If I were elected to Congress or the Senate, one of the first things I would do is get rid of things like this, that are unconstitutional. The entire Department of Education would get the pink slip.
Kevin, I'm trying to follow...what would you get rid of? State Ed? NYSUT? Both? Neither?
Well, I don't know that you could get rid of the union. They will always have their bargaining power, one way or the other. The Department of Education should be done away with, as it is a Federal Government program that is unconstitutional.
Something should be done with our present school structure. And I agree...that I would love nothing better than to see the Teacher's Union disband. Although that is highly unlikely. The teacher's union has become nothing more than a large lobbying group used to sway politicians. What the heck does this have to do with educating our kids? NOTHING!
I would love to see NYS suddenly NOT recognize the teachers union. What would these teachers do....QUIT? I don't think so. And even if they did, there are many graduates out there that would love to fill these positions without having to go for token interviews when in fact the jobs are already promised to some family member or political friend.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I can definitely speak for Mohonasen in saying that our interview processes are certainly not what you described. I have personally sat in on a number of upper-level administrator positions, and the process couldn't be more transparent.
I would say that same for our teaching positions. I know that the comment wasn't directed at a school district in particular, but I just wanted to share my take on things.
I was generalizing. I have friends who live in other states and unfortunately this is the practice. Sorry....I didn't mean to make this sound 'specific'. But thanks for the info.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
CAPITOL Paterson: Recovery will be slow Governor, legislative leaders to meet on finance crisis BY MICHAEL GORMLEY The Associated Press
New York Gov. David Paterson plans to meet with legislative leaders next week in a public session to deal with losses of tax revenue and jobs from Wall Street’s meltdown. The public leaders’ meeting Oct. 3 in Manhattan will be days after the administration receives the second quarter fiscal report that is expected to show steep declines in revenues from a string of failures in the financial sector. Wall Street revenues — business taxes and income taxes — account for about a fifth of state revenues. The meeting doesn’t mean the Legislature would return to act before Nov. 4, when every seat is up for election. Such sessions while lawmakers are busy campaigning are rare, although the Legislature frequently returns to session in December. The regular session runs from January to June. “Anything is possible,” said John McArdle, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, a Long Island Republican. “I’m sure that will be a topic of discussion.” Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, will also attend the meeting. “The speaker has said he’s prepared to return to session at any time if there is a need to do so,” said Silver spokesman Dan Weiller. “We have already taken extraordinary action to contain state spending, but the events that unfolded in our state and nation over the last two weeks have created an urgent need for a reassessment of the current year’s budget and the planning for next year’s,” Paterson said. “Now is the time for us to agree on a plan of action to be implemented before year’s end,” Paterson said. Earlier this year, the Legislature and Paterson agreed to cut $427 million from the $120 billion budget, but Paterson has said Wall Street’s losses may have already wiped out that savings made to balance the budget. A deficit of more than $5 billion is forecast for the fiscal year beginning April 1. Earlier Thursday, Paterson said the proposed $700 billion bailout will inevitably need to grow and a full recovery from the ongoing crisis in financial markets could take 18 months to two years to play out. Paterson also warned Thursday that federal policies and practices must change to avert future disaster. He blamed the last two administrations in Washington for failing to appropriately regulate banking and the housing market since the 1990s. “I think that, initially, the $700 billion — which I think in the end will be $1 trillion — will help restore confidence,” Paterson told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” The National Conference of State Legislatures also believes a recovery in the states won’t be fully felt until the 2010 budgets, even if the bailout is approved. “It’s not a pretty picture,” said Michael Bird, a federal affairs staffer for NCSL.
