Street interviews caught by conservative field reporter Cam Higby exposed a glaring truth about Zohran Mamdani’s surge: many of his enthusiastic supporters couldn’t name a single practical policy or explain how the mayor-elect would pay for the freebies he promises. The clips show cheerful chants and slogans, not fiscal plans, and that should alarm anyone who pays taxes and loves this city.
Dave Rubin didn’t let the moment slide; he circulated a direct-message clip on The Rubin Report where he, Michael Malice, and Alex Stein tore into the same hard question: if you tax the rich into exile, who will fund your bread-and-circuses? That exchange laid bare the intellectual bankruptcy of the “tax the rich” cheerleaders and forced millions to reckon with a very simple political accounting problem.
Zohran Mamdani’s agenda — a surtax on top earners and broad expansions of government services — isn’t abstract activism, it’s real dollars and cents. Even establishment Democrats have warned that millionaires and major taxpayers shoulder a massive share of New York’s revenue, and reckless surcharges could hollow out the city’s budget faster than you can chant “tax the rich.”
Don’t be fooled by smug college kids and TikTok tribes spinning virtue into policy; when companies, investors, and top earners quietly rethink where they park capital, the consequences are immediate: fewer jobs, less philanthropy, and hollowed-out services. Progressives treat tax flight as a myth while treating fiscal reality like a nuisance — hardworking New Yorkers will be left holding the bag when the math finally catches up.
Credit where it’s due: reporters like Higby and commentators on platforms like The Rubin Report are doing the job legacy media refuses to do — asking the obvious questions and refusing to let entertainers-turned-politicians skate by on charisma alone. Conservatives should amplify those questions until every candidate is pressed to show a balanced budget, not just trendy slogans and performative compassion.
This is a moment for conservatives and sensible independents to organize and push back: demand transparency, line-itemed budgets, and realistic revenue projections before any politician gets a blank check to remake a city. If you care about safe streets, reliable transit, and public services that work, you cannot indulge fantasy economics that inevitably ration benefits by scarcity and broken promises.
Hardworking Americans built New York through risk, investment, and the rule of law — not through giveaways and academics’ thought experiments. Ask every candidate the same blunt question Cam Higby asked: how will you pay for it, and what happens when those who actually generate the wealth decide they’ve had enough? If they can’t answer plainly, send them back to reality.
