Bloomberg says he'll talk about a commuter tax credit with Cantor, won't say what he talked about with Obama
Eric Cantor gives a speech. Heritage Foundation, via flickr
2:59 pm Mar. 12, 20121
This afternoon, Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he plans to talk to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor about the importance of a commuter tax credit to New York City.
"You know, the biggest thing that we really I think could get done with him, because it probably fits in with what the politics are on both sides of the aisle in Washington at the moment, I’d like to see if we can’t get some help in getting a tax credit for commuters," Bloomberg said during an appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations. "The highway bill helps you if you drive, but it doesn’t help mass transit and we’re very dependent on that."
Bloomberg is scheduled this afternoon to give Cantor, who as a rule opposes federal subsidies for public transportation, a tour of the Sept. 11 memorial plaza at the World Trade Center.
Senator Chuck Schumer has been lobbying hard for the reinstatement of a $230 tax credit for mass-transit users. A tax credit for drivers made it through the bruising federal transportation bill negotiations unscathed.
Asked about his February lunch with President Obama, which was first reported by the New York Times today, the mayor said, "He was very interested in what's going on in New York City and what we need from the federal government to continute to grow. And then we, you know, a little bit of conversation about golf. But it was a very pleasant lunch."
Following up, a reporter asked Bloomberg whether he'd gotten any sense that Obama wanted him to join the administration.
"No," said the mayor. "We never talked about anything remotely in that direction, nor should we."
Would he like to be a presidential adviser after leaving office?
"No."
This is an example of why tax credits are probably the worst possible way to get people to commute responsibly. How much extra bureaucracy is there in needing a separate credit for every possible way to get to work? Let’s be honest with ourselves, what we want is for people to not drive to work. We don’t really care beyond that how they get there. It can be walking, biking, the subway, dogsleds, or slinging webs like spiderman. It just doesn’t matter. Why not try to discourage car drivers with a tax rather than make us keep track of even more paperwork just to get a $20 tax credit . If anything is wasteful, inefficient bureaucracy this is it.