Paterson's Budget Looks To Be More Of The Same

To be fair to the Governor, he has only been in office a few weeks, yet the budget that looks like it will pass today is nothing but more of the same out of Albany. In a way I don't blame the legislators, since they are going to fight for more spending in their own districts and Republicans will continue to not want to raise taxes to pay for their programs (of course they do deserve their share, I'm not leaving them out of the equation thats for sure). For example, that additional tax on millionaires would have produced $1.5 billion and because of Joe Bruno's Senate, that didn't happen. There are many problems and naturally to be expected when a state budget is made but the responsibility for something sound rests on the Governor. A new Governor should have the capital to get something productive done. Unfortunately Paterson was too busy trying to accommodate Joe Bruno and the rest of the powers that be instead of looking after the majority of New Yorkers. His remarks on the budget really do say it all.

From The NY Daily News:

In one of the most forceful speeches yet on the New York economy, Gov. David Paterson criticized the budget he inherited from ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer as "too big and too bloated" and pledged to put the state on a more prudent fiscal path next year, the DN's Kathleen Lucadamo reports.

The economic picture has only gotten bleaker since it was drafted and finance folks underestimated how bad New York would be hit, Paterson told elected officials and business leaders at this morning's ABNY breakfast, insisting "signals were in the air and we knew about them" but failed to take appropriate action.

“So even if we had misestimated, we would have addressed our problems down the road," Paterson said.

"But rather we created a situation where by the time there was a transition in the administration in mid-March, we were now going down a road where the legislators had set their priorities based on the budget forecasts that we already had acquired. Who can blame them? No one. Who can remind them? We can.”

The solution? Not new taxes, but belt-tightening, or, as Paterson put it, a reversal of Albany's "spending binge."

Oh, so the spending binge that was all Governor Spitzer's fault. Well to some degree it was since he was NY's top guy for most of the time leading up to the state's budget but he wasn't the one in charge when time was running short and things needed to be set in stone. We needed leadership in this tough economic time. Whether or not it was because Paterson was new or didn't care, we needed a budget that would help get us through these tough times so that the least among us would not suffer. Now we are left with the status quo and Paterson paints a picture of what will come in the next budget.

The Governor's belt-tightening plan sounds like it will be a painless one. Per the Sun, "Mr. Paterson said that future budget cuts would not come at the expense of New Yorkers who need services, middle class residents, or the state’s millionaires." Who, exactly, this leaves remaining to bear the brunt of any belt tightening remains unclear.

Exactly.