Budget crisis? Ya think? Conservatives have been warning about this for years and it’s not just because of what is going on nationally now, this crisis has been building up for years.
Why are we here in this mess..? Pensions, huge union contracts, an out of control legislature that caters to the unions and special interests and their own interests instead of the people. This budget deficit is just like other liberal controlled states like California and Massachusetts.
With the highest taxes in the dam country one would think the economy would be better, instead we are in the bottomless pit and feeding the bloated government and all the corruption that goes with it.
WBEN 930 : Paterson: Budget In Crisis, Layoffs Likely
Paterson: Budget In Crisis, Layoffs Likely
WBEN Newsroom
Albany (AP/CBS)- Governor Paterson plans to address New York residents this evening in a live televised address about the state’s fiscal problems.
“It’s not good,” Paterson said Monday.
Under the state’s current $122 billion budget, the governor last month said there would be a $5 billion deficit. Now it’s expected to be greater. And the previous spending cuts by state agencies by a modest 3.3 percent are expected to be more drastic.
“It’s no secret this is serious enough that I would like to address the state directly on this,” Paterson said.
The address, scheduled for 5:10 p.m., is billed as a personal conversation with New Yorkers. It’s expected to last about 10 minutes and include a frank assessment of the state’s economic situation and proposed measures to respond.
New York Post state editor Fred Dicker is reporting that Paterson is planning to announce cuts to state services, a reduction of the state work force possibly through layoffs, and other economic measures to deal with the plunging state revenues.
Asked yesterday if the situation was grave enough to call the Legislature back for a special session, Paterson said he’s thinking that over and will make a decision today.
Despite Paterson’s calls for action on the state budget since he took office in March, New York has made only small cuts after years of historic increases in spending. The current budget includes further increases sought by unions representing teachers and public workers.
As usual, conservatives are blaming “union contracts” and Democrats for New York State’s fiscal crisis. They are conveniently forgetting that for most of the past decade George Pataki, a conservative Republican, was at the helm of our state government. Did we get “huge union contracts”? Not quite. For years our public servants worked without a substantial pay increase and this year they are scheduled to receive a 3% raise. Since when was 3% called “huge”? But under Pataki and the state’s GOP legislators hundreds of millions of dollars were spent anually on fat contracts to consultants [also known as Pataki supporters] and this lead to massive amounts of waste in the budget. Now the budget is to be balanced on the backs of state employees who did not create this mess. In other words, in New York politics it is business as usual.
The government will tend to overspend no matter how much money is coming in. Tax relief, when done responsibly, can help the economy rebound.