“Saddened,” “upset” and “disappointed” were among the many dispirited words people used to describe Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to veto a bill that would … more

New York state government has a well-deserved reputation for ineffectiveness. Ask most New Yorkers what one word best describes Albany, and the most common response would be “dysfunctional.” That’s the term that New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice used in a study in 2004, in its follow-up in 2006 and in its 2008 update, “Still Broken.” more

It is time for leaders to take strong, firm stances. That goes for lawmakers in Washington and Albany, our county, town and village representatives and the elected members of our own boards of education. more

My last column, “Stop playing games with the budget deficit” (Feb. 3) was written one week before New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli issued his analysis of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive budget draft. The irrationality I outlined fell short of anticipating the following mea-culpa expressed in the comptroller’s analysis. “The SFY 2010-2011 enacted budget relied on $16.7 billion in non-recurring or temporary budget resources; and overly optimistic tax revenue projections, causing a dramatically worsened state structural deficit.” How dramatic? These tenuous entries constituted 30 percent of all the monies in the state’s operating fund. more

On Election Day, angry voters all over the country focused their attention on Congress, deficits, the Obama health care plan, taxes and numerous other grievances. Incumbent politicians got the brunt … more

With the inauguration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday, New York state officially ended its brief but disastrous Spitzer era. Eliot Spitzer, the former attorney general, was elected governor in 2006 … more

With the inauguration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday, New York state officially ended its brief but disastrous Spitzer era. Eliot Spitzer, the former attorney general, was elected governor in 2006 in a landslide and then entered office not to make friends in Albany, not even to govern, but to rule the land. He crashed and burned in one of the country’s most notorious sex scandals, after which he resigned and Lt. Gov. David Paterson assumed the state’s reins. more

The stakes in this election are too important to accept at face value the slick and often alarmist advertising that candidates put forward as Election Day nears. more

Our good friend Mayor Ed Koch has spent the past few months traveling the state, encouraging New Yorkers to “Throw the bums out!” Well, on Primary Day we got the message and threw out Pedro Espada, the worst offender in Albany when it comes to greed and arrogance. more

My father served as a union president — a teachers union president — in Suffolk County nearly four decades ago, in the days when educators like him were given little respect, and even lower wages. more