New York Times asks Skelos What HIS Ideas are for Fixing State Budget

Skelos is a "Leader" who cannot lead when New York State needs it most.

"So Mr. Skelos, What’s Your Plan?
Gov. David Paterson tried bravely this week to get a handle on New York State’s budget deficit, before it spins completely out of control. But the forces that have given Albany its reputation for ineptitude — cowardice and partisanship — prevailed....

"Before Mr. Paterson and the legislative leaders could hammer out the final details, the Senate’s Republican leader, Dean Skelos, announced with great fanfare and unbelievable cynicism that he was prepared, then and there, to call for a vote on the governor’s draft plan. In raw, unmediated form, that plan was sure to lose. The governor had no choice but to cancel the proceedings and send everyone home.

The Republicans’ strategy is obviously to defer all the tough choices until next year when the Democrats will be running the whole show: the governor’s office, the Assembly and, at long last, the Senate. But while tactically shrewd in a narrow political sense, Mr. Skelos’s approach is fiscally irresponsible....

"Mr. Paterson is expected to announce his new budget for the next fiscal year in mid-December, a month ahead of schedule. At that point, the Legislature must turn its full attention to the issue. If the legislative leaders do not like the governor’s ideas, they have a responsibility to offer alternatives — not more political theater."