The Governor's End Game

David Paterson is a lame duck. But he is far from powerless because he has absolutely nothing to lose by slamming down the hammer. Nature abhors a vacuum; the Governor has filled the void with some of the first serious leadership Albany has seen in years.

By completing the unfinished budget with his own emergency spending bills, the Governor has gone where no lawmaker seeking re-election would dare to tread.

He's made the spending cuts to school aid, health care, and other programs that have become a sacred cow in the Empire State.

He has given SUNY schools the freedom to make their own tuition decisions, thus enabling the UB 2020 plan so desperately needed as an engine of economic growth in Western New York.

He has included wine sales for grocery stores, a revenue raiser for Albany that will likely prove popular among consumers.

He has also pushed through a 4% cap on the growth of local property taxes that fund school districts. While the intent is to control the growth of the local tax burden, we should point out that a 4% cap almost guarantees that property taxes will increase by that rate every year.

Not too long ago, this lame duck governor proposed permanent fixes to the New York State fiscal fiasco, including legislation giving his successors the power to unilaterally cut spending when the Legislature fails to balance the budget. It would seem he's found a way to do it already.

He further proposes reforms to preclude any state borrowing when the budget goes into the red. That would force lawmakers to make the same difficult decisions that face every individual taxpaying household when the cash flow runs short. Many New Yorkers have learned the hard way that credit cards don't solve the problem. They only "kick the can down the road."

So this man who was on the verge of resigning a short time ago, now towers over Albany. He is the blind man blessed with more vision that all of his legislative colleagues combined.

Like it or not, lawmakers now have a choice of accepting the Governor's bill, or shutting down New York State Government. So they really have no choice. They can blame the lame duck Governor. We can give him credit.

Only one question: Governor, what took you so long?