Albany appears poised to implement the tax hikes on the "wealthy" (NY Daily News). "Wealthy," of course, is in quotes because targeted within that classification are thousands of statewide small businesses on whose backs the Governor and State Legislature want to put the state's inability to cut the cost of government. Up until yesterday, there was word that the leaders were working on a carve-out to protect small business, but I guess for now, at least, that's gone by the wayside.
Still unfortunately absent from the discussion - with the exception of Gov. Paterson's threat early this week to lay off about 9,000 state employees - is reform. The scariest thing about that is where will not changing anything leave us in the future? So this year, Albany raises taxes on small businesses and plugs holes with federal stimulus money... What's going to happen next year when there is no federal stimulus money coming? In a state where employers already face the highest taxes in the nation, overwhelming energy costs and overregulation - how can we be expected to want to persevere in the face of a future that appears even more expensive in New York State than the present?
I'll say it again... For New York's 19 million people, our budget is $121B. California's $90B covers the state's population of 36 million. More revenues for Albany to spend is not the answer.
That being said, I urge you again to join the effort to stop the "three men in a room" from passing these taxes as part of the budget. Call upon our five Upstate Majority Senators to put Upstate first and send this punitive, job-killing budget back to the drawing table.
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