Editorials from around New York

Below are recent editorials of statewide and national interest from New York’s newspapers:

• The Poughkeepsie Journal on the MTA payroll tax.

Lest anyone forget, Gov. Andrew Cuomo more than five years ago called the creation of the MTA payroll tax “erroneous.”

Yet, indefensibly, part of that tax remains on the books, stifling business growth and financially hurting local governments as well.

Opponents of this jobkilling tax have to be vigilant and must not give up the fight. The tax was imposed on businesses and others during the height of the recession before Cuomo became governor. He and other state leaders have subsequently scrubbed some of it from the books.

But larger businesses and certain levels of local government still have to pay up.

Dutchess County businesses in the MTA region are hit with a 34-cent tax for every $100 of payroll if their annual salaries exceed $1.25 million, regardless of the number of workers. And since certain governments within the MTA region also have to pay, the tax is costing Dutchess County government alone about $350,000 annually.

Unquestionably, the payroll tax should be totally eliminated, but there are at least sound efforts afoot to chip away at the problem. For instance, the state Senate recently passed legislation that would lift the tax burden for local governments within the MTA, providing them (and, by extension, the taxpayers) with nearly $20 million in relief annually.

The bill is sponsored by state Sen. Terrence Murphy, R-Carmel, and Sue Serino, R-Hyde Park, is a co-sponsor.

MTA operates the buses and subways in New York City, in addition to the Long Island and Metro-North rail lines. It draws money from plenty of places, including fares, various other taxes and major subsidies from higher levels of government. While reform efforts have been made, the authority has rightly and repeatedly been blasted in state audits for its excess and financial abuses. And the state, the City of New York, and the MTA have all let down the taxpayers by refusing to think more creatively about how to pay for essential public transportation services. That would include implementing “congestion pricing,” which involves charging vehicles coming into the city’s core during the workweek’s rush hours. The raised money could be used to offset public transportation costs, and the policy likely will entice more people to ditch their cars, cut down on pollution and pay the fares to ride the MTA’s trains and buses.

The push for more comprehensive solutions has to continue. In the meantime, pecking away is the way to go, which is why both the state Assembly and governor should agree with the Senate and lift this financial burden on local governments.

• The (Oneonta) Daily Star on finding the truth in the Comey-Trump dispute.

“In wartime,” said Winston Churchill, “truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.”

All well and good, but today in President Donald Trump’s Washington, truth during this relative period of peacetime is appearing more precious — and difficult to determine — than ever.

This was never more apparent than last Thursday, when FBI Director James Comey testified in a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, and in the aftermath of it when Trump challenged Comey’s veracity.

Comey had not withheld any words on the subject of whether the president of the United States of America is a liar.

Comey said that when Trump said the FBI was in disarray and that agents had lost confidence in Comey as its director, “those were lies, plain and simple.”

Meanwhile, while Comey was giving his testimony, Trump was speaking to a friendly audience at the annual Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference.

Trump said that “entrenched interests” in Washington “will lie, they will obstruct, they will spread their hatred and their prejudice, but we will not back down from doing what is right.

“We know the truth will prevail,” he said. “Nothing worth doing ever came easy.”

Comey’s credibility was damaged when he testified that a memo he had written after meeting with Trump was given by him to a friend, who, following Comey’s instructions, leaked it to the news media.

In his testimony to the Senate committee, Comey said he did that to build momentum for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the Trump’s campaign’s possible ties to Russian interference with the 2016 election.

While the leaked memo was not classified, it nevertheless was government property, and in our opinion, should not have been leaked.

For his part, Trump has damaged his credibility by an amazing and unprecedented “bodyguard of lies.”

Fact-checkers have determined that in just his first 100 days in office, Trump gave 492 false or misleading statements. The number of falsehoods made by him during the campaign is virtually uncountable.

So, it comes down to whom the American public believes. Comey infuriated Republicans when he refused to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton, and Democrats were beyond angry when he gave damaging and ultimately benign statements about a Clinton investigation 11 days before the election.

But if he has been occasionally unwise, Comey is still regarded as a Boy Scout. Trump, apparently, does not enjoy a similar reputation.

In his testimony, Comey said he kept records of his conversations with Trump because “I was honestly concerned he might lie about the nature of our meeting,” Comey said, “so I thought it important to document.”

A HuffPost/YouGov poll found that Americans by a huge margin believe the former FBI director over the president.

By a 20-point margin, 46 percent to 26 percent, respondents said Comey is more honest and trustworthy than Trump, with the rest unsure.

Undaunted, Trump tweeted this Sunday morning.

“I believe the James Comey leaks will be far more prevalent than anyone ever thought possible. Totally illegal? Very ‘cowardly!’”

So, here we are, looking at months, if not years, of congressional investigations and a wide-ranging probe by the special counsel. If the truth is out there, it would appear to have so far found a good hiding place.

• The Niagara Gazette on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s aspirations for the future.

If anyone has doubt about Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s long-range plans, they need to look only at his self-imposed strategy for the next 18 months.

The governor made it abundantly clear during a recent rally of union workers in Albany where he was joined by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in urging Democrats to take back the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections.

In a word, the governor has pledged to campaign against Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence, and Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, among other upstate members of Congress whom he contends have shirked responsibility to their constituents. Ticking off the list of his targets — people that he blames for a current mess in Washington, D.C. — Cuomo charged them with “violating their oath office” by, among other ways, voting in favor of the American Health Care Act.”

“Look at the damage they’ve done in just 137 days,” Cuomo said, referring to Collins and his GOP colleagues. He claimed the health care bill could cost the state $7 billion and leave three million New Yorkers uninsured. “They said they would help their districts but they didn’t. And that they would help the struggling middle class, but they’re doing the exact opposite,” he added.

This state’s chief executive is among several prospects for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination committed to investing the next 1 ½ years raising funds to help defeat GOP congressional incumbents. With a successful drive, the Democrats could take back control of the House in the 2018 mid-term elections. The Democrats need 24 seats to regain control.

In the Empire State alone, the Democrats, at the brink of the campaign trail, have identified six other GOP incumbents on the list of their statewide targets. They include Reps. Peter King, Hudson Valley; John Faso, Kinderhook; Lee Zeldin, Long Island; Dan Donovan, Brooklyn; Claudia Tenney, Binghamton; and Elsie Stefanik, Willsboro.

As Cuomo suddenly unveils his attack on congressional candidates he wants defeated, it gives rise to speculation that he’s eyeing a run for the presidency in 2020. As one observer of the Albany scene says, it seems ironic that he appears reluctant to help Democrats retake the state Senate yet he intends to help the party at the federal level.

Obviously the ongoing differences between Cuomo and Collins has become a personal feud. And the governor is certainly correct when he points out that it would cost billions of dollars for the state to take over the county’s Medicaid portion, not to mention the resulting drastic overhaul of Cuomo’s budget.

Karen DeWitt, chief of NPR’s Albany Bureau, notes that the governor is trying hard to raise his national profile and, if he succeeds in flipping control of the House to the Democrats, he could inevitably claim credit for the major change. That would pave the way for a presidential run.