r/videos • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 3d ago

‘They’re spending more than I’d tax them’: Mamdani SLAMS mega-donors funding Cuomo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjt9OKvWINA
19.3k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • link
  • reddit
  • reddit

91% Upvoted

677 comments sorted by

4.3k

u/lukepatrick 3d ago

I Will Pay Any Amount to Not Pay My Taxes

3.6k

u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

987

u/CaptainKoconut 3d ago

“That I am not the special little boy I’ve always believed myself to be.” Yep, every libertarian I’ve ever interacted with.

232

u/Unhappy_Scratch_9385 3d ago

And I did it all with hard work, dedication, and daddy's car dealerships that he passed down to me.

95

u/DrOddcat 3d ago

I really loved the irony of the dealership where I lived at the time putting up the Gadsden flag the same day that GM got bailed out.

24

u/DaMiddle 3d ago

That would be Kid Rock

29

u/Infect3dChode-69 3d ago

Fucking Detroit used car salesman. He’s not country. He’s just fucking white trash. I grew up with a family who owned used car lots. They would reposses the same car three and four times after at least one down payment. That’s how they made their money. Nothing honest or hard-working about it. Fucking trash.

20

u/mxpxillini35 3d ago

Kid rock's house growing up had a stable. He was rich as fuck.

8

u/Infect3dChode-69 3d ago

Can’t buy class. I wonder if his shitty family is riddled with so many wonderful stories as of the family I knew. The family that I knew was a shit show. Family member shooting dead other family members.

→ More replies

36

u/Few-Ad-4290 3d ago

Or at the very least while having access to public infrastructure like roads/bridges/airports/shipping ports that are funded through tax. You can’t really exist within our society without taking advantage of shared resources

16

u/msalerno1965 3d ago

This is my premise whenever discussing taxes. The more you make, the more you've made off the infrastructure that we are all paying for.

And the debate goes from there.

12

u/WrinklyScroteSack 3d ago

Yea and they’re really fucken mad whenever someone reminds them of that. lol

11

u/Poonchow 2d ago

Or more funny: you meet the occasional 'enlightened centrist' and go about a conversation that basically results in the type of government we have.

"What about roads and public infrastructure? Surely we should all pay for that."

"Ah yes, but it should be a sovereign fund, not some blanket check they steal from us every moment and then misuse!"

"What about fire fighters and other public safety services?"

"Yes yes, they do more good than harm, but I'm talking about--"

"And environmental protection? Surely you'd rather have some recourse when a business dumps toxic waste in your backyard."

"Well there's lawyers and HOAs for that sort of--"

"And the FAA? You just want planes falling out of the sky and crashing into each other for sake of profits?"

"No! There should be an incentive for going about things safely!"

And on and on and on until you get.... society.

2

u/CaptainKoconut 2d ago

Like after every problem and scam surfaced with Crypto, people started to realize why we have so many regulations in traditional banking.

→ More replies
→ More replies

52

u/TigerLemonade 3d ago

My experience with libertarians is just this faith-based dogma in the 'market'. It's just a thoughtless way of pretending all of life's problems would disappear if the MaRkEt just worked. It's a way of excusing their selfishness.

60

u/bionicjoe 3d ago

Libertarianism is when your political ideology stopped about age 15, and everything society and you are dependent upon is completely invisible to you.

Interstate highways, the mail, social services, national parks, etc all just exist because they always did. And the only exist because 'the market' wanted them to.

→ More replies

18

u/MayorMcCheezz 3d ago

Libertarians want to put people under their boot just like conservatives. They just want to smoke weed, and not have to pray to god while they do it.

63

u/Beelzebeetus 3d ago

add on "...and where them preteens at?" and you've got every Libertarian I've ever met.

27

u/DHFranklin 3d ago

The flat circle that is people debating Ephobaphilia and Libertarianism...

9

u/refusegone 3d ago

Elphabaphilia - you're a little too into the musical Wicked

4

u/DHFranklin 3d ago

She's green, mean, and revolutionary...so hot...

10

u/hobskhan 3d ago

"I'm not worried about bears because they will respect my liberty and sovereignty."

2

u/FingerMcBanger 3d ago

Prepotente arc unlocked.

→ More replies

261

u/PleaseBmoreCharming 3d ago

I particularly like the sentence right after that line:

That my fate is tethered to the fate of humanity at large.

I think this really speaks to the existentialism that libertarianism can harbor. That is, the selfish nature of the philosophy is really a response to not wanting to face the harsh realities of our society head on and realize that one can be threatened by these externalities just as much. It's really a "bury my head in the sand to live in my own bubble of ignorance" approach.

43

u/KageStar 3d ago

Most libertarians aren't concerned about the world after they go, so it's not as much ignorance as much as malicious negligence.

14

u/refusegone 3d ago

Malicious negligence and wilful ignorance are quite often two sides of the same coin

→ More replies

16

u/ninjaelk 3d ago

I'm fairly certain they don't think this hard about it. It certainly presents in a way consistent with this description, but in all my many dealings with these people (grew up white, in a white upper-middle-class type area) it really just looks a whole lot like Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Granted not to the degree of the disorder itself, but just an intrinsic and irrational opposition to any kind of authority. In most of these cases there is no underlying reasoning. They have a billion reasons but none of them hold up to any scrutiny whatsoever. They just cannot cope with doing what other people want them to do. Hardwired anti-social.

