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OPINION

Socialist NYC Mayor is Really Good at Tax Avoidance

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.
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Suffering from a clear lack of intellectual honesty, the morally bankrupt progressive socialist mayor of New York City seems to have a knack for tax avoidance. (And remember: despite what Harry Reid would have you believe, tax avoidance is not a crime.) According to public records, Bill “punish the rich” de Blasio paid a mere 8 percent of his income in federal taxes. Just to put that in context for any liberal that has accidently stumbled across this paragraph: That’s less than that capitalist pig, Mitt Romney paid in prior years.

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Of course, to be fair, it is possible that the altruistic (liberal) ideologue paid his “fair share” to charity organizations rather than the Federal Government… And if you consider a meager 3 percent of someone’s income to be a substantial portion, you’d be right. (In which case, you should say sorry to Mitt for calling him a “greedy” businessman.)

Heck, De Blasio even paid less in taxes than his fellow Democrat city leaders. The well-paid city-council member, Melissa Mark-Viverito, paid over 15 percent on her $128,000 income. And for all of the readers who are unfamiliar with the current tax code, such an income demands something closer to 28 percent, according to the IRS…

This isn’t to say that these champions of wealth redistribution are illegally sheltering income from the left’s favorite enforcement agency (the IRS). In fact, it seems that they managed these astoundingly low tax rates through the very types of loopholes that their friends in DC have written into law. With 74,000 pages of tax code, there are bound to be a few ways for a rich NYC mayor to avoid “overpaying” in taxes.

De Blasio’s anemic tax bill, however, does explain his stubborn crusade to soak New York City’s other wealthy families. After all, he’s obviously figured out a way to avoid his own confiscatory redistributive agenda. For a “Socialist-Democrat”, he certainly understands the concept of personal property pretty well.

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So, while Comrade De Blasio continues his campaign against horse-drawn carriages (I wonder what the average proprietor of a carriage paid in taxes), and wealth accumulation, he’ll continue to cling to every penny he “earns” through public service.

The double standard – and clear display of “socialist greed” – is nothing new. Remember Warren Buffet complaining about paying less in taxes than his secretary? Aside from being factually doubtful, the dilemma was squarely within his ability to rectify. After all, he could have chosen to pay his secretary with stock options (just like he pays himself). But, apparently, the left thought that having DC raise her payroll taxes was a better political solution, even though it docked her take-home pay.

The truth is, the De Blasios of the world are far more interested in running your finances, than contributing to society out of their own pockets. Besides: Doesn’t he deserve his $165,000 (not to mention his $52,000 from rental income) for advocating greater redistribution of other people’s wealth? I mean, c’mon: At least he’s fighting against everyone-else that makes as much as he does.

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But let’s not get too sarcastic. After all, he did pay over $4,000 to the city of New York…Which his administration will, no doubt, use to shut down some “over-performing” schools in low-income neighborhoods.

Hooray for New York Socialism! The Soviet class system; in a convenient, stateside, enclave of elitism.

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