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ACCORDING TO LIZ - Here it is still October – just – and my thoughts are already turning to April 15th.
There is a very good reason... this year I sold my house in Los Angeles for a profit. Because I paid it off early and I lived in it for thirty-five years, a helluva profit.
I don’t begrudge Uncle Sam a share of my good fortune.
But I would like that money to go to the people of the United States – for healthcare, for housing, for SNAP payments to families in need, to restore science to the EPA, the CDS, and the HHS, to reinvigorate green energy and abolish the exploitation and use of fossil fuels and to rebuild humanitarian aid around the world so we are less of a target for jihadists.
NOT to supporting Netanyahu’s continuing genocide in Gaza. NOT to murdering men sailing in small boats in the Caribbean and off the Pacific coast.
And NOT to reducing the tax burden of the ultra-wealthy.
Barack Obama brought HOPE to millions in sectors of society that had been marginalized.
Bernie Sanders inspired millions of working Americans and students.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez motivated millions of young people across the country.
And now Zohran Mamdani has become a beacon for the future of millions of New Yorkers.
It’s not just the residents of New York City who are paying attention to election of its next mayor on November 4. People all across our country are watching in hope and in fear.
Hoping for a change for the better, fearing for a doubling down of the current president’s ordinary-people bashing policies.
At a moment in American history when, as Bernie so eloquently puts it:
“We have a rigged economy with more income and wealth inequality than at any time in the history of our country... when the wealthiest people in America have never ever had it so good while 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck – struggling to pay their rent or mortgage, struggling to afford childcare or higher education for their kids, struggling to afford health care, struggling to afford decent quality food, struggling to figure out how they will retire with dignity after a lifetime of work.
… when the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, has one of the highest rates of childhood poverty and senior poverty of almost any major nation on earth, and when we have some 800,000 Americans – including many veterans – who are homeless.
… when we have a president who has given $1 trillion in tax breaks to the top 1%, $900 billion in tax breaks to the largest corporations in our country — and has paid for these tax breaks by throwing 15 million Americans off the health care they have by slashing Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act… forcing over 20 million Americans to see a doubling in their health care premiums.”
Bernie points out that the billionaire class gets to buy candidates they then own while ordinary people have only one vote.
What ordinary New Yorkers choose to do with those votes on Tuesday may reshape the future of this country.
But only if they turn out and mark their ballot.
“A Mamdani victory in New York will give hope and inspiration to people throughout our country… Ordinary people standing together for economic and social justice is [Trump’s] worst nightmare.”
Ordinary people joining together and seizing their power to demand a government that works for all of them, not just a few.
A Mamdani victory means millions of Americans will be inspired to fight for a better future for themselves and their families. Regain hope in democracy and that they still have the rights granted under the Constitution of the United States.
But they can’t let polls skew their decision to go to the polls and cast a vote for freedom from the tyranny of the plutocrats as happened with Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Kamala Harris in 2024.
Each of their votes is necessary to defeat the oligarchs and those fomenting fear in people through prejudice and paranoia.
Former mayor Michael Bloomberg just gave $1.5 million to a pro-Cuomo Super PAC supporting a scandal-ridden politician claiming his opponent could “kill” New York and the Democratic Party if elected.
Does that sound like leadership for the future of the city? Or the desperation of the old guard fighting tooth and nail to maintain their personal political leverage?
They are accusing Mamdani of being radical but is it so radical to care for the people of New York more than the corporate interests – in real estate, utilities, retail conglomerates, and for-profit education – that continue to control the city and suck it dry?
Most of Mamdani’s ideas are not radical. They are humane.
He may not be able to implement them immediately if at all, but they are commonsense steps.
There is a good reason that while Mamdani entered the race polling at 1% but went on to win the primary against the power of the entire Democratic political machine.
Because ordinary New Yorkers had become disillusioned by the status quo and wanted change. Change that made sense to them, change that addressed their needs and desires, change that made sense to them. Not just to the Cuomos and the Bloombergs and the Trumps.
Ultimately, voters everywhere want affordability. And many in New York and across the country strongly support generational change in upcoming elections; that the old guard relinquish their power in favor of those who will be most impacted by policy decisions in coming decades.
As mayor Zohran Mamdani won’t have an easy time but, if elected, he and New York will have an opportunity to chart a better future for the Big Apple and inspire positive – democratic – change across the United States demanding that tax dollars be spent for the people as directed by the people.
(Liz Amsden is a former Angeleno now living in Vermont and a regular CityWatch contributor. She writes on issues she’s passionate about, including social justice, government accountability, and community empowerment. Liz brings a sharp, activist voice to her commentary and continues to engage with Los Angeles civic affairs from afar. She can be reached at [email protected].)