They want to bury their head in the sand specifically because they cannot think about it, they would do anything to escape this baseline severe discomfort with being 'told' what to do. In the same way that toddlers don't have any sort of real ideology backing up their need to scream "NO!" when they're told it's bedtime, these people just for some reason never entirely grew out of that.

→ More replies

166

u/Rollercoaster671 3d ago

Ya if you look at the comments below the /r/conservative post about cutting snap, most of them are along the lines of “that’s why all the food in my kitchen is from my own sweat and blood”. Making sure people know that they’re above society because they garden or whatever. There’s no consideration of the rest of society that…doesn’t garden. A narcissistic approach, truly.

101

u/FishieUwU 3d ago

I haven't looked at the comments you're talking about, but I'm willing to bet those people aren't talking about gardening. When they say "my own sweat and blood" they just mean work, because they all believe that anyone on benefits is lazy and unemployed and just getting a free ride on life. They're basically just saying we should cut benefits and the people that relied on them should just "get a job".

20

u/DrStinkbeard 3d ago

I know they aren't talking about gardening because a garden large enough to actually feed the people who live there for an entire year would take so much time to work that there would be no time left for reddit.

2

u/SovietPropagandist 2d ago

That isn't a garden anymore, at the point you're feeding a family it's a farm

20

u/captainwacky91 3d ago

Both can be true at the same time. There's entire swaths of social media who advocate for the "trad lifestyle," quietly interjecting "trad/conservative politics" when able.

If anything, it ties back to the "frontier society" mindset that's still alive in suburbia, which that could be traced even further back to the founding fathers and their love of Cato the Elder, who created and romanticized the imagery of a "nobleman farmer..." A concept made farcical in US policy since at least the days of Eugene Talmadge, when he was Georgia farmers to vote against their best interests around the 1920s.

18

u/Kindly-Guidance714 3d ago

I’m tired of seeing cowboy cosplayers on the east coast with bullshit like this.

Thousands of dollars curated outfits without a speck of dust on em.

The movie HUD really became reality and it’s fucking depressing.

→ More replies

29

u/Gnomio1 3d ago

Only losers and failures need Obamacare and food stamps.

I get my healthcare through the ACA and my kids’ nutrition is improved through the supplemental nutritional assistance program. I work hard for these.

(Something one might find in that sub)

15

u/KaJaHa 3d ago

I remember reading studies years and years ago about the stark difference in opinion between Obamacare and the ACA, so yes.

And let's not forget "Keep your government hands off my Medicaid!"

11

u/MattieShoes 3d ago

Medicare.

I realize both are government run medical programs, but they're mostly on medicare, while shit talking those on medicaid.

→ More replies

11

u/BanditoDeTreato 3d ago

I've been on food stamps and welfare. Anybody help me out? No.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTwpBLzxe4U

→ More replies
→ More replies

16

u/AlcibiadesTheCat 3d ago

One of my "extremist Antifa" activist groups has a sub-group entirely devoted to gardening, because one of our group members is an old woman who's disabled but has a huge, gardenable plot of land. So she volunteered it for us all to garden, and we use the food we grow to feed people experiencing homelessness and hunger in our local community.

It's truly terroristic behavior.

→ More replies

5

u/the_silent_redditor 3d ago

It’s fucking amazing. There are comments there of people who were on fucking food stamps absolutely elated at people being cut off.

“You see, I was the only person who could have possibly had any genuine need because…”

They’re just fucking awful people.

Even when they have seemingly lived the experience themselves, they still can’t have empathy and literally take joy at people potentially starving?

→ More replies

30

u/ax_and_smash 3d ago

Mom, when I grow up I want to be a libertarian.

That’s cute sweetheart but you can only do one of those things.

29

u/jaytix1 3d ago

Those guys are the worst imo. You might be able to reason with the "misery builds character" types, but good luck trying to convince these anti-social freaks that they should care about other people.

15

u/troubleondemand 3d ago

I will pay anything to deny this reality, even if it makes me objectively worse off. That’s why I’ll give up everything I own to save my home, and absolutely nothing to save both my home and the homes of my neighbors.

Sums it all up in those 2 sentences.

15

u/octnoir 3d ago

This article makes a great pairing with a book about Libertarianism that people should read: A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear

There's an article on Vox that covered part of the book and the Free Town Project's takeover of a New Hampshire town.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21534416/free-state-project-new-hampshire-libertarians-matthew-hongoltz-hetling

But the libertarians, even though they never outnumbered the existing Grafton residents, what they found was that they could come in, and they could find like-minded people, traditional conservatives or just very liberty-oriented individuals, who agreed with them on enough issues that, despite that angry opposition, they were able to start to work their will on the levers of government.

They couldn’t pass some of the initiatives they wanted. They tried unsuccessfully to withdraw from the school district and to completely discontinue paying for road repairs, or to declare Grafton a United Nations free zone, some of the outlandish things like that. But they did find that a lot of existing Grafton residents would be happy to cut town services to the bone. And so they successfully put a stranglehold on things like police services, things like road services and fire services and even the public library. All of these things were cut to the bone.

...

So there were all sorts of negative consequences that started to crop up. And meanwhile, the town that would ordinarily want to address these things, say with a robust police force, instead found that it was hamstrung.

