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Opinions! We all have them. Find out what people really think with polls and surveys from Crowdsignal.
Why not have the people who are collecting welfare be submitted to a random drug testing. If we, as workers, have to go through random drug tests to be able to keep our jobs, why don't the people sitting home collecting welfare have to submit to random drug tests to be able to continue to collect. I know that there are alot of people out there that need welfare to get back on their feet, but let's face it, there are a ton of people out there who are abusing the system! And the ones who still have a job left are the ones picking up the tab. Imagine the money that would be saved!!!!!!
Let's go back to WWII era 94% income tax for the rich.
Governor Patterson: I congradulate you for your efforts to cut the state's
spending. This is the only way to fight our runaway deficit. More taxes would only hurt the economy and struggling taxpayers more.
Borrowing money would make the problem much worse in the long run,
like it has for the federal government.
State Legislature: work for us - support the spending cuts.
I saw the Governor's Town Meeting and, living here in the Bronx, the one thought I wanted to write was; the Governor should raise taxes on the wealthy just for a year or two. That way the weathy contribute to the crises also. The Governor's reason for not wanting to tax the weathy don't wash with me. The rich are not going to leave NY State just because their taxes have been raised for a year or two. And if they do they were not real resident anyway. Thank you.
Lower Taxes to promote an atmophere that is conducive to job growth. Government doesn't create jobs. Cut out the handouts.
Don't you think it's time to ask the church's to share our burden? It's clear to me that their non-profit status has given them the foundation they once needed?
I believe there are duplicate or jobs that can be eliminated or shared in the state legislator that need to be considered for saving money. We need not to pay professional teams, (Buffaol Bills team and NY Yankee stadium) to stay in the state. The team owners and team players make enough money and should be encourage to want to stay because they are part of NY state culture. The prices they charge spectators are exhorbitant and the average family can't afford to be in the stadium to watch the game. I also think that reducing the number of assistant commisioners in the NY State work force and tell the upper management of the NY state workforce that they take a pay cut. This are patrinage jobs. On the subject of pay cuts, it is a slap in the face to all NYS residenets if our state Legislature give themselves pay raise. It's unconscienceable! Perhaps combining school districts would be helpful. Here in the town of Colonie, NY the North Colonie School district has Steinway Grand Pianos and in the Schendahoaha Schools in Clifton Park New York have microscops that are used in Med schools. Why can't these students wait to use such instruments in college? School districts need to rethink what is an educational priority. College funding should not be reduced. If it wasn't for Pell Grants and special loans my daughter would not have been able to become the nurse she is to day and working on becoming a Nure Practitioner. I think that we would not have a doctor or nurse shortage if the malpractice insurance was more affordable. Hospitals cut back and leave nurses short handed on the hospital floors. Thus, they require the nurses to work longer than an 8 hours shift - which is causing burn out.
I hope my thoughts will be actually read and considered. I have much respect for Gov. Patterson, but I don't have the same opinion abut the Legislator. Please Gov. Patterson give the Assembly and Senate the importance of representing the people and not their own agendas of being popular and rewording their $$$ backers.
May God guide us all in the days ahead.
Maary Pasko
CUT UNNEEDED MEDICAL CARE FOR CONVICTED FELONS,SUBSIDISING COMMISSARY AND FAMILY REUNION PROGRAMS FOR CONVICTED FELONS.
All illegal immigrants must have rights
mr. silver hit the nail right on the head.
this along with some spending cuts could get us out of the coming great, great depression.
but, i don't think the govt. has the will to tax the rich.
If NY state gives the county jails money, ..Then they need to stop feeding and reimbursing the civilians for their meals who work for the different counties. The employees should take their own lunch, not fed by their employer. 2nd. .. Why do we see an MRI tractor trailer go into the prisons once a week? Most people beg their insurance company to get an MRI and the prisoners get this service??? That should not be a country club. Also, let's collect from the Indians or expand our own state operated casinos.
The brute facts are these:
* Large income tax cuts are followed by a bubble and then a crash.
* High income taxes correlate with economic growth.
* Income tax increases are followed by economic growth.
* Moderate income tax cuts are followed by a flat economy.
* All of this is especially true as applied to the top tax rates, the amount paid on income that exceeds the highest bracket.
High Taxes Correlate with Strong Economic Growth
The four periods of greatest economic growth in American history, by pretty much any measure, are:
* World War II (1941-45): top tax rate varied from 88 to 94 percent
* Post-war under Truman and Eisenhower: top rate bounced around from 81 to 92 percent
* Clinton years: Clinton raised Bush's top rate of 31 percent to 37 percent and then to 39 percent
* First two Roosevelt administrations (1933-40). When Roosevelt came into office, Hoover had already raised the tax rate in 1932 from 25 percent to 63 percent. Roosevelt raised it again in 1936 to 79 percent.
