Jay Walder reminds us of the kid who when asked who broke it, replies with arms crossed and fingers pointing at two other kids.
The new chief of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is one Teflon-coated executive. He can deflect questions about the MTA payroll tax faster than a laser beam off a mirror.
And speaking of lasers, he and Dr. Mehmet Oz flipped the switch last week on the holiday-themed light show in Grand Central Terminal. As the MTA went begging for more money, perhaps this wasn”™t the right time to return the light show that has been on a four-year hiatus. We wonder how much payroll tax money is paying for the show.
As we listened to him last week as he addressed business leaders and politicians in the lower Hudson Valley, we thought we had entered that fifth dimension known as the Twilight Zone.
Yes, we know he wasn”™t in charge when the MTA went hat in hand to Albany for a $2.3 billion bailout that imposed this onerous tax ”“ 34 cents per $100 payroll ”“ on the 12 counties that comprise the MTA region. However, he now owns the problem and as such has to step up and do more than just fake some empathy.
Walder conjured up President Clinton”™s patent quote, “I feel your pain,” when telling business owners, “I appreciate the pain.” However, Walder is no Clinton. His comment was met with a shout from the crowd, “No you don”™t.”
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The chamber presidents in attendance also weren”™t buying his flavor of Kool-Aid. They vowed a fight in Albany.
What is especially egregious about this particular tax is that Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland counties are only afforded one quarter of one vote on the 17-member MTA panel. At the very least, Walder should have thrown these so-called quarter-pounders a bone ”“ say giving each of them one full vote.
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Pattern for Progress found that only 5.26 percent of the mid-Hudson”™s population of more than 1.5 million use the railroad”™s services on either side of the river. Throw another bone here ”“ assess Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland 5.2 cents for every $1000 of payroll.
OK, if he doesn”™t bite for that proposal, let”™s be truly fair and equitable to the quarter-pounders then and charge one quarter of the 34-cent tax.
It reminds us of something we read in history books, it went something like this:Â
“No taxation without representation.”
For the quarter-pounders, make it, “No taxation without full representation.”
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No guts, no glory
The state Legislature stepped up and did the right thing last week. Sort of; um, well, not really.
We”™ll let Gov. David Paterson say it:
“Because certain legislators are unwilling to stand up and control spending for fear of the political consequences, I will move forward and implement the tough choices they were unwilling to make.”
The state lawmakers passed a deficit reduction plan that came up short of the one proposed by the governor.
The Assembly Majority did not accept Paterson”™s proposed cuts to Supplemental Security Income grants, the Tuition Assistance Program and the school breakfast and lunch program.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said: “Although these cuts do not cover the full scope of the deficit ”“ which may be as high as $3.9 billion ”“ we remain committed to making the same sacrifices that everyday New Yorkers have been making already, without allowing the cuts to fall disproportionately on one segment of the population.”
That one segment would be the voters in his district.
The measures passed by the Legislature amount to $2.7 billion, $100 million short of what they said they were going to pass.
Oops.
Paterson said, “If the Legislature will not do what is necessary, I will take the difficult actions that are needed to restore our state”™s fiscal integrity.”
Come election time, it”™s easier for the lawmakers to point to the governor and say he was the one responsible for cutting funding to your programs.
Maybe for this upcoming election year, no guts will translate into no re-election.
