Legislation

Postponed House Vote on Debt Ceiling

July 28, 2011 Budget

At this point, the House Republicans has postponed the vote on Boehner’s bill extending the debt ceiling and cutting the budget. Right now, the Republicans don’t have the votes to even pass their own bill. Reminds me of an incident years ago in the NYS Assembly. The parties and positions were the inverse of what […]

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Beware of political gimmicks in public finance … they metastasise

July 28, 2011 Budget

I keep thinking that this debt ceiling debacle is the result of a political gimmick whose origin is long forgotten. During decades of work in public finance, I’ve certainly seen more than my share. Somebody probably thought it was an essentially harmless but useful political symbol to buy a few votes on a budget or […]

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RIP Phil Pinsky

July 25, 2011 Legislation

I want to note the passing of Philip Pinsky, an attorney from Syracuse, NY and former First Assistant Counsel to the Republican Majority in the NYS Senate. Among other issues, Phil handled health and welfare issues. Some time back, I also worked for the NYS Legislature. But I worked for the NYS Assembly’s Committee on […]

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