A fire is starting to spread across this state.
It was ignited a few years back when lawmakers carelessly tossed more taxes and new fees on the businesses and other taxpayers of this state.
It had smoldered for a while with few paying attention to its consequences.
But today we have a full-fledged blaze fueled by frustration and anger.
As the economy melted down and more and more New Yorkers lost their jobs, business owners and others asked what the hell happened to this once Empire State?
The Eliot Spitzer distraction and the party-jumping antics in the Legislature last summer wasted valuable time.
The focus that should have been on the state”™s budget was on stupid one-upsmanship and partisan bickering.
Lost time has resulted in lost chances to make things right.
A lack of accountability by our elected representatives will soon lead to their downfall.
If American soldiers can risk their lives, why can”™t our politicians be willing to risk their jobs to do what”™s right?
And what do we mean by that?
Just look to Albany and witness the voting influenced by lobbyists and deep-pocketed unions.
We are not naïve. We all know how politics has come to operate.
However, politics should look to business and see how a successful corporation or even a mom-and-pop store operates.
Spending should not be in excess of revenue.
That cannot be said of New York state.
The state remains on the brink of insolvency.
A governor who was thrust into the top post struggles to do what”™s right as lawmakers ignore the inevitable.
The fiscal integrity of this state is at risk.
So why do we not see lawmakers focused on repairing the finances of the state?
We cannot peer inside their minds. But maybe they are convinced pleasing special interests is the way to get re-elected come November.
Go to their websites; what are their concerns?
Hard to say. You first have to navigate past all the photo-ops.
The one common denominator is that all their legislation is not focused at the very large problem at hand ”“ the state”™s economic mess. The one common denominator is actually “do anything to stay in office.”
Their self-aggrandizing ways are too much to bear.
Who didn”™t feel the agony and despair when word of the earthquake in Haiti reached us?
Is it necessary for lawmakers to send out press releases saying that they are saying prayers and sending “messages of support” to families reeling by the devastation?
We guess if you”™re a politician you can”™t let an earthquake pass by without capitalizing on it.
Suzi Oppenheimer, the most senior member of the Westchester coalition, touts the passage in October of her bill that called for the humane euthanasia of animals. Not that any of us don”™t like our pets, but shouldn”™t the state”™s business and other taxpayers get some help?
Since January 2009, Oppenheimer, has sponsored or had her name on 334 pieces of legislation.
Of those bills, 131 were adopted. However, they did not address the catastrophe that looms for this state.
And, of course, she is not alone in sponsoring spurious legislation.
If she were, the state would not be on the brink to the tune of $8.2 billion in the red.
Forget the lack of focus on legislation. She is magnanimous in doling out member items.
She gave out $3 million in member items in the 2009-10 budget.
And again she was not alone.
The top recipients in the Democratic-controlled Senate were: Malcolm Smith, $5.7 million; Jeff Klein, $5 million; David Valesky, $4.5 million; Liz Krueger, $4 million; Carl Kruger, $4 million; Bill Stachowski, $4 million; and John Sampson, $3.04 million.
All totaled, Senate pork amounted to nearly $85 million.
The numbers are staggering; and we haven”™t even mentioned the millions spent in both houses by lawmakers for expenditures.
The lawmakers are not selling votes for money; they are giving in to the pressures of the unions and other special-interest groups.
So when does this self-interest end?
It will come when more residents see that the hard choices that need to be made in this state will impinge on their personal freedoms and when they are willing to accept sacrifice.
And last week it started: Like to golf? Swim? Hike? Picnic? Visit historic sites?
James Baird State Park in Dutchess County is shortening its golf course season.
The Roosevelt State Park in Yorktown is cutting back on its swimming pool hours.
Wonder Lake State Park is closing.
Knox Headquarters and New Windsor Cantonment historic sites in Orange County are closing, as is Philipse Manor Hall in Westchester.
In announcing the closings of these and dozens of others around the state, Gov. David Paterson said:
“In an environment when we have to cut funding to schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and social services, no area of State spending, including parks and historic sites, could be exempt from reductions. We cannot mortgage our state”™s financial future through further gimmicks or avoidance behavior.”
We repeat: If American soldiers can risk their lives for our nation, why can”™t our politicians be willing to risk their jobs to do what”™s right?
We will continue to ask this question in the weeks leading up to Election Day.
