Category: Commentary

Former Gov. Hugh L. Carey is the Harry Truman of New York state — a political figure who left office in disrepute, only to have his stature rise in later decades. Read More

Just when it looked like New York’s free-spending public schools were about to do some serious belt-tightening, along comes the US Senate this week to clear the way for another $26 billion “stimulus” dose, including $600 million for K-12 education in the Empire State. Read More

New York governors have the power they need to control spending. Is New York State ungovernable? Back in April, David Paterson seemed to think so. Read More

Is New York state ungovernable? Back in April, Gov. David Paterson seemed to think so. Confounded by the Legislature’s paralysis in the face of a deepening fiscal crisis, the lame-duck governor complained to the Wall Street Journal that New York lacked “a structure that empowers a single leader to get his or her state out of a major conflict.“ Read More

On Aug. 3, the state Senate passed a bill containing nearly $800 million in tax hikes and other provisions that represent the final piece of the budget for the fiscal year that began April. Read More

Like a leaky faucet, New York state was drip-drip- dripping businesses and jobs to other states for all but one of the 15 years leading up to the official end of the last economic expansion in 2007. Read More

New York state and local governments’ liabilities for retiree health coverage run to the hundreds of billions of dollars -- a burden that’s only now coming into full view. Read More