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New York Governor Threatens More Taxes and More Job Cuts
Last Updated on Wednesday, 25 March 2009 10:11 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 25 March 2009 10:11
This comes just a week after the “What Hiring Freeze; 8,000 new hires“.
From the Buffalo News:
New York’s fiscal problems are growing more dire by the day, leading Gov. David A. Paterson on Tuesday to threaten 8,900 state worker job cuts and the prospect of billions of dollars in tax hikes on residents to help balance the moribund budget.
Just hours after announcing the projected 2009 deficit had grown in just the past month by $2.2 billion, to $16.2 billion — the greatest in state history — the Paterson administration said public employee unions had refused to negotiate concessions and there was no choice but to impose the first layoffs of state workers since the early 1990s.
Posted under Dems Behaving Badly | No Comments
NY: Democrats Secretly Agree to Tax Hike
Last Updated on Monday, 23 March 2009 10:13 Written by rslcpol Monday, 23 March 2009 10:13
From the New York Post:
GOV. PATERSON and legislative Democrats have secretly agreed on an $8 billion, two- year tax hike on individuals making more than $500,000 a year that will “sunset” around the time he plans to run for election in 2010, legislative sources told The Post.
Also under intense discussion yesterday as lawmakers rushed to complete a budget by April 1 is a proposal to raise the state’s 4 percent sales tax to 4.5 percent the total of which would jump to close to 10 percent in parts of the state with the addition of local sales taxes.
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Hiring Freeze in New York? 8,000 Say No.
Last Updated on Thursday, 19 March 2009 10:43 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 19 March 2009 10:43
From the Buffalo News:
Gov. David A. Paterson, with much fanfare, last year ordered a “hard” hiring freeze to help contain costs for the deficit-plagued state budget.
But since October, more than 8,000 people have been added to the state’s payroll.
The new state workers — from college professors and snowplow operators to state troopers and even a ski school instructor — are on top of the more than 31,000 people hired during a previous three-month hiring period examined last fall by The Buffalo News during the freeze period, which began last July 30.
Posted under Dems Behaving Badly | 2 Comments
NY: ‘Civil War’ Erupts Among Democrats
Last Updated on Wednesday, 18 March 2009 10:00 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 18 March 2009 10:00
From the New York Post:
Civil war erupted among state Democrats yesterday, as Gov. Paterson slammed the MTA bailout plan offered by Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith and signaled he would open talks with Republicans to get a better deal.
The Democratic governor’s rift with Smith comes three months into a legislative session in which every issue – from drug-law reform to the budget – has stalled in the narrowly divided Senate.
Posted under Dems Behaving Badly, State Legislature News | No Comments
NY: Governor Calls off ‘Annoying Taxes’
Last Updated on Thursday, 12 March 2009 12:57 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 12 March 2009 12:57
From Press Republican:
Gov. David Paterson said he will use federal stimulus funds to eliminate his proposals to raise taxes and fees covering everyday purchases including music downloads and sugary drinks.
The measures had already faced an uncertain future because of strong opposition by Democrats who control the Legislature. Meanwhile the Senate’s Republican minority conference tried to use the proposals to cast Paterson and his party as big taxers.
Eliminated in Wednesday’s deal with Democratic legislative leaders were: A return of the sales tax on clothing, and new taxes on music and pornography downloads, haircuts, manicures, movies, concert and theater tickets, health club memberships, bowling, golf and skiing fees, cable and satellite television manufacturers’ coupons, and more.
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NY: Dem Governor’s Approval Ratings Now Lower than Spitzers!
Last Updated on Wednesday, 4 March 2009 04:08 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 4 March 2009 12:45
Oh the openings this creates for Andrew Cuomo. We hope he doesn’t have any short shorts pictures out there. From Newsday.com:
A poll Monday showed Gov. David Paterson with the lowest approval rating of any New York governor in 30 years, even worse than Eliot Spitzer after he was named in a prostitution investigation.