Bring back the guillotine?
What a change in Mr. Paterson! According to this week's Tom Robbins column in the Village Voice,
"The same year (2003) that he lanced Pataki's gambling gimmicks as a tax on working people [which Paterson now supports], Paterson called for a tax on the rich to help close what was then at $11.5 billion budget gap (slightly less than what Paterson projects for next year). He believed then that a 1 percent surcharge on incomes over $300,000 a year, and an added 1 percent on those about $500,000, were perfectly fair. And he got his way. He helped the legislature impose--over Pataki's veto--a temporary, post 9/11 surcharge bumping the 6.85 percent top income-tax rate up to 7.7 percent on incomes over $500,000.
"These days, the governor winces when legislators suggest that such a hike is again in order. Some people believe he is only performing his designated role in Albany's Kabuki dance of the budget, where all is shadows and gesture. If so, he's doing an excellent job.
"He started last spring when he dismissed calls by Assembly speaker Shelly Silver to consider a tax hike on top earners. The newly installed governor spoke of the wealthy as victims.
'Not to drive up taxes for a constituency that has been; I would say, just battered over the past number of years,' was his goal, he said then. 'Compared to other states, I don't think that this is where we should be going.'"
Um, what's wrong with this picture? Where is the advocate from Harlem for the poorest among us in New York State? The wealthiest people should certainly begin paying their fair share of taxes in this state. Why not raise the rate to 15 or 20 percent? Bye-bye budget deficit. Just because the very rich don't use "public services" shouldn't mean that they don't have to contribute to society in exchange for the massive amounts of money they rake in off the backs of the working class.
In the wise words of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: "A fortune for one man that was more than he needed should not be built on ten thousand ruined men who were left without the means of life."
It's time to start demanding that the rich contribute to our State income. We cannot afford, especially at a time of economic hardship for the poorest New Yorkers, to slash public services for those in dire need.
First, I question the governor's numbers. Most of these are derived from projected job losses/reduced bonuses on Wall Street. How can his experts reasonably project what those will look like in 2011/2012 as they are doing when no one can predict the stock market from one day to the next.
Second, New York more than deserves additional money from the federal government. For many years our state has paid billions more to the federal government than we have received in return. We don't need a bailout, just our fair share.
Third, SUNY tuition must be raised. My son attends a private New York college where tuition is close to 40,000/year. I work at a SUNY college where tuition is 4,350/year. SUNY is a ridiculous bargain and there are many SUNY students from families with greater resources than mine.
Finally, there are probably numerous ways to consolidate government services, but I take offense at those who propose cuts in benefits to state employees. I left the private business world to work for the state 15 years ago. It took almost 5 years for my income to reach the level I had been at with my previous employer and people of similar skills were earning twice my income in the private sector during the late 90's. Still, I loved my job and worked very long hours, regularly sacrificing unused vacation and sick time...and I'm not that unique. State employees, for the most part, are hard-working and generous people who love being of service. For many years they have sacrificed potential income to work at a job they were enthusiastic about because it served the public, not stockholders. These jobs also happened to provide good benefits. I find the current attacks on their benefits to be a mean-spirited response to the many broken promises made to retirees in private business. If government itself can't be held to the promises that lured and retained its workforce then no employer is to be trusted.
Information is the way to go. Knowledge balance the heart and the home or territory and compassion. Information systems that are accessible yet secure and private would help markets and replace most bureaucrats and administrators. Our students would help build these systems along with our future economy based on renewable fuels, human energy, whole plant based diet, and community development.
Has anyone in the State government ever thought of the possibility of selling some of the massive amounts of land that NY State owns? The government could sell/auction portions of the Catskills, Adirondaks, etc. and generate a significant revenue. I am sure there would be no shortage of people eager to make such investments.
NY has one of the lowest ratios of private citizens to public employees. The last I heard the ratio was 9 private citizens to every public employee. This is so out of whack with every other state whose averages vary between 12:1 - 15:1 citizens to public employees.
Most of the department cuts of employees are targeted toward attrition. Most departments would better serve the state and it's budget crises by laying off employees and learning to do more with less. The cost to NYS in personnel costs is staggering and the biggest bang for the buck would be to cut personnel costs.
Appreciate the Governor's candid honesty and willingness to recognize and face the fiscal problem head on. Hope we get rid of NYS Empire Program, reduce gov't bureaucracy and take away that secret slush fund that the majority leaders use to bribe and reward the other legislators with. In cutting back on programs, please don't close Van Duyn Nsy. Home. It is very much needed in Onondaga Cty. Schools can cut out their big sports programs. Let parent/student efforts raise the money for them.
