In my book “Rage and the Republic,” I discuss the rise of support for socialism in both the U.S. and Europe, including the election of Zohran Mamdani. The new mayor was elected on many of the same socialist mantras, promising to introduce New Yorkers to the “warmth of socialism.” Now elected, he is discovering the problem of, as Margaret Thatcher put it, “running out of other people’s money.” Mamdani has announced that he may have to implement “painful” property tax hikes, including a potential 9.5% increase that would devastate an already struggling economy and accelerate the exodus of high-taxpayers from the state.
Notably, while Mamdani is suggesting cuts in police and other areas of the budget, he is proposing a $127 billion budget, an increase of $5 billion from last year. His budget would now be larger than those of 47 of 50 states. As noted by the Washington Post, that includes states like Florida with larger populations.
The editors added, “The reality is that Americans may like the idea of ‘free’ stuff — it’s how socialists win elections — but they are less excited about having to pay for it.”
With New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers in Albany balking at increasing taxes, Mamdani is faced with having to actually pay for all of the free stuff that he promised.
When confronted with the fact that the Governor opposes new taxes as the state struggles to keep wealthy citizens from fleeing to Florida, Mamdani responded that it was not important how they paid for the new stuff. The important thing was that they pay for it somehow.
With rent controls, new massive spending programs, and proposed new taxes, Mamdani could be on the brink of causing the greatest exodus since the Red Sea Crossing.
OT
More evidence our federal judiciary is essentially corrupt:
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/02/contempt-2.php
Roberts is apparently incapable of managing it. Congress should tie federal court jurisdiction and powers in knots. The courts [except the Supreme] have only what Congress allows. They have been far too generous with their gifts. Time to be an Indian Giver.
And something really needs to be done about these dubious Autopen judicial appointments.
AI Overview
Unplugging and resetting electric appliances involves cutting all power to clear temporary electronic faults or glitches in the control board. This process typically requires unplugging the unit, waiting 5-10 minutes for internal capacitors to discharge, and plugging it back in. This forces a reboot of the appliance’s computer system.
You may not pay what you owe, but you WILL reap what you sow
— Diamond & Silk
On paper, I’d rather be a communist than a democratic socialist. Democratic socialism suffers from the “free-lunch” problem. The people will always vote for free stuff until the system collapses. It’s as simple as that. On the other hand–in theory–communism has the party to act as a virtuous break on popular excess.
In practice, democratic socialism is corrupt, and communism is both corrupt and despotic, too. The fundamental fault in every utopian scheme is the perfectibility of man. Given enough power, human beings will always pursue their own self-interests to the exclusion of everything else. Again, it’s as simple as that. Human nature is a disastrous substrate for utopianism.
America’s government is based on a careful balancing of self-interests. Our system is also a careful balancing of public and private systems. As the Greeks have long suggested, nothing in excess–i.e. balance. That’s why our system has both progressed and prospered for 250 years. It evolved out of centuries of practice–not theory and make-believe.
Globalist-leftists don’t understand any of that, but like I’ve suggested before, Mamdani doesn’t want utopia. He wants to break America, using globalist-leftists as useful idiots. Mamdani is a jihadist-racist who hates white, Christian America as something beyond redemption. That’s why he’s spreading chaos even inside the Democrat Party.
You got that right. For Marxists the real issue is never the issue, the real issue is always the Revolution.
Yep
Note here that aside from the cooperative, which is entirely voluntary, socialism in pure form cannot possibly exist, since as Chomsky himself stated, it would “necessarily require greater control.” (Words to that effect.) Which is to say, it can only exist in a totalitarian communist state because invariably there would be those (many) who would resist. A “Democrat socialist” then is just an American capitalist who wants free stuff. Mandami? Just another jihadist, imo.
Respectfully, the citizens of all the boroughs deserve what they voted for… and those who didn’t… well, they will pay more attention to making their voices heard by voting next go around… if that option still exists by then. The ‘takers are out numbering the givers’… Virginia is headed the same way. Adios New York City.
Staten Island is the only conservative borough. Its residents get misery foisted on them by the four liberal boroughs. I do feel for them. I remember reading they quite rationally wanted to secede from NYC but that is easier said than done.
Kansas Elder —- The Staten Island ferry is free. So first they should clamor to pay for the rides.
Professor: it seems they would be willing to pay for the rides if that was the price of secession. (Fwiw, an internet search indicates about 14% of Staten Island’s residents use the ferry for commuting.)
