The Basics
First, last night here in Middle Georgia, the Republicans held a Republican seat the Democrats went all out for. It was a taste of what’s to come. The Democrats were extremely aggressive. They rented buses to get voters to the polls. They pushed hard. But they lost because Republicans turned out. The Republicans turned out because the Republican candidate is great, but also because the Democrats went with a far-left radical who even spooked mainstream Democrats. I attended now Senator-Elect Steven McNeel’s party last night. It was a good night.
For those in New York, the day was not so good. Mayor Mamdani demanded a 9.5% property tax hike across the board on residents of New York City. This is what New Yorkers voted for.
If you want some mind-blowing perspective on this, New York City has a population of 8.5 million people and a municipal budget of $127 billion.
The entire state of Florida has a population of 23 million people and a statewide budget of $117 billion. By the way, New York, the state, has a budget of $254 billion for 20 million people.
Communists can never get enough of other people’s money to burn to keep people warm.
It is hard to emphasize just how absurd this is. Mamdani dared to ask Governor Hochul to raise taxes on all New Yorkers to fund New York City. She declined to take from those who have to give to those who covet. Good for her. New York is going to have to feel the burden of Mamdani’s desires without the rest of New York subsidizing him. After all, New York City, not New York State, voted for him.
In Maryland, the state cannot get the Francis Scott Key Bridge rebuilt. It will take as long to rebuild the destroyed portion as it originally took to build the whole bridge and 8 miles of access roads to it. It will be more than $1 billion. It will undoubtedly go behind schedule and be over budget.
In California, the high-speed rail system is headed for its sixth CEO and has not laid even six inches of track in all the years California has been developing it. Gavin Newsom has doubled down on his desire for the rail system. I saw someone the other day note that California could buy out every seat on every plane between Los Angeles and San Francisco for a year and give away the seats for less money than it is costing the state to build a rail line they have not even begun construction on.
