OUR VIEW: Cuts alone won’t solve Albany’s crisis

Editorials

November 11, 2009

Anonymous The Lockport Union-Sun %26 Journal Wed Nov 11, 2009, 01:23 AM EST

The numbers don’t lie — and that puts them in a select class in Albany these days.

Gov. David Paterson called the state’s lawmakers into a rare joint session Monday to slap some wrists and offer a stern talking-to about the impending fiscal collapse of the Empire State.

Paterson has rightly met with the disapproval of New Yorkers for his weak leadership to date, but he was right about one thing: If we don’t do something drastic to address billions in red ink, New York will go broke. At present, we are between $3 billion and $4 billion in debt for 2009. That number more than doubles for 2010 and 2011.

Paterson’s proposals, which would at least balance the budget for now, don’t go nearly far enough to address the systemic problems plaguing New York.

New York spends more than $2,300 per capita on Medicaid, far more than any other state in the nation and double the national average.

New York spends $14,884 per student on education. That is also tops in the nation and almost $5,000 more than the national average.

With spending numbers that high, every New Yorker should have a college degree and we should all live into our 90s.

These two sacred cows together make up a lion’s share of state spending. They have survived previous budget cuts by virtue of the immense influence those who benefit from all that spending wield in Albany. Public sector unions and the health care industry have a vested interest in preventing any cuts to those numbers.

They will say that Paterson and the Legislature will be undermining the education of our children. They will say that we’re slashing health care for the state’s poor and disabled.

But to say that every dollar of the $14,884 per student we spend has an actual benefit to students is a total farce. That money goes in large part to support the state’s teachers’ unions, who refuse to budge on matters like performance-based teacher evaluations and outsized health care and retirement benefits.

To say that the money spent on Medicaid results in better health care for the poor and disabled is just as comical. The taxpayer money spent by the Legislature goes to propping up a bloated health care system that dispenses benefits for enrollees we can no longer afford. There’s something seriously wrong with a system that dispenses better benefits to Medicaid patients than those who actually work to pay for their own insurance.

If there is to be any real reform to address this state’s seemingly perpetual fiscal problems, lawmakers and the governor must summon the political will to stare down these interests — and their fat campaign donations — and reform our schools, hospitals and the public workforce as a whole. Yes, it’s partly how much we’re spending, but an equally large problem is what we’re spending it on.

It’s never going to happen, of course. If we’re lucky we’ll get a budget deal that at least cuts spending in the short term. More likely, whatever deal we’ll see will involve minimal spending cuts, new taxes or fees and one-time revenue generators that do nothing to address the larger problems with our state government. It’s the same recipe that’s gotten us to where we are today and, sadly, we see no desire on the part of Albany leaders to stray very far from it.

And if that’s indeed the case, New York’s state of affairs will remain a sad one.

Text Only

Editorials

OUR VIEW: Time for Mongielo to face the music
Town of Lockport auto repair shop owner David Mongielo has gone over the line in his violation of a town sign ordinance.

January 2, 2012
OUR VIEW: At dawn of New Year, a call for civility
Each new year brings with it an inherent hopefulness in our own lives and the larger world around us, this one in particular — if only because it isn’t 2011.

January 2, 2012
Have a safe New Year's Eve
This isn’t the Prohibition era, and we’re not into moralizing about alcohol consumption.
We have no beef about adults having a few drinks on New Year’s Eve, as long as no one else gets hurt in the process. Your choice — hangover, no hangover. Check yes or no.
But, with one very important proviso: Don’t drink and drive.
And we’re very much against hosts of a New Year’s Eve party sending their guests out to their cars when their guests have overindulged. Especially when there are safe options to avoid behavior that risks your life and that of others you may encounter on the road.

December 31, 2011
The bus stops here
The NFTA’s proposed cuts to local bus routes have the potential to really hurt the little guy, the rider who relies on the bus to get to work, to shop, to get to the doctor’s.
It just shouldn’t happen.

December 28, 2011
OUR VIEW: Lockport taxpayers lose again
We find it highly inappropriate that the City of Lockport — via its development corporation — is again punishing taxpayers for renovations to 57 Canal St.

April 26, 2011
CHEERS & JEERS
We applaud Lockport Town Court and Judge Leonard G. Tilney Jr. for recusing themselves from the driving-while-intoxicated case against local attorney Daniel E. Seaman due to conflict of interest.

April 26, 2011
OUR VIEW: Recharge N.Y. is a plus for us
We’re encouraged that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s visit to Niagara County this week brings a new and improved version of the Power For Jobs program to our area.

April 21, 2011
CHEERS & JEERS: The US&J’s view on the best and worst of the week
April 21, 2011
OUR VIEW: Cleanup is up the creek
New York state had an Eighteenmile Creek cleanup within its grasp — and now it’s trying to change horses in mid-stream. And that could leave the cleanup effort up the creek without a paddle.

April 21, 2011
CHEERS & JEERS: The US&J’s view on the best and worst of the week
April 21, 2011
More Editorials Headlines

Editorials

Search Results

OUR VIEW: Cuts alone won’t solve Albany’s crisis

Site Map

Contact Us