Sunday, February 20, 2005
Pataki's Blood Money
German Cabrera has become Taxpayer Zero.0 comments
These two stories go hand-in-hand, and should be read together.
10 Years Later: Budget Growth Clouds Pataki Legacy of Tax Cuts
Beatings & then murder send fear thru subways
These are stories of high-level politics and simple human and societal greed on the one hand, and the bloody and often deadly results which always follow, as night follows day.
[For those of you outside the New York City area, first know that a majority of New York City's fiscal dealings are actually determined and controlled by the State government in Albany. So what the governor does and what the state legislature does impacts NYC in an outsized way.]
10 Years Later: Budget Growth Clouds Pataki Legacy of Tax Cuts
This article details moves by New York Governor George Pataki (who dearly wanted to take Dick Cheney's spot as vice president, but who will settle for running for president in 2008) to successfully answer the Republicans' call to cut every tax that's ever been passed in the history of the Republic, thereby doing his part in establishing the GOP Survival of the Fittest societal model.
[Have you ever noticed that as much as the GOP pushes Creationism at the American public, their basic, working, guiding premise of life, their "Contract with America," is pure Darwinian theory.]
Down into The Times article you'll see the dramatic impact that Pataki's cuts have had on, among others, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) in the greater NYC area.
Since the transit system is the lifeblood of this city, and the city is the fiscal engine that keeps Troy and Buffalo and Rochester and every other rusting 'burgh in this state afloat, it has always been prudent policy to keep the MTA running smoothly. That's not even addressing the paralyzing impact of added traffic to NYC's streets or the costs of cleaning the air of the metropolitan region if the transit system is hobbled.
But since 1995, Pataki has capped the state's share of the MTA budget at $200 million in order to pay for his upper-middle class/upper class/large corporation tax cuts. $200 million is governmental chump-change these days; barely 1/2 of a starting infield for the New York Yankees. And due to NYC's devastated economy and its ongoing runaway inflation, what the MTA actually receives is perhaps half that much in real 2005 dollars. So the MTA has been forced to fund itself in other ways, while beginning the process of devouring itself to cut costs.
The subway/bus fare has crept up from $1.25 when Pataki took over in Albany, to $2.00 a ride today, with another fare increase looming like a shadow. The MTA has also acquired massive debt to help pay the bills. Another strategy has been to close 164 token booths which some frat-child with a clipboard and a nice suit (and car service) decided could be easily eliminated—as if it were no great disruption for anyone to walk through two feet of snow or torrential rains or gang turfs for four to eight blocks to the next open booth, or to stand on a dark, deserted platform with no token agent sitting in a lighted booth serving up both fares and security.
Then...
Yes, the proverbial night always follows the proverbial day, and you get this:
Beatings & then murder send fear thru subways
The subway stop at W. 18th Street and 7th Avenue is heavily used by me and thousands of other NYers, 24-hrs., seven days a week. There are two stations there, actually: one on the Uptown side of the street, and a separate station across the tracks on the Downtown side; there is no connector between them. To get to the other side, you must go back upstairs to the street, cross the street, and come down the other side.
That city/state frat-kid decided the Downtown side would be a prime candidate for a token booth closing during non-rush hours. Folks can easily get a MetroCard across the street and come back over and use it. Or they can easily walk four blocks south to the 14th Street station or five blocks north to the 23rd Street station. Easy.
And that will save us so-o-o-o-o-o much money. And Life will be good. And the state Republican Party will be pleased. And we can push for more tax cuts, and everyone will be happy.
Unless, of course, you happen to be German Cabrera, 26, of Hamilton Heights, who had the misfortune of entering the Downtown side of the 18th Street station around 9:30am on a Saturday morning of a holiday weekend. He walked past the darkened token booth, paid his fare and stood alone on the deserted platform.
That he became easy prey is apparent.
What's not apparent is the difficulty the police would have in getting to the mortally wounded Cabrera.
To allow the closure of the token booth and still keep the station open and working, the MTA has created a web of iron bars at all the turnstiles that your basic NY rat couldn't crawl through. The only way in is by using a MetroCard to turn the ceiling-to-floor turnstiles.
So when the police, who usually drive from their suburban homes to their Precinct houses and park there, responded to the station, they could see Cabrera lying, bleeding on the platform; they just couldn't get to him. Because they didn't have MetroCards!
And no, there was no other emergency plan available.
When the next train arrived, the police were forced into having disembarking passengers card them in. The paramedics were forced to go through the same drill.
Again, the police have no emergency systems in place to handle the new MTA set-up.
So, German Cabrera died to help pay for Governor Pataki's tax cuts.
But he never got to vote on the idea of starving the NYC subway system to pay for corporate tax cuts.
And now you know that discussions of "tax cuts" are never held in a vacuum.
When the governor, or mayor or the president or anyone else signs a tax cut into place, it's important that along with the traditional pens, they now pass out paper towels to everyone, so they can wipe the blood off their hands.
For there will always be a harsh price for someone to pay in order to support those smiling, greedy faces.
posted by Gotham 10:41 AM
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