AOC & Democratic Socialist Demand Taxes On Top FIVE PERCENT Which Will GUT NYC Of Working People

New York is in dire straits. Crime is rampant. We've got that viral story all throughout this week of that dude who was murdered, the leftist, and his girlfriend who was also a leftist. And we're well aware that things are getting bad, stores are closing, the economy is not doing so well. But ladies and gentlemen, AOC calls for higher taxes on New York's top 5%, which would hit households earning more than $250,000 a year, analysis shows. Okay, $250,000 a year is a top 5% because the reality is in New York, you struggle and life sucks. It's one of the reasons I left New York. It is unaffordable. If you're super rich, fine, I guess. But if you're super rich, why would you live in an area where someone might kill you? You wouldn't, you'd leave. And I left, most of my friends left, and there are a lot of people that are still there. But right now, there is a mass exodus out of New York of people who earn. What AOC is proposing is exactly what destroys cities. And I've got the income calculator to back this up. So let's talk about the top 5% and how they're living. The firebrand Democrats signed onto a statement issued last month by the New York City Democratic Socialists calling on the city and state to fund resources for all New Yorkers by raising taxes in the top 5%. And it sounds so good. They say, all these poor people live in a paycheck to paycheck. The rich people should foot the bill. No, the rich people will leave. You know that New York City has an income tax? That's right. New York City, one of the few places in the country where a city imposes an income tax. So you've got federal, state, and city. It is one of the highest tax rates in the country. California is higher, but New York, because of the city tax, becomes very high as well. In an analysis on Monday from the Wall Street Journal, Tim Hoffer, the CEO of a conservative think tank, Empire Center for Public Policy, accused the Congresswoman of attempting to redefine the term rich. The top 5%. Considering the left's prior focus on the 1%, it's a major development. Hoffer wrote that while the top 1% of New Yorkers make nearly a million dollars in adjusted gross income, the 5% threshold is a little bit above $250,000 for a household or a married couple making $127,000 each. Hoffer argued that a $127,000 threshold would include many government workers, teachers, and school administrators, and first responders. The move from targeting the top 1% to the top 5% is a recognition that the socialist program, to borrow from Margaret Thatcher, risks running out of other people's money. AOC was one of 20 elected officials from New York to sign onto the state's recent DSA statement alongside Senators Julia Salazar, Jabari Bristport, and Kristin Gonzalez. Oh boy, I love this one. Hey, AOC, let's talk about taxes. All right. I lived in New York City for several years and I paid my taxes. I did not leave necessarily because I didn't want to pay money. I actually have no problem paying for services rendered if the services rendered are something I think are good. In New York City, crime is running rampant. There were two cops who were executed on my street. Not an exaggeration. I look out my window and I saw the murder scene. Not really a place I want to live at, right? Things were getting worse. Riots, bombings. And so for a while, since Occupy Wall Street, I had started making pretty good money. I got a bunch of press attention, started building a company, went and worked for Vice and then Fusion, and I was getting paid decent salaries. Around this time, as crime started skyrocketing, I didn't really think all that much about taxes. What I did think, though, was that the city's mismanagement was inappropriate for someone like me and I should probably buy a house and move somewhere else. I first moved to Jersey to get out of the city because I'm like, I still want to be in the metro, but I don't want to be in the city. It's too expensive. Then eventually I left. It was too expensive. I am what you would describe as a high income earner. And as high income earners, we pay majority of the taxes. Majority of taxes paid come from people who are wealthy. Because of high taxes, people flee to places like Puerto Rico, where if you live there for at least half the year, you have no income tax. Now if you're a millionaire, that's a lot of money. And the reason the government does it is they want you to move there. So hey, let's talk about this. When the government wants people to move to a place, they reduce or eliminate taxes. Then rich people come in and develop and build nice things. And this helps the economy grow in the area. When cities want to kick people out, you raise taxes. So here's the argument, I suppose. It's rough for the average person because they're making less than 250. Only the top 5% makes 250. And a lot of people listening right now are going to be like, 250, that's an insane amount of money. Oh, you bet. You're going to be taken home, I think, after taxes, like $150,000, $160,000, yeah? Like $80,000, $90,000 goes to taxes. That's right. That's a lot to live off of, though. And compared to the average person, it's brutal. But here are some things that y'all need to consider. And let's talk about AOC's desperate desire to just destroy New York. For one, there's the viral video where she's talking about bringing in non-citizens, giving them work rights, giving them special protections, and housing. And people are screaming and protesting. So you know she actively is intending to bring on policies that will harm the citizens of New York City. I have this for you from RentHop. The average rent in New York, New York, all right, studio apartment, $3,450 is the average rent. One year ago, it was $3,138. It's gone up 10%. Three years ago, it was $2,218. When I saw that it was at $3,500 for a studio, that blew my mind. I was in a hip neighborhood in a two-bedroom for $2,100 just about eight or so years ago. When I saw that, I was like, yeah, it's not really $3,500, no? Makes