Albany's Insanity

The below is excellent commentary from a poster named Roquentin, I like what he had to say and need not add anything to it. Glad I’m not alone in this kind thinking, but we will be labeled as wackjobs and every other inflammatory name around here.

The solution is simple, my friends. What NYS needs to do is Christmas in reverse. I will hear a lot of moans and a lot of groans—since the holiday season is fast approaching. But, my friends, that’s the way it is. The State must be treated as an irresponsible borrower that got drunk and maxed out its credit cards. What does this entail, you may ask? It means—my friends—that all the members of the NYS Senate and Assembly must be required to complete a financial literacy survey and go through credit counseling. Completed forms must be signed by the acting credit-counselor-in-chief (Mayor Bloomberg) and also signed by the Governor of NYS. Paychecks will be withheld pending completed signatures. Ouch! Responsible NYS debt-reduction must take its course.

Since NYS has severe debt and is facing foreclosure and bankruptcy, steps must be taken to stop phone calls by creditors. NYS must also be enrolled in a debt management plan. NYS must also pay down its debt through monthly payments. Where will the money come from? I propose the following. Step one: all NYS government officials must vacate the State Capitol building. This building will be converted to a hotel/gambling casino and hotel and gambling revenues used to pay down NYS’s debt. The State government officials can meet in local high schools during after-school hours. Meetings can be held in school auditoriums.

Step two: ban all expense accounts and unnecessary travel. NYS government officials must now bring their own lunches. There will be no free lunch, my friends. Step three: if NYS’s financial condition deteriorates further, require all state officials to provide their own toilet paper, soap, napkins, paper cups, etc. If conditions severely deteriorate, NYS should institute pay toilets for all NYS elected officials. I know that I will hear some cursing, my friends, concerning this (and how!), but we have to do something and no one seems willing now (except the Governor). Step four: rent out as much school space to test prep companies (PSAT/SAT test prep companies, etc.)

NYS should also do the following: make more than the minimum debt payments on NYS credit cards and credit lines. Don’t start charging when there’s no more money. That means YOU up in Albany. NYS should not rely on credit cards to pay daily expenses. NYS should not apply for any more credit cards or credit lines. When NYS credit cards and credit lines have reached their limits, it’s time to start paying that debt down! Hey, YOU, up in Albany: don’t hide purchases from NYS citizens. Stop making purchases. Pay off the debt. That means YOU. Not everything in life can be put on a credit card. Do you want the Governor to be nervous as a cat all the time? Do you want the Governor to be too nervous to eat anything? Do you want the Governor to be pacing the floors day and night? Then stop charging everything and start paying cash! Why should the Governor always have to be worrying about money? Why should the wolf always be at the door, my friends?

Cowards in Assembly, Senate fail fiscal leadership test

Gov. Paterson must feel a bit like Gary Cooper in “High Noon” these days.

He’s doggedly trying to round up a posse to stand up to the special interests and face down the state’s massive budget deficits. But members of the Legislature are pulling down the shades and cowering under the barstools.

The lawmakers’ collective yellow streak shone bright and clear last Friday, the day Paterson had asked legislative leaders to get back to him with ideas for closing a $1.5 billion deficit in the current fiscal year.

The deadline came and went. The only sound at the Capitol was crickets. Not one lawmaker came forward with a single cut.

The state burns through more than $120billion a year, yet the people we elect to the Assembly and Senate did not come up with one dime that was being wasted or misspent.

It makes one wonder if more than a few of the dimes going into the Legislature’s $219 million budget – and its staff of 3,500 – aren’t being wasted or misspent.

Talk is still cheap, of course. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) said through a spokesman that his majority Democrats are “prepared to work with the governor and the Senate to make tough choices” at a budget-cutting session set for next Tuesday.

Just not prepared enough to name a single concrete cut 11 days in advance.

It’s funny, because the lawmakers are full of opinions on how to write the budget when times are flush. In fact, they get bent out of shape when governors fail to treat them as equal partners in managing the state’s finances.

But this time, Paterson bent over backward to solicit the input of lawmakers on some of the toughest, most important decisions of their political careers – and got bubkes in return.

The reason is obvious: Members of the Assembly and Senate want only to take credit for adding to the budget – which, to them, is the fun part – but not deal with the messy business of balancing it.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 at 7:54 am and is filed under rus thompson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.