Mayor Bloomberg and New York’s business establishment last week announced a new initiative, NYC Counts, aimed at getting back for New York more of the money that the city pays to Washington in taxes. The mayor cited a Tax Foundation study showing that New Yorkers get back about 85 cents in federal spending for every dollar that the state sends to Washington in taxes. The flow is to states like New Mexico, which gets $2.37 for every dollar it pays in; Mississippi, which gets $1.89; Alaska, which gets $1.91, and West Virginia, which gets $1.82.”This is a formula we have to improve,” Mr. Bloomberg said last week. “New York City cannot continue to be our nation’s cash cow.”

We suppose it’s nice to see Mr. Bloomberg fighting for New York’s interests. But as a practical matter, the discrepancy in the balance of payments is the result of several factors that Mr. Bloomberg either doesn’t have much control over or doesn’t seem particularly inclined to take on.

One is that, when it comes to bringing the bacon back home, the city is not particularly well represented by the Democrats it mostly sends to Washington. Take a look at the senators on the appropriations committee. The chairman is Ted Stevens of Alaska. Other senior Republicans on the panel are Thad Cochran of Mississippi and Pete Domenici of New Mexico. The top Democrat on the panel is Robert Byrd of West Virginia. See any similarity between those state names and the ones in the paragraph above?

There’s no New Yorker on the Senate appropriations committee. Maybe Mr. Bloomberg can use his influence with Thos. Daschle to get Senator Clinton or Senator Schumer a slot on the committee, but, given that the Democratic Party didn’t even choose to have its convention in New York, it seems a long shot.

Another is that these state-by-state breakdowns can be somewhat specious. A national park in Alaska, for instance, also benefits New Yorkers who may visit it on a cruise ship. A Navy battleship built in Mississippi defends New Yorkers, too, and its sailors may visit here and spend money in the city when the battleship makes a port call here during Fleet Week.

It’s the philosophical issue, though, where Mr. Bloomberg has really stumbled. A lot of our tax imbalance has to do with the fact that New York — the fashion, entertainment, press, and financial capital — is a wealthy state. Mississippi, West Virginia, and New Mexico are not wealthy states. A lot of what our tax system does is redistribute money from wealthy people to poorer people. Mr. Bloomberg, of all people, should understand this. For one thing, he’s a rich man himself. We’ve never heard him complaining aloud about how he pays more to the government in taxes than he gets back in services. New York is the Michael Bloomberg of states.

But — and here’s where the hypocrisy really kicks in — Mr. Bloomberg and his allies in Albany, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, have treated New York City’s high-income taxpayers the same way that Washington treats New York state. In 2001, only half a percent of the city’s taxpayers earned more than $1 million a year. But those taxpayers paid 36.8% of the city’s total personal income taxes, according to an analysis by the city’s Independent Budget Office. What did Mr. Bloomberg and his allies in Albany do?

They raised income taxes on the 11,530 tax filers in New York City who earn more than $1 million a year. Just the average estimated increase on those $1-million-plus filers for 2003 will be $29,273 in city income taxes and $29,528 in New York state income taxes, according to the Independent Budget Office. That’s just the tax increase, not the total tax they pay to the city and state. And even just the increase is way more than the services most of these taxpayers get back from the city.

Talk about your cash cows, Mr. Mayor.