Paterson: State Budget Crisis "is Not a Game"

In about two hours, Governor David Paterson will unveil his recommended budget cuts and everything is expected to be hit. Paterson has been giving town hall meetings across the state about the budget crisis (as in a $12.5 billion deficit next year, ballooning to $47 billion by 2012) and said yesterday in Syracuse, "This is not a reality TV show. This is not a game. This is a very serious situation and involves the survival of the people of New York and the quality of their lives... That's as if I asked all of you to go home and cut 25 percent of your spending in your household, after taxes. That would give you a more realistic idea of how drastic these cuts in spending are going to have to be." Besides rumored cuts to health care and schools, a gas tax hike could be considered.