There is a better way
The cuts proposed by Governor Paterson will hurt us all. However, Paterson continues to claim that he has no other choice than to cut health care and education. What he doesn't say is that we have provided tax breaks to the richest New Yorkers in the hopes that this would help our economy. However, this plan backfired and our government decided to continue increasing money spent on social services while at the same time decreasing revenue to the state. Now we must reverse that trend. Some cuts will be inevitable, but as the wealthiest New Yorkers have enjoyed getting more and more tax breaks, middle class families have seen increases in property taxes that are drowning them. And if Paterson is successful again, you will see property taxes go up once again. However, if we could just roll back the tax structure to where it was and is supposed to be, we just might be able to raise enough revenue so that we won't have to lay off tons of health care and education workers. Maybe, we just might be able to have a balanced budget in which everyone (including the wealthiest) share the pain.
