Archive: Opinions

I wasn't a Mario Cuomo fan.  So I was getting ready to not be an Andrew Cuomo fan.  I figured New York had enough Cuomos, already, and it was time to get a different family, maybe some Bushes or Roosevelts or Kennedys.  But, really, I've had enough with dynasties, and, as I said, I was definitely not a Mario fan.

So nobody is more surprised than I am that I am starting to like our new Governor.  He appears to be getting off to a good start: he said he was going to make some tough decisions, and try to get a budget passed on time that would actually begin to put New York's fiscal house in order.

Any one of those three things would be a miracle all by itself in Albany.

Tough decisions despite special interests and stakeholders who want their particular thing funded and funded and funded. 

Getting a New York budget passed on time... really, they can do that?

And the Legislature actually passed a budget on time that cuts spending -- is THAT allowed in New York? and closes a $10 billion deficit.  Really?

The thing is, this isn't rocket science.  You can tax more and spend more and make the desirability of living in New York a lot worse.  Or you can spend less.  Or you can tax less.  Or you can tax less and spend a lot less.  The only way to get rid of a deficit is to stop spending so much, especially in an environment where people are already taxed to the max.

You spend a lot less and pay a little at a time to pay off a credit card bill until you get yourself out from under that debt.  You eat more Ramen noodles and less gourmet penne for a while until you get things under control, and then you only eat that penne  once in a while once things are under control.  That's how you keep them under control.  That's what New York has to do, and then it has to cut up its card and only spend what it has.  That means that something has to be cut, and it's going to hurt.

New York is the highest taxes state in the nation.  People are leaving in droves.  Here's a governor who recognizes that you can't just talk about the problem endlessly, and somehow he got his budget.  He actually did something about it.  And nobody is going to like him for it, because they all want their thing kept.  Sometimes it's true -- no pain, no gain.

A lot of those things are worthy.  Health care, social services, public schools and colleges are among the things that are suffering cuts.  School aid cuts are a whopping $697 million alone, even after some of the cuts to schools were restored including $134 million for upstate schools, $51 million for New York City, and another $45 for schools on Long Island.

Like all New Yorkers we're suffering from the cuts here in Lansing.  Our school board is struggling with a $2.5 million budget gap, and our county legislators are trying to figure out how to maintain social services and youth services in the face of reduced state funding.  These are good people and good programs. 

On Monday Lansing School Superintendent Stephen Grimm said he is preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best.  I am not convinced that restoration of state aid is 'the best' in the long run.  I think fiscal health is a 'best' that we should all hope for.  Right now we have the worst -- well Lansing schools are in better shape than many other districts, but the budget crisis we're dealing with isn't good no matter how you look at it.  Children shouldn't have to go to Ramen Noodle schools.  That hurts a lot right now.  But when things settle out they will be a lot more healthy and sustainable.  That's the best I hope for.

One budget isn't going to change New York, but if Albany can pass a decent one like this, and on time to boot, it does give rise to optimism about next year's budget.  If we are looking at the beginning of a trend taxes will have to go down, the state will have to become more attractive to business, and eventually it will regain it's glory as The Empire State, a place where people want to come to live and work, instead of move out of.

So I'm liking this Governor at the moment.  Surprise!

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