Closing tax loopholes is needed to avoid hardships for low income citizens
To the Editor:
New York is at a crossroads. Rents are soaring, hospitals are overwhelmed, and critical services like Medicaid and housing support are stretched to the breaking point. Meanwhile, the wealthiest individuals and corporations continue to enjoy massive tax breaks and loopholes — at the expense of everyone else.
I’m a disabled New Yorker who relies on Social Security Disability, Medicare, and Medicaid to survive. These programs are not luxuries — they are lifelines. And now, they’re threatened not only by austerity at the federal level, but by inaction here at home.
Governor Hochul has the power to change this. She has spoken in the past about the need for a fair tax code and about making sure millionaires and billionaires pay their share. It’s time to act on those words.
We need her to support proposals that:
- Tax billionaires’ unrealized capital gains
- Close hedge fund loopholes
- Raise taxes on ultra-wealthy individuals and large corporations
This revenue could transform lives. It could keep New Yorkers housed, educated, and cared for — and it would finally rebalance a system that has protected the powerful for far too long.
I’m not asking for favors — I’m asking for fairness. New York can be a place where everyone has a fighting chance. But we need the political will to make it happen.
E. Penman, Elmira NY
