Tag: Albany

When asked at the end of the1974 season why he was replacing his general manager, the owner of the Houston Oilers football team replied “I gave him an unlimited budget, and he exceeded it!”  The same may be said of New York State’s Medicaid program.  Its budget is unlimited – its cost goes up by whatever it does every year, and taxes are raised and other services cut to make up the difference. Medicaid, along with debt service and pensions, get the first, second and third bites of the apple.  (Public schools in the portion of New York State outside New York City get the fourth.)  And when the cost of Medicaid is restrained, as in the mid-to-late 1990s, it is by reducing the number of beneficiaries who receive health care benefits, not by restraining the increase in what the health care industry decides to charge.  The number of people employed by that industry in New York, fueled in large part by government money, rises rapidly each and every year.  With just 6.5% of the nation’s population, New York State accounted for 15.1% of its Medicaid spending (see attached spreadsheet).

When asked at the end of the1974 season why he was replacing his general manager, the owner of the Houston Oilers football team replied “I gave him an unlimited budget, and he exceeded it!”  The same may be said of New York State’s Medicaid program.  Its budget is unlimited – its cost goes up by whatever it does every year, and taxes are raised and other services cut to make up the difference. Medicaid, along with debt service and pensions, get the first, second and third bites of the apple.  (Public schools in the portion of New York State outside New York City get the fourth.)  And when the cost of Medicaid is restrained, as in the mid-to-late 1990s, it is by reducing the number of beneficiaries who receive health care benefits, not by restraining the increase in what the health care industry decides to charge.  The number of people employed by that industry in New York, fueled in large part by government money, rises rapidly each and every year.  With just 6.5% of the nation’s population, New York State accounted for 15.1% of its Medicaid spending (see attached spreadsheet).

How much more would the federal government have to spend on health care to provide universal health insurance?  How much more would New York State have to provide in state education funding to provide every New York City child with a qualified teacher and an a national average class size?  How much more would the MTA have to borrow to build long promised improvements such as the Second Avenue Subway?  Now imagine you were asking these questions in the early 1990s, when former President Clinton held up a card and promised universal heath care and the Pataki, Silver and Bruno era began in Albany.  What numbers have you arrived at?  Chances are, that much and more has been borrowed and spent since.  But like a football held by Lucy Van Pelt, these benefits have been pulled away at the last moment, and the money has gone elsewhere.

How much more would the federal government have to spend on health care to provide universal health insurance?  How much more would New York State have to provide in state education funding to provide every New York City child with a qualified teacher and an a national average class size?  How much more would the MTA have to borrow to build long promised improvements such as the Second Avenue Subway?  Now imagine you were asking these questions in the early 1990s, when former President Clinton held up a card and promised universal heath care and the Pataki, Silver and Bruno era began in Albany.  What numbers have you arrived at?  Chances are, that much and more has been borrowed and spent since.  But like a football held by Lucy Van Pelt, these benefits have been pulled away at the last moment, and the money has gone elsewhere.

How much more would the federal government have to spend on health care to provide universal health insurance?  How much more would New York State have to provide in state education funding to provide every New York City child with a qualified teacher and an a national average class size?  How much more would the MTA have to borrow to build long promised improvements such as the Second Avenue Subway?  Now imagine you were asking these questions in the early 1990s, when former President Clinton held up a card and promised universal heath care and the Pataki, Silver and Bruno era began in Albany.  What numbers have you arrived at?  Chances are, that much and more has been borrowed and spent since.  But like a football held by Lucy Van Pelt, these benefits have been pulled away at the last moment, and the money has gone elsewhere.

How much more would the federal government have to spend on health care to provide universal health insurance?  How much more would New York State have to provide in state education funding to provide every New York City child with a qualified teacher and an a national average class size?  How much more would the MTA have to borrow to build long promised improvements such as the Second Avenue Subway?  Now imagine you were asking these questions in the early 1990s, when former President Clinton held up a card and promised universal heath care and the Pataki, Silver and Bruno era began in Albany.  What numbers have you arrived at?  Chances are, that much and more has been borrowed and spent since.  But like a football held by Lucy Van Pelt, these benefits have been pulled away at the last moment, and the money has gone elsewhere.

You may have heard that New Jersey Governor John Corzine has called a special session of the New Jersey State legislature to tackle the “intractable” issue of high New Jersey property taxes.  He plans to reduce pensions and benefits for new employees, to offset the cost of the pension enrichment for those cashing in and moving out, and borrowing against the pension funds, passed during the Whitman Administration.  He plans to try to entice, or force, New Jersey’s high-spending school districts to consolidate to cut costs.  And, he plans to raise other taxes, perhaps at the state level, to offset a property tax decline.  Those are tough stands. Compared with the next Governor of New York, however, the fact is Corzine has it easy.

You may have heard that New Jersey Governor John Corzine has called a special session of the New Jersey State legislature to tackle the “intractable” issue of high New Jersey property taxes.  He plans to reduce pensions and benefits for new employees, to offset the cost of the pension enrichment for those cashing in and moving out, and borrowing against the pension funds, passed during the Whitman Administration.  He plans to try to entice, or force, New Jersey’s high-spending school districts to consolidate to cut costs.  And, he plans to raise other taxes, perhaps at the state level, to offset a property tax decline.  Those are tough stands. Compared with the next Governor of New York, however, the fact is Corzine has it easy.

You may have heard that New Jersey Governor John Corzine has called a special session of the New Jersey State legislature to tackle the “intractable” issue of high New Jersey property taxes.  He plans to reduce pensions and benefits for new employees, to offset the cost of the pension enrichment for those cashing in and moving out, and borrowing against the pension funds, passed during the Whitman Administration.  He plans to try to entice, or force, New Jersey’s high-spending school districts to consolidate to cut costs.  And, he plans to raise other taxes, perhaps at the state level, to offset a property tax decline.  Those are tough stands. Compared with the next Governor of New York, however, the fact is Corzine has it easy.

You may have heard that New Jersey Governor John Corzine has called a special session of the New Jersey State legislature to tackle the “intractable” issue of high New Jersey property taxes.  He plans to reduce pensions and benefits for new employees, to offset the cost of the pension enrichment for those cashing in and moving out, and borrowing against the pension funds, passed during the Whitman Administration.  He plans to try to entice, or force, New Jersey’s high-spending school districts to consolidate to cut costs.  And, he plans to raise other taxes, perhaps at the state level, to offset a property tax decline.  Those are tough stands. Compared with the next Governor of New York, however, the fact is Corzine has it easy.