Gothamist: Paterson Offers Details on Possible Budget Cuts

NannyState

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:20:59 -0500

That stupid spanish company that buys roads and bridges, then raises tolls might be a little strained by the jacked up economy back in Spain. The Australian company Macquarie might put in a bid, but knowing how desperate NY is and having few competitors, the state might not get its full measure. Either way we end up paying much more for the same crap. They should sell the Empire State Plaza in Albany to Dubai. With luck, they'd crate it and ship it to a golf course in the Persian Gulf.

nik13

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:09:12 -0500

It's not really the pork. NY exists for sole benefit of state employees, hospital workers, utilities, teachers & other unions. They expect to be lavishly rewarded for doing a minimal labor. Only in public sector, one could retire after 20 years with such lavish benefits.

kenny000

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:42:31 -0500

If you don't privatize the roads, then the gov't would have to put in a lot of money to maintain the infrastructure. It's not cheap! Either way is fine with me as long as I can get to where I need to go without the bridge collapsing on me.

blablanyc

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:52:08 -0500

Privatization of roads, bridges and tunnels sounds like something that would come out of Mary Peters and Bloomberg's mouths. I'm against privatization.

blablanyc

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:49:22 -0500

I'm waiting for Paterson to introduce the "blind item veto."

eyekantspel

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:27:49 -0500

Hiring freeze-- It isn't like they weren't already aware of billion dollar deficits. Shouldn't that have been in place already? The problem is, in surplus years, the government spends money like it's free. Because to them, it is free. It's easy to hire a bunch of people. Firing, not so much fun. But if we don't have the money, the options are pretty simple. Raise taxes or cut expenses. A few years ago we weren't spending nearly as much as we do now this site is excellent: http://www.nyfiscalwatch.com/html/fwm_2007-10.html shows that city spending has grown from about $30B in 1998 to about $44B in 2007. That's adjusted for inflation.

Son of Spam

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:20:05 -0500

>>[Paterson] wants the Legislature to help find $1.2 billion in savings. Is that figure before or after they take Spitzer's whore expenditures off the books? That's a good chunk of savings right there.

kissel

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:05:53 -0500

how about cut some of the millions of public employees that don't have very much to do, but get enormously costly benefits? Or how about make some across the board cuts to ALL programs. Selling roads and bridges is asinine and hasn't worked in any other state that has tried it.

holyfrjole

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:19:38 -0500

"During his speech yesterday, Paterson implied the state would need to think about selling roads, bridges and tunnels to close the widening deficit. " So, they really do have a bridge to sell in Brooklyn?

takethecanoli

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:49:11 -0500

Selling your infrastructure is a *bad thing*. http://www.caranddriver.com/features/columns/c_d_staff/patrick_bedard/turning_asphalt_into_gold_column

Toby von Meistersinger

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:46:00 -0500

Step one: Cut all the pork from the budget.