In 2009, New York State Democrats took an unfolding economic crisis and made it worse. They failedto address the State’s growing budget problems in April and now New York is running out of money andmay be unable to pay its bills come December. Budget making is about setting priorities. IncumbentValesky and his Senate Democrat colleagues have been making all the wrong choices.I specically want to call three areas to your attention today. Consider these examples of actions I
disapproved of and what could have been done instead:
In April, Senate Democrats raised taxes and fees by $8.5 billion in the State Budget. These increases
included higher income taxes, higher energy taxes, higher health insurance taxes, higher hunting and
shing fees, a mandate requiring motorists to pay a fee for new license plates that nobody needs andelimination of the STAR rebate checks, which provide relief to seniors and homeowners. In addition,
Democrats voted as a bloc to bail out the downstate Metropolitan Transit Authority and increased
Downstate payroll taxes by more than $2 billion to pay for it, while at the same time refusing to pass aplan to repair Upstate roads and bridges.Senate Democrats should have rejected Governor Paterson’s proposed tax and fee increases and
offered targeted tax cuts for families and businesses that would help us grow the economy, ensuretaxpayers have more money in their wallets and pocketbooks, and allow businesses to use the resulting
savings to create jobs.Why did Senate Democrats raise our taxes in 2009? Because during a national economic recession that
has everyone cutting back and doing more with less, Albany Democrats decided to increase spending
by more than $12 billion and used the one-time federal stimulus money to pay for long-term stateexpenses. Their lack of spending restraint and irresponsible scal policies not only damage us now, butcommit this State to higher spending and additional tax increases well in the future.Folks, we know that you’ll never get Albany to cut spending. But what we need to do is freeze spendingincreases indenitely until the State’s economic picture improves and revenues rebound. The Statecannot continue to spend money that it doesn’t have. We simply can’t afford it. While CNY families are
sitting around their kitchen tables and setting priorities, the out-of-touch Albany Democrats are going on
a spending binge with our tax dollars.
Senate Democrats promised to reform the chamber, but what we saw this summer is that Albany is
more dysfunctional than ever, highlighted by a 31-day leadership squabble that stalled work on keyissues. The State Budget was put together in secret by three New York City Democrats. Democrats
awarded themselves millions more in pork-barrel spending, showered staffers with massive pay raises,
and behaved as if they were above the law. We saw two Democrat Senators indicted on felony chargesand another under investigation for suspicious nancial behavior.\Why couldn’t Democrats and Republicans come together to run the house in a bipartisan way? Albanymust become more open and transparent, and work better for hard-working New Yorkers. We needprogress over politics, less division and less partisanship. In the coming months, my campaign willunveil a series of major reforms that I will support in the Legislature.Now, a lot of political insiders and incumbents might look at me and ask “Who are you to run for theState Senate?” Well, I would ask them that same question. “Who are you to squander our tax dollars?”“Who are you to create a system that benets politicians and interest groups but doesn’t represent thepeople?” “Who are you to make our state less competitive and drive out jobs along with many of our nest young people?”“Who am I?” First of all, I am a true Central New Yorker. My family has lived and operated businesses inthe Syracuse area for more than 100 years. My career as a performing artist and educator has allowed
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