April 2, 2007

A quiet weekend, except for the budget

It's been a quiet few days for Dryden in the Ithaca Journal. I hope that's because we're all enjoying the recent warmth, though we'll no doubt have a few more ups and downs before it stays warm.

Most of the news over the weekend was about the state budget, which passed eleven hours late, and smells strongly of the State Senate's free-spending additions to the budget. Lots of money for Long Island schools, and the return of the gimmicky property tax rebates. I have to agree with Caroline Supervisor Don Barber that these things are a really bad idea, hiding rather than reducing the real cost of government.

As KAZ points out, it's painfully likely that we once again have a budget passed without much reading.

And no, I don't think Governor Spitzer comes off well here. He got some of what he wanted to change, but overall our Democratic Governor played by the same three-men-in-a-room approach that's an emblem of New York's broken government. While in that room he caved in too often to a Republican Senate whose primary interest appears to be preserving its majority, whatever the long-term cost to taxpayers. Some days I'd like to see a little more "steamroller", and I certainly hope he doesn't get too comfortable in the privacy of that room.

Posted by simon at April 2, 2007 6:12 PM in ,
Note on photos