The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Editing Rudy on YouTube

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There's a new video up on YouTube showing clips of Rudy Giuliani endorsing Mario Cuomo, which everybody expected would be used against him. But if you'll notice, the video is carefully clipped in the middle, and that's to make Rudy's statement seem worse.

Here's the spliced together quote from the YouTube video, as reported by Hotline:

"[Pataki] has plans to reduce taxes that are so ambitious and so inconsistent with the performance of the economy of the state. It would be a disaster. It would be the kind of tax shift that substitutes for sound management."

Here's the unedited version, with the comments not appearing on the video in bold, from a transcript of Giuliani's October 25, 1994 appearance on "Inside Politics" that can be found on Nexis:

Mayor GUILIANI: He has plans to reduce taxes that are so ambitious and so inconsistent with the performance of the economy of this state that he would, in essence, in order to accomplish that, raise property taxes in the suburbs, around New York, and in New York City. Because-

SHAW: And in your mind that's a no-no?

Mayor GUILIANI: It would be a disaster. It would be an absolute disaster. It would be the kind of tax shift that substitutes for sound management. I've reduced the budget of New York City dramatically. I've actually reduced taxes already in New York City. But I didn't do one of those pledges and promises and one of those fancy campaign things that locks you into unwise economic policy.

Clearly, Giuliani was worried about rising property taxes in and around New York City. YouTube is a great resource, but given the growing influence it has, we have to be careful to treat everything with a skeptical eye.

topics:
Taxes