The official deficit number is $9 billion, but years of accounting tricks aimed at hiding deficit spending masks New York's true fiscal picture, according to Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
For years, governors and legislators used a grab bag of fiscal gimmicks to cover up the growing gaps between revenue and expenditures. Those gimmicks are now so widespread and so embedded in Albany budgeting, DiNapoli said, that they have essentially rendered the state’s balance sheet immaterial.
One common device is the “sweep,” where the state grabs a surplus from an another entity — say, the Battery Park City Authority — to cover recurring expenses in the general fund, the state’s main bank account and the one that is required to be kept in balance.
Officials have also moved many day-to-day operating expenses out of the general fund and into other funds, hiding spending growth and hiding the true cost of running the government. For example, Governor Paterson’s proposed budget uses $40 million from the state’s Environmental Protection Fund, which is supposed to pay for parkland acquisitions, to pay salaries and other expenses of the state’s environmental and parks agencies.
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Why aren't these people in
Why aren't these people in jail.
Insanity in individuals is
Insanity in individuals is rare - but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs, it is the rule.
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Ravitch's idea of using
Ravitch's idea of using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (AKA Common Sense) would be a good step in the right direction. I talk with highway and bridge contractors every day and they all say that is a matter of when not if a bridge is going to fail or create a hazard that will kill someone. The biggest problem is the state has bills due and no way to pay them. I've asked this before and I guess there's no answer; what happens when New York State declares itself bankrupt? (Hint, we're there now) Fed can't bail us out, they're broke too. Print more money? Sell bonds to the Chinese?
I don't believe States can
I don't believe States can create their own currency.
The Feds, or course, and print all they want, until we become the new Venezuela.
Typical, nothing but more BS
Typical, nothing but more BS from the state. What are we paying for if the state can't even keep its own accounting in line? If they don't know what the deficit really is then they don't have a handle on their costs at all. This is NOT new news to anyone. Go ahead, vote Democrat again and again and again.
Dave, Lieutenant Governor
Dave, Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch's proposal to solve the budget gap relies on borrowing. I do not consider borrowing a practical solution to deficit spending. The ONLY acceptable solution is to stop expending more than the treasury can support.
Agreed CM then kick the
Agreed CM then kick the public employee unions and politicians out of the state and start over.
Richard- at least two people
Richard- at least two people have to sign a wage contract to make it binding: a union rep and a management rep. Holding a union accountable for public employee wages is like blaming the dog for piddling on the carpet. The person that didn't walk the dog is the one to blame. You're on the right track- just faulting the caboose for the engine's blame. The politicians are to blame and it's time that New Yorkers live up to the battle cry- Throw the Bums Out! That means OUR bum as well as THEIR bum.
The unions and the politicans
The unions and the politicans they support through campaign contributions might as well be the same entity. The money just keeps flowing on a two way conveyor. Why do you think no one in Albany wants to cut spending, eliminate programs, and cut public sector jobs? Why are these jobs being protected? The evil private corporations downsized in response to current economic conditions the government really has no choice unless they continue to raise taxes so the union can get the big piece of pie.
Richard, aside from public
Richard, aside from public sector, overland trucking and the auto industry, I doubt unions have much pull with major corporations. As to the politicians, their options are as complicated as yes or no; they merely have to choose which gets them re-elected. When the citizens get as loud as the special interests...
CM; I realize that the
CM; I realize that the Ravitch plan depends on borrowing and I don't agree with that either. I agree that the only way out of this is to not have a deficit, in other words spend only what we have. The Generally Accepted Accounting Practices are the best way to keep track, so that part of his plan is good. Right now, the State's books are a convoluted mess.