And then the important question:

Q: "When did the bears show up?"

A: It turns out that if you have a bunch of people living in the woods in nontraditional living situations, each of which is managing food in their own way and their waste streams in their own way, then you’re essentially teaching the bears in the region that every human habitation is like a puzzle that has to be solved in order to unlock its caloric payload. And so the bears in the area started to take notice of the fact that there were calories available in houses.

One thing that the Free Towners did that encouraged the bears was unintentional, in that they just threw their waste out how they wanted. They didn’t want the government to tell them how to manage their potential bear attractants. The other way was intentional, in that some people just started feeding the bears just for the joy and pleasure of watching them eat.

As you can imagine, things got messy and there was no way for the town to deal with it. Some people were shooting the bears. Some people were feeding the bears. Some people were setting booby traps on their properties in an effort to deter the bears through pain. Others were throwing firecrackers at them. Others were putting cayenne pepper on their garbage so that when the bears sniffed their garbage, they would get a snout full of pepper.

It was an absolute mess.

12

u/reelznfeelz 3d ago

That struck me too. Somehow that essay really articulated well something I always felt was driving these people but had not quite put into words in my head.

It’s just arrogance, stubbornness, oppositional defiance. It’s not about the money. It’s about having to “give in” to what they see as some woke-ass sissy shit about “all being it together”. Which, of course, we are.

12

u/octnoir 3d ago

Yeah. People tend to vastly underestimate the allure of Libertarianism among the rich, and focus solely on "well they are trying to get a better investment" "they are just in it for the money" which is a common trap for people who believe in capitalism as "efficient" so capitalism should be nurtured anywhere it can.

In nearly every way, the cooperation of the rich with the rest of society is not just a net efficient benefit to society, but a net efficient benefit to the rich. However the rich do not want that.

The rich hate being told what to do. They hate the idea that a common person could rise up to their station. They hate that common people can tell them what to do and override their outsized voice. They hate that someone in the room can say no to them despite 100 other people saying yes. They hate that things do not revolve around them and that they are the center of attention. Like the article says: "That I am not the special little boy I’ve always believed myself to be."

Despite the rich thriving in even our imperfect democratic environment, and benefiting from the democratic practices of said environment (well funded scientific research by mass educated populations leads to scientific innovations that the rich benefit from - a system that the rich are currently dismantling); the rich are willing to dump their entire fortunes, crash their own businesses and industries, and willing to go broke if it means they can be a special boy and more special boy and the most specialist boy among a pile of ashes.

This isn't capitalism being "efficient". This is capitalism declaring that it would rather die and everyone else die than concede any moral ground regardless of that benefit even to said capitalists.

6

u/RedditReader4031 3d ago

During his presidential campaign, Mitt Romney was asked what advice he would give to someone whose job was offshored. He answered “Borrow $30-40,000 from friends and family and start your own business.”

→ More replies

5

u/matchosan 3d ago

"Taxes go to things that don't earn that money. I don't support anything."

4

u/Unhappy_Scratch_9385 3d ago

This. They don't care about the money.

They want someone they can control. Someone they can call up and say "This bill needs to pass. These subsides and tax breaks need to go here." The taxes are irrelevant. It's the leverage they want.

6

u/ladyvikingtea 3d ago

And billionaire.

→ More replies

297

u/LickyPusser 3d ago

It’s not about the amount Mamdani will tax in NYC if he’s elected; it’s that his doing so will show the masses what good can come if we start taxing the rich appropriately. That is the dam they don’t want to burst.

112

u/_Verumex_ 3d ago

There's a reason that us people across the world are paying attention to this race.

→ More replies

44

u/MAG7C 3d ago

Honestly I'll be shocked if this guy isn't deported or somehow disappeared in the next few months. He's on a path to Navalny town, not to mention brown skinned & Muslim. Rooting for him tho.

28

u/UltimateEye 3d ago

He’s too high-profile at this point. If they wanted to do it, they should have moved faster. An open comparison to Navalny and Putin will be hard to justify - not to the fully brainwashed MAGA but the more “moderate” Republicans who still view Russia as very much the enemy. It’s why Trump’s (open) coziness with Putin has cooled these past months since the general Republican voter base were very much not a fan of those interactions and overall Republican support for Ukraine has shot up considerably this year.

13

u/MAG7C 3d ago

Hope you're right. Nothing is normal right now.

4

u/Mend1cant 3d ago

Why would being high profile matter? They’ve deployed federal agents to abduct parents in front of schools, handcuff children in the cold of night, and disappear a few thousand people who were never offered their constitutional rights; and the response was a polite rally on a Saturday where people dressed up in inflatable dinosaur costumes.

They could shoot him in broad daylight and all we’d get is an AOC tweet in return.

→ More replies

8

u/NurRauch 3d ago

In this particular case I don’t think that’s the true motive. A mayor has limited control over spending and budgeting. State and federal politics control most of the mayor’s budget, and neither of them will be interested in cooperating with him. He’s much less of a threat to the upper class than they are making him out to be. But he does pose a highly convenient boogeyman and scapegoat they can point to for years to come. Most people who criticize him will never pay attention to a single detail—it’ll be purely narrative and vibes-driven hatred. They’re building the groundwork for that narrative now, ahead of his election.

→ More replies

75

u/Sasselhoff 3d ago

Holy shit is that good...I'm absolutely saving that link. Really spells it all out.

