The Governor dropped his first budget shoe this summer, before the financial markets curled up into the fetal position. This week he dropped a rather large boot, caked with mud and other unpleasant things. Speaker Silver called it “a bold plan” without, himself, embracing boldness. Senator Skelos, punting the ball into next year’s oblivion, declared that his conference would not consider the Governor’s proposals this special session. Psst, Dean! You know about “three men in a room”. Next year you won’t be in the room!

The State’s situation is certainly dire and the Governor’s proposals must be draconian to be helpful. Yet every outraged interest group is screaming that the proposal that adversely affects it is unfair. To each, the adverse effect is prima facie unfairness. However, “It’s not fair!” is a complaint, not an argument. True “unfairness” has to offend something more than one’s expectations.

Paterson proposes to cut school aid for the current and upcoming school years. There is certainly a broken promise involved in cutting the current year’s funding; school districts can use “unfair” to describe that portion of the cut. On the other hand, the system that has the highest cost per student in the nation would be a more sympathetic victim were it cheaper and better at what it does.

Paterson proposes to cut reimbursement rates to hospital and nursing homes and place additional tax on health insurance. All of this is fair but none of it is wise. The State’s Medicaid system is a mess and there’s enormous money to be saved there. However, simply squeezing providers – good ones and bad ones, alike – is not the solution. Oh yeah, and let’s make health insurance more expensive. Good one, Dave.

Full-time SUNY and CUNY students will have to pay $300 more tuition per semester. The ones interviewed on television are, of course, outraged by this “unfairness”. I am a SUNY graduate and I am extremely grateful to the taxpayers of the State of New York for subsidizing my education. Current students, repeat after me: “Thank you.”

Paterson is asking State employees to postpone next year’s scheduled 3% increase and loan the State a week’s pay. There is a labor contract in place, so neither of these things is fair. But lay-offs are fair and not forbidden by the contract and the Governor is suggesting these things as an alternative. CSEA and PEF leaders flex their fairness muscles and pledge not to reopen the contracts. It works for them since those who are laid-off won’t be able to vote against them in the next union election.

On the other hand, demanding a long-term loan from your employees is a lot like the school bully taking your lunch money. Did Mario come back?

Paterson also plans to cut health insurance subsidies to retirees from 90% to 50% of the cost. The public sector’s subsidy of retirees’ health insurance costs is an outrageously generous fringe benefit that must be accounted for differently and reduced accordingly, going forward. However, with respect to those for whom that outrageously generous deal was part of their compensation package during their working years, to reduce it after the services have been rendered is a theft. Now, that’s unfair!

Paterson proposes cutting aid to localities in the current fiscal year. As with school aid, the adopted State budget was a promise that localities acted upon. To quote Robert W. Service, “A promise made is a debt unpaid” and apparently it’s going to stay that way. But we should keep in mind that all of those municipalities are creations of the State and the State can abuse them, and their taxpayers, as much as it wants to – and has. Just don’t pledge not to raise taxes and then force property taxes up.

Paterson also proposes to extend the bottle bill to juice and water. Speaking as a beer drinker, it’s about time.

Governor Paterson is somewhat justified in his blaming “the worst economic crisis in this country since the depression” for the State’s budget crisis. The rest of the blame, though, goes to a bloated State government the dates back to the good times. Since much of State government is overstaffed, lay-offs should not be off the table. I hate to see anyone lose his job but I hate, even more, for taxpayers to pay for unnecessary help. Civil service law should be amended to allow the dead weight to be weeded out regardless of its seniority, with other safeguards against politicalization, and that management prerogative must become a part of the next labor contract.

While we can assert that there are too many State workers, we cannot assert that State taxes are too low. Nevertheless, a temporary income tax increase should also be on the table. Many of things the State should do, should already have done – intelligently reform Medicare, fix civil service, acknowledge and fund post-employment benefit liabilities, and institute a Tier 5 in the pension system, for example – will take time to yield their savings. In the meantime, we need State government to function. We can fashion a temporary tax that’s not a recovery-killer. Maybe we’ll just have every New Yorker send the State his next federal stimulus check.

Governor Patterson has a plan on the table. It’s the job of Sheldon Silver, Dean Skelos and their colleagues to improve it and pass it. Now.