VIEWPOINT Governor, leaders too afraid of unions to cut state spending BY CHRISTOPHER CHICHESTER For The Sunday Gazette See CHICHESTER,
Gov. David Paterson summoned state legislative leaders to Albany for a “frank discussion of state finances” a week ago. In announcing the meeting he said, “I spoke directly with Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. They stand ready to work with me and take whatever actions will be necessary to protect our state’s finances.” Hogwash. It’s abundantly clear that our governors, legislative leaders and rank-and-file state legislators have never been committed to “take whatever actions” to stabilize state finances. For decades. Paterson must know that state legislators are opposed to discussing any cuts in the bloated $124 billion budget during an election year. Moreover, these profiles in courage can’t even bring themselves to use the word “cut.” Unfortunately, Paterson has done nothing but dither while Empire State finances crumble. He speaks unctuously about what needs to be done, but demonstrates no ability to follow through and finally achieve fiscal restraint. For example, our governor ordered a hiring freeze. Good. That’s one of the easiest belt-tightening measures to implement. But two weeks ago 78-year-old retired Assemblyman Ivan Lafayette was handed a $140,000-a-year plum patronage job at the Insurance Department. Lafayette became a deputy for “community affairs.” What a joke. If Paterson doesn’t possess the fortitude to save us a measly $140,000, how can he possibly save the billions that are required in the face of this looming budgetary crisis? He can’t. WHERE THE BUCKS ARE Gov. Paterson and legislative leaders know where the savings rest in New York’s coffers. Here are the big-ticket budget items they will never discuss and why: School aid. The fattest sacred cow in Albany. This year the governor and Legislature approved a $1.75 billion or 8.9 percent increase in school aid, a predictably irresponsible fiscal decision. Total school aid is now a staggering $21.4 billion. Why couldn’t the governor and Legislature simply approve the same budget as the prior year, and save New Yorkers $1.75 billion? Asking that common-sense question is considered internlevel naive at the Capitol. It’s because state legislators are scared to death of the powerful teacher unions that have had their greedy claws in New York’s taxpayers for decades. Medicaid. The definition of out-of-control government. We have the most costly Medicaid program in the nation, spending nearly twice the national per capita average at $45 billion. It’s such a bureaucratic monstrosity that New York spends more on the program than California and Illinois combined. None of these disturbing facts matter. Because, much like the teacher unions, our state legislators are petrified of 1199, New York City’s largest union representing 300,000 health workers. That union orders our elected officials around like they’re servants at a wedding, and everyone knows it. These selfish unionists have never been willing to concede anything for the New York taxpayer. State agencies. New York state government is populated by one worthless agency, commission, bureau and division after another. Paterson lists 112 on his Web site. If the Legislature had the guts to eliminate half of them, New Yorkers wouldn’t notice or care. One of the more destructive state agencies is the Empire State Development Corporation, a state-sanctioned automatic teller machine. ESDC bureaucrats, empowered by an unseemly $1 billion budget, fork over hundreds of millions every year in subsidies to bribe businesses into staying in New York. It should be abolished. UNTOUCHABLE UNIONS State agency employees are a great untouchable, as they’re represented by the Public Employees Federation and the Civil Service Employees Association. And, yes, Albany’s legislators run from these unions like a frightened poodle running from a pit bull. One serious word about cutting the massive 280,000-member state work force — or privatizing services — and PEF and CSEA unleash their usual demagogic radio and television ads. The only principle they possess is self-preservation. If Paterson, Silver and Skelos are truly committed to real fiscal reform, they will target billions in savings. They’ll drag the union leaders destroying our state into their offices and tell them their taxpayer shakedown, thug tactics are no longer acceptable. It won’t happen. Instead, there will be more superficial talk about the budget’s nickels and dimes, and our state’s leaders will pretend unions are not running state government. And the decline of our once-great state will continue apace.
Medicaid. The definition of out-of-control government. We have the most costly Medicaid program in the nation, spending nearly twice the national per capita average at $45 billion. It’s such a bureaucratic monstrosity that New York spends more on the program than California and Illinois combined.
We live in a give-a-way state and it seems to continue no matter what party is in office. For NYS to depend on Wall Street for future revenues would be an unpredictable risk they shouldn't be taking anymore. Jobs need to be cut. Union contracts must be negotiated more responsibly. Special interest groups need to ignored and become a thing of the past. State mandates should be reviewed for need and fiscal validity. And the reform of our welfare system is over due. NYS can not continue to spend the taxpayers money on non-essential jobs or programs.