David, among other things, the taxes attributed to the tourist taxes on spending associated with the Staten Island Ferry ride means the city is receiving more than it is spending.
Aside from Manhattan, an international city and financial center, Staten Island is the most affluent.
Once Madison Avenue proved, using nothing more than bright colors and mirth, that loving parents could be convinced into considering Fruit Loops a suitable breakfast for their children, style over substance was on its way to becoming our culture’s subconscious mantra. As evidence of this, Fruit Loops are today far more than breakfast poison, it is a subculture. Mamdani is Fruit Loops, voted in by his fellow Fruit Loops, and he will now poison New York City.
NYC voted for this. They deserve what they get. We tried to tell them, but they didn’t want to listen. Now it’s time for them to reap what they sow.
Stay where your at NY and CA, clean up the mess that you made of your state and city. Your like locust, you’ll only bring your blue baggage with you and destroy another community with your guilt for social justice and need for “free bee”s. You haven’t felt the pain yet for your voting habit’s, stay put, you put them in office now live with your vote.
I have read that Mamdami phrased it “the warmth of collectivism,” not “the warmth of socialism.” The phrases are equally chilling, especially when reviewed in the context of Mamdami’s earlier statement(s) evidencing a dislike of private property.
He is so young, and so indoctrinated, that he can’t possibly take full account of that time in New York City when the Bronx was burning. Landlords, faced with high property taxes and low rent rolls, torched their human-scale apartment buildings (8 units, or 4 units–where formerly multiple generations of a family might have lived, on different levels)–they torched their own buildings to collect on the insurance. It was a very hard time in New York City. He wasn’t even born yet. Or was living on his family’s vast compound in Uganda. His ignorance and arrogance are a very, very dangerous combination.
The “warmth of collectivism” resultes in more NYers freezing todeath in a week than had in the prior 20 years.
Mamdani left the homeless out in the cold.
As someone said below, this is $15,000 per resident per year in city taxes alone. For a family of four that’s $60,000 per year. And that gets added to state and federal income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, and the passed-on cost of corporate taxes. If NYC voters voted for Mamdami because they were upset about the cost of living being unaffordable, wait till he’s done crushing their hopes by the end of his term. Knowing NCY voters, they’ll just re-elect him so that he inflicts even more pain onto them.
Florida, Texas, and any other sane state: here come yet more refugees from New York.
OldManFromKS,
Well said.
I have friends and family who live in FL. While they do get annoyed with all the NY state license plates, they have noted, the NY refugees did and have learned their lesson when comparing to what they had to live with in NY vs what they get now living in FL.
Old man has got it all mixed up. Their a diff,. between state/city/county taxes paid and state debt, which accumulates. TiT.
Oldmanfromkansas,
Florida and Texas are not exactly the bastions of affordability you seem to think they are. They have the highest property taxes and home insurance rates in the country.
Texas even threatened to tax out NY “refugees” if they dared move to Texas.
“On November 4, 2025, Abbott posted on X: “After the polls close tomorrow night, I will impose a 100% tariff on anyone moving to Texas from NYC”.
Not the kind of welcome mat a wealthy “tax refugee” wants to hear, right?
right? right? right? n’est pas?
that’s “n’est-ce pas”, mon ami. 🙂
Then how do you explain the mass movement from blue states to Florida and Texas? Hint: it’s not because all those people have been fooled.
X……..Gov. Abbott was joking. It’s what we Texans like to do with yankees, other than putting them on a bus.
Yes, and he knows that but won’t admit it. Thanks for correcting his record.
By “he,” I mean the troll.
Excluding the Gold Coast, Florida is more affordable than most other states. The Gold Coast is rich, and the place where many rich people from New York live.
“Florida and Texas are not exactly the bastions of affordability you seem to think they are. They have the highest property taxes and home insurance rates in the country.”
Total Tax Burden in TX and FL are much lower than CA or NY. As Turley noted the NYC “budget” is larger than TX or FL or most other states – despite NYC having about 1/3 the population of FL.
Home insurance for a 2br home in CA is the same as a 2br home in FL – the differences is the FL home costs half that of the CA home.
“Texas even threatened to tax out NY “refugees” if they dared move to Texas.”
They can’t and for the most part those fleeing unaffordable high tax blue states are NOT trying to convert TX or FL into the high tax H311holes they left.
America, land of the free.
Yes, and the freedom to relocate to a different state is looking pretty important right about now.
This isn’t a good look for the new Mayor.
_________________________
A major Muslim leader in NYC is calling for dogs to be forbidden because they “bother some Muslims.”
