According to history, Abraham Lincoln once said, “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”
Kathy Hochul obviously agrees, so she has settled on constantly trying to fool some people.
Nearly two years before her re-election bid, New York’s Democratic governor is already campaigning hard.
According to her press releases, social media posts, and public comments, Hochul wants voters to believe she will protect them from both crime and poverty.
To emphasize her point, she repeats variations of her favorite catchphrases: “I promised to put money in your pockets,” she says repeatedly.
And here’s another: “Public safety is my top priority and I will do everything in my power to keep New Yorkers safe.”
New York is on the wrong path.
They are the right goals, but it is unclear why Hochul will not fight for them.
Talking is easy, but why not take action to make things happen?
In fact, under her leadership, New York has reversed its progress.
It is constantly taking money from people’s pockets.
And, far from feeling safe, most New Yorkers are concerned every day about sky-high crime and violence, particularly on the subway.
The overall picture shows that the state continues to lag behind successful, dynamic states in terms of both cost and quality of life.
It turns out that being America’s tax capital and treating criminals and raving maniacs with kid gloves does not make residents happy.
The MTA is wasting billions on NYC’s congestion pricing plan.
Who would’ve guessed?
In some ways, the current crisis resembles Hochul’s brush with political death during her 2022 campaign.
She pretended that crime was unimportant at the time, allowing GOP opponent Lee Zeldin to harp on it day after day.
Although Hochul eventually won, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi chastised her for ignoring the crime problem, claiming it helped the Republicans flip enough seats in New York to turn the House red.
It was later revealed that Hochul had taken the advice of a political aide who lived full-time in Colorado and advised her to downplay crime in favor of abortion.
The aide was dispatched after it was discovered that he had been repeatedly accused of bullying, making him the ideal scapegoat for her poor performance.
But Hochul is still not confronting the two issues that are driving people out of the city and state, so unless she can find someone else to blame, a second failure will be entirely her own.
Enabling Albany
The core issue is that the astronomical taxes and fees required to fund Albany’s reckless spending inevitably raise the cost of living.
However, while Hochul bemoans the situation, she continues to raise costs for both families and private businesses.
New fees for landlords and employers went into effect last week, and Hochul personally pushed for Manhattan’s destructive congestion tax, which began on Sunday.
She also pulled a bait-and-switch by pausing the tax in June, just weeks before it was set to begin.
Her decision came after a meeting with Pelosi’s successor as Democratic leader, Brooklyn Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.
The pause was clearly a political ploy to protect the party’s suburban candidates and prevent a repeat of the GOP’s gains in 2022.
Soon after the November election results were announced, Hochul unveiled a new scheme that imposed a $9 daily tax on cars, telling insiders she wanted to do it before Donald Trump became president and then stopping it.
Because the fee was initially set at $15, she claimed to have achieved a 40% reduction, saving motorists $1,500 per year.
According to her wacky math, that counts as putting money in your pocket.
Such privileges are only available in a one-party state.
If Republicans were truly competitive and even close to a majority in either chamber of Albany, Hochul would not have the audacity to make such ridiculous claims.
Her maneuver exemplifies how New York is addicted to both excessive spending and dishonesty.
The state budget, now $237 billion, has grown by $100 billion in a decade, but it is never enough.
That excludes a slew of “independent” agencies, including the MTA, which has its own $20 billion budget.
In terms of public safety, Hochul presided over an era when repeat offenders committed crimes.
Although progressive legislative leaders and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo are largely to blame, Hochul has chosen to accept defeat rather than fight in public.
As a result, the governor’s office has essentially become a rubber stamp for radical lawmakers.
Stores and pharmacies are closing due to rampant shoplifting, and subways are, by most accounts, more dangerous than ever.
Even though Hochul encourages more people to use the system, criminal penalties and mental health laws are woefully inadequate.
Why should they?
Her choice to lead the MTA, Janno Lieber, dismisses crime as a minor issue while celebrating the congestion tax.
He has two tin ears.
Her distorted reality
Again, Hochul must be aware of all of this.
Because she previously worked for the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, she must recall his warning: “You are entitled to your opinion. However, you are not entitled to your own facts.
But Hochul appears content to blather on and on about her stale slogans rather than take the risk of fighting for things that would yield better results.
Even in the face of outrages like antisemitic marches in the city waving Hamas flags and calling for Israel’s annihilation, she remains silent.
Where is the leadership?
The only logical conclusion is that Hochul lacks the knowledge and willpower required to fix New York.
And that she intends to keep her job by consistently deceiving the majority of people.
Times aren’t changing
Although it is a new year, the New York Times remains unchanged, as evidenced by two recent opinion pieces.
The first states, “The Next Assault on the Modern State Has Begun,” with a subhead claiming, “Trump aims to dismantle institutions that keep Americans safe.”
The headline of the second piece insists that “America Needs More Jimmy Carters.”
Doesn’t the Gray Lady grow tired of being wrong?
J. David Kelsey, a reader, questions when the shady Penn Biden Center, funded by China with $68 million in donations, will be investigated. Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, and many other Joe Biden associates were well compensated for four years, and then the president of UPenn was nominated to be our ambassador to Germany.”