Bruno Needs to Repeat Kindergarten
"They ought to go back to kindergarten and learn how to count," Bruno said.
Those were the words said by Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R) as reported by the Albany Times-Union in reference to Governor Pataki's budget division warning that an $8 billion deficit over the next two years would be the result of the Legislature's budget proposals this year.
Well, apparently, Bruno cannot count either.
After finding the mention of a report that says Bruno needs to repeat kindergarten himself, on the Urban Elephants site, one can find their way to uticaOD.com to read the article.
The report can be found at the Center for Governmental Research. Their introduction:
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been borrowed by the state and handed out by legislators to business enterprises, universities, hospitals, Little Leagues, towns, villages, libraries and private clubs in each of the last several years.
The total bill comes to $1.7 billion, and it could eventually rise to more than $3 billion. While taxpayers foot the bill, they have no say in how the money is spent. State legislators make these decisions behind closed doors. A CGR study uncovered where the money goes, who benefits and who doesn’t.
And further into their report:
New York, already the nation’s second most-indebted state, goes further into debt each year to finance community projects picked in secret by state elected officials.
Out of these funds—which taxpayers will have to repay—state lawmakers have given grants totaling more than $1.7 billion to benefit professional sports teams, corporations, local governments, universities, churches, libraries and Little League groups from 1997 through 2005.
While many of these projects have merit and all find enthusiastic recipients, the project selection process is intensely political.
And finally, on New York's debt:
Capital pork adds to New York’s debt problem. State debt has grown 234 percent since 1990 to $48 billion. New York’s per-capita state and local debt is $2,509, second only to Alaska. Debt is a growing drain on the annual budget: By 2010, annual interest payments will have grown to $6 billion. New York leaders should be considering ways to limit borrowing, rather than expanding the use of debt.
These problems could be simply addressed, if not easily fixed, by letting the sun shine on this process. The state should provide annual reports to the public, accessible via the Internet, on which projects are selected for funding, who did the picking, and what was the basis for their selection.
Perhaps there will be space in Bruno's class for others in the state government that will need to repeat kindergarten.
Those were the words said by Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R) as reported by the Albany Times-Union in reference to Governor Pataki's budget division warning that an $8 billion deficit over the next two years would be the result of the Legislature's budget proposals this year.
Well, apparently, Bruno cannot count either.
After finding the mention of a report that says Bruno needs to repeat kindergarten himself, on the Urban Elephants site, one can find their way to uticaOD.com to read the article.
The report can be found at the Center for Governmental Research. Their introduction:
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been borrowed by the state and handed out by legislators to business enterprises, universities, hospitals, Little Leagues, towns, villages, libraries and private clubs in each of the last several years.
The total bill comes to $1.7 billion, and it could eventually rise to more than $3 billion. While taxpayers foot the bill, they have no say in how the money is spent. State legislators make these decisions behind closed doors. A CGR study uncovered where the money goes, who benefits and who doesn’t.
And further into their report:
New York, already the nation’s second most-indebted state, goes further into debt each year to finance community projects picked in secret by state elected officials.
Out of these funds—which taxpayers will have to repay—state lawmakers have given grants totaling more than $1.7 billion to benefit professional sports teams, corporations, local governments, universities, churches, libraries and Little League groups from 1997 through 2005.
While many of these projects have merit and all find enthusiastic recipients, the project selection process is intensely political.
And finally, on New York's debt:
Capital pork adds to New York’s debt problem. State debt has grown 234 percent since 1990 to $48 billion. New York’s per-capita state and local debt is $2,509, second only to Alaska. Debt is a growing drain on the annual budget: By 2010, annual interest payments will have grown to $6 billion. New York leaders should be considering ways to limit borrowing, rather than expanding the use of debt.
These problems could be simply addressed, if not easily fixed, by letting the sun shine on this process. The state should provide annual reports to the public, accessible via the Internet, on which projects are selected for funding, who did the picking, and what was the basis for their selection.
Perhaps there will be space in Bruno's class for others in the state government that will need to repeat kindergarten.
posted by Will at 1:06 AM
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