This might be a breaking point for Americans who love their dogs. Add to that what Morocco will be doing to eradicate dogs from the coming FIFA event – when news of them killing dogs so that some will not be offended and I think, perhaps, that people will begin to see just what it will be like if we do not stop this invasion of islamists. They are not worthless detritus like the illegals from south of our border looking for an easy grift in America. The islamists are here to conquer, nothing less.
Gotta hand it to those Muslims, they sure know how to eradicate.
eradicate dogs from the coming FIFA event – when news of them killing dogs so that some will not be offended
***********************
I read that too. In the thousands. WOW
wait a sec. those dogs could be used for Americans hot dogs. Somebody call Tyson.
Rabble:
I know not many here are hip with recent internet things, but I will say, that the #1 way to get attention for the internet to shitcan you is to do bad dog things. Case in point: Hasan Piker, champagne socialist, Twitch crybaby, and nephew of Chenk Ugyur (yes, the one who wants it to be legal to ‘pleasure animals’), was a rising star for the more progressive left, right up until, in one of his livestreams, he shocked his dog in front of 6k+ viewers. Ever since, he tried to deny, defend, defraud, and has lost a major chunk of his followers, standing, and capability, most of his ‘orbiters’ (people who would defend him to the death) have abandoned him and/or are in legal trouble of their own, and is now reduced to “crashouts” about anyone who says anything mean about him.
You want to expose someone? Show the people what they do to animals.
DustOff,
I have three dogs.
Upstate.
I have just one. A Britney.
Upstate
Just one for me. Britney
DustOff,
Wolfdog at the Olympics, https://t.co/rfZXCzy9hU
Love it
BREAKING: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (formerly Prince Andrew) has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, BBC News reported.
In response to enquiries, the UK’s Thames Valley Police have said: A man in his 60s from Norfolk has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The man remains in police custody and he will not be named at this time.
King Charles issued a statement saying “Let me state clearly: the law must take its course.”
Should your esteemed constabulary be inclined to cross the pond, we are in possession of a most splendid catalogue of miscreants for your good offices to apprehend.
We should be ever so obliged to you and His Majesty should you do so.
Asked for comment, Trump denied knowing who this person is.
It will be fascinating to see what happens now.
The pressure will be on Andrew to cooperate and spill his guts about what he knows in an attempt to stay out of prison.
I wonder what stories he has to tell ??????
Asked for comment, Bill Gates denied knowing who this person is.
Asked for comment, Bill Clinton denied knowing who this person is.
Considering her never mingled with the Epstein crew.
Trump eh, you got pictures for us? Documents? Eye witnesses?
There is more sewerage spewing in NYC then currently into the Pootomic in DC.
NYC? I’m thinking more like the sewage coming off via your keyboard.
So what is your troll-ass view of the Great Mamdani? Do you have anything to argue besides malicious anarchy? You’ve become a boring gadfly, so maybe it’s time to actually defend something and see how it feels.
I think if we, as a sane adult group, just ignore this compulsive agitator it might leave because it gets no more joy out of its agitating posts, no feathers ruffled, no time spent, at all, acknowledging its presence here. Let it wither in its isolation. Rather than ban it, let it realize that it is a non-entity here.
Also, your online thesaurus wants its quote back. Next time you quote Shakespeare, cite it.
Sane adults you say? Best joke of the year. As are you.
That’s all you have! Snark, useless stark?
Quit whining you silly old man who uses Latin phrases to show how unintellectual you are. Boring um… trying to hurt our feeling huh?
Defend, why? Where does it state in order to comment you have to defend …. as for you, your purported defense of all things MAGA is, well, laughable.
Chiming in.
To Diogenes. 99% of what gets posted here is complete nonsense. Garbage. So some humor is welcome.
The problem is, you people here take everything so personal, although many deserve a swift kick to get them back to reality.
Nope.
Try harder.
Good ole dustoff, the blog idiot shows up just in time.
Yep.
I just love ringing you’re bell.
You better duck when you do that because he has bats in his belfry. Get it? Duck? Bats? Oh, dear…
LOL
See all this nice stuff? It’s ours! You peasants stay in your huts and be happy with your gruel or we’ll kill you and eat your children.
Bottom line
• Mamdani’s proposed NYC budget: roughly $15k per capita.
• Florida’s proposed state budget: roughly $5k per capita.
So on a per‑person basis, Mamdani’s proposed NYC spend is about three times Florida’s proposed state spend per capita.
