Commentary

“Fantasy in, fantasy out” is the way one leading economist has described the budgetary assumptions behind the new federal health care overhaul, which supposedly will reduce the projected federal deficit over the next 10 years even while creating two new federal entitlement programs. Read More

Far from being asked to sacrifice during the "Great Recession" that began in December 2007, the data indicate that state and local government workers thrived amid the economic misery afflicting most taxpayers. Read More

Like a drunk tempted to go on one more binge at a stressful moment, New York state may soon reach for the debt bottle in the face of mounting deficits. If it does, taxpayers will feel the hangover for a generation. Read More

In his State of the State message in January, Gov. Paterson announced that Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch would “take the lead in [developing] a four-year plan for fiscal recovery.” Read More

Which will vanish sooner -- New York state’s incredible shrinking cash reserves, or its incredible shrinking chief executive? It could be a photo finish. Read More

Thirty-five years ago this month, the state Urban Development Corp. defaulted on its short-term debt -- setting off bond-market alarms that culminated in New York City’s 1970s fiscal crisis. Could the Metropolitan Transportation Authority become this era’s UDC? Read More

Advocates of the misnamed “millionaire’s tax” enacted in New York state last year claimed that it would restore “fairness” to a tax code that favored the rich. Read More

Gov. Paterson’s second Executive Budget is not nearly as tough as his rhetoric (or the headlines) would imply. But in dollars and cents terms alone, it is relatively restrained and almost fiscally conservative -- by Albany’s low standards, that is. Read More

School districts on Long Island and across New York State dodged a bullet last month when the legislature rejected Gov. David A. Paterson’s call for a midyear cut in K-12 education aid. But their luck is about to run out. Read More

When Gov. Paterson delivers his annual message to the Legislature tomor row, “the state of the state” will be painfully obvious. Read More