Everyone knows that state politics in Albany runs on nods and winks. But if Gov. Cuomo thinks he can hide behind a Senate cave-in on a renewal of the misnamed “millionaires tax” — nod, nod, wink, wink — well . . . let’s just say he’s kidding himself.
Yes, Cuomo has vowed not to raise levies, and to ensure that the millionaires surcharge — a “temporary” tax hike of up to 31 percent introduced in 2009, hitting folks who earn as little as $200,000 a year — will expire on Dec. 31, as scheduled.
That’s what he says publicly, anyway.
Just read his lips: “You are kidding yourself if you think you can be one of the highest-taxed states in the nation, have a reputation for being anti-business — and have a rosy economic future,” he said last month.
GOP Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos likewise insists that his party mates, who hold a one-vote majority in his chamber, won’t buckle to pressure from public-sector unions (which gorge off tax dollars) and agree to renew the surcharge.
“Senate Republicans remain opposed to raising taxes,” a Skelos aide said.
Yet on Monday, The Post’s Fredric U. Dicker reported growing concern, including from Cuomo’s backers, that Senate GOPers will renege, and extend the tax.
(Gee, where would an idea like that come from?)
“The fear is that the upstate senators, knowing they hardly have anyone in their districts making $1 million or more a year, will cave in to pressure . . . to keep the millionaires tax, and keep spending levels high so they can get past the elections,” a source close to GOP lawmakers said.
Indeed, one Republican senator, Tom Libous (Binghamton), already hinted that he might back the tax — as a way to raise state cash for his flood-sacked constituents.
And the Assembly, which is controlled by union-owned Democrats, is just champing at the bit to keep the surcharge in place.
How convenient for Cuomo if he can shift blame to the Legislature, pretending (nod, nod, wink, wink) there was just nothing he could do to keep taxes down.
Please. Cuomo’s the governor. It’s up to him to see to it that lawmakers don’t ram through what is, in effect, yet another tax hike — by re-imposing the surcharge.
Skelos, too, should act like the leader he’s supposed to be — and clamp down on any thought, from upstate senators or elsewhere, of not letting the tax sunset on time.
Yes, the heat in the kitchen is rising.
Albany’s red ink spreads daily, 2012 is an election year and union mischief can be hard to combat. But breaking a vow and hitting up folks with money to invest and to create jobs, especially while the economy remains shaky, is beyond short-sighted.
Cuomo and Skelos should be able to make that point and squelch any rising tax-hike talk. If they’re not tough enough to do that, well, no amount of winking and nodding will obscure the fact.
We’ll make sure of that. Count on it.