How To Drive People Away

Hm, I realize I'm having a good deal of "how to" posts recently...

Well, here's another. I have to scratch my head and wonder the motives behind such stupidity. Are these people stupid, or smarter than we are?

Tax Town USA: NY's Staggering New Budget Unveiled

Proposed $131.8B Tax-And-Spend Plan Has Critics Howling; Average Family Of 4 May Be Shelling Out $5,000 Additional

Get ready to pay up.

The budget crisis in New York is so dire lawmakers are planning tax hikes on some of life's necessities, as well as some simple pleasures.

From bottled water, to beer, cigars and electricity, the cost could be going up for all of these and more.

Governor David Paterson said the new state budget is shared sacrifice, but its a tough sell.

If you live in New York City and suburbs there is only one thing you can do in reaction to the new state budget – gasp.

"This is not a happy budget," Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, said.

No kidding. Critics said there are so many taxes and fee hikes the average family of four in our area can expect to shell out an additional $5,000 -- for now.

"I would like to tell you that this budget brings to an end our fiscal crisis, but I can't do that. That would be intellectually dishonest," Paterson said.

The budget puts an added income tax on households earning over $300,000 to raise $4 billion.

New York politicians seem hell-bent on pulling out the rugs from beneath us. What do they really want from New York? If Paterson was truly, truly serious about wanting to make ends meet in this state, he'd fire a good 35% of the adiminstrative bureaucrats that clog the state payroll, slash and burn the billions spent on pensions for retired state workers, and lower taxes to draw people to the state. But that's not even an option.

Ya gotta wonder, why not?