Budget crisis

The state Legislature has lost direction. New York has a gaping $3.2 billion deficit. So what is the solution? Add to it.

That's what lawmakers will do if they succeed in reversing a proposed license plate replacement plan to raise $129 million. Never mind that they voted for it just a few months ago. Now Democrats have had a change of heart. They don't like it. They want to block the program before it takes effect. Gov. David A. Paterson says he will go along, if the Legislature can find other ways to generate the revenue. So where will the $129 million come from? More smoke and mirrors?

So far, the Democratic-controlled Legislature has failed to present any reasonable solutions to the problem. It has offered one-time fiscal gimmicks. It has rejected out-of-hand Gov. Paterson's proposals to cut spending by $5 billion over two years and keep New York from running out of cash in the next month.

Senate Democrats don't appear to have any viable plan to close the long-term deficit that could reach $15 billion in coming years. Maybe a plan will emerge as the special session continues today. However, as of Monday, the strategy in the Legislature was to say no to the governor's proposal.

Senate and Assembly Democrats, with Republican support, have ruled out the governor's proposed midyear school aid cuts of nearly $700 million. Any hope of that happening ended when a coalition of seven Democrats, including Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, said they would oppose the 4.5 percent reduction.

Incredibly, Democrats are ready to hit New York businesses with a $1 billion tax hike on health care providers on top of $8 billion in new fees and taxes already included in the budget, the New York Post reported Monday. The costs would undoubtedly be passed on to businesses, hospitals and consumers. It is the opposite of what the rest of the nation is doing by trying to rein in health care expenses.

Senate Democrats are without an effective leader. Their response to the governor has been disjointed. Out-of-power Republicans, hoping to capitalize politically on the Democrats' dilemma, deride them. Lawmakers refuse to acknowledge the state's overspending as the root of the problem. The Legislature has to face up to the fiscal crisis facing New York and slash spending now.