The saps in these cities, including poor blacks, aren't being held captive by Democrats; they voted them in, and continue to keep them in.

economic illiterates, or just plain all-around dumb?

NYC Council votes 40-7 to ban natural gas from all new buildings

The New York City Council voted on Wednesday to ban new buildings from using natural gas amid a nationwide spike in energy prices.

The Democratic-backed measure, which passed 40 to 7, will force most newly constructed buildings to use electricity instead. The law will phase in restrictions beginning in 2023.

The natural gas prohibition is expected to raise energy costs for New Yorkers. The average cost to heat a home with natural gas last winter was $573, according to the Energy Department. Electricity, meanwhile, costs an average of $1,268.

Democratic lawmakers who spearheaded the legislation said it will reduce carbon emissions in the city.

Of course, NYC gets its electricity from power plants fueled by natural gas, but like all Green projects, what happens out of sight never happens at all. Converting gas into electricity before it’s used to heat or cool a building will always cost more than its direct use, simply because of the loss of efficiency inherent in the process, so these Greens are mandating much higher costs for their constituents.

And how about this inanity, from a woman who’s just voted to almost treble her constituents’ heating costs in the name of burning natural gas 100 miles away : "This bill was about prioritizing people over profits and properties," Council member Alicka Ampry-Samuel said Wednesday. "We are at a point in our lifetimes that we need to act. We need to make sure we are protecting and saving our environment."

“People over profits”? Does the City Council really believe that if a landlord’s costs go up, he won’t pass those costs onto his tenants? Connecticut tried a similar stratagem when it passed its “windfall profits tax” on gasoline wholesalers and forbade them from adding it to the price they charged customers. The pass-through ban was, of course, struck down — the legislators knew it would be — and, 20 years on, we consumers are still paying the tax with every fill-up.

Of course, Ms. Alicka Amry-Samuel and her fellow council members have fewer financial worries than the people they’re “protecting”. They took care of that in 2016, by the same 40-7 vote:

Members of the New York City Council voted themselves a $36,000 raise Friday — more than $10,000 above the number suggested by an independent advisory salary panel — to $148,500 a year.

By 40-7, the council approved the first raise for itself since 2006, when the salary went up to $112,500 from $90,000.

“Every dollar is a worthy investment in a government that works full time for the people,” said Council member Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan), one of the legislation’s lead sponsors.

Among the “no” votes were all three Republicans in the overwhelmingly Democratic council.

The people have spoken, repeatedly: they want these things to happen to them; why they do is an interesting question, and one I have no answer to.