I’d like to offer some political advice to Governor Paterson, whose popularity has plummeted. There are a lot of people in Albany who say he has little chance of being elected in 2010, but I think he still has a chance. His problem right now is the democratic controlled legislature led by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith; these are big spending liberals who don’t want to stop spending despite the massive deficits facing the state. Their answer seems to be tax millionaires and wait for a bailout from Washington. Paterson was part of that crowd, but after becoming Governor and taking on the job of managing the state, he took the responsible position of trying to cut spending. Unfortunately, after he went that route, the leaders bailed on him and unions and special interest groups have mounted an ad campaign calling his cuts cruel. My advice to Paterson is: DON’T CAVE. State spending has been out of control for years and no one in Albany has stood up to stop it. It looked like Paterson might be the guy, but then he had a series of slipups; like the Caroline Kennedy issue and pay raises for his staff when other salaries were frozen. If he can re-hire his former chief of staff Charlie O’Byrne, who left because of a tax problem, he could get back on track. While the Albany politicians and special interest groups are scheming to hold on to the past, Paterson will have the people on his side if he stands up to the pressure and cuts the size of government.
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