Gov. Spitzer's second annual State of the State message yesterday featured what may ultimately stand out as his Nixon-goes-to-China moment. Annoying a powerful ally - and embracing a concept he had rejected during the 2006 gubernatorial campaign - Spitzer said he would form a special commission to recommend a "fair and effective cap" on school taxes in New York. Read More
Sen. Hillary Clinton is running for president, in part, on a platform that calls for more government health care. So let's ask a question that may hit a little too close to home: Why does New York spend more on Medicaid—a health-care program for the poor—than every other state but still have a larger portion of its population walking around without health insurance than states that spend far less? Read More
Lise Bang-Jensen, longtime Capitol journalist and former co-host of public television’s “Inside Albany” program, has joined the Empire Center for Public Policy as a senior policy analyst. Read More
What's the best way to ensure that all New York State residents-adults and children alike-have access to affordable health-insurance coverage? Read More
As teammates on the New York Yankees, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez get to perform on a stage suited to their outsized talents. But Jeter's dispute with state tax officials highlights the price such stars must pay to strut their stuff in Gotham. Read More
Soon after the end of the Transit Workers Union's illegal 60-hour walkout in December 2005, Local 100 President Roger Toussaint boasted that his members had made good on a "credible threat" to strike. Later today, a state judge in Brooklyn will decide if they can get away with it. Read More
What does Rep. Charlie Rangel have against his hometown, anyway? Anyone who didn't know better would think the "mother of all tax reforms" unveiled last week by the House Ways & Means chairman from Harlem was designed by rural populists to suck more juice out of the Big Apple. Read More
"New Yorkers have paid a steep price for labor peace" under the 40-year-old Taylor Law authorizing collective bargaining by public employee unions, says a report issued today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More