Comparing a state budget to a city budget is ridiculous.
Not really. It means: a city with 8.5 million residents has a budget ($127B) that’s higher than an entire state with three times as many residents ($117 B).
Old
Did you see the report from NBC in NY.
They were asking middle class folks about the property tax hike. It was a blood bath.
exactly, there is far more reason for the items on a State budget than all the useless minority pandering crap in the NYC budget. We left 5 years ago from our condo in Brooklyn because we could see what was coming as property values were dropping even then. Glad we left now. I feel sorry for the middle class that can’t leave but I have no pity for the sh*t storm about to envelope all those greedy little socialist moron who voted this incompetent islamist communist into office.
Left B? And yet you still ive in NY. Brilliant move. You’ll be wearing a burka soon.
Another dumb comment from Ano.
Life must really be hard fro you.
Do you really want to compare per capita NYC costs to ANYWHERE in the US by city budget ?
New Yorkers Report Warmth Of Collectivism Feels Strangely Like Crushing Tax Hike
https://babylonbee.com/news/new-yorkers-report-warmth-of-collectivism-feels-strangely-like-crushing-tax-hike
NEW YORK CITY — New York City residents have reported that the warmth of collectivism feels weirdly similar to a crushing tax increase. According to several locals, the experience of basking in the glow of collectivism has a strange resemblance to massive rent increases and the state retirement fund being raided. “It’s really eerie,” said local woman Rosalie Marks. “They just feel so alike, warm collectivism and devastating tax hikes. It’s very, very like watching your retirement account get drained. You can hardly tell the difference, honestly.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has assured citizens that collectivism’s warmth can often feel like astronomic tax increases. “Oh yeah, the warmth often feels like that at first,” explained Mamdani. “People come up to me, and they say, ‘Hey, Zohran! Why does it feel like you robbed my retirement account to pay for bus fares?’ And I tell them not to worry, collectivism’s warmth can feel like that to some people. It’s totally normal.” At publishing time, New Yorkers had reported that government-owned grocery stores felt oddly similar to bread lines.
The economic ignorance is at new levels. Simultaneously raising property tax and freezing rents squeeze property owners. 2 options, don’t create more rental units and cut back on maintenance. Lower supply and/or worse housing is the only possible outcome.
Bottom line
• Mamdani’s proposed NYC budget: roughly $15k per capita.
• Florida’s proposed state budget: roughly $5k per capita.
So on a per‑person basis, Mamdani’s proposed NYC spend is about three times Florida’s proposed state spend per capita
“Notably, while Mamdani is suggesting cuts in police and other areas of the budget, he is proposing a $127 billion budget, an increase of $5 billion from last year.”
Those cuts are real, but Turley is not telling the whole story, as usual.
The preliminary budget proposal is a $22 million decrease in the NYPD’s overall $6.4 billion budget for next year. The biggest change is the cancellation of former Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to hire 5,000 more police officers. This scraps a goal to reach a 40,000-officer force, keeping the same head count capped closer to the current level of approximately 35,000. The Mamdani administration plans to “significantly reduce current vacancies,” which may involve removing funding for thousands of currently unfilled positions. That’s waste in budgetary terms. Eliminating waste is a good thing, right?
Mamdani has appointed Chief Savings Officers (CSOs) for every agency, tasking them with finding 2.5% in savings for fiscal year 2027. It’s essentially Mamdani’s version of a DOGE style approach to budget cuts. Republicans were big fans of that kind of approach to budget reductions. Turley didn’t mention that particular bit of important information.
While these specific cuts are coming, fiscal analyses point out that the NYPD’s overall funding remains “essentially flat” at roughly $6.4 billion because the budget also allocates $421 million to cover previous underbudgeting for items like aging police vehicles and surveillance technology.
So the cuts Turley mentions are not really serious in terms of affecting safety and security in the city.
The $5 Billion increase he wants is tax revenue from imposing a two-percentage-point increase on personal income taxes for millionaires and a 4% corporate tax hike. That requires Governor Hochul and the NY legislature to pass. That explains the “threat” of raising property taxes which Mamdani can impose without them. The wealthy and ultra wealthy can afford to pay the PIT tax which Mamdani knows. The difficult part is convincing the NY legislature and the Governor.
X –
Only you could write that not hiring 5,000 officers, after the exodus of officers from NYPD the last decade, would not “affect safety and security in the city.”
Also, appointing a C-level position for every agency will result in a net savings?! You’re ChatGPT post once again defies all logic and reasoning.
