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Opinion April 2, 2008
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Guest Editorial: Conservatives call on Albany lawmakers to spend
By Michael R. Long, New York State Conservative Party Chairman

When the Members of the Legislature return to Albany today they will be greeted with numerous radio advertisements and meetings calling on them to increase spending and reject any serious cuts to special - interest projects that feed on tax money. On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of families in New York State struggling to make ends meet, legislative members must respond to the people of New York and cut spending now.

The New York State Conservative Party has been adamant about the need to spend less since its inception. Members of the Legislature have consistently ignored our calls for spending restraints while giving New York State the title of highest taxed state in the nation.

New York must rein in spending. Our economy is stagnant; upstate newspaper headlines scream of layoffs and population loss while Wall Street is surrounded by bears. And the talk from some legislative members is to raise taxes on the rich, impose an additional tax on those who drive into New York City and pour even more money into an education system that rewards their own with tenure after just three years. Public employees who leave in disgrace continue to collect their extremely generous pensions and the over-taxed New York family struggling to make ends meet is forced to pay even more taxes because elected officials refuse to rein in spending.

Simply put, there is no incentive to open a business in New York or for young college graduates to stay in New York while their parents move to states that understand real property taxes should not equal the original mortgage payment of the house they purchased thirty years ago.

Programs that do not work must end despite the cries of the special interest groups that lobby for them. The bureaucracy that allows for fraud must be curtailed. Prisons and hospitals that are no longer necessary must close. And schools that do not "meet the grade" must improve or face closing as well.

New York's elected officials must incorporate these necessary changes to curtail spending and thereby reduce taxes...it is the only way New York will be able to offer businesses and people a reason to establish themselves and stay in our state.

The Conservative Party calls upon all of New York's elected officials to do what is right for its citizens- cut spending now in order to reduce taxes in the upcoming budget.
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