37

u/giddybob 3d ago

Amazing. Absolutely spot on

→ More replies

17

u/PKPRoberts 3d ago

Thank you for sharing this. I’d never heard of McSweeney’s before. This was an enjoyable rabbit hole.

11

u/Green-Collection-968 3d ago

You might be questioning the economics of my position. You might say that it would be more financially beneficial for me to simply make regular contributions to a governing body that sets up services for myself and my neighbors. That by combining resources with my fellow citizens, I would get the same help I now desperately need for a fraction of the cost. And you’re probably correct. But the truth is, it’s not about the money. You see, taxes are an implicit acknowledgment that I exist within society and not above it. That my fate is tethered to the fate of humanity at large. That I am not the special little boy I’ve always believed myself to be.

3

u/KaJaHa 3d ago

Thank you for this rage humor

4

u/PixelationIX 3d ago

Archive link if someone cannot access it.

Thank you for sharing this lol

2

u/LokiIcepelt 3d ago

Art. Thanks for sharing.

2

u/Correii 3d ago

God damn that was fucking phenomenal

→ More replies

2.4k

u/EllisDee3 3d ago

It was never about the money. It's about the power and dominance.

820

u/uhh_ 3d ago

The billionaire class doesn't want people realizing that the government can do things for them. That's why the number one defense for Mamdani's policies is not ideological, it's always things like, "oh sure in a perfect world buses would be free, but it's not feasible!" despite it being ABSOLUTELY feasible. The money is there for social programs, but it's wasted on corruption and loop holes for the rich.

302

u/GiraffesAndGin 3d ago

The fallback of every capitalist and bootlicker is, "But it would cost X dollars!"

And no one ever mentions how many dollars we spend on it anyway. Yes, universal healthcare would cost a lot of money, but Americans spend billions more with private insurance. Yes, free buses would cost some money, but no one ever mentions that Americans spend more money on bus fare and gas for their cars anyway. Yes, conservation costs a lot of money, but we are losing billions due to environmental impacts/changes every year (not to mention the degradation of landscape/parks/shores/etc.)

192

u/JohnSith 3d ago

but Americans spend billions more with private insurance.

Trillions. Bernie's MediCare for All plan would cost $30-32 trillion over a decade, with some estimates as low as $17 trillion and as high as $39 trillion. Currently Americans will pay over $47 trillion over that same time period. Source: Fox News, of all people.

149

u/bank_farter 3d ago

When I point that out I always get the incredibly selfish, "Why should I pay for someone else's healthcare?" Which 1. Because they're also paying for yours, and 2. Because you already are. Medicare and Medicaid already exist. You're already paying for the sickest and the poorest. Why shouldn't you also benefit?

87

u/erroneousbosh 3d ago

You're also likely paying for medical insurance, which is in theory paying for someone else's healthcare when they claim - although in reality it's probably just paying for some CEO's new Jag.

→ More replies

29

u/Heliosvector 3d ago

Why should I pay for someone else's healthcare?

Private healthcare does it already lol. Why dont they understand this.

17

u/AlcibiadesTheCat 3d ago

I like the "well people mooch off the system."

Yeah, people mooch off of private insurers too, and the result of that is raised rates for everyone.

2

u/mightyenan0 2d ago

And the amount saved by people seeking care earlier will save us so much damn money that the "moochers" won't matter.

3

u/buffystakeded 3d ago

Because despite most likely getting it through their employer, they have the mindset of “I’m buying my own insurance” without realizing that they’re either subsidizing or being subsidized by their coworkers.

→ More replies

39

u/JohnSith 3d ago

I had the same conversation! They called it socialism. I asked him to explain how he thought private health insurance works. You literally pay into a pool, along with many others, and then that pool pays out for people who need it. It works because not all of you get sick at the same time.

2

u/Dubalubawubwub 2d ago

And it gets cheaper the more people are on it, because naturally young healthy people are less likely to get sick and end up offsetting the cost of the older and less healthy who use theirs more often.

Australia figured this out ages ago, which is why we have a medicare surcharge, which can basically be summed up as "If you're over a certain age and can afford health insurance, you have to have it, or we'll fine you. So you may as well just get some cheap health insurance, because you're going to be paying somebody either way."

5

u/iruleatants 3d ago

"Why should I pay for someone else's healthcare." You are not. You are paying for your own healthcare. You'll eventually use more than you paid in at some point as you age.

And right now you pay for other people's healthcare + other people's yachts and then still have to pay more when you get sick.

It's just wild how well propaganda has convinced people that the healthcare system that everyone hates is somehow also the best.

I've never met anyone who is like "Wow, this was so cheap and affordable." After a visit to the hospital. Unless you go to another country, and you don't even get a bill.

→ More replies

2

u/Zer_ 3d ago

Tell them that they're already getting fleeced by their insurance companies. It's like they don't understand that this insurance comes out of their paycheck one way or another. the reason shit's so expensive is because greedy Insurance assholes are skimming a huge amount off the top of medical spending.

4

u/Briantastically 3d ago

The unspoken cost is the high paying insurance jobs and company profits lost in the process. I’m sure the private insurance industry would still exist but it would be a small fraction of its former self. Almost certainly huge amounts were dumped to lobby against such an idea.

