By Assemblyman Jim Tedisco
Remember when “it was the economy,
stupid?” Well now, “it’s the spending, stupid”
or lack of real spending priorities that could
endanger the long-term health of our nation’s
economy. The federal government on track to
try to spend its way to a more perfect world may
just be destroying a great one and its economy.
Trillion dollar deficits and financially faltering
Social Security and Medicare programs didn’t happen in and of themselves. Simply
put, they (meaning all those who profess to be
our representatives on the federal level) left
IOUs and spent the money. Now they are in the
business of blaming each other for doing so and
haven’t got a clue on how to fix it.
In the past two years, we’ve worked across party lines in New York to move away from the altered reality that now permeates the federal government which is that its problems most always stem from a lack of revenue rather than from the realization that they are most often due to over-taxing and a lack of spending priorities. The federal government as we saw most recently over the “fiscal cliff” debate, continues to define “insanity” by doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome.
There are many philosophies for the role of government. One sees government as a tool to be used to remove obstacles that lie before its constituents so taxpayers can be everything they can be with their God-given talents. Ever mindful that we are a compassionate union and that some will need taxpayer-sponsored programs for a good portion of or all their lives, due to obstacles that continue through no fault of their own.
Another believes that more government is better government and in the need to vacuum up as much taxpayer dollars as it can to prop up as many entitlements and programs as possible. This philosophy does not make economic expansion and private sector job creation a priority, rather it aims to keep people tethered to government because more government is always better in their eyes. A culture of dependency where elected officials are always assured that you need them and their government.
The recent presidential election clearly indicated that a small majority want more income redistribution (a little more socialism). I’m all for tax fairness but the problem is that similar to the prescription that the doctor gives us to make us feel better, over abuse can have a deadly effect. If two pills make us feel good imagine what 102 will do for us. We know what it would do: kill us. And the same will happen with our economy if more taxing, more spending and expanded government intervention is the only cure to our economic woes.
Unlike New York state which has acted in the past two years in a bipartisan way to erase its deficits, the federal government carries a $1.6 trillion deficit and $16 trillion debt that threatens to destroy the lives and economic well-being of future generations. When the doctor says you have a serious disease and we can keep it under control until it slowly destroys your body or we can give you a treatment which may be painful in the short-term but in the long-term will cure you, who would not ask for the latter. It appears the nation and its representatives are not ready to face that reality.
What we’ve accomplished in New York is in quite a contrast to the paralysis and partisan bickering on the federal level. We asked taxpayers and local municipalities to take some difficult medicine over the last couple years and the state has begun to do its share to turn our state’s economy around by reducing the size of government, putting in place pension reform and by beginning to provide mandate relief in the form of taking over Medicaid cost increases. Now it’s time for state government to fully accept its fiscal responsibility.
In 2013, our state government should make a New Year’s resolution to focus on among many others the following economic priorities: Cap state spending and implement spending priorities.
Mandate relief – especially enacting a full statewide takeover of Medicaid costs – to lower property taxes for local municipal taxpayers. Help small businesses create jobs by reducing burdensome and unnecessary state regulations.
New York State also needs to be innovative by: Going digital with its communications as I have advanced.
Continue to implement the Used Resources Accountability Act via NYSSTORE to sell used state resources on E-Bay and Craigslist and return dollars back to taxpayers.
Conducting a forensic audit of the Thruway Authority and ensuring that the Legislature must ratify any toll hike. We also should consolidate the Thruway Authority into the Department of Transportation for greater efficiency and enhance transparency and accountability.
If we continue the positive direction of moving away from that altered reality I outlined above than we can go a long way to keeping New York working and open for business in 2013 and for many years to come.