Tag Archives: New York State Governor Kathy Hochul

Making Our Roads Safer

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On Friday, American Greatness posted an article about Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDL’s) being issued to people who are here illegally or who do not speak English well enough to read road signs or follow verbal directions.

The article reports:

Over $73 million in federal highway funds are being withheld from New York state after an audit found more than half the state’s commercial drivers licenses (CDL) were issued to foreigners illegally.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced yesterday that the state failed to revoke “illegally issued nondomiciled commercial learner’s permits and commercial driver’s licenses.”

According to a December press release from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) nationwide audit of non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) uncovered a shocking 53 percent failure rate in the records sampled, indicating serious problems in New York’s CDL program.

Among the failures documented were New York DMV systems defaulting to issuing eight-year licenses to foreign drivers for non-REAL ID licenses, regardless of when their legal status expired, and the state issuing commercial licenses to foreign drivers without providing any evidence that it had verified their current lawful presence in the United States.

Just the News reports that Derek Barrs, administrator of the motor carrier administration, stated, “FMCSA’s mission is safety. That means ensuring that every commercial driver on the road is properly vetted and qualified. New York’s continued refusal to fix these failures undermines that mission, and we will not allow federal dollars to support a system that falls short of the law.”

The article concludes:

Just the News reports that with the forfeiture of nearly $74 million in funding, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration is losing 4 percent of its National Highway Performance Program and Surface Transportation Program Block Grant Funds.

Duffy, in a post on X, posed the question of whether pulling federal funding from non-compliant states worked before responding, “Just ask Gavin Newsom,” referring to how California revoked more than 17,000 licenses issued to undocumented people after the DOT pulled over $160 million in federal funding from the state.

We don’t need people who cannot read road signs driving multi-ton trucks.

Policy Changes Before An Election?

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It’s amazing what politicians will do to get elected. On Saturday, Hot Air posted an article with one example.

The article reports:

Kathy Hochul is up for reelection this year, and has a big, big problem: for all the talk about an “affordability” agenda, every single policy the Democrats like to push increases costs, reduces quality of life, and drives people out of Blue states.

And one of the worst problems she faces is skyrocketing energy bills, and the prospect that those prices will rise even more and faster in the next few years as climate deadlines rapidly approach.

The article quotes The New York Times:

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday moved to alter and delay the implementation of New York State’s landmark 2019 climate law, which calls for gradually decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by certain deadlines.

Those proposed adjustments include delaying issuing the regulations for enforcing the law — already two years late — until 2030 and amending how certain emissions are measured.

“We need more time,” Ms. Hochul wrote in an editorial that was published on Friday morning in The Empire Report, a news site that covers state politics. “So much has radically changed since the Climate Act was enacted, necessitating common-sense adjustments.”

The proposal, anticipated by lawmakers in Albany, comes late in the budget negotiation process. Although Ms. Hochul has considerable leverage to push for her agenda during this time, members of the Legislature will need to approve the final budget, which would include changes to the climate law.

The article notes:

There is not a serious person alive who didn’t understand that imposing huge costs for not meeting impossible climate goals would raise costs for consumers. You had to have had a lobotomy or be a liberal to not predict this.

Passing the climate law in 2019 was perfect for liberal politicians; it helped funnel money in great quantities to political allies for years, and the worst of the price increases was put into the seemingly distant future. But that “distant” future is not so distant now, and Hochul sees political trouble if she doesn’t relieve the artificial price pressure the law has created.

The article concludes:

As always, the Democrats warn about a fake crisis, promise the moon, spend tons of money, make things infinitely worse, and then say they will fix the problem.

Hey, folks, I have a better plan: get rid of these idiots and elect some Republicans. They aren’t perfect, but you get a lot fewer butterfly bridges, fraudulent programs, insane green energy laws, and as a bonus, we won’t put boys in girls’ locker rooms.

Give it a try. You may like it.

The Governor’s election in New York State is going to be fun to watch!

Not Surprising!

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On Thursday, The Washington Free Beacon posted an article about a recent statement by New York State Governor Kathy Hochul (D.)

The article reports:

New York governor Kathy Hochul (D.), who has long insisted that she will not increase taxes, is reportedly moving toward supporting tax hikes following the victory of socialist New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.

Hochul is now reconsidering “a position she had treated as nonnegotiable all year,” Politico reported Thursday. While she told Fox 5 on Wednesday that she still opposes raising income taxes, “everything else seems to be on the table,” with state officials “quietly discussing a potential corporate tax rate increase,” according to Politico. Mamdani has proposed raising the state’s corporate tax rate to 11.5 percent, which would make it the highest in the country.

The article concludes:

In addition to Mamdani, Hochul is also facing a challenge from within her own administration, as Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado is primarying her from the left. “Left-leaning activists, including the Working Families Party, have threatened to back Delgado—who supports higher taxes on rich New Yorkers—in the primary,” Politico reported.

Socialist state assemblywoman Jessica González-Rojas welcomed Hochul’s shift toward higher taxes, though she suggested that the move may come out of political expedience.

Hochul “sees the writing on the wall in the way people turned out in droves in supporting Mamdani,” González-Rojas said.

The party infighting could complicate Hochul’s reelection bid even more. Polls have found mixed results on a hypothetical matchup between Hochul and her likely Republican challenger, Rep. Elise Stefanik. A poll last month found Hochul with a double-digit lead, while an October poll found that Hochul was “deeply vulnerable” and had only a 5-point lead. The October poll also found that when likely voters heard of each candidate’s background, including Hochul’s endorsement of Mamdani, Stefanik took the lead.

I am not sure that this is the way to win votes. As the taxes go up, voters will probably choose to leave New York. This results in a lower tax base and a need to raise taxes even more.  I just hope the people leaving New York and moving to red states leave their blue state policies at home.