Our BS detectors were going off all day yesterday, and it started when New York City Mayor and Bernie Sanders' comrade Zohran Mamdani claimed to have brought the budget deficit "down to zero":
When we came into office, we uncovered a $12 billion budget deficit.
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) May 12, 2026
Today, I’m proud to say we brought it down to zero.
We didn’t close the gap on the backs of working people.
We closed it while funding parks, libraries, safer streets and making historic investments in public… pic.twitter.com/TbNu6fhvjs
The only thing there that's actually "zero" is our level of belief in that being true.
However, Bernie Sanders felt that Mamdani was due some congratulations (so did AOC):
Congratulations to Mayor Mamdani. He inherited a huge budget deficit, brought it down to zero, and still invested in childcare, housing and city infrastructure.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 12, 2026
When municipal governments stand with working families, not billionaires, there is nothing they cannot accomplish. https://t.co/SSJvrVMRWq
We're not surprised by that, but it's still incredibly shameless.
Communists will balloon a deficit, get a bailout from taxpayers, and then congratulate themselves.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) May 13, 2026
There is no level of shame they aren’t familiar with. https://t.co/GJGXCuP7U9
At this point we'll let the previous mayor weigh in, because Eric Adams is also calling BS on all this, not to mention delivering a reality check about the billionaires Mamdani has been trying to vilify as "not paying their fair share":
There was never a $12 billion hole in the budget. That fairy tale was cooked up to justify reckless spending and political theater.
— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) May 14, 2026
I left the incoming administration with $8 billion in reserves, not a financial apocalypse.
Albany election-year bailouts are not a long-term… https://t.co/DfDnyk9oEB
Here's the rest of Adams' post:
I left the incoming administration with $8 billion in reserves, not a financial apocalypse.
Albany election-year bailouts are not a long-term economic strategy. The free money dries up after Election Day, but the bloated “free” programs stay forever.
And here’s the part the socialists in City Hall never want to admit: the millionaires and billionaires they love demonizing already pay roughly 40% of NYC’s taxes. Keep demonizing the people creating jobs, investing in this city, and carrying the tax base, and eventually they’ll stop investing here altogether.
All Mamdani's going to do is chase off more of those rich people, and Florida realtors certainly won't be complaining. Those taxpayers remaining in New York will be expected to keep providing NYC with bailouts so Mamdani can keep trying to take credit for being so fiscally responsible.
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