A funny thing is happening in Albany, NY. Even as Occupy Albany protestors are being told they won't be allowed to re-enact the winter at Valley Forge, a shift is taking place across the street in the Capitol building. The New York Times sneaks the news out on a Saturday:
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders, seeking ways to shore up a state budget strained by the weak economy, are ironing out the details of a deal that would raise income taxes on the wealthy and cut them for the middle class.
Top aides to the officeholders planned to meet through the weekend, as New York State lawmakers prepared to return to Albany next week for a special session of the Legislature that the governor appeared likely to call.
Members of the Democratic majority in the State Assembly were notified that they should be ready to return to the capital on Tuesday. Negotiations were still in the preliminary stages on Friday, and rank-and-file lawmakers had not yet been briefed on the discussions. But several people who were briefed said it was possible that a deal could be reached within days.
emphasis added
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Governor Cuomo has been adamant for months that he would NOT raise taxes, and he would definitely not let the "millionaire's tax" last one minute past its expiration date. A funny thing happened to the best laid plans of the NY Post's favorite governor though: a continuing budget shortfall despite lots of cuts and gouging of state employee unions. Oops! Reality bites! The Times again:
But with the Occupy Wall Street movement drawing more attention to the issue of economic inequality and with the faltering economy widening next year’s projected state budget gap to as much as $3.5 billion, Mr. Cuomo refused for the first time this week to rule out seeking any increase in taxes in the coming year, and in recent weeks he has repeatedly expressed a desire to bring more “fairness” to the tax code.
The leaders were discussing establishing one or more new tax rates for the highest-earning New Yorkers, which would still be lower than their rate this year, when there is a temporary surcharge in place, but higher than it would have been if the surcharge were allowed to end. New rates could go into effect at the start of next year.
A portion of the revenue generated from high-income residents would be used to lower the tax rate for middle-income ones, which could make it easier for Mr. Cuomo to sell the deal to Republicans who have opposed tax increases.
emphasis added
Thanks to OWS for shifting the Overton Window back to where ideas like this can now be discussed again. Call this a win even if the deal doesn't go through just yet. The observation attributed to Willie Sutton is more true than ever with the huge concentration of wealth in this country. People are finally waking up to the fact that the real bank robbers are the people running the banks these days - and we're the ones who've been getting ripped off.