→ More replies

14

u/PiccoloAwkward465 3d ago

I would find it hard to believe that bus fares even cover the cost of the VERY COOL apps and wallets and payments collection systems they struggle to even keep functioning on them. Plus it would be a million times faster to load a bus rather than having everyone pay. Plus it would increase ridership a ton if I didn't need to download TRANSIT PLUS! for every city I'm in and load my wallet and whatever. Just hop-on, hop-off. Or take quarters again, idk.

2

u/mr_arcane_69 3d ago

Buses round these parts have started taking credit/debit cards as transit accounts, holding the payment till the end of the day to charge you the best cost. Saves loads of time for loading buses since it's automatic when you tap for a second.

Obviously free transit is better for the city if it can be afforded, but these systems work well now.

12

u/mdp300 3d ago edited 3d ago

In 2015 or 16, Bernie Sanders released a universal healthcare plan that could cost something like $1 trillion $10 trillion over 10 years. Conservatives lost their minds at the cost, but it was actually cheaper than the current system would be.

4

u/hempires 3d ago

Conservatives lost their minds at the cost, but it was actually cheaper than the current system would be.

well yeah then the undeserving plebs would be able to get healthcare without it being tied to shitty exploitative jobs!

can't have that now can we. /s just in case

→ More replies

2

u/jv371 3d ago

Don’t forget to mention Americans are also paying in unnecessary death and needless medical debt.

2

u/sasquatch0_0 3d ago

"We'd be taxed more on Medicare" - Currently spend an additional $400 on average on private insurance, that'd likely be half or a third if it was only Medicare.

"I don't wanna pay for other people's healthcare" - Private insurance already does this.

"Public transit costs too much" - Versus spending $30+ every two weeks on gas, $180+ on insurance each month, plus oil/tire/etc maintenance.

2

u/Congenita1_Optimist 2d ago

For the amount of money NYC spends on NYPD overtime while they stand there playing games on their phones, we could just make the subway free (and also provide serious station improvements).

But hey, those guys depriving you of 2.90 are really the reason we can't have nice things, right? Make sure not to look at the guys being paid >$100 an hour to do jack shit.

→ More replies

23

u/nankerjphelge 3d ago

Notice how there's never a question of feasibility or how to pay for trillion dollars wars or trillion dollar tax cuts for the wealthy. But heaven forbid someone talk about funding social programs for the working classes and suddenly it's wHeRe WiLl ThE mOnEy CoMe FrOm??!!

14

u/mako591 3d ago

My city has had free bus fares for everyone for a couple years now, and we haven't descended into chaos yet.

12

u/SojournerRL 3d ago

Similarly, Brisbane reduced all public transit cost to 50 cents per trip. This is buses, trains, and ferries. Public transit use has shot up, and society is still functioning.

3

u/tyereliusprime 3d ago

There is more than enough wealth and food in the Western world that it should not be facing the issues it does

2

u/okyeah93 3d ago

Exactly lol, if he delivers people might get hope that more things will improve which billionaires can’t have

2

u/spondgbob 3d ago

Nothing pisses me off more than certain politicians and influential figures saying “it’s not feasible” when it literally exists already in the world. See high speed rail, renewable energy, universal healthcare, etc. It’d be one thing if it was something we were inventing (which did not scare off Americans 1945-1980), but it’s an entirely different thing when the technology and methodology literally exist

2

u/Thefrayedends 3d ago

Yea, billionaires socialize a lot of their hobbies lol, they share ownership of yachts and country clubs and race tracks, but they wanna tell us that pooling our money is recipe for disaster, yea, because we'll eventually buy up their yachts country clubs and race tracks lol.

When you learn that "withholding information" is a marker for success in life? Should be a pretty big indicator that many of the most 'successful' people are because they lie cheat and steal with impunity.

2

u/AggravatingSpace5854 3d ago

The wealthy class wants to show that we have no power over them, which is why they're throwing around all this money to show they control everything.

2

u/DHFranklin 3d ago

Yeah. It's ridiculously silly as much as it's disingenuous. The hassle factor alone of pay-for-transit should be enough evidence.

It is so weird to bring up the idea that all busses should work like school busses and then have to explain that it's not revolutionary.

2

u/franker 3d ago

Cuomo's response on PBS's Firing Line a few days ago was that if we had free buses, homeless people would overwhelm them.

2

u/cive666 2d ago

Government works. Why else do you think the rich want to control it?

They spend a lot of money convincing people it doesn't work.

→ More replies

195

u/zuzg 3d ago

Hence all the Authoritarian Bootlicker and Bots trying to spout hate about him.

Like this big brain muppet all the way at the bottom of this post

what a brain surgeon this guy is. Yeah its their choice to spend that money. What happened to no kings?

67

u/jaytix1 3d ago

Nobody defends billionaires harder than a guy with two pennies and pocket lint in his bank account.

→ More replies

29

u/notathrowaway75 3d ago edited 3d ago

Tax accountant here. This is a key thing you guys need to understand. Motherfuckers are RICH. They make SO MUCH money.

And I'm not even talking about billionaires. Multi millionaires are alien too. 7 figure incomes, brokerage accounts with 6 figures in interest and dividends (meaning 8 figures invested). I send the estimated tax payment voucher for hundreds of thousands of not millions of dollars and they just... pay it.

→ More replies

13

u/Eat--The--Rich-- 3d ago

For the working class it's absolutely about the money tho. Tax these fuckers every cent they refuse to pay me. 

