to consistency in Government on both a state and city level.  Democratic-elected officials have put forward budgets that contain billions in new spending to be filled with new debt, new taxes and likely shortfalls due to non-existent federal money that the state government has factored into its $229 billion budget. It is worth noting NYC intends to withhold hundreds of millions in Medicaid reimbursements to help with the state budget but at the same time, significantly impacting local governments

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a few days ago, submitted an almost $107 billion budget to the city council. In it he has a number of cuts but still claims to be $3 billion short due to migrant asylum seekers. The mayor is quick to blame the federal government for its poor border policies and New York State for not stepping up to the plate. What he fails to mention is the expressed intent of the city council to restore cuts further bloating the city’s fiscal plan.

On both the city and state level progressive Democrats are aligned with fiscally irresponsible mechanisms to drive up spending without a true balance that is not matched with the manageable debt, taxes, and fees.

The Conservative Party asked our over seventy elected officials in the Assembly and Senate to vote no on the key budget bills including the “big ugly.” Almost all of them did. The few others who didn’t will show up in our legislative ratings.

Say It Ain’t So

Talk about having your cake and eating it too. The New York State budget contains $25 million to keep the public financing program for statewide candidates, State Senate and Assembly races alive. However, it is hundreds of millions of dollars short of having the funds to actually do just that—fund the many campaigns.

If you are confused, I suspect my cynical answer will help clear the smoke screen of New York State government. The Democrats did not actually want to have primary opponents who were funded with taxpayer dollars. It simply takes away the incumbents advantage. Being good left-wing cronies, they did, however, want to continue to show support for taxpayer funded elections. There were dozens of political hires who were pulling down big dollars in setting up the guidelines and regulations for the big giveaway.

Even though they have very little to do currently, they will continue to get paid. The $25 million goes to pay for the patronage without Democrats risking funded primaries.

Make no mistake about it, the Conservative Party has, does, and will in the future continue to oppose taxpayer funded elections.

Save the Date

The New York State Conservative Party will be presenting Shaun Marie Levine, who served with distinction during her 28-year career as the Executive Director, with a new award named in honor of our great Chairman, Mike Long, at a reception Thursday, June 15th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the New York Athletic Club located in Manhattan.

Invitations will be coming soon.