New York Blues

The apocalypse may indeed be upon us, but New York is in a race to get there faster. The dysfunctional city of New York has awarded 5200 Black and Hispanic teacher candidates $1.7 billion after they failed to pass the Liberal Arts and Sciences Test, determining that the certification exam was racially biased. The reasoning is that more white applicants successfully passed the examination as opposed to their Black and Hispanic peers. I’m sorry, but the exam is not biased against people of color, the exam is biased against stupid people, regardless of their color. This is yet another redistribution scheme masquerading as diversity, equity, and inclusion. What an embarrassment. Perhaps we should look at the silver lining. At least the city didn’t acquiesce and dumb down the standards to allow the failed applicants to become teachers, further degrading the quality of the already substandard public school system that already spends $38000 per student. But there’s more.  These failed applicants will be eligible for teacher's pensions when they reach retirement age, pensions rewarding them for years they never worked. You just can’t make this stuff up. Congratulations New York City taxpayers, you’re well on the way to making your city uninhabitable. 

Alas, there’s more. New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued a statement that her state is proud to announce that it has set a “record” when it comes to New York’s “landmark” paid family leave program. And I quote: “When I signed New York's paid family leave expansion into law, I reaffirmed our state’s commitment to ensuring workers have the protections they need to bond with their parents, children, and other loved ones. Now workers are responding with rising enrollment and record high utilization, particularly among fathers. Our nation-leading paid family leave program is a testament to our efforts to make New York the most worker friendly state on the nation.” Worker-friendly but apparently business averse. Gee, I wonder if that program will suffer from any fraud?  And by record utilization, that translates into record numbers of workers who are not on the job, sucking capital out of the businesses that employ them who must either suffer a decrease in production or the expense of hiring a temporary replacement. And further, where do you think the money comes from to subsidize this boondoggle? The businesses of course. Tacked onto the state’s already exorbitant mandatory workers compensation insurance is now the paid family leave assessment, a charge that in most cases costs the business more than double the cost of the workers compensation premium alone. And why would that be the case? Because the insurance industry has already done the math and knows that the program will be over utilized. And the remarkably tone deaf Kathy Hochul, yet another career politician with no experience in the private sector, continues to double down on failed democrat programs, policies, and taxation that punish New York businesses and exacerbate the flight of productive taxpayers and their businesses out of state.