As New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio  prepares to execute the litany of campaign promises he made; and especially as it pertains to his flagship plank of establishing free pre-K programs for underprivileged children, it appears that he is running into some formidable roadblocks.  The most odious one, is of course, deBlasio’s very own ego. He has most arrogantly and publicly proclaimed that he has a “mandate” to raise taxes on the wealthiest of New York’s citizens in order to fund the prolific pre-K programs.  After all, he posits, “I happen to win my election with 73 percent of the vote.”

Truth to be told, this percentage rate of the vote does not automatically bestow Mr. deBlasio with autocrat status. He received 795,000 votes. One might say that that is fairly impressive, but if one should compare it to the 1.1 million votes that Andrew Cuomo garnered from New York City residents when he ran for governor of the Empire State, it isn’t saying much.

A closer examination of the issue reveals that Governor Cuomo ran on a platform in which he declared that taxes imposed upon New Yorkers were way too high and said he would lower them. His logical line of thinking was inextricably linked to the economic forecast for New York.  He stated quite categorically that a state’s economic future and the prosperity of its citizens, businesses and institutions would depend heavily on tax rates. He said that the highest-taxed state in the nation could never achieve a thriving economy.

In terms of taxing those New Yorkers in the highest income bracket, once again,  Governor Cuomo was on the money (no pun intended). He voiced his grave doubts and misgivings about saddling the richest New Yorkers with exorbitant tax rates as he knew that one day, they would draw a line in the proverbial sand and declare, “Enough is enough.” This, of course, would translate into their desire to relocate elsewhere; to a place that is not tax prohibitive. Governor Cuomo could envision them moving out of New York City and taking their job creating wealth with them. These wealthy New Yorkers could easily follow the example of those New York residents such as TV talk show host Glenn Beck, who moved to Texas where taxes are easy on the wallet. They could also opt for Florida and other welcoming states.

Now, if such a possible eventuality would actually materialize, then the “greatest city in the world”, also known as New York City would morph into a cheap, second hand version of such poverty and crime ridden places of urban squalor as Detroit. As this Midwestern city declared bankruptcy and its citizens struggle to exist on a daily basis, the nation watched and barely uttered a sound. Well, if Mr. de Blasio has his way, New York could very well be looking at the same tragic outcome.

So, it would seem that it might be too soon for deBlasio to be touting his belief in “mandates.” Governor Cuomo won way more votes from New York City residents on a platform of NOT taxing the wealthy. It would then follow that this prudent position is what most accurately reflects the wishes of New Yorkers; rather than deBlasio’s less than stellar “Robin Hood” impersonation.

Putting it in layman’s terms, de Blasio’s plan just doesn’t carry any weight.