Mamdani's Rise Is a Gift Republicans Are Already Using
Immediately after the previously little-known state assemblyman from Queens won the Democratic nomination for mayor, stunning his party's political establishment, Republicans got busy upping Mamdani's name recognition. In every upcoming contest in every corner of the country, Republicans are attempting to cast Democrats as the party of Mamdani.
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New York Post
34 minutes ago
- New York Post
Michael Goodwin: Cuomo remains NYC's best shot to keep socialist Mamdani from being mayor – or the city will never be the same
He lost the primary by a stunning 12-point blowout, but as strange as it sounds, the ball is again back in Andrew Cuomo's court. Is he going to run a serious campaign in the general election, or is he ending his political career with a humiliating defeat? That's the key question for him, but it's also vital for the November election. Cuomo's answer is crucial because the Democrats' full-blown socialist nominee, Zohran Mamdani, is a heavy favorite to win. If he does and is able to implement even half of his radical agenda, New York will never be the same. It's teetering under the flawed leadership of Mayor Adams, but Mamdani is a human wrecking ball whose City Hall would make these troubled days look like a Golden Age. His policies would destroy Gotham's economy and shred the fragile social fabric. Nepo baby disaster His plan to freeze rents on 1 million privately owned apartments would turn the housing crisis into an unfixable disaster. What private developer is going to build apartments if it means losing money on the whims of a nepo-baby mayor who never held a job in the private sector? And if government becomes the major builder, look to the perpetually troubled Housing Authority projects for a vision of the hellscape future. Follow The Post's coverage of the NYC mayoral race Mamdani's racist plan to tax white-owned property higher than others and his support for antisemitic policies are beyond the pale. On top of his backing for the BDS movement, his refusal to condemn the odious phrase 'globalize the intifada' offers tacit support for violence against Jews in Israel and around the world. He's also a 33-year-old elitist who joined the 'defund the police' mob and has talked about dismantling the jail system. Next to him, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is a throw-away-the-key champion of law and order. New York has never had a mayor so far out of the mainstream. The closest was Bill de Blasio, and Mayor Putz was the worst leader the city had in 50 years. Which brings us back to Cuomo. The November ballot essentially comes down to a four-person race. In addition to Mamdani on the Dem line, Cuomo and Eric Adams hold independent lines, and Curtis Sliwa is the GOP nominee. Cuomo I believe, is the only one with a realistic chance of defeating Mamdani. Yes, yes, I know that's a hard sell in the immediate aftermath of the thumping the former governor suffered last week. Mamdani beat him by 7 points on the straight vote counting, and the final margin grew to 12 points when the ranked-choice votes were tabulated. Full of regrets The difference reflected the cross-endorsement arrangements Mamdani made with like-minded lefties that enabled him to pick up much of their support when they were eliminated. But the key was the record turnout of 100,000 new voters from ages 18 to 30, who went overwhelmingly for the Queens lawmaker. Polls didn't pick up the surge until the very end, with Cuomo consistently a dominant front-runner since March. One result was that Cuomo was too cautious, acting like an incumbent playing not to lose instead of playing to win. His Rose Garden strategy of skipping candidate forums and granting few interviews reflected what the polls were saying: that his lead was safe. It wasn't and I'm told he's now full of regrets and admits he ran a terrible race. He acknowledged as much in a brief statement to me late Tuesday, in which he said the 'buck stops with me' and that 'I should have focused on a simpler affordability message even in these complex times.' After saying that 'Effective social media is paramount,' he added, 'We're going through the data, but there's no question a fall campaign needs to be a different effort informed by the lessons of this one.' His points reflect the fact that his ads, including those of his well-funded PAC, were good enough in a vacuum, but never countered his opponent's appeal to new voters. In addition, Cuomo was saddled with his own disgraceful exit from Albany four years ago over sexual harassment allegations. He also carries the baggage of his fatal Health Department order requiring nursing homes to take COVID patients, and he never owned and apologized for either, apparently assuming they were too far in the past to matter. He's wrong, and to run in the fall, he must express honest regret to voters. Poll optimism Still, there is already one poll looking ahead that is giving his team some optimism. It was conducted in the first two days after the primary, but got little attention. It deserves more. The Cuomo-aligned Honan Strategy Group found that, going into the general, Cuomo and Mamdani are essentially tied at 39%, with Adams at 13% and Sliwa at 7%. The survey considered two major scenarios: First, if Cuomo didn't actively campaign, Mamdani would have a lead of 15 points over Adams. Second, if Adams effectively decided to drop out, Cuomo would lead Mamdani by four points. In part that's because Cuomo did well among black voters, and would do even better absent Adams. One important finding was this sentence