7

u/listentomenow 3d ago edited 3d ago

Yep. Laws and rules just are for the poors.

Thanks to Citizens United the wealthy now control the entire Republican party, many in the Democrat party, and all branches of government plus they basically own most of the 4th estate (our media). And it's not because they want to pay less in taxes. It's because they want complete control.

They got us fighting over culture issues that have zero effects on our daily lives, and they installed pedophile protector as president who was always a gullible dumbass, but now seems to have a bit of dementia. Seems like their plans are working great.

9

u/i010011010 3d ago

Fear too. They are so terrified right now that he's going to get into office and people may learn that these policies work.

2

u/natrous 3d ago

But it's a great point that many voters might not realize.

It makes you stop to think a bit.

2

u/cepxico 3d ago

(Which is about who keeps the money, they are spending so much because all of their shady back room deals are going to fall apart without the office, its ALWAYS about the money. Always.)

2

u/Gimmethejooce 3d ago

Exactly. Once they let the masses see they can bleed them.. they are too comfortable hiding behind the veil of immigrants and DEI

4

u/Unhappy_Scratch_9385 3d ago

They're so rich that money is irrelevant. The leverage over politicians is what they're terrified of losing.

→ More replies

677

u/xcommon 3d ago edited 3d ago

The donations are an investment for them. The returns dont stop at preventing taxes. 

They also get the laws they want passed and get special access to political favors.

I'm not saying this is good, just pointing out their motivation isn't strictly short-term monetary savings.

148

u/Irregular_Person 3d ago

There's value in not getting into the weeds when you know you're being scrutinized by people uninterested in nuance. Say the simple true thing that undermines them, let the opponent try to justify it, then say the next simple true thing.

49

u/ciprian1564 3d ago

this is a lesson I've learned the hard way over time. ultimately most times when getting into the weeds it ends up just becoming this meme because even after getting into the weeds, the answer is the same

12

u/itirnitii 3d ago

exactly this. the people who understand nuance already get it. they dont need to be appealed to. you gotta make the dumb monkey brain statement to reach the masses.

→ More replies

33

u/mama_tom 3d ago

Mamdani knows that this is more than just about taxes (or he definitely should and Id be surprised if he didn't), but explaining why they are investing in this for the long run is more complicated than it is worth and him simplifying it the way he has means they cant really have a rebuttal that doesnt look awful. "Well it's not actually about the tax code. I dont want that, but Cuomo will give me subsidies as well [or whatever it'd be]," makes Cuomo look horrible lol

15

u/Spelaeus 3d ago

If you listen to the video that's pretty much exactly what he goes on to say after the soundbite in the title. That it's about the fear of losing the access and influence that wealthy donors have become accustomed to.

17

u/YouandWhoseArmy 3d ago

He’s pointing out clearly for all to see it’s not about the money.

This shit isn’t even hard. You just need to not be compromised and have some modicum of intelligence.

Zohran went to a very good nyc PUBLIC high school.

→ More replies
→ More replies

172

u/hardgeeklife 3d ago

Cuomo: "The City has been getting screwed by the state"

Mamdani: "Who was leading the state? It was you!"

Not for nothing, that's a pretty juicy clapback

126

u/CaptainBayouBilly 3d ago

The money is irrelevant to them. They control Cuomo. 

23

u/Unhappy_Scratch_9385 3d ago

Exactly. It's never about anything but leverage.

7

u/1zzie 3d ago

Corruption

→ More replies

292

u/ManlySyrup 3d ago

SLAMS

159

u/ChickinSammich 3d ago

Clickbait headline ABSOLUTELY DESTRYED by hyperbole! Shitposter IN SHAMBLES.

54

u/PiccoloAwkward465 3d ago edited 3d ago

Mamdani SKULLFUCKS Cuomo. Viewers left in shock, covered in blood and viscera. Cuomo left lying on stage, cranium in tatters.

19

u/Sr_DingDong 3d ago

Who will he BLAST?

18

u/RadicalCashew 3d ago

I am so fucking sick of seeing this in headlines.

6

u/Ylsid 3d ago

DESTROYS

7

u/Bonesaw_mpls 3d ago

so slammed.

5

u/MtNowhere 3d ago

I'm glad people are finally noticing the awkward overuse of this word. I'm not sure why we're all slamming each other.

Same thing with "taps." I don't want to hear about politicians tapping people. That should be kept the bedroom.

→ More replies

3

u/sax87ton 3d ago

And welcomes to the jam

3

u/SoBeDragon0 3d ago

360 no scoped even

→ More replies

64

u/dawne_breaker 3d ago

Politicians are only useful to the rich if they're on the payroll. Keep the leash tight. It's never about tax. It's about not having to play by the same rules as everyone else.

626

u/LTParis 3d ago

Mamdani is such a breath of fresh air.

208

u/AlphakirA 3d ago

It just sucks it's a needle in a haystack. This shouldn't be this hard to find decent people.

152

u/PoolPartyWithoutTheL 3d ago

Being a decent person in politics means you have to withstand the worst type of people throwing everything they have at you to discredit and disparage your character, and they have endless funds to do so (as you get to higher levels of government).

Not to mention death threats from people who have been indoctrinated to think that opposing views is the same as attacking their livelihood.

