Pols like Senator Bill Stachowski.
Senator William Stachowski April Guest Column
The recent budget process was the most difficult I have experienced and one of the toughest in New York state history. As much as this budget is far from perfect and contains several items that I strongly disagree with, we did not have the luxury of voting for them separately.
The plain truth is that the 17 billion dollar deficit grows every day. If we did not approve this budget on time, the hole only grows deeper. Plus, as tough as this situation is, the rhetoric and bomb throwing that is taking place from the opposition and special interest groups only makes worse.
As the saying goes; you can’t believe everything you read and certainly not everything you hear. Name calling and hand wringing by talk show hosts and newspaper columnists sells ads and increase ratings, but they rarely deal with the cold hard truth. The truth is this; the catastrophic drop in Wall Street earnings meant a cut to state tax revenues by almost 25%. The result was a budget deficit not seen since the great depression. That meant new revenue streams had to be created and cuts had to be made. No one wants to pay more and no one wants to receive less, but the state cannot get out of a staggering multibillion dollar deficit without doing both.
Translation: Remember when you used to play SimCity? And you raised taxes and spent a lot? And your industries left town, commercial buildings became boarded up, and people started leaving in droves? Yeah, kinda like that:
I think we should raise some money and send every senator and assemblyman a copy of SimCity
maybe they don’t realize what they’re doing…
He managed to find enough for raises for his staff….who are probably making more than the median income in his district. (I don’t know that for fact, it is cynicism bubbling out)
Is this the same Sen. Stachowski BP endorsed, at least in part because he was so well-positioned on the Finance Committee to do a lot of good for WNY? Do I really have to post the link, or can everyeone actually remember that for themselves?
Love that Failboat.
I thought that this budget actually raised state spending. What cuts is he talking about?
STEEL: The State workforce is cut a whopping 1.6%!
But spending is up?
Sen. Bill Stachowski — Meeting low expectations since 1981.
Other translation:
My Boss Mr. Malcolm Smith says to me I gotta vote “yes” on this or he’s gonna make me pay.
So I says, “Yes sir, Boss.”
So, you believe that raising taxes and spending a lot of money by government drives businesses and citizens away and destroys the local and state economies, but the same does not hold true for the federal budget?