I think the Governor should address the Budget Deficit through cutting State Jobs from the top down. I am a former state worker of the Insurance Department's Consumer Services Bureau in Albany. While employeed I observed so much fraud and abuse of tax payers dollars from high ranking officials it was sickening. The Governor should begin cutting state jobs and cut from the top down because that is where the employees with the highest salaries are doing little. The principal examiner in my department was the worst customer friendly person I met and she is making close to over $100,000 and she did nothing but attend meetings and complain about the department not making the monthly quota for closing consumer complaints. Where I worked there were employees sleeping at their desk, reading newspapers, doing crossword puzzles, taking hour breaks and 2-3 hour lunches, salaried employees would come in at 730 leave at 2pm or 3pm after their long lunch, their would be 30 minute "walk" breaks in additon to lunches and other breaks. So start the state cuts at the top and you will see a change in the deficit. Start the cuts at the bottom and you will see a decline in work done and customer service.
My husband and I have been in business in NYS since 1974, when my husband was laid off from the telephone company. While i belive we should invest in education and take care of our elders, i think there is a limit to the spending in these areas. We are working harder today than ever for much much less, we had to borrow for our childrens education, we had to borrow to meet everyday expenses over and over. After 30 years of doing business in NYS we pay more taxes both personally and business. we get it at both ends. we have very little benefits, such as health insurance. we have no retirement saved all we ever made we invested into our business. who will bail us or our business out?
NYS need to cut state jobs, cut benefits that are so unfair to us; we pay for doctors, medication and have high insurace premium costs. Cut holiday pay, increase work week to 45 hours. this is what we do in our business to survive. Please cut all spending. it is the little bits that make a difference, not just the huge cuts, please do it. Thank you!
I must agree with the statement from "America Now"
Closely examine cost of Workmans Compensation fraud & prosecute offenders accordingly. Raise the rent of state owned housing for current state employees and retirees. Current rate too low. Eliminate payment of overtime - most can be avoided by all state agencies. Offer State municipal bonds allowing state tax payers to "buy into" their government ! . (i.e. Offer a special program.) Consolidate facilities within ALL state agencies DOCS, OMH, DEC, DOT, Etc. Close outdated facilities such as SING SING and sell the premium real estate along the Hudson river ! . The list goes on, I have a million answers but nobody is listening!
Why not start taxing the credit unions that do all the same services as other financial institutions.
Seniors are being taxed from their homes, while the millions on section 8 never have to worry about a roof over their head. Those who no longer qualify for welfare are going to SSDI for a permanent source of income. There are not enough people working to support our system and as such we are allowing a welfare state. A state where over 5 million New Yorkers do not contribute to the tax base.
Invest in education and make SUNY one of the most attractive and effective university systems in the U.S. (by investing in medical research, renewable energy research, nursing education, etc. NY will create jobs - look at how CA and MA are using their colleges as economic drivers).
So far as many state institutions go, especially universities, what we really need to do is shrink the disparity between administrators and faculty. The business model is broken, and the top-down approach of throwing money at the system has resulted in institutions where administrators, department chairs, and tenured faculty at our universities--who often teach no more than five classes per year--are making salaries of close to or over $100K while adjuncts, who teach a significant portion if not a majority of university classes in this state, make $2,500 per class. When administrators are left in charge of these large institutions, they give themselves raises and foster an underclass of workers that suffer. There needs to be more government oversight as to the pay disparities between the administrators and those instructors.
Terminate planned $650M investment through NYS Empire Development Corp. in AMD and its spin-off The Foundry Co. The semiconductor industry is no longer growing, it has not grown significantly for 10 yrs and there is widespread agreement that Moore's Law has ended. Only Intel, Samsung and TSMC have viable business models. NYS needs to end corporate welfare subsidies to AMD, IBM or any other corporation. The market must choose winners and losers, not the government. Corporate welfare is the way that socialism run to the ground the failed Soviet experiment.
collect ALL delinquent dues,fines and taxes. Close all redundant ,obsolete agencies. Reorganize the remaining priorty ,purpose and relationship of cost to resulting service. COST/BENEFIT testing !!!!
You really don't want to know my comments, but I could fix NYS in 5 minutes. Deport all illegal aliens, make everyone in service, business and education speak English only, cut spending to education, make sports in school club sports, flat 10% tax rate on purchases. No income or state taxes. 2 Term limit for all politicians. Time limit of 1 years on public assistance offering GED and work training or military option and limit number of children born to unwed recipients to 1. Investigate all medicaid recipients for eligibility especially for handicap permits and who is using them. End all frivilous lawsuits that clog legitimate judicial actions. 3 strike law applies to all convicted criminals. Build more prisons. Re-instate death penalty. That's a start. I'll think of more.