ALBANY STILL DOESN"T GET IT

ALBANY - State lawmakers are expected today to close the state's current $1.6 billion budget gap by using unspent money for a defunct emergency telecommunications system, raising health-insurance taxes and redirecting $500 million from the state Power Authority.

So reports the Journal News this evening. So what do we learn? During the worst economic downturn in a generation, as hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers leave the state annually due to a tax system that makes it the highest taxed state in the nation, our State Legislature cannot bring itself to balance a budget by reining in spending. Its only solution is tax increases and financial gimmickry. Its time for leadership in Albany that understands that the problem isn't a lack of revenue, but an excess of spending. If they don't understand that then its time for new leadership. I get it. You get it. Why don't they get it?