De Blasio Is Bad for Business and Bad for New Yorkers
The bag bill will add $5.00 to your grocery bill
To the absolute astonishment of almost every single New Yorker, Mayor Bill de Blasio is continuing the continental divide between the citizens of this great city and its government. The mayor is building upon his theme of a tale of two cities and now has doubled down to ensure the struggling are truly punished where it really hurts – buying groceries for themselves and families. He has added five dollars to every family grocery bill.
Whether it’s high density housing, policing, homeless policy, public corruption, education, or the latest volley, “the bag bill,” this progressive mayor is destroying our city in many ways. The bag bill is just the latest example of how the mayor is sticking it to seniors, the poor and those just struggling to make a go of it. The mayor is chasing businesses out of NYC while offering plenty of incentives to its citizens to make purchases outside of the city. Stop & Shop and other merchants in Nassau County had better get ready, because there is no reason to shop in Queens if you can get it five dollars cheaper in Nassau County (think about the number of plastic bags and double it because the single bag isn’t strong enough). The plastic bag bill was nuts in the very beginning and is getting wackier as we move forward.
The bag bill will allow store owners to charge you and keep .05 cents per plastic bag they give out. Each bag is subject to taxes as well, so five cents plus tax. Unlike the bottle bill, you the tax payer have no way to recoup your .05 charge plus the tax. In fact, if the city wants, they can increase the bag bill fee every year. Every single year they can make it more and more impossible for each of you to get ahead.
Is the bag bill even constitutional? It’s a great legal debate that could go on for years, but our New York City Council voted it in and we didn’t hear as much as a whimper from our elected officials concerning it, until it was a done deal. What we needed was barking dogs, hounding those promoting this bill and seeking to raise our taxes. What we got was pandering puppies lost in the forest.
But the environment? Yes, we are very concerned about the environment. I got it. But you can create incentives to get people to do things which are good for mother earth. The city could have given tax incentives to have merchants collect the bags and turn them in. Citizens could have gotten a tax break by turning in their bags as well. We do not need to PUNISH our citizens left and right. Make no mistake about it, you are being beaten about the head, neck and shoulders by City Hall and de Blasio is laughing, as he prepares to mount a re-election campaign. The question is, are you ready and have you had enough? Voting matters (as only 21% of registered Republicans turned out for the GOP primary this year). What’s it going to take to move this electorate? Elections, my friends have consequences.
My name is Joseph Concannon and I welcome your comments on my Facebook page Joseph R. Concannon, Twitter and Instagram pages at Joe4NY. We can make NYC great again!