from the pollsters: 'We examined voter sentiment towards the leading candidates among General Election voters, and found that only Andrew Cuomo has a positive favorability rating of 56% to 43% unfavorable.' They found 'Mamdani is more negative than positive, at 48% unfavorable to 40% favorable.' Remember, these results were obtained in the aftermath of Mamdani's victory. Another key takeaway is that 66% of likely fall voters have an unfavorable opinion of Adams, with only 23% favorable. Two-thirds disapprove of his job performance, and '75% agree with the statement that Eric Adams is corrupt and should not run for reelection.' Those findings suggest Adams has almost no chance of winning. The numbers haven't escaped the Cuomo camp, which also believes Sliwa cannot win. Party infighting Part of their confidence in a potential comeback is that Cuomo, although elected four times as a Democrat — once for attorney general and three times as governor — has long had a tense relationship with the party's progressive wing that dominates primaries. Clearly, that wing has grown dramatically in the city, but his team believes the mix of general election voters would be more moderate and more receptive to his ideas. They also believe the fear over a Mamdani mayoralty, even among top Dem officials, works in his favor. One part of his agenda that could be important is Cuomo's plan to hire 5,000 more police officers and keep the popular and successful Jessica Tisch as commissioner of the NYPD. The contrast with Mamdani's anti-police rhetoric and 'defund' record deserves more attention than it got during the primary. My prediction is that Cuomo, after licking his wounds and sounding out key donors and supporters, will throw himself into the November race. At this point, foolish pride is the only thing he has left to lose.
The Hill
41 minutes ago
- The Hill
House Democrat slams Fetterman for ‘beach' remark
Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) took a swing at fellow Pennsylvanian Sen. John Fetterman (D) over comments he made as the Senate was on its way to passing President Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' in which he said he had 'missed' a beach trip. 'I will do whatever it takes, stay up for 48 straight hours, 72 straight hours, do whatever it takes to block this bill from becoming law,' Boyle told The Bulwark's Sam Stein in an interview that came out Tuesday. 'And that should be the attitude, frankly, of every Democratic member of the House and Senate. If you are here, you're damn lucky, and you're privileged to be here. You should want to be here. If you don't want to be here, leave,' he added. Fetterman made it quite clear Monday morning that he was not feeling excited about going through a marathon series of votes on the 'big, beautiful bill,' saying that it was costing him beach time, as the bill was likely to pass anyway. 'Oh my God, I just want to go home. I've already … I've missed our entire trip to the beach,' Fetterman said to reporters. Senate Republicans passed Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' early Tuesday afternoon, making it a step closer to crossing the president's desk. The bill now makes its way to the House, where questions arise about whether the lower chamber can meet a self-imposed Republican July 4 deadline for passing it. 'Almost all of our Great Republicans in the United States Senate have passed our 'ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL.' It is no longer a 'House Bill' or a 'Senate Bill'. It is everyone's Bill,' Trump said in a Truth Social post Tuesday. The Hill has reached out to Fetterman's office for comment.
CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
What the Senate Republican tax-and-spending bill means for your money
Senate Republicans on Tuesday approved their version of President Donald Trump 's multitrillion-dollar tax-and-spending package, which could broadly impact millions of Americans' wallets. Similar to the House's One Big Beautiful Bill Act advanced in May, the Senate legislation aims to make permanent Trump's 2017 tax cuts, while adding new tax breaks for tip income, overtime pay and auto loans, among other provisions. If enacted, the bill could also slash spending on social safety net programs such as Medicaid and SNAP, end tax credits tied to clean energy and overhaul student loans. The spending package could still see changes as it returns to the lower chamber for approval. But a House floor vote could come this week to meet Trump's July 4 deadline. Here are some of the key provisions to watch — and how those measures could affect household finances. How to read this guide Follow along from start to finish, or use the table of contents to jump to the section(s) you want to learn more about. 'SALT' deduction Since 2018, the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction, known as SALT, has been a critical issue for certain lawmakers in high-tax states such as New York, New Jersey and California. The SALT deduction — which lets taxpayers who itemize deduct all or some of their state and local income and property taxes — was unlimited for filers before 2018. But the alternative minimum tax reduced the benefit for some wealthier Americans. A sticking point for some House lawmakers, the lower chamber approved a permanent $40,000 SALT limit starting in 2025. That benefit begins to phaseout, or decrease, for consumers who have more than $500,000 of income. The Senate version of the bill would also lift the cap to $40,000 starting in 2025. It also begins to phaseout at $500,000. Both figures would increase by 1% yearly through 2029, and the $40,000 limit would revert