By The Editors 3/27/12 6:56pm

opinion

Progress in Albany

Ordinarily a Republican victory in a heavily Democratic State Senate district would be seen as a blow to a Democratic governor. It only makes sense, right?

Wrong. After all, these are not ordinary times. Read More

By The Editors 3/13/12 7:04pm

opinion

Pension Reform, Now

Moments of absolute clarity are rare in politics. Governance usually is a muddle of compromises, short-term solutions and outright evasions. It isn’t pretty, but nobody ever said democracy was a work of art. Competing interests need to be satisfied; elections need to be won.

But every now and again, politicians and policymakers are confronted with a dilemma so profound and so frightening that the usual methods of operations can no longer apply.

Such a moment is here. State and local governments are on the verge of bankruptcy because of the spiraling cost of public employee pensions. The time for reform is now. Read More

By The Editors 3/30/11 12:03am

Editorial

Letting the Public Peek at Pensions: Props to You, Liu!

Transparency in government is a good thing, so we welcome City Comptroller John Liu’s plan to allow unprecedented public access to the city’s vast $113 billion pension system. Fund managers may not be so thrilled about this sort of transparency, but they’ll have to get used to it as part of the price of doing Read More

By Jeremy B. White 1/26/11 3:45pm

THE PEOPLE SPEAK

Poll: New Yorkers Want to Balance Budget Without Raising Taxes or Cutting Services

A new Quinnipiac University poll confirms that a soaring budget deficit is  the most important issue to most New Yorkers, but also registers resistance to most budget-cutting measures other than freezing wages for state workers.

77% of respondents said New York State has “very serious” budget problems, and 70% were “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” Read More

By David Freedlander 1/25/11 10:31pm

Politics

Pension Reform Now

Mayor Bloomberg made it clear in his State of the City speech that pension reform will be his top legislative priority this year. Taxpayers can only wish him the best of luck-the issue is urgent, but the obstacles are formidable. 

The city needs Albany’s approval to achieve some necessary reforms, such as raising the retirement Read More