sense. Three years ago, it was $2,200 for a studio. Makes sense. Three years before that, it would have been $1,700. Rent is skyrocketing. Let's talk about being reasonable. A reasonable rent for the average person, it's going to be a one-bedroom, okay? We don't want people living in pods and eating bugs. You should be able to afford a one-bedroom, right? A one-bedroom in New York City is $4,150 on average. The price per square foot goes down as you get bigger, but the price will still go up because there's more square footage. It was $3,958 a year ago. It's over $4,000 per month to have a one-bedroom. So if you think it's reasonable that you have a living room separate from your bedroom, four grand per month. Let's talk about those wages, Ocasio-Cortez. The top 5% of income earners take home, according to Smart Asset, talking about New York City, they take home $13,378 per month, which means they would, at the end of the day, have about $8,000 or so for everything else, $8,500 afterwards. Now you may be saying, that's not so bad. That's not so bad. I mean, $13,000 a month, you can live off that. Now let's take into consideration healthcare, vacation, new clothes, and most importantly, we're talking about families. The reality is, as accurately described, this is going to be some government employees, some doctors, some mid-level managers who are making $127,000 per year, and their wives, and they have kids, and they want to live in something a bit larger than a one-bedroom. The average person, I'm talking about taxing, is not some single millennial who makes $300,000 a year. So let's go back to rent. Let's say you are, I mean, let's be real, probably not having kids if you live in New York, but a lot of people do, okay? Obviously there's lots of kids in New York. Liberals tend not to, but let's say it is two adults and two kids. What's reasonable? A two-bedroom? $5,000 a month? Now to be honest, I guess that's what you're going to end up doing. Your kids are going to share a bedroom. They may be upset. You might need a three-bedroom if you've got two kids, depending on their ages as well, which means you as a parent takes a room, and then each kid gets their own bedroom, or they have bunk beds, depending on how far apart in age they are. But let's be real, if they're three or four years apart, they're not going to, it's going to be rough. I think it is fair and reasonable to expect that a family can have a three-bedroom for a family of four. Now let's say it's a family of five, which should be acceptable. The problem here is it's becoming increasingly cost prohibitive to have a family. Are you reasonably going to raise your kids in a studio? No. How much do you make on average? Okay. The average wage in New York is around $65,000 to $80,000 a year, which means that, yes, the average family is not going to be in that top 5%, but they certainly can't afford rent. So what is AOC really saying? The people who are just above break-even should pay more. I'm sorry, man. Your city's in trouble, okay? A four-bedroom really is, it makes a lot of sense for a family of five. The parents share a room, and each kid gets a bedroom, and I know that's a big ask if you're in the suburbs, more likely it's possible. If you're in New York, you're probably going to sacrifice. Two kids might share a room, one kid might get their own room, or you just don't have the kids because you can't afford it. Raising taxes on people who make $250,000, if you're married, let me make sure I get this. We'll do the math right, because I think this one is single. Pay frequency, let's do married. You're going to get a lot more money. Oh, never mind. You're going to get $100 more. AOC wants to charge the people who are taking home $14,000 a month between two full-time parents more in taxes. You get about 70% of your income, 30% goes to taxes. Let me see here if we have a state and local income tax. This is wrong, by the way, because there is a local income tax, so it's actually less. I believe New York's local income tax is like 3.75%. We're looking at another, what do we got here, $400 off. Yeah, about $14,000. You can live off that. I understand a lot of people are saying, yeah, but you're not doing so bad. I wish I made that much money. Right. My point is this, they're not going to pay the tax. They're going to leave your city. Then your tax revenue will go down. We are not talking about the ultra wealthy who are flying in helicopters. We're talking about AOC targeting working families who are just getting by to the point where if both parents are working full-time, kids got to go to daycare, right? Kids got to be in school. Do you want your kid going to public school, man? You see how they're running this game? Now you need someone else raising your kids so that both parents can work. That's the reality of the modern condition. How much is that going to run you? If you're doing daycare, a couple grand per month, now you've got medical, food and supplies, another couple grand. If you're making 250 between two parents, you are not ultra wealthy. You are just getting by in New York City. Again, I know there's a lot of people going to be like, are you nuts? If I made that much money, dude, it is insane how expensive and difficult it is. It is to live in New York City. My point is this. I am not saying a family that is making 250 is in the poor house. I'm saying these are people who have just barely come past this point where they're like now we can breathe a little bit. You probably can save up to get a change of clothes for your kids. If you don't have kids, this is how they exploit you. But in the end, only one thing matters. AOC and Democrat policies will result in hardworking individuals fleeing. And that's it. Thank you. Have a nice day. And if you have kids, they'll just leave. They'll go work somewhere else and they'll take that tax revenue with them and then things will get worse. But by all means, you do you. I don't live there. I'll leave it there. Next segment's coming up at 6 p.m. on this channel. Thanks for hanging out and I'll see you all then.