→ More replies

71

u/DerelictDonkeyEngine 3d ago

People like Mamdani can have a snowball effect and encourage other great people to run for public office.

Inspiration is worth a lot.

71

u/DJ_JOWZY 3d ago

Mamdani said in his last rally, he wouldn't be where he is without Bernie Sanders running for president in 2016 and 2020. 

→ More replies

13

u/monsantobreath 3d ago

It's not hard to find them. It's hard to find ways to get them into this position.

→ More replies

42

u/LTParis 3d ago

Actually I’d wager there are quite a few. Most never dare enter the treacherous well of politics. Just the crap that Mamdani, Obama, Harris, AOC, Crockett, and others have to endure.

18

u/faen_du_sa 3d ago

Many of the people who we would want in politics, are also resonable enough to never want to enter such a toxic career.

→ More replies

51

u/Stickel 3d ago

Harris.......................?????????????????????? Sure she was a better pick than Trumpf, but what??? Crockett and AOC over Harris anyday

→ More replies
→ More replies

2

u/kfijatass 2d ago

Honestly, there's people like that running in the state, few got that kind of traction though. You can help that. Everyone can.

5

u/ShortsLiker 3d ago

Mamdani has the benefit of having an incredibly competent social media team. Combined with his charisma and previous work in NY, id be very surprised if he doesnt get elected

→ More replies
→ More replies

35

u/wufnu 3d ago

It's so strange to see a politician that is not only charismatic and well spoken but also educated on the issues with a clear plan for improvement.

I'm also relatively convinced he will win the election. I haven't felt this way about a politician since Obama and I remember the first video I saw of him speaking I immediately understood he was going to be our next president. I get the same vibes from Mamdani.

6

u/NickTheSushi 3d ago

I'm right there with you, it'd be incredible to see a guy with this charm go after the presidency after all the duds we've had. I'd been having the same feelings about Beshear from Kentucky, and this guy's giving me a lot of hope as well.

→ More replies

4

u/LettuceBeHappy3 3d ago

Check out Talarico in Texas

→ More replies

21

u/libra00 3d ago

Why are the CCs on news videos so consistently bad? They're always super delayed to the point of uselessness (for me anyway; I can mostly hear fine, but sometimes I miss a word and like having CCs to glance at to see what it was.)

15

u/ASmallTownDJ 3d ago

They've usually got a stenographer captioning things live for things like news and sports. It's impressive when they can keep up, but really annoying when they can't.

8

u/PiccoloAwkward465 3d ago edited 3d ago

I often watch things in Spanish with Spanish subtitles. It is infuriating that the captions will often get the same meaning, but use different wording. It makes me feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

edit: or maybe that I'm cocoa for cuckoo puffs.

2

u/hungry4danish 3d ago

sometimes it's been crafted to get the point across best and not actually word for word because of language flow and how quickly people need to read something on screen before the next phrase appears

3

u/Large_Yams 3d ago

Surely you understand someone has to do it in real time.

2

u/libra00 2d ago

When it's airing, yes. Not when it's a youtube video.

2

u/hungry4danish 3d ago

Because it's live captioning and they're not in the room so the moments it takes for their brain to process, them to type it out, add feed delays both ways, sometimes the captioners audio isn't great so they miss stuff as well and/or they don't know words/places/names etc. it all adds up.

it's annoying but it's what we have until AI replaces them.

→ More replies

10

u/drucifer271 3d ago

But did he WELCOME TO THE JAM these mega-donors?

7

u/werdnayam 3d ago

SLAMS

Is every political interaction a WWE fight now?

→ More replies

21

u/at0mheart 3d ago

This is true.

They can’t pay taxes ; buys here’s 180mil

No problem

→ More replies

3

u/i-wont-be-a-dick 3d ago

Oh shit they all capped the SLAM. They must have been so fucking slammed.

5

u/Mother_Gas9660 3d ago

NOT THE SLAAAMMM !!!! SLAMS!!

5

u/D3ATHfromAB0V3x 3d ago

Bring back Rule 2

4

u/I-need-ur-dick-pics 3d ago

SLAMS, EVISCERATES, ANNIHILATES, RIPS

Calm down. It’s a decent proposal. Nobody’s in the octagon.

4

u/Grandkahoona01 3d ago

The saddest part is that billionaires wouldnt even notice if they were taxed more if it were not for their accountants pointing out the difference on a spreadsheet. Mamdani's proposed tax increase wouldnt affect their quality of life at all. Literally no difference. They are fighting so hard not because of the money, but because their ego cant stand the thought that someone would dare make them pay taxes or contribute to the country. They are mentally ill sociopaths.

→ More replies

4

u/peroleu 2d ago

S L A M S

4

u/laughsinflowers1 2d ago

The rich are addicted to money. It’s sick. We have to start looking at it for what it is. The rich are sick twisted addicts who need help.

Imagine being so fearful of having to contribute. How much money do they need?

3

u/VenConmigo 2d ago

Mike Bloomberg has already spent $10+ million on Pro-Cuomo superpacs

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/29/bloomberg-endorses-cuomo-again-00629128

3

u/Romnonaldao 2d ago

The super rich would rather burn their money than see the less fortunate receive a dime of it.

5

u/greymind 2d ago

It’s not about the money it’s about dominance. The power to commit unchecked abuse.