to $10,000 in 2030. If you raise the cap, the people who benefit the most are going to be upper middle-income. "If you raise the cap, the people who benefit the most are going to be upper middle-income," since lower earners typically don't itemize tax deductions, Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, previously told CNBC. The Senate bill also preserves a SALT cap workaround for pass-through businesses, which allows owners to avoid the $10,000 SALT limit. By contrast, the House bill would eliminate the strategy for certain white-collar professionals. — Kate Dore The child tax credit gives families with qualifying dependent children a tax break. It's a credit, so it reduces their tax liability dollar-for-dollar. Trump's 2017 tax cuts temporarily boosted the maximum child tax credit to $2,000 from $1,000, an increase that will sunset after 2025 without an extension from Congress. If enacted, the Senate bill would permanently bump the biggest credit to $2,200 starting in 2025 and index this figure for inflation starting in 2026. Momo Productions | Getty Meanwhile, the House version of the bill lifts the top child tax credit to $2,500 from 2025 through 2028. After 2028, the credit's highest value would revert to $2,000 and be indexed for inflation. However, the proposed bills wouldn't help 17 million children from low-income families who don't earn enough to claim the full credit, according to Elaine Maag, senior fellow in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. — Kate Dore Older Americans may receive an extra tax deduction under the legislation. Both the House and Senate called for a temporary enhanced deduction for Americans ages 65 and over, dubbed a "bonus," in their respective versions of the "big beautiful" bill. The Senate proposed raising the deduction to $6,000 per qualifying individual, up from $4,000 proposed by the House. The full deduction would be available to individuals with up to $75,000 in modified adjusted gross income, and $150,000 if married and filing jointly. Notably, the Senate version would phase out at a faster rate for taxpayers who are above those thresholds. Ultimately, middle-income taxpayers may benefit most from the enhanced deduction, Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, recently told CNBC. The senior bonus is in lieu of eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits, which had been touted by the Trump administration, since changes to Social Security are generally prohibited in reconciliation legislation. — Lorie Konish As Republicans seek to slash federal spending, Medicaid, which provides health coverage for more than 71 million people, has been a target for those cuts in both House and Senate versions of the bill. The Senate version would cut more than $1 trillion from Medicaid, compared with more than $800 billion in cuts in the House version, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates. New federal work rules would require beneficiaries ages 19 to 64 who apply for coverage or who are enrolled through an Affordable Care Act expansion group to work at least 80 hours per month. Adults may be exempt if they have dependent children or other qualifying circumstances such as a medical condition. Notably, the Senate version of the bill proposed stricter limits on exemptions for parents, limiting it to those with dependent children ages 14 and under. The proposed Medicaid changes would also require states to conduct eligibility redeterminations for coverage every six months, rather than every 12 months based on current policy. About 7.8 million people could become uninsured by 2034 due to Medicaid cuts, the CBO has projected, based on the House bill. — Lorie Konish Both Senate and House versions of the "big beautiful" bill propose cuts to food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. The cuts in the Senate bill may ultimately affect more than 40 million people, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. That includes about 16 million children, 8 million seniors and 4 million non-elderly adults with disabilities, among others, according to CBPP, a nonpartisan research and policy institute. Many states would be required to pay a percentage for food benefits to make up for the federal funding cuts. If they cannot make up for the funding losses, that could result in cuts to SNAP benefits or states opting out of the program altogether, according to CBPP. The Senate proposal also seeks to expand existing work requirements to include adults ages 55 to 64 and parents with children 14 and over. Based on current rules, most individuals cannot receive benefits for more than three months out of every three years unless they work at least 20 hours per week or qualify for an exemption. For about 600,000 low-income households, food benefits could be cut by an average of $100 per month, according to CBPP. — Lorie Konish The Senate's version of Trump's budget bill also included a new savings account for children with a one-time deposit of $1,000 from the federal government for those born in 2024 through 2028. Starting in 2026, so-called " Trump accounts," a type of tax-advantaged savings account, would be available to all children under the age of 8 who are U.S. citizens, largely in line with the House plan advanced in May. To be eligible to receive the initial seed money, both parents must have Social Security numbers. Parents would then be able to contribute up to $5,000 a year and the balance will be invested in a diversified fund that tracks a U.S. stock index. Earnings grow tax-deferred, and qualified withdrawals are taxed as long-term capital gains. Republican lawmakers have said