Trump and Mamdani, hate symbols

Let’s provide some context and perspective to Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s proposal for increasing New York State’s corporate tax to match New Jersey’s 11.5% [“Why LI officials worry about tax hike,” Long Island & NYC, Nov. 18].

First, while New York’s “base” corporate tax rate is lower than some other Northeast states, that comparison ignores both New York’s 30% surcharge on tax liability attributed to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s 12-county Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District, and the city’s own business tax, imposed at a top rate of 9%. As result, businesses in New York can face an aggregate tax rate of around 18%, well beyond New Jersey’s, and the highest in any U.S. jurisdiction.

Second, corporate tax payments in New York are up significantly from 2017 to 2024, and they pay for a growing share of state tax-supported spending.

Third, why limit the comparison to New Jersey? Pennsylvania has a multiyear business tax reduction, going from 9% to 4.99%.

Fourth, research shows that increased business taxes result in less funds for investment and wages, in addition to lower dividend payments to shareholders — including pension plans.

Looking at the overall tax structure in New York, the state is already imposing high taxes on its largest private sector employers and should avoid adding to the burden.

— Ken Pokalsky, Albany

The writer is vice president of The Business Council of New York State.

Politicians like Rep. Andrew Garbarino like to condemn the “horrors” of socialism [“As Mamdani visits D.C., GOP decries ‘horrors’ of socialism,” News, Nov. 21]. But why doesn’t he ever talk about the horrors of capitalism? It’s true that history is littered with atrocities, but they certainly aren’t unique to single economic systems. He would do well to remember that much of America’s wealth was kick-started by Indigenous land theft and African slavery.

The cost of living on Long Island and elsewhere is astronomical. If we’re the beacon of freedom and prosperity, how is it possible that 59% of Americans don’t have enough savings to cover an unexpected $1,000 emergency?

Newsday reports many Long Islanders are missing car payments. Capitalism simply doesn’t work for many working people.

The fact is that the United States has a rich history of socialism. In 1920, Eugene V. Debs ran for president from a prison cell and garnered more than 900,000 votes as the Socialist Party candidate. In 1969, the Black Panther Party was so successful at feeding children breakfast in Chicago that 21-year-old revolutionary socialist Fred Hampton was assassinated. The FBI was involved in the killing, it was learned in the 1970s.

My point is this: Workers make the world run so workers should run the world.

— Timothy Karcich, Deer Park

The dog and pony show in the Oval Office on Friday was beyond nauseating [“Trump and Mamdani meet, share mutual ‘love’ for NYC,” News, Nov. 22].

While one could reasonably hope for and expect a cordial and pleasant first meeting between the president and mayor-elect of America’s most important city, what took place was farcical at best as the president was seen fawning over Zohran Mamdani, who specifically declines to support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. As the mayor-elect of a city containing about 1.3 million Jews, he had better accept this indisputable fact.

Mamdani is the sweetheart of the Democratic Socialists of America, which has adopted an explicit anti-Zionist stance. What is most troubling is that during their meeting, President Donald Trump never pushed back when Mamdani mentioned genocide in Gaza. It went completely unchallenged. The president’s deafening silence on this pivotal issue is tantamount to his agreeing with this false and evil sentiment against Israel.

As antisemitism rises in a “pincer” movement, both from right-wing ideologues as well as the far left, the administration must speak clearly and in a loud voice that the tyranny of hatred against the Jewish people and the state of Israel will not be tolerated.

— Joel Reiter, Woodbury

Hate symbols don’t get rebranded away

How can Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem believe anyone would tolerate reassigning swastikas, nooses, and the Confederate flag to less than symbols of hate?

Yes, the order was rescinded when brought to national attention, but the attempted antisemitism and racism is glaring [“Coast Guard reverses policy on swastikas,” Nation, Nov. 22]. We are fortunate the media was alerted.

What was the thinking behind this? Even Nazis know the swastika is a sign of hate, and the Ku Klux Klan knows what a noose stands for. How did Hegseth and Noem not know?

— Robert Broder, Stony Brook