Results tagged “deficit”

The State Assembly passed a $2.8 billion deficit reduction plan last night and, according to the Times Union, "The Senate is expected to pass the bills with bipartisan support in a session scheduled for 10 a.m. today." Of course, this is not the $3.2 billion in reductions that Governor Paterson has repeatedly said the state needs, but he said he'd take it anyway, "I would not describe it as a 'deal' because a deal means that all parties accept the agreement... It does give us about $600 million in cuts or other actions that require legislative approval, so we would not cut off our nose to spite our face."

Today, Governor David Paterson will present his plan for about $2.5 billion in budget cuts. When asked about it, Paterson previously only said, "Pain," but he also told the Daily News, "It's going to be pretty grim. It's going to be fair. It's going to be across the board. It's going to be hard to endure, but the consequences [of doing nothing] are harder."

The Botanical Station post office in the Bronx is on the chopping block, as the Postal Service faces a $7 billion deficit. The NY Times visits the establishment, one older patron saying she doesn't "know what I would do" if it shut down. The PO's landlord doesn't want to them leave either, "They always pay on time. It’s like money in the bank." The paper notes that this is just one of 15 city post offices that may be shuttered, 7 of which are in the Bronx (here's a list of 14 of them).

California has been dealing with a $24 billion budget deficit, which took its state government a while to pass. Newsweek says California's problem "resulted from overspending, foreclosures, contradicting ballot initiatives, and a two thirds majority needed to pass a budget" and offers some hints about the "Next Money Pit" states... and one of those is New York: "The state's revenues were hit hard by Wall Street's financial collapse, leading to a $20.1 billion deficit. It's a heavy spender on social services, too. With state senators busy turning off the lights and locking the Senate chamber doors, is there much confidence that the legislature is equipped to handle future crises?" Anyway, we'll know we're in bad shape when Governor Paterson does a video where he jokes about budget cuts while holding a HUGE KNIFE (yes, the Governator did just that).

All signs point to the new NY State budget including new tax brackets for earners making more than $300,000. According to the Daily News, whose website offers a Robin Hood-ed Governor Paterson, "Assembly Democrats are pushing a three-tier plan that would raise the top rate - 6.85% - on people earning more than $300,000 a year."

In his weekly address, President Obama discussed the economy (of course) and made two points: First, that 95% of Americans will get a tax cut, because employers will withhold less taxes—"By April 1st, a typical family will begin taking home at least $65 more every month." And, second, he will outline steps to tackle the huge deficit, "On Tuesday, I will speak to the nation about our urgent national priorities, and on Thursday, I’ll release a budget that’s sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and that lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don’t, and restoring fiscal discipline." Here's his address:

Since January 1st, the state's unemployment fund has been borrowing roughly $90 million a week from the federal unemployment trust fund, and the deficit has already reached $212 million. M. Patricia Smith, the state's labor commissioner, tells the Times, "I think we went insolvent about two hours into 2009. We're seeing 50 percent more claimants each week than a year ago." Soup is good food! The article goes into infuriating detail about how New York has the lowest unemployment benefits in the region, and the deficit is caused not just from the spike in joblessness, but because the state has not increased the payroll tax that covers the unemployment fund in nearly a decade. With Democrats finally controlling the Legislature, there is some hope that the state might finally upgrade the system to cover the downsized masses, but in the meantime, the Fed's charging 4.64% interest, and New York's debt to Uncle Sam is expected to exceed $2.5 billion by the end of 2010.

In what continues to be a familiar story of cat and mouse in politicians pointing the finger as to where funds aren't coming from, Governor Paterson yesterday claimed the state lost hundreds of millions in tax revenue because less big Wall Street bonuses are being given out this year. Many CEOs and senior executives agreed to take significantly smaller (or no) bonuses after pressure from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, in the end nearly halving last year's total of $50 billion in bonuses. Paterson originally claimed that Goldman Sachs' lack of bonuses alone would cost the state $178 million, but an aide later clarified that was just an estimate of how much taxable income was lost. Still the governor sounded grave saying, "This is a very, very difficult year for Americans. But I don't think it has been fully realized ... it could theoretically become another depression, it is that difficult."

After spelling out the dire news that NY State's budget deficit will balloon to $47 billion by 2012 yesterday, Governor Paterson is now in Washington D.C., testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee, to request for a federal Empire State bailout.

Governor Paterson continued his series of bad news about state economy by predicting the deficit to grow to $47 billion by 2012, thanks to the falling financial markets and NY State's own overspending. And for next year alone, it will grow to $12.5 billion--the current deficit is $1.2 billion--and that number is basically double what his administration previously projected. Paterson hasn't made any decisions about how the state will deal with these escalating costs, but he did say yesterday, "When you're in that amount of trouble, everything is on the table, not because you want it to be, but because it's the only way to manage. It is a crisis, and a crisis means that everyone has to be accountable and everyone has to sacrifice."

Senators John McCain and Barack Obama better keep working on their economic policies: The White House released an estimate saying the deficit will grow to $482 billion next year, thanks in part, per the AP, to the "sagging economy and the stimulus payments being made to 130 million households in an effort to keep the country from falling into a deep recession." Keep in mind Bush inherited a $128 billion surplus in 2001. The budget office still says, "The nation's economy has continued to expand and remains fundamentally resilient," but let's cut to the Dow Jones Industrial slipping this afternoon.

The New York State Legislature finally passed a budget two weeks ago, which it balanced by taking on extra debt without the approval of voters to fund a 6% increase in spending as revenues continue to shrink. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says New York is heading for trouble, especially since revenue projections are so uncertain and vulnerable to further economic downturn.