Guess that means it a normal day from you. Carry on.
Only you didn’t read what I posted.
Exodus of officers? Last decade? You mean retiring officers and maintaining the current levels at 35,000? The horror!
You didn’t refute anything I posted.
Murders: Plunged by 60% in January 2026 compared to the previous year (12 vs. 30 incidents), marking an all-time record low for any month in city history.
Shooting Incidents: Dropped by 20% this January (40 vs. 50), shattering previous records set in 2018 and 2025.
Property Crimes: Significant declines were recorded in burglary (-27.8%), robbery (-9.9%), and grand larceny auto (-4%).
Retail Theft: Fell by 16% in January following the implementation of data-driven enforcement strategies.
https://www.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs-en-us-city.pdf
Why would you need an extra 5,000?
@X
Thanks, George. You remind me every day of when i had a bad pipe backed up and sewage was spilling onto my lawn. would you like a plunger? Your preponderance for AI in your comments is a digital version of the same. Regurgitated sepsis. Even if we disagree, if you were capable of an original thought or honest argument, it would be welcomed, but you are a clog, and one made of something smelly, because that is all the modern left has remaining, hoping enough of the naive, ignorant, or illiterate fall for it.
The current level is 33,500, the Average for the 21st century is 35,000,
The peak was 40,000 in 2001.
After hiring 4000 officers in 2025 and retirements – NYPD was the same size as it was in 2024,
After hiring 4000 officers in 2026 and retirmements NYPD will be the same size as in 2025.
Cut the new hires and there will be 4000 FEWER police.
Lets see how well that works out.
Crime has been declining across the US.
The NYC drop is not different from that elsewhere in the country.
The most likely cause ? The departure of 2.2M illegal aliens. Approx. 700,000 of which are criminals,
of which about 200,000 of which are violent criminals.
But if you are going to try to claim that somehow that Drop is a result of something in NYC – That would be when Eric Adams was Mayor – not Mamdani. It is also when Adam’s hired 4,000 new officers – while that did not increase the total number of officers – if you idiotically beleive it did, then cutting NYPD will bring back higher crime.
“Why would you need an extra 5,000?”
To replace the officers that are retiring.
George has never met a falsehood he didn’t like.
Gov.Hochul is up for re-election – she has made it crystal clear that she is not going to take the highest taxed state in the country and make it even worse.
Regardless WHY is NYC funded by State Taxes ? Why do the 1)m people who do NOT living in NYC need to pay for NYC ?
Separately NYC and NY are already in trouble.
There are now more people in TX in the Financial services area than in NY,
JP Morgan has more people in TX than NY.
and later this year a New US Stock exchange will open in …. TX.
Financial services are also moving to FL – there is a rapidly growing financial services sector in FL too.
NY is hemorrhaging Billionaires CA is Hemorrhaging billionaires.
Ultimately that means LARGE spending cuts OR higher taxes on everyone else.
NYPD did hire a record number of new officers in 2025.
But that was entirely to replace officers retiring and leaving.
The new hires in 2026 are for the same purpose.
Cutting new hires will REDUCE the size of the NYPD.
NYPD has had just under 35000 uniformed officers since 2001.
With the 2026 new hires it will have 33,500.
Without them it will drop to levels last seen in 1994 when Crime was skyrocketing.
Universal suffrage leads to catastrophic economic consequences.
How does allowing people who literally can not govern their own life have a vote in how the city/state/country is governed lead to “good governance”?
Mamdani’s has much in common with 21st Century Republicans.
Both big spenders but Republicans practice “borrow & spend” – much worse than Mandani’s tax & spend policies (where he pays for his spending).
So far Trump has added more to the national debt (per year) than any other president, more per year than any Democrat. Trump added $8.2 billion to the national debt in only 4 years of his first term.
@Anonymous
Ah. The old, ‘first post’ ploy, so for a little while, your comment is the only one people will see, and inflammatory and disingenuous, so more dollars are guaranteed through subsequent posts.
Dig down another level in the comments, folks.
James.
Lets look at the cash Biden was throwing around during Covid.
The socialist dystopia, Islamo-Leftist version.
@Dustoff
Would love it if we did. They must really consider the Professor a threat to be comment bombing him to this degree everyday, and it has increased exponentially over the past several years. Heaven forbid people are actually educated and think for themselves. That is anathema and death to everything the modern left represents, globally.
“During President Biden’s term from January 2021 to January 2025, the national debt increased by over $8.4 trillion”