these accounts will introduce more Americans to wealth-building opportunities and the benefits of compound growth. But some experts say a 529 college savings plan is a better alternative because of the higher contribution limits and tax advantages. — Jessica Dickler Lower student loan limits, fewer benefits Key changes may be in store for student loan borrowers. For starters, Republicans would limit how much money people can borrow from the federal government to pay for their education. Among other measures, the Senate plan would: Cap unsubsidized student loans at $20,500 per year and $100,000 lifetime, for graduate students; Cap borrowing for professional degrees, such as those for doctors and lawyers, at $50,000 per year and $200,000 lifetime; Add a lifetime borrowing limit for all federal student loans of $257,500; Cap parent borrowing through the federal Parent PLUS loan program at $20,000 per year per student and $65,000 lifetime; Eliminate grad PLUS loans. These allow grad students to borrow up to their entire cost of attendance minus any federal aid. Going forward, there would be just two repayment plan choices for new borrowers: Student loan borrowers could enroll in either a standard repayment plan with fixed payments or an income-based repayment plan known as the Repayment Assistance Plan, or RAP. The bill would also nix the unemployment deferment and economic hardship deferment, both of which student loan borrowers use to pause their payments during periods of financial difficulty. — Jessica Dickler and Annie Nova The Senate bill creates a tax deduction for car loan interest, similar to a provision in the House bill. Certain households would be able to deduct up to $10,000 of annual interest on new auto loans from their taxable income. The tax break would be temporary, lasting from 2025 through 2028. There are some eligibility restrictions. For example, the deduction's value would start to fall for individuals whose annual income exceeds $100,000; the threshold is $200,000 for married couples filing a joint tax return. Cars must also be assembled in the U.S. In practice, the tax benefit is likely to be relatively small, experts said. "The math basically says you're talking about [financial] benefit of $500 or less in year one," based on the average new loan, Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at Cox Automotive, an auto market research firm, recently told CNBC. — Greg Iacurci The Senate passed the No Tax on Tips Act in late May, a standalone legislation that would create a federal income tax deduction of up to $25,000 per year on tip income, with some limitations. The tax break would apply to workers who typically receive cash tips reported to their employer for payroll tax withholdings, according to the summary of the bill. The Senate version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes a similar provision: qualifying individuals would be able to claim a deduction of up to $25,000 for qualified tips. However, the Senate version would not apply to taxpayers whose income exceeds $150,000, or $300,000 for joint filers. Should the bill go into effect as drafted, the Secretary of the Treasury will publish a list of occupations that typically received tips on or before Dec. 31, 2024. The provision would apply to taxable years between Dec. 31, 2024, and Dec. 31, 2028. — Ana Teresa Solá The House and Senate bills would provide a temporary tax break for overtime pay, a campaign promise from Trump. The House-approved bill would create a deduction for "qualified overtime compensation" of $160,000 or less from 2025 to 2028. The deduction is "above the line," meaning the tax break is available regardless of whether you itemize deductions. By contrast, the Senate bill offers a maximum $12,500 above-the-line deduction for overtime pay, and $25,000 for married couples filing jointly, from 2025 to 2028. The tax break begins to phase out once earnings exceed $150,000, and $300,000 for joint filers. — Kate Dore EV, clean energy tax credits The Senate bill, like its House counterpart, would end consumer tax credits tied to clean energy. It would end a $7,500 tax credit for households that buy or lease a new electric vehicle, and a $4,000 tax credit for buyers of used EVs. These tax credits would disappear after Sept. 30, 2025. Additionally, it would scrap tax breaks for consumers who make their homes more energy-efficient, perhaps by installing rooftop solar, electric heat pumps, or efficient windows and doors. These credits would end after Dec. 31, 2025. An aerial view shows solar panels atop the roofs of homes on February 25, 2025 in Pasadena, California. Mario Tama | Getty Images Many tax breaks on the chopping block were created, extended or enhanced by the Inflation Reduction Act, a 2022 law signed by former President Joe Biden that provided a historic U.S. investment to fight climate change. The tax breaks are currently slated to be in effect for another seven or so years, through at least 2032. — Greg Iacurci Section 199A pass-through business deduction Another key provision in the House and Senate bills could offer a bigger deduction for so-called pass-through businesses, which includes contractors, freelancers and gig economy workers. Enacted via Trump's 2017 tax cuts, the Section 199A deduction for qualified business income is currently worth up to 20% of eligible revenue, with some limits. This will expire after 2025 without action from Congress. The House-approved bill would make the provision permanent and expand the maximum tax break to 23% starting in 2026. Meanwhile, the Senate measure would make the deduction permanent but keep it at 20%. — Kate Dore
