Is Gillibrand Placing Priorities Of Wall Street Financiers Over New York Families & Farmers?

Thursday, 22 October 2009 14:46

NRSC Documents

Gillibrand writes in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that “New York’s financial talent, expertise and institutions are uniquely suited” to benefit from cap-and-tax legislation, adding that “entities like the New York Stock Exchange, J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and the new Green Exchange are developing carbon trading platforms or expanding their environmental trading desks.”

“Kirsten Gillibrand admitted today that she is more concerned about the interests of Wall Street investors than the famers and families in upstate New York,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Brian Walsh.

Gillibrand’s cap-and-tax support comes just weeks after “a wide range of farm groups came out strongly against it,” according to her home state newspaper the Watertown Daily Times. Experts have predicted that the cap-and-tax legislation currently in the Senate would lead to increased prices on electricity and gasoline, as well as further job loss and decreased wages.

Since her appointment to the Senate by Governor Paterson in January 2009, Gillibrand has consistently demonstrated a willingness to shift her once-moderate positions leftward, with an eye toward appeasing the liberal wing of the Democrat Party as she prepares for her first statewide bid next fall.

“During these uncertain economic times, elected officials should be working together to enact legislation that will help families and small businesses recover, not set them further back. Farm groups overwhelmingly oppose the cap-and-tax legislation that Gillibrand is championing in Washington, and she will be held accountable for supporting this economically-crippling bill when she faces Empire State voters next fall,” Walsh concluded.

Background Information

“These Carbon Taxes Would Cost The Residents Of New York $8.47 Billion Dollars In 2020 And $74.76 Billion By 2050 Through Increased Energy Prices.” (The Beacon Hill Institute, “The Economic Effects Of Proposed Cap-And-Trade Legislation On The State Of New York,” www.beaconhill.org, 6/09)

“The State Economy Would Shed 44,055 Jobs By 2020 And 421,300 By 2050.” (The Beacon Hill Institute, “The Economic Effects Of Proposed Cap-And-Trade Legislation On The State Of New York,” www.beaconhill.org, 6/09)

“Furthermore, Annual Investment In The State Would Fall By $943.74 Million By 2020 And $8.331 Billion By 2050.” (The Beacon Hill Institute, “The Economic Effects Of Proposed Cap-And-Trade Legislation On The State Of New York,” www.beaconhill.org, 6/09)

“By 2020, The State Of New York Can Expect Annual Tax Revenues To Fall By $734.67 Million, While Local Governments Would Lose $848.01 Million In Tax Revenue, For A Combined State And Local Revenue Loss Of $1.582 Billion.” (The Beacon Hill Institute, “The Economic Effects Of Proposed Cap-And-Trade Legislation On The State Of New York,” www.beaconhill.org, 6/09)