With Wall Street profits plummeting, NY State and NYC's budgets appear to be on their way to being is serious trouble - or are they?  Today it was reported that NY State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli beleives that the State budget need not be cut further than the $630 million in reductions already proposed by Gov. Patterson.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08052008/news/
regionalnews/comptroller_bucks_gov_123077.htm

"I am confident, with the numbers as we see them today, that the kind of administrative actions that the governor's proposed taking across agency spending should get us through the balance of this year,"

is that sentiment based upon the facts or is it politically motivated? How can the Governor and Mayor be saying one thing about NY's finances yet our State's fiscal expert is saying the direct opposite if politics isn't at play?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/03/AR2008080301777.html"

"Paterson used one particular statistic to illustrate the depths of the crisis. In June of last year, the state's 16 largest banks paid about $173 million in taxes into the state treasury. This June, those same banks paid in $5 million -- a 97 percent decrease."

It is well known that DiNapoli is a close ally of Speaker Sheldon Silver and that alliance enabled DiNapoli to land the position of the State's lead fiscal watchdog after Alan Hevesi's resignation. Clearly the $170 million decrease in taxes collected from NYC Banks can't be ignored. Clearly if this is the case for one sector of the financial community, there must be scores of other industries facing the same downturns. Surely NY State's tax collections are trending down.

Playing politics with the budget like this is dangerous for the Comptroller and i think this would be a good time for some GOP leadership - someone to stand up and call the facts for what they are. If there is a potential Comptroller candidate for 2010, now is the time for them to stand up.

Someone to detail the reckless spending ways of Albany, where under such difficult economic circumstances the "three men in a room" increased overall State spending by 5.1% - a full 2% above the rate of inflation. Someone to counter the resistance against even the most reasonable of suggestions to lower spending right now to avoid a future catastrophe.

Unfortunately, NY State's GOP is so weak from years of mismanagement that there is a derth of talent available to take up that call to arms. Comments as irresponsible as DiNapoli's should not be left unchallenged. There needs to be someone on the right willing to step up at this time of fiscal difficulty as this is the exact occasion when GOP ideals of small government and efficient use of taxpayer resources could win points with NY State voters.

We know one thing for sure: Either Patterson is wrong OR DiNapoli is wrong. Both can't be right and the leaders of the GOP need to ready to act when the time comes...