On NY Inequality the State's Two Top Democrats Seem to Disagree

      My blog title says it all. I hate Republicans not Democrats. I want Democrats to live in a world of mutual love and admiration and no discord. Hillary Clinton makes it sound like that's what we have here with Governor Cuomo and NYC Mayor de Blasio on the need for universal Pre-K. 

       "Hillary Clinton cheered the push for expanded pre-kindergarten programs at an appearance with Bill de Blasio in East Harlem on Tuesday, but she was careful not to endorse any of the competing plans currently under consideration in New York."

       "It is exciting to see everybody from the mayor to Governor Cuomo to President Obama, and literally people across the country taking on this important issue, because we know that an investment in those early years is really the best investment we can make in our children's future," Clinton said, at a roundtable discussion on early childhood education."
      
     "The event was hosted by the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, Univision and Next Generation's Too Small to Fail "Pequenos y Valiosos" Launch.

      http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2014/02/8539848/clinton-praises-de-blasio-and-cuomo-pre-k-push

      The agreement is on universal Pre-K. The difference is how to pay for it. 

      "De Blasio and Cuomo are currently engaged in a political struggle over how to pay for universal pre-K, with the governor proposing to pay for a statewide program within the existing budget, while de Blasio insists on the need for an accompanying tax on the city's highest earners."

     So De Blasio wants to pay for it with higher taxes on the rich and Cuomo hasn't proposed anyway to pay for it-so that it implies a cut somewhere else in the budget. The Mayor estimates it will cost $340 million dollars a year for the first 5 years. 

    When you listen to Cuomo's language it's hard to see what Scott Sumner would have a problem with. He wants to lower the corporate tax rate and cut 'cumbersome regulation.'

   "The sharp collision between Governor Andrew Cuomo and new Mayor Bill de Blasio is echoing well beyond the borders of the Empire State. The two men have staked out sharply conflicting views of how to run an economy, and to the victor will go national credentials as the next wave of Democratic Party leadership."

    "The conflict is not complicated. Cuomo has consistently adopted economic policies that Paul Ryan would embrace. They're the expression of austerity/tea party economic philosophy. The economy will benefit and jobs will be created if state spending is reduced, state taxes are cut (especially for businesses and the wealthy), corporate subsidies are increased, and public sector unions are bashed.  His latest foray is a series of tax cuts that include lowering the estate tax, property tax cuts for corporations, and big cuts in the corporate income tax, announced in his State of the State message today."

    "De Blasio just upset New York's political establishment and chattering class by winning a primary and a general election on precisely the opposite grounds. The issue, he says, is income inequality and underinvestment. He proposes a high-end income tax increase to fund universal pre-K, and giving municipal workers some kind of raise (Bloomberg refused to negotiate, leaving them at 0 percent for the last three years). Give the middle class more income and stimulate spending, demand and jobs, he says, and economic growth will follow, and not just on Park Avenue."

    "Right back at you, says Cuomo. No income tax surcharge. (He gets to play in this because local income tax increases need state approval.) Maybe some money for pre-K, but no real increase in state aid that de Blasio needs to fund the labor contracts."

    "Right back at you, says de Blasio. It's not just about pre-K; it's about the city's ability to chart its own economic path, and it's about inequality. He won't back off."

     http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-brodsky/cuomo-v-de-blasio-the-nat_b_4565395.html

    Sounds like Cuomo's theory is basically Supply Side. His liberal appeal is purely on social issues. 

    "It isn't like Cuomo hasn't thought it through. He's developed a "progractionary" theory of Democratic politics. On social issues and identity issues he's left-left-left. Gay marriage, gun restrictions, abortion rights, and now medical marijuana -- he's the darling of many of the social-issues constituencies that play so heavily in national Democratic politics. With enough enthusiastic support from women's groups, gay activists, gun control advocates, etc., he plans to stitch together a coalition that won't much care about economic issues. And in a general election those austerity policies may help with Republicans and independents in swing states."

   It seems that this could shape up into a kind of battle for the Soul of NY Democratic-and perhaps even national Democratic politics. Who will be the standard bearer for the Democratic party of the coming generation? It's notable that most leading national Democrats are sounding more like de Blasio than Cuomo. On the immediate differences obviously Hillary doesn't want to explicitly choose between the Governor and the Mayor. 

   "Perhaps some kind of compromise can be reached though it's tough to see how."

   "Since Occupy Wall Street forced Americans to look at the relationship of the 1 percent to the rest of us, the political class has been trying to harness that energy within conventional political dynamics. Obama did it brilliantly. Hillary is listening, Biden is listening, Governor O'Malley is listening. "Income inequality" is the catchphrase of the day. Can Cuomo turn this on its head and win in spite of his economic record?

    "The temptation for the two men to bargain away the conflict is real. But de Blasio can't maintain his national status by backing off his economic message. Don't underestimate the power of a compromise. But it's hard to figure out what that looks like without one of the two backing down."

     UPDATE: The NY Post reports Cuomo may have enough votes to block de Blasio's Pre-K tax hike.