Medicaid. The definition of out-of-control government. We have the most costly Medicaid program in the nation, spending nearly twice the national per capita average at $45 billion. It’s such a bureaucratic monstrosity that New York spends more on the program than California and Illinois combined.
or we are very sick state.......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
There should be a review of the Star program. I know a few people that are exempt from paying school taxes due to the star/enhanced star program. Yet they received a $300 (rebate) check this year. I am not saying whether these people needed the money or not. That isn't the point here. My question is how did NYS calculate and conclude who exactly were entitled to the rebate check? Simply put, if they didn't pay any school taxes that year, what are they getting a rebate for?
Maybe there is a simple explanation. But just imagine if there were 10,000 people, in NYS, exempt from paying school taxes, who all received a $300 rebate check.
CAPITOL How will state cut another $2B? Little is known about where savings could come from The Associated Press
Even as the bad fiscal news continues to arrive like unexpected credit card bills in the mail, New York legislative leaders who’ve pledged to work with Gov. David Paterson to cut spending are staking out their positions. Among the latest vexing news: The $2 billion Paterson wants cut during an upcoming legislative special session will have to come from just $53.4 billion in spending, the balance remaining as of Nov. 1 on $120 billion authorized in the 2008-09 budget. And Legislative leaders may have made those cuts harder on Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos said the state shouldn’t consider laying off public employees to try to balance the budget in this fiscal year, which ends March 31. Paterson says everything is on the table and he’s meeting soon with leaders of public worker unions, which have long been among the Legislature’s biggest lobbyists and campaign contributors. “We have already suffered job losses on Wall Street,” said Skelos spokesman Mark Hansen. “Laying off thousands of state employees would only compound the problem, do more damage to the economy and hurt essential services people depend on.” Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was quoted in The Buffalo News saying he is focused on addressing a $1.2 billion deficit in the current year and will await future fiscal reports to see if more cuts are needed. Paterson has said he expects the $1.2 billion deficit to grow to $2 billion by the end of the fi scal year and there is no time to wait for more data. Silver didn’t back off from the comment Wednesday. His spokesman, Dan Weiller, said only that the Assembly’s Democratic majority remains “committed to continuing to work with the governor and Senate to take on the challenges.” Paterson said $2 billion must be cut because the crisis deepens daily and coming years also face deficits. Another question has arisen as state leaders plan to meet in November to cut spending: When will the public be let in on the decisions? “At what point do they feel compelled to have a public discussion of this?” asked Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group. “The government isn’t some separate corporation. This is the peoples’ government, and they don’t even ask the public.” The rancor comes as state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli reported that the crisis stemming from the meltdown on Wall Street and a recession has been exacerbated by state spending over the past fi ve years. He said that even without the recent damage to New York’s tax revenues, total state revenue was projected to be just half the rate of spending growth. DiNapoli also said the combined state and local tax burden in New York was almost 34 percent above the national average. He said local property taxes increased at twice the rate of inflation from 1997 to 2007 and per-pupil spending is now $14,206 — the second highest in the nation. “The downturn in the economy has elevated the problems and limited our options,” said DiNapoli, a Democrat who spent years in the Assembly when much of the overspending was approved. He said state debt has grown so much — $2.3 billion this year alone — that the cost of carrying the debt will rise to $7.6 billion annually by the 2012-13 fiscal year. It already costs $4.8 billion a year.
ALBANY — New York is next to last in an annual ranking of states with business-friendly tax policies. New York slipped two places to 49th in the Tax Foundation’s 2009 Business Tax Climate Index, which rates states based on their corporate, individual, sales, unemployment and property taxes. Only New Jersey was beneath New York in the latest ranking by the nonprofit and nonpartisan foundation, which has been examining government fiscal policies since 1937. California, Ohio and Rhode Island rounded out the bottom five. Wyoming ranked first, followed by South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska and Florida.
NYS is 49th out of 50 of the most tax friendly states and that's why there are no new businesses coming to NY to create jobs and lower both school and property taxes for the residents. When your state is the largest employer in the state we the people are in a lot of trouble.
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