New York Must Cut Taxes and Spending

ALBANY, NY (01/07/2009)(readMedia)-- Governor David Paterson's State of the State Address is a recipe for economic disaster.

By calling for dramatic increases in taxes and ever higher state spending, the Governor seems set on driving our state right over the cliff into the abyss of unprecedented fiscal meltdown.

Rather than meeting this fiscal crisis by offering up warmed over versions of the failed economic policies that have driven the state to economic ruin, the Governor should have looked the people of New York square in the eye and admitted to them that decades of profligate spending, unrestrained borrowing and regressive taxation have left our state with only one clear path back to economic health.

The Governor should have been honest with the people of New York and stated that state government has no choice but to meet this unprecedented crisis by immediately beginning to unsnarl and unravel the vast state bureaucracy, rein in the ever expanding network of entitlement programs, and enact deep and across the board cuts in state spending.

The time for business as usual is over. New York must make deep cuts in wasteful state spending and once and for all relieve the oppressive state tax burden that is leading our state to economic ruin.

Wall Street's fiscal implosion threatens New York with economic challenges far graver than those that the national recession is imposing upon our sister states.

To meet this challenge our state's leaders must admit to the mistakes of the past, rather than, as the Governor's message today presages, seek to compound them with higher taxes and ever increasing spending.

These are extraordinary times that demand leaders who can make tough decisions. Senator Dean Skelos and Assembly Jim Tedisco are strong leaders who are ready to lead their conferences during the difficult days ahead.

I urge Governor Paterson to join them in a true bi-partisan coalition that will administer the tough medicine that is the only way to bring New York State back to robust economic health.'

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