Farewell to 2010

Well, Don't Ask Don't Tell got repealed. The 9/11 first responders received assistance. The START treaty was approved. Doesn't sound too shabby, does it?

New York's Governor David Paterson handed over the reins to Andrew Cuomo. Paterson surely breathed a heart-felt sigh of relief as he did so. He will be missed by some of us for his forthright, starkly realistic presentation of the state's budget crisis to the voters. For over two years he valiantly struggled to bring fiscal stability to the state and without his efforts New York would be in far worse condition than it is. Of course no responsible political leadership goes unpunished and every special interest group in the state waged an unrelenting campaign to hound him out of office. I suspect theirs was a Pyrrhic victory. Andrew Cuomo, with strong election results behind him, is better positioned than Paterson to ram through unpopular state budget cuts. New York (like many, many other states) has long since cut the gravy and now faces deep, potentially devastating cuts to essential services.

All over the U. S. states are in crisis. Their pension plans are unfunded. They are cutting deep into education, transportation, infrastructure maintenance and health care. Layoffs of public employees consistently negate any employment gains made in the private sector. These layoffs negatively impact consumer spending, federal, state and local tax revenues, unemployment benefit costs and the costs of medicaid. To say nothing of the continued deterioration of our already challenged educational system. They are laying off policemen, firemen, transportation workers, sanitation personnel. The fact is we are getting smaller government on a state and local level with each passing day - and the results are NOT going to be pretty.

The Obama/McConnell tax package that extended the Bush era tax cuts for just about everyone, may end up being the "last hurrah" for the "kick the can down the road" crowd. The package's stimulus potential is limited. Its debt-increasing potential, on the other hand, is exponential.

The idiotic 2% reduction in employees' Social Security contributions alone will cost $120 billion and threatens to weaken this vital component of middle and lower income retirement. First there was Greece, then there was Ireland. Could the U.S. be next?

For now, I will bask just a tiny bit longer in the glow of a wonderful holiday season. Tomorrow will arrive soon enough.