Tax Man Padavan Misleads Voters On His Record
By Mike Connery on 08/26/2010 @ 04:24 PM
Tony Avella has his opponent, Albany politician Frank Padavan, running scared and misleading voters on his 38-year record as a tax, borrow and spend Republican.
In a recent interview with Yournabe.com, Padavan said he is proud to be running on his record and that "I don’t know of any senator [that] can point to that many accomplishments in their tenure."
What exactly is Padavan's record? Here are some highlights of Padavan's "accomplishments" that span the over-three decades he helped his Republican Majority cohorts turn Albany into a den of rampant irresponsibility and excess:
- Padavan raised taxes hundreds of times, costing hardworking New Yorkers billions of dollars. Padavan has voted to increase personal income taxes, business taxes, professional taxes, sales taxes, user fees, hotel taxes and vehicle registration taxes -- among many others
- Along with convicted felon Joe Bruno and the Republican Majority, Padavan voted to nearly double the size of the state budget -- from $62 billion to $121 billion -- in just 12 years, between 1996 and 2008
- Padavan and his Republican cohorts also saddled New Yorkers with a massive debt load -- increasing it from $31 billion to $54 billion between 1997 and 2008
- Padavan has refused to clean up the ethical mess in Albany and make the Senate more transparent, opting instead for business as usual. He has voted against bills that included numerous campaign finance reforms and good government practices
- Padavan opposed an amendment to the 2006-2007 budget which would have increased school aid to NYC schools by $1.25 billion
With these kinds of "accomplishments," is it any wonder that Padavan has decided to mislead voters on his record?
Tony Avella, on the other hand, has an actual record to be proud of. As a city councilman, he opposed every property tax increase during his tenure in office, supported an extension of property tax rebates for middle-class families and voted for tax credits which spurred business growth. He refused the “lulu,” an additional taxpayer funded salary increase and fought against and subsequently refused the 25% City Council pay raise -- both of which he considered to be unethical.
Seeing this, Celeste Katz, of The Daily News, called Avella a “die-hard maverick reformer" in her recent profile of the campaign.
Avella's campaign to change Albany and provide real tax relief and jobs for New Yorkers has Padavan scared. His desperate turn to Albany style political tricks won't work this time; New Yorkers are tired of a dysfunctional Albany and are ready to say "38 years is enough" to Tax Man Padavan.
Comments
Leave a Comment