NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio Proves Once Again He Is the Worst Mayor Ever | Citizens Against Government Waste

NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio Proves Once Again He Is the Worst Mayor Ever

The WasteWatcher

In September 2020, Citizens Against Government Waste named New York City “Worst Mayor Ever” Bill De Blasio Porker of the Month for requesting a $5 billion bailout from the state of New York, while refusing to cut the city’s budget.  His blatant money grab angered lawmakers, even in his own party, along with the state and city comptrollers.

 Now, Mayor De Blasio is counting on Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden to bailout the city, including billions of dollars that would cover up his abject fiscal irresponsibility that predated the pandemic.  Before the votes were even counted on Election Day, he said,“If Joe Biden’s elected president, the most likely time for a major stimulus is February, and I’m thinking along the lines of the New Deal, and he’s obviously talking about emulating FDR … The second we have that, New York City’s in a position to address a whole host of issues, avert layoffs, but also to do a lot of positive things.” Apparently, the mayor is not capable of doing any of those positive things on his own.  And a major difference between the (arguable) need for the New Deal and the economic impact of COVID-19 is that the United States is not in nor will it enter into anything close to the Great Depression.  The economy is recovering well and will do even better once a vaccine is distributed early in 2021.

The state of New York received $7.5 billion from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), and New York City was allocated $1.45 billion, all of which was spent.  But the city’s fiscal woes run deep:  New York is among the worst states in many economic rankings, including the American Legislative Exchange Council’s 2020 Rich States, Poor States, which ranked the state dead last. 

New York State has a $13.3 billion shortfall.  The state also paid $700 million in improper payments for Medicaid spending in 2019, including $5 million to those who are no longer living.  Assemblyman Andy Goodell (R-Jamestown) has plans to eliminate a Hollywood tax credit which would save the state $420 million a year, sell off a ski resort that uses $144.5 million in the budget, and get rid of $100 million used for public campaign finance.  He also wants to prioritize spending and repeal and reduce regulations that would drive up government costs. 

Irresponsible spending by states like New York is among the reasons why the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste opposed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES Act) in May and the revised version in October.  The $915 billion in the May version of the bill and the $436 billion in the October version of the bill for states and local governments could have been used for purposes unrelated to COVID-19.  The Senate and the White House rejected both of these bills, but that could change if Joe Biden becomes President.  Taxpayers in fiscally responsible states like Idaho and Utah should continue to raise strong objections to being forced to pay for another state’s decades of wasteful spending and underfunded pension plans.

A Biden bailout for De Blasio will be a disaster for New York City.  Without the need for fiscal discipline, waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency will run rampant.  The best way for the city to get its finances under control is to identify and eliminate unnecessary spending and tighten the budget.  The fiscal consequences of a bailout will be felt for a much longer time than the economic impact of the pandemic.