Paterson: Trouble Began "The Day I Was Sworn In"

On CBS yesterday Paterson said his troubles date back long before he was accused of ethics violations or charged with misusing state police. “The difficulty and disaster greeted me and have dictated most of the decision making through my term,” he said, adding that now, with a $9 billion deficit, he has little option but to make massive budget cuts. As for his alleged indiscretions, Paterson wouldn’t comment, though he claimed he'd been honest throughout the investigation.

When asked why he’d hired a criminal lawyer, he claimed the move wasn’t by any means an admission of guilt. Meanwhile, Paterson sharply criticized his criminal-justice coordinator Denise O'Donnell for stepping down, saying she did it for selfish political gain. "The criminal-justice coordinator [O'Donnell], I think everybody knows, is running for attorney general, and you will have relationships that get exacerbated at times like that," he said on WWRL-1600 AM.

Also on CBS, Paterson broke down some of his threatened budget cuts. In order to avoid taxing New Yorkers he wants to decrease school funding by at least five percent, take $1 billion from the health care budget and reduce agency funding by $750 million to $1 billion. “We could see severe downgrades in health care delivery services. We could see regular services—sanitation and public accommodations—being limited and we would see severe cuts to education," said the governor.

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By Sabrina Jaszi in News on March 13, 2010 4:52 PM

Comments [rss]

cleanupnynow

David, the trouble for you began when you decided to be in public office.

Your inability to manage and lead preceded your swearing in.

David Paterson proved long ago that he could not govern. “The Democratic Conference: Organizational and Operational Structure Report” is an eyewitness account of Paterson’s DYSFUNCTIONAL governing nature.

http://www.politico.com/static/PPM110_demreportfinal.html

This report heavily criticized Paterson’s leadership as Senator Minority leader. His office was criticized for PATRONAGE, LACK OF LEADERSHIP, INDECISVENESS and INFIGHTING, set against a backdrop of general CHAOS – in other words the office was a ZOO. Those interviewed in the report indicated that its chief of staff the disorganized Michael Jones-Bey had no management skills, and would party with staff, often coming in the office with a hangover, and should be fired.

Amazingly, for running such a DYSFUNCTIONAL CHAOTIC office, the disorganized Michael Jones-Bey was hand picked by David Paterson to head the Division of Minority & Women Owned Business Development at Empire State Development Corporation.

His staff and all his friends that he has placed in jobs need to be cleaned out...GET HIM AND THEM OUT NOW.

NannyState

"Waaahh! Poor me!" Imagine someone with that much personal baggage thinking that when the going gets rough, they aren't going to rub his face in it. Total leadership FAIL.

MrCholly

This is fucking hilarious no one wants to pay one cent more in taxes, the Governor has NO CHOICE but to cut services. He's not laying off folks or calling for furloughs. The problem is people want something for nothing. Compared to other States, NYS isn't doing bad in a national recession.No other person in office is going to a better job than the Governor Paterson is currently doing. I can't wait for Andy Cuomo to fully explain what happened at HUD under his direction.