That's why you guys haven't read or heard from me lately. Lots of wrangling and maneuvering in meetings before the state budget is finalized. We (and by we I mean the average citizen and the greater business community) were shocked when late Thursday night we heard that all the parties involved (in this case the majority of Dems) abandoned Spitzer's and our new Governor's pledge of containing costs, not increasing spending and not imposing new taxes or fees. Well, the new Gov. kept his word for all of a week and a half.
Final tally (so far) a budget increase of 4.5%! YES, 4.5%!!! As it stands we have the largest budget in the country. Now with dwindling revenue and a large jump in the unemployment rate (as a result of the thousands of layoffs of workers in the financial, housing and mortgage industries) how on earth can a government consciously think they can increase services, pork projects and support raises for legislators and judges at this time. You have got to be joking!
Ah, wait, they're doing this the old fashioned way, and copying from the current congressional playbook... they're borrowing money and letting our kids worry about it tomorrow. This pisses me off!
Well, I'm glad I got that out of my system before my next round of meetings with staffers this afternoon. They're the only people who always stay to work here on weekends when everyone else goes home. The thing I like most about Albany on the weekends is its a ghost town. Its very quiet and you can get a great table at a good restaurant without waiting. You can also walk about town without meeting up with a single soul for hours. The picture above is from this morning just outside the Harriman Campus. The other nice thing is its a small city. You can easily get from one side of town to the other in about 35 min. All in all a very civilized place.
Okay, back to work for this little serf girl. More pictures soon.
3 comments:
So, did you have play time? Meet or sight any interesting people or scandal worthy events to blog about?
- Lisa
How can a government increase spending in times like this?
They are taking a page from Michigan's book, increase spending and increase taxes and sneak taxes in.
Ah yes, you're absolutely right. They are taking pages from MI's playbook. We just received word that they are removing a number of exemptions and credits for financial institutions and banks that amounts to billions.
That's it, kick us when were're down.
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