Extension of Remarks: State is in crisis mode
The Buffalo News editorial page tomorrow [you saw it here first!] will make it clear that the state budget crunch is the only issue that now matters in New York state politics: No office holders or office seekers should be taken seriously unless they can explain, in some detail, realistic actions that they would favor to bring state spending into balance with state revenues.
Elsewhere:
* The New York Times suggests some ways to attack the budget problem, including sweeping out all the 
money hidden away in individual slush funds the governor and individual legislators use to hand out hundreds of millions of dollars to pet programs.
* An analysis from NYT Albany reporter Danny Hakim notes that Gov. David Paterson [left] is learning from the last state budget mess, in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks.
* The Times Union of Albany opposes the governor's suggestion to sell off state assets, such as bridges or the lottery, and favors a tax increase on the wealthiest New Yorkers, who it says are now undertaxed compared to their less affluent neighbors.
* Newsday credits Paterson for rising to a serious occasion: Gov. David Paterson was sworn in in March, but Tuesday evening he truly became the governor of New York. With his live, televised address about the poor state of the state's finances - and subsequent talk to state agencies Wednesday - Paterson demonstrated leadership and originality in trying to head off a bigger crisis. Whether New York's band of the self-interested will follow remains to be seen.
* The Daily News blasts Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, giving him their "Silver fiddle award," for being the one to urge that the state do, basically, nothing to deal with the budget shortfall.
* The Poughkeepsie Journal says: Without question, all state lawmakers, including Paterson, should have seen this coming.
* New York's Gannett papers, meanwhile, report that, despite his calls for frugality, Paterson has greatly increased the size and cost of The Executive Chamber.
--George Pyle/Editorial Writer
