Free Republic

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed raising taxes on the wealthy to a combined level of 14.7%, which would be the highest state-and-local tax rate in the nation. The tax increase would raise $1.5 billion for the state, Cuomo said Tuesday in an address unveiling his 2022 budget proposal. The move would be part of a three-pronged approach — raising revenue, cutting expenses and borrowing — to cover the state's historic budget shortfall due to Covid-19, Cuomo said. "New York cannot manage a $15 billion deficit," according to Cuomo, who said the state's largest prior deficit was $10 billion. "It's...

New York City’s coronavirus outbreak grew so large by early March that the city became the primary source of new infections in the United States, new research reveals, as thousands of infected people traveled from the city and seeded outbreaks around the country. The research indicates that a wave of infections swept from New York City through much of the country before the city began setting social distancing limits to stop the growth. That helped to fuel outbreaks in Louisiana, Texas, Arizona and as far away as the West Coast. The findings are drawn from geneticists’ tracking signature mutations of...