But Paterson tried to treat the latest dismal poll like old news. Instead, he pushed a politically difficult New York City bridge toll proposal, continued to call for more spending cuts, and warned the deficit may grow $3 billion worse in a few months. He was trying to return to his early form in 2008, when New Yorkers responded well to his calls for fiscal discipline in Albany after he took over when Spitzer resigned in March.
Asked what his renewed tough demeanor and some unpopular stands on the fiscal crisis will mean to his election prospects in 2010, Paterson said he just doesn’t care.
Posted under Attorney General News, Blog | No Comments
NY: Dem Governor On the Defensive; AG Cuomo Dominates in Poll
Last Updated on Wednesday, 18 February 2009 10:43 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 18 February 2009 10:43
From WCBStv:
A new Quinnipiac University poll shows that Paterson is on the ropes, voters so unhappy that if the election was held Tuesday Attorney General Andrew Cuomo would slaughter him, 2 to 1 — 55 percent to 23 percent.
“Well, I will run,” Paterson said Tuesday.
Yes, Paterson says he will seek re-election next year as he tried to put up his dukes and fight.
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Democrats and Their Secrets
Last Updated on Tuesday, 17 February 2009 01:00 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 17 February 2009 10:55
We’re seeing more and more stories highlighting democrats aversion to open records and their generous giving of secret pay raises and jobs.
We saw it in Pennsylvania, where 501 new state employees were added to the state pay roll.
In New York, Governor Paterson is giving his pals massive pay increases despite a hiring freeze after his “emergency” declaration of a looming fiscal crisis.
In Louisiana, Democrat Mayor Ray Nagin vetoed a city council measure that would require an open meeting on the hiring of firms to do work for the city.
And in Arkansas, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel led the fight to defeat a Republican sponsored bill that would open up the arrest records of elected officials and public office holders. He says Arkansas is a closed record state, and he wants to keep it that way. Should Arkansans know if their state officials have pending felony charges against them?
Why all the secrets Democrats?
Posted under Dems Behaving Badly | 1 Comment
NY: Dem AG Cuomo Coy on Run for Governor
Last Updated on Thursday, 5 February 2009 05:10 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 5 February 2009 11:27
Cuomo ducks the questions. Stuff like this is fun for him. The more folks write and talk about whether or not he’s going to challenge Governor Paterson, the more it gins up interest and buzz, and undermines whatever Paterson’s trying to accomplish. If Andrew Cuomo had his way, this would go on until March 2010! The truth is, Governor Paterson needs a big news item, and fast, that will let him assert himself again and push Cuomo off the stage. The Kennedy thing just didn’t work out well for his team at all. Maybe team Paterson should contrive something – how about renting a copy of Wag the Dog for inspiration. From the New York Post:
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo yesterday wouldn’t rule out running for governor in 2010, even as he claimed his eyebrow-raising speech at a Conservative Party conference next week has nothing to do with his political ambitions.
Cuomo, speaking on Albany’s Talk1300-AM radio, also refused to say if he thought Gov. Paterson made the right choice in picking upstate Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Senate.
He repeatedly ducked questions on whether he was disappointed that Paterson hadn’t offered him the Senate job, and laughingly said “no” when asked if he was ever going to answer the question.
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NY: Spitzer Smear Tactic Back?
Last Updated on Wednesday, 4 February 2009 10:52 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 4 February 2009 10:52
The New York Times seems to think there’s at least an echo…
This is what happened during the tenure of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, whose aides disseminated information about state-financed travel in 2007 by Joseph L. Bruno, then the Senate majority leader. This led to condemnation of Mr. Spitzer, the resignations of some of those aides, and charges that some of the aides had violated the Public Officers Law, which sets standards for state officials’ conduct.
It is also the story of what happened nearly two weeks ago after Caroline Kennedy withdrew her name from consideration for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Senate seat.
Posted under Dems Behaving Badly, State Legislature News | No Comments