Hillary Clinton's Flip-Flop Costly to NYC

Meredith Jessup | July 14, 2009 5:14 PM

Only six months into her tenure as President Obama's Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has reportedly "stabbed New York in the back." Clinton has overturned a rule dating back to 1873 which required foreign diplomats to pay U.S. property taxes on any lands they own. This decision marks a distinctive switch in Clinton's stance since, as New York's junior senator, she once joined fellow Senator Charles Schumer in demanding diplomats pay.

Needless to say, Mayor Bloomberg is not happy about her change of heart. "It's just patently unfair to New Yorkers and Americans and it contravenes established policy for 130-odd years and it just doesn't make sense," Bloomberg said. Apparently the Hungarian mission in NYC had just written out a check for $32 million to the city when the State Department told them to cancel it.

The State Department says the policy was changed because other nations were threatening to charge U.S. properties taxes. Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg says Clinton's "betrayal" has cost the city $260 million (and counting).