screen-shot-2011-12-07-at-105908-am-400x222-2090894E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center squared off against former state Assemblyman Richard Brodsky on a segment of NY1’s “Inside City Hall” last night.

E.J. began by informing moderator Errol Lewis that Governor Cuomo’s special session deal with the Legislature involves a significant tax increase, not a tax cut.

The state continues to have a structural budget imbalance that the tax increase won’t fix, E.J. pointed out.  He added: “I would actually predict … that Richard and many of his allies and friends will be back in no time saying ‘the tax increase is not enough and we’ve got to do more,’ because they don’t want to cut spending, and this doesn’t actually fill the entire [budget] gap either. There are significant financial problems here.”

Brodsky objected to this–but moments later said that E.J. “is not theoretically wrong.”

“More has to be debated and talked about, which includes the potential for further tax increases,” said the former assemblyman, a zealous advocate of the so-called “millionaire tax.”

In other words, in case you doubted it, there’s no such thing as enough.

About the Author

Tim Hoefer

Tim Hoefer is president & CEO of the Empire Center for Public Policy.

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