What’s the Difference Between Mamdani and Marx? Not Much

Zohran Kwame Mamdani has had a fantastic week. The Democratic Party’s nominee for mayor of New York City, a self-avowed democratic socialist, secured the endorsement of Kathy “the Hack” Hochul, the Empire State’s bland, witless governor.

As colorless as nitrogen, Hochul discovered that Mamdani is her man to occupy Gotham’s City Hall. And it took her only 11 weeks since the Democrat primary to do so. That’s leadership.

Meanwhile, a Marist University survey of 885 likely voters found that Mamdani, a 33-year-old state assemblyman from Queens, enjoys 45% support. Mamdani is the tallest bush in a grove of shrubs. Former Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent, earned 24% in that survey. Guardian Angels founder and Republican hopeful Curtis Sliwa stood at 17%. Finally, incumbent Democrat Mayor Eric Adams, also competing as an independent, brought up the rear at just 9%. (Error margin: plus or minus 4.1%.)

Given the cheerful, photogenic Mamdani’s front-runner status, enviable ground game, dominance of social media, and genuine charisma, it’s a shame that his ideas are trapped in 1917. Too bad that such an appealing vehicle carries a load of rusty, crumbling goods.

On the economy alone, Mamdani’s approach is simple: tax, spend, and expropriate.

Zohranomics is fueled by what he told the Democratic Socialists of America in 2021. Their “end goal” should be “seizing the means of production.” This idea is as fresh as the Bolshevik Revolution. Indeed, with clenched fists in the air, this concept marches triumphantly from the pages of V.I. Lenin’s “The State and Revolution.”

Mamdani’s economic brain waves should chill anyone who has taken an economics class or balanced a checkbook. Consider these public comments:

• Mamdani says he is “running to freeze the rent, make buses fast + free, and deliver universal child care.”

• “NY should exercise eminent domain & acquire the 4k+ unsold luxury apartment in NYC for homeless families.”

• “We need to abolish private insurance.”

• “When we tax the rich, we’re reclaiming the wealth bosses & corporations steal.”

In some of his most notorious remarks, Mamdani told NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker on June 29 that he hopes “to shift the tax burden from overtaxed homeowners in the outer boroughs to more expensive homes in richer and whiter neighborhoods.” But don’t worry! “That is just a description of what we see right now,” Mamdani said. “It’s not driven by race.” Of course not.

Mamdani advocates a 51% tax increase on New Yorkers who earn $1 million or more annually. The Hoover Institution’s David R. Henderson calculates that a married couple filing jointly pays 3.876% on incomes over $90,000. Mamdani falsely claims that his 2-percentage-point tax increase would boost this rate by 2%, from 3.876% to 3.954%.

If only.

Mamdani’s proposal would slap 2% atop the 3.876% for a total new tax of 5.876%. That’s a 51.6% hike in the tax burden. 

To her credit, CNN’s Erin Burnett asked Mamdani: “When you increase someone’s taxes by 51%, aren’t a lot of people going to leave?” 

Precisely.

As mayor, Mamdani would have one hell of a time paying for his promised freebies after Gotham’s high-end tax refugees flee to friendlier states, along with their hundreds of billions in foregone revenues.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis predicted that, if elected, Mamdani would become “The Palm Beach Realtor of the Year.”