Friday, April 28, 2006

"For Everything Else, There's Mastercard..."

A Quick Look At How The Numbers Play Out In Albany

2006-07 NYS Budget as proposed by Governor Pataki in January: $110.6 billion

2006-07 NYS Budget as adopted by the Legislature in April: $115.5 billion

Dollar amount of 2006-07 NYS Budget falling to Governor's veto ax: $2.9 billion

Dollar amount of 2006-07 NYS Budget restored by Legislative override: $2.9 billion*

Dollar amount of member-item "pork" vetoed by Governor Pataki: $200 million

Dollar amount of member-item "pork" restored by Legislative override: $200 million

Total NYS debt in 1990: $14.4 billion

Total NYS debt in 2004: $46.9 billion

2005 New York State Deficit**: $5.1 billion

2009 New York State Deficit (projected): $7.7 billion

Dollar amount by which the average NYer can expect to see his/her property tax reduced: $0

Likelihood of ANY meaningful legislative action this session designed to reduce the property tax burden of the average NYer: HOPELESS!

The Community Alliance asks, "What's in your wallet?"

*Governor Pataki has said that, notwithstanding the Legislature's overrides, he plans to withhold some $1.9 billion in spending on the ground that he considers same "unconstitutional." Among spending initiatives to be held in abeyance by Mr. Pataki (pending legal action, no doubt) is the Legislature's proposed property tax rebate [SEE, STARs In Their Eyes], monies for the Environmental Protection Fund, and some $1 billion dollars in medicaid reimbursements.

** A budget deficit is the amount by which the State government's expenditures exceed its revenue in a given year. The debt is the State government's total indebtedness at a moment in time. It is the accumulation of previous deficits plus outstanding interest.

Historically, New York has engaged in deficit spending, adding to the State's long-term debt. For the fiscal year that began on April 1st, predictions are for a surplus of somewhere between $2 billion and $4 billion, depending on the source (according to legislative leaders in both the Assembly and the Senate, that surplus will be closer to $5 billion. So, what's a few billion among friends?)

All New Yorkers can do now is to watch the folks in Albany fritter that surplus away!
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Click HERE to read NYS Comptroller Alan Hevesi's 2005 New York State Financial Condition Report.

1 comment:

  1. When I saw the title link on leftyblogs.com I thought this would be about the credit card companies LOL. Not that what you're talking about is not important though.

    But what I was going to say his that for the credit card companies there's something I started doing. You know all those credit card offers you get in the mail? Or the applications sitting in little displays in stores? Well they all have "free postage" if you send them back because It's business reply mail.

    So what I do is scribble "don't prey on me" referring to their predatory credit card lending practices and I send them in so they have to pay for the postage. Yes, I know it amounts to very little but if more people did it this could get fun! It also give you some immiedate satisifaction and a way to vent some anger!

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