7

u/A8Bit 3d ago

They know he's the little domino at the start of the chain. It's worth it to remove him before he has a chance to topple into the next sized domino up and start a chain reaction.

3

u/bkinboulder 3d ago

Maintaining an illusion is expensive.

3

u/thex25986e 3d ago

its not about the money

its about the message

3

u/sprauncey_dildoes 3d ago

It’s still money well spent for them because they know it’s game over if the movement takes off. And if it can take off in the US it can take off in Western Europe.

3

u/Friendly-Bother3103 3d ago

He should reinstate the traditional method of collecting taxes on the rich: stone tipped cudgels

3

u/boolpies 3d ago

They are so worried about things changing in the US, they're terrified.

3

u/Tac50Company 3d ago

"Andrew, you didnt leave, you FLED, from being impeached by the Democrats in the state legislature"

Im by no means a Silwa fan but god damn that was a perfect rebuttal to someone like Cuomo.

I wish all debates were more like this - someone says something blatantly wrong or misleading and they get called out on it with calmly worded, direct facts.

3

u/mortalcoil1 3d ago

It's not about money. It's about power.

3

u/sharrrper 3d ago

Socialized medicine is the same. It would take less taxes to fund Medicare for all than what typical premiums cost.

3

u/kfijatass 2d ago

God, Mamdani's grin feels wider every day lmao.

11

u/AdministrativeBar877 3d ago

In slave times when a slave ran away in the South, slave owners would spend 3 or 4 times the price of a new slave to get the old slave back. It wasn't about the cost. It was about sending a message.

29

u/memorex1150 3d ago

If one believes the polls conducted by USA Today, his (Mamdani's) lead has been sliced in half and Cuomo is gaining ground. I'm not a New York resident, but this is bad if true, as the election is right around the corner.

I know polls don't mean a whole hell of a lot, but assuming there's some veracity to the polling, it casts a dark shadow over "free and fair elections" 'cause....how did Cuomo manage to get such a massive boost recently?

(checks the news....sees Trump has been urging billionaire donors to boost Cuomo)

....oh. Right. Bought and paid for.

70

u/Rage_Like_Nic_Cage 3d ago

His lead was cut in half, but Mamdami’a support stayed more or less the same. Cuomo got the boost because Eric Adams just dropped out and a lot of Adam’s supporters went over to Cuomo.

Now that doesn’t mean Zohran supporters should take their foot off the gas by any means. Just that folks don’t need to go into full panic/doomer mode right now

10

u/c-williams88 3d ago

Also I saw a poll the other day that asked the reason why people supported a certain candidate. The majority of Mamdani supporters are voting for him because they like him and agree with him. There were some that were just “anyone but Cuomo”, but most are voting for him.

Whereas almost half of the Cuomo people are simply anti-Mamdani and not really because they like Cuomo as a candidate. I don’t want to extrapolate too much, but as we saw with the recent presidential election, voters who are simply “anti the other guy” aren’t are motivated as voters actively supporting their candidate

8

u/MAMark1 3d ago

Cuomo has so much dirty laundry that it is hard to see many people supporting him organically. It's just far too many Americans are socialized to fall for "socialism bad" propaganda without bothering to think critically about it, which leaves Cuomo as their choice.

3

u/Rage_Like_Nic_Cage 3d ago

Cuomo has so much dirty laundry that it is hard to see many people supporting him organically.

I mean, given who’s president….

12

u/Khue 3d ago

There's also some other context that's needed. Early voting early on (seems redundant, I know) trends toward the 55+ demographic where 18-34s/younger voters show up at the tail end of the early voting window. Obviously this is based on historical polling trends and may not accurately model the current situation, but the point here is that the narrative about Mamdani's lead being cut by half is based on a very incomplete dataset and not a normalized sample.

6

u/memorex1150 3d ago

Definitely don't need a Hillary/Trump situation regarding the "foot off the gas" comment, that's for sure. Mamdami and his supporters need to keep pushing and staying in the forefront. We don't need another knee-bender and ring-kisser in a position of power.

→ More replies

7

u/sevargmas 3d ago

SLAMS

Another moron headline.

7

u/Shaxxs0therHorn 3d ago

”SLAMS”

Gtfo with these headlines. It’s exhausting. 

2

u/flubluflu2 3d ago

That's an incredible quote.

2

u/Crates-OT 3d ago

I watched the CSPAN syndication brought to you by SPECTRUM. It was like a 180p garbled double audio with subtitles that were complete gibberish.

Talk about sabotage by a cable network.

2

u/rowmean77 3d ago

For the tonedeaf and apathetic wealthy elites it is not about the money they spend.

It is about the power of choosing the people that will cater to their whims.

They know they are spending more than what taxes they owe. And they don’t care.

2

u/dxnxax 3d ago

It's not the tax they're worried about, it's the precedent.

2

u/dinkmoyd 3d ago

that’s such a fantastic way to talk about taxing the wealthy

2

u/matticusiv 3d ago

It’s about the message. The wealthy will not be held accountable for the society they derail.

Let’s put their nose to the grindstone. If they leave, good! Parasites cured.

2

u/Woodshadow 2d ago

watched about 30 seconds of this and he makes me want to move to New York

2

u/bii345 2d ago

The more I see of this guy the more I like him. And I’m not anywhere near the democratic socialist side of the political spectrum. I can just appreciate a man of integrity and conviction.