Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Ground Zero Mosque

This issue seems to be a simple one to me.

There are certain truths we should agree on. First, Moslems have a right to practice their religion freely in this country, as do members of every faith. Second, a landowner has a right to build a structure and use it for any purpose permitted under applicable laws and rules. Given the foregoing, the Mosque proponents have a legal right to build the Mosque as and where they want.

That does not make it the right decision. Ground Zero is, for most Americans, hallowed ground like the Gettysburg and Pearl Harbor battlefields. Generally, memorials to those who sacrificed their lives there are erected at such places. I think it is fair to believe that the proposed Mosque and cultural center amount to a monument to a great Islamic "victory".

If the motives of the developers are pure, if it is true that they believe in fostering understanding and cooperation between Islam and America, then they should look for an alternative location. Putting the Mosque so close to Ground Zero, given the passions that have been stirred, cannot achieve those goals.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

More Of The Same

The Democrat & Chronicle reports this morning that we finally have a State Budget.

As we all know, the budget is over four months late. You might be tempted to think that the delay resulted from efforts to rein in spending and cut the $9 billion deficit the State is facing. If you did, you'd be wrong.

The budget "highlights" include the fact that State spending will increase by 7.6% and there will be over $1 billion in new taxes. One of the tax increases is the elimination of the exemption on sales taxes for clothing and shoes costing less than $110.00. That ought to help people with lower incomes struggling to balance their budgets.

I was particularly impressed by the fact that the one bi-partisan vote taken in connection with the budget was a 51-8 vote in the Senate to cap local government's ability to raise property taxes. This was largely symbolic since Speaker Silver will not bring the cap to a vote in the Assembly. Still you have to hand it to our State Senators. They clearly believe in limiting spending and taxation....at any level of government but their own.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

New Day, Same Story

The Democrat & Chronicle is, at least, consistent.

Today contained yet another story telling us that New York has too many local governments, special districts, etc. While that may be true, the fact that there are numerous taxing entities does not  (as they imply) prove that those units of government are the main source of New Yorker's over-taxation.

As I have previously noted (e.g., here), I am sure that consolidation of some of those districts or cooperative service arrangements between them would save taxpayers money. My issue is that the D&C and certain politicians, (i.e., Andrw Cuomo) contend that this is New York's biggest tax problem. The consolidators have grossly oversold the tax savings value of consolidation.

The real taxation problem in New York is obvious to everyone who wants to face it. Our incredibly dysfunctional State Government in Albany is the problem. We have a  Legislature that mocks its constituents by gavelling in and out of session without even trying to act on overdue budget legislation. We have a Governor who talks tough but fails to do anything concrete to force fiscally responsible action.

The D&C and others can try to keep the focus on the "big problem" of too many local government units but the fact is that the percentage of our total NY tax bill resulting from local government is peanuts relative to that resulting from the unquenchable need for tax revenue to support our Albany behemoth.