Gifford Miller, the speaker of the City Council, struck an unusual pose earlier this week when he railed against the gap between what New York City residents give the state and federal governments in taxes and what they receive in return. “We are overtaxed and we are underserved,” Mr. Miller said, calling the situation “fundamentally unfair.” Mr. Miller said that in 2002 “New York City sent Washington $6.3 billion more than we got back and we sent Albany $3.5 billion more than we got back.”

This is interesting coming from a Democrat like Mr. Miller, who has supported an income tax surcharge on wealthy New Yorkers. After all, what Washington and Albany do to New York City is a lot like what folks like Mr. Miller do to rich people.

Figures from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance in 1998 (the last year for which it has data) show that the wealthiest 3% of New York’s taxpayers pay 42.4% of state income taxes. The wealthiest 10% of New Yorkers pay about 60% of state income taxes. Surely that is more than they get back in services.

New York City, with its increasing property taxes, is becoming even more brutal for the rich, who shoulder the greatest share of the tax burden. If Mr. Miller wants a tax code in which everyone gets back what they give, why impose taxes at all?

If Mr. Miller believes New York’s tax burden is unjust, we welcome this sudden shift in thinking. Call it Democrats Against Redistribution.