The Bailout & The Budget: Some Lessons For Going Forward In New York

As we confront New York State’s serious budgetary shortfall, there is a lesson in last week's $700 billion Wall Street bailout: the public rightly expects that the sacrifices during these difficult times be fairly shared and that any proposed remedies protect our long-term interests and values. The Wall Street bailout plan was shockingly rejected at first because it failed to meet this standard, burdening middle class taxpayers without demanding comparable sacrifices of the high-flying financiers who caused this mess; ignoring homeowners facing foreclosure and out-of-work Americans whose unemployment insurance benefits are running out; and failing to impose new regulatory controls on the financial markets to prevent a similar crisis in the future.

Ultimately, the bailout ultimately passed because it had to – like A.I.G., the bill itself was too important to fail. New York State’s budget will pass, too, because it must. But will it be a budget the public deserves; a budget that doesn’t merely add up, but is one where the sacrifices and benefits are shared, a budget that protects and enhances our long-term interests and values? This is the choice before us, and I hope this blog in some small way contributes to that debate.