Budget? What budget?

 

Remember how we all laughed when Jesse “The Body” Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota?

How about when Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected to lead California?

We even laughed at James “I am a gay American” McGreevey when he made his stunning announcement.

Well, New York is now on the receiving end.

It ain’t pretty.

Let’s get past these shenanigans. More pressing matters are upon the state, namely the budget.

So, to you ladies and gentlemen of the Assembly and Senate, we have just four words: Get back to work.

April 1 is upon us and the possibility of the budget being passed on time is beyond long shot and into the realm of odds that bookmakers refer to as “no chance in hell.”

Albany politics is a mess right now. Even the news releases are akin to something out of “Animal House.”

James Tedisco, GOP Assembly minority leader, who acted like a steamroller – sound familiar? – in his unrelenting attacks on former Gov. Eliot Spitzer as he lay bleeding after being hoist by his own petard, is spending his time having his staff send out these newsworthy e-mails:

One addressed the good assemblyman’s adroitness at throwing an ax during lumberjack competitions at Paul Smiths College.

The other was his alerting everyone that he posted his picks in the NCAA tourney on his blog.

Hey, Jim, here’s an idea, how about working on the budget? Ax some government spending and give business and taxpayers a break. Odds are the state may actually be able to court some new business – as opposed to pushing them out.

Does anyone remember what was on the budget other than too much money going to turn around that sputtering upstate economy?

The other controversial item is Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s so-called millionaire tax, which according to a poll by Siena College, found that 72 percent of voters, including 60 percent of Republicans, support the plan to raise the personal income tax on millionaires.

Since most of the millionaires live in the New York metro region, especially Westchester, if it did pass, it would be no problem for most to set up their main residence in the friendlier tax-clime state of Connecticut. Good idea: Keep driving out dollars.

Try again, Mr. Silver.

We like the thinking of state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, who during a visit to Westchester last week, suggested “tough decisions and belt-tightening” by both state and municipal governments.

And let’s not forget the work of the state Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness that’s looking at ways to save money by consolidation of services, from procurement to health insurance.

Another idea we liked is the one pitched by Assemblyman Marc Molinaro of Dutchess County who wrote to new Gov. David Paterson about not replacing Patrick Foye, the downstate co-chairman of Empire State Development Corp., who resigned two weeks ago.

Molinaro wrote:

“Surely, the State of New York has the resources and ability to appropriately focus on the specific needs of each individual region of our state while aggressively dealing with the overarching needs of our entire state. By attempting to meet the needs of our diverse state, the outcome of this ‘upstate-downstate’ structure has allowed some regions to be forgotten while fostering a sense of competition for resources and attention between the two.

“One overall leader would rationalize New York’s economic development process.”

Here, here. We hope the new governor is also paying attention to this suggestion and takes the short leash with the Legislature and not let them ride rough shod over him.

 

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