The Committee to Scam New York

How The Committee to Save New York’s Big

Business Elites Dodge Taxes, Score
Handouts, Get Bailed Out, and Still Want More

Prepared by Kevin Connor and Chris Keeley,

Public Accountability Initiative
for Community Voices Heard (CVH) and
Voices of Community Activists and Leaders (VOCAL-NY)

February 23, 2011

 Who The Committee Says They Are
WHO WE ARE:
– We are citizens and taxpayers who care deeply about the future of
New York State as a great place to live, work and do business.

WHAT WE STAND FOR:

– We stand for restoring fiscal sanity to state government in order to
ensure that future generations of New Yorkers will have the
opportunity to get a great education, find a good job or start a new
business and prosper.

WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN:

– The general public needs a voice in the effort to end New York
State’s habit of spending money we don’t have and driving families
and employers out of the state with high taxes and inflexible
mandates. This starts with a property tax cap, a truly balanced
state budget and reform of programs and mandates where New
York is out of line with reasonable and sustainable standards.
Source: http://www.letsfixalbany.org/about-us
 Who The Committee to Scam NY
Really Is
– Billionaires. There are 13 members of Forbes’ list of the
Richest 400 Americans: Steven Roth, Rupert Murdoch,
Stephen Schwarzman, Richard LeFrak, John Paulson,
Stephen Ross, David Rockefeller, Mortimer Zuckerman,
Jerry Speyer, Wilbur Ross, Henry Kravis, Leonard Stern,
and Sheldon Solow.
– Big businesses. Citigroup, General Electric, and real estate
firm Colliers International each have three representatives in
the group, more than any other business.
– Banks. Goldman Sachs and Citigroup each have five past
or present executives or directors associated with the
Committee’s backers, more than any other business.
– The Fed. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has ties to
four members of the group, more than any other government
organization.
 Who The Committee to Scam NY
Really Is
– New York City Economic Development Corporation. Kathryn Wylde, the
Partnership’s CEO and a Committee founder, sits on the board of the city’s
economic development agency, which in turn approves tax breaks and other
subsidies for businesses. Mario Palumbo, a board member of the Real Estate
Board of New York, also sits on NYCEDC’s board.

– Empire State Development Corporation. Ken Adams, a founder of the

Committee and former president of the Business Council, was recently nominated
as the head of ESDC, the state’s primary economic development agency.

– Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. REBNY board members John

Zuccotti and William Rudin both sit on the board of LMDC, which is responsible for
overseeing lower Manhattan’s reconstruction efforts post 9/11 and disbursing
recovery funds.

– Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It’s not a state or local government board,
but is one of New York’s most powerful government institutions. As noted in the
“bailouts” section, the FRBNY’s board includes three board members of the
Partnership – Wylde, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, and Loews CEO James Tisch
– and its president, former Goldman Sachs economist William Dudley, holds an ex
officio board seat at the Partnership.
 Campaign Contributors
Statewide (2007-2010); Legislative (2009-2010)
Total Donated
Recipient by Committee
Affiliates
ANDREW CUOMO 2010 $1,803,196
PATERSON FOR GOVERNOR, INC. $872,682
NYS SENATE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE $397,500
SPITZER 2010, INC. $336,548
NYS DEMOCRATIC SENATE CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE $335,500
NYS SENATE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE - HOUSEKEEPING $241,005
SCHNEIDERMAN FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL, INC. $221,000
NYS DEMOCRATIC ASSEMBLY CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE (DACC) $210,300
DEMOCRATIC SENATE CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE - HOUSEKEEPING $196,655
DONOVAN 2010 $159,500
All other state-level, most recent election cycle $2,503,333
TOTAL $7,277,220
Committee to Scam NY: A Summary

– Tax evasion: At least 1,705 offshore subsidiaries

incorporated in tax havens.

– 13 related financial firms received $149 billion in

federal bailout funds (TARP), or roughly enough to
fund New York State’s entire public school system for
three years.

– Individuals associated with the Committee will save

millions in personal income taxes if the state’s tax on
high-income earners is not extended.
 Tax Dodging

The Committee
to Scam NY
has more than
400 corporate
entities set up
just in the
Cayman
Islands
 Tax Dodging
These CSNY groups
have dozens, or even
hundreds of entities
sheltered overseas:
1. Morgan Stanley (318)
2. Bank of America (269)
3. News Corp (127)
4. Marsh & McLennan
(122)
5. Pfizer (104)
6. JPMorgan Chase (76)
7. Wells Fargo (56)
8. Jones Lang Lasalle (56)
9. Blackstone Group (46)
10. Tyco (42)
Tax Dodging
• The Committee’s honorary chair,
Felix Rohatyn (left), is employed
at Lazard, first major Wall
Street bank to incorporate in an
offshore tax haven (Bermuda)

• Several businesses associated

with the Committee either
specializing in facilitating tax
avoidance by wealthy
individuals and corporations or
have been fined for doing so,
including Deutsche Bank, UBS,
and Roberts & Holland LLP
Scoring Handouts
• 13 financial firms received $149
billion in federal bailout funds
(TARP) during the 2008 financial
crisis, or roughly enough to fund New
York State’s entire public school
system for three years.

• Committee-connected businesses
have been approved for roughly $2
billion in state and local subsidies
in the form of tax breaks, infrastructure
spending, and other outlays.

• Individuals associated with the

Committee will save millions in
personal income taxes if the state’s
tax on high-income earners is not
extended.
 Committee to Scam NY

Members of The
Committee to Save
NY and its affiliated
entities want New
York State to serve
them and them
alone, with just
crumbs left for
everyone else.
 Consequences
Due to long-term policy decisions
that The Committee to Scam New
York wants to continue and even
expand, New York:
- Is America’s most unequal state,
- Has an incredibly unfair tax structure,
- Corporations have been paying less, and
- The poor have been paying more.
 New York:
America’s Inequality Capital

Source: FPI at www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_NewYorkShouldContinueTheIncomeTax_20110214.pdf

The Worst is Getting Worse

Source: FPI at http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPIBudgetBriefingBook_2011.pdf.

The Poor Paying More

Source: FPI at www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_NewYorkShouldContinueTheIncomeTax_20110214.pdf

Corporations Paying Less

Source: FPI at www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_GrowingBurdenOfBusinessTaxExpenditures.pdf