Gov. Paterson's Pay Cut

Gov. Paterson announced on Thursday, March 5, 2009 that he will be taking a 10% pay cut in
his salary. He is putting his money where his mouth is.

He symbolically made the gesture while in a Buffalo attending a town-hall meeting when he was asked by a retiree why the governor can't cut the salaries of lawmakers while others are feeling the pain of the economy. The governor has no plans on making lawmakers take a pay cut. The only thing he wants his for people to do their jobs and have the deficit go away.

It is a nice gesture that the governor is willing to take a 10% pay cut to help the economy, but why he is so relucant to ask lawmakers to do the same. He would rather put people out of work than ask his employees to make a sacrifice, which most can afford to do. He should try re-evaluate his options and ask lawmakers to take a small pay cut temporarily to help the economy.

Schools to Get Stimulus Money

There is finally good news for the New York schools who will be getting their share of the federal stimulus money at the end of this month according to an article. According to Senator Charles
Schumer, schools will get half of their share of the federal stimulus package just in time when the board memebers and mayors are preparing their budgets for the 2009-20010. New York is set to get $24.6 billion over the next two years.

School districts need to obligate 85 percent of their money by the end of 2010 and the balance by the end of September 2011.

This is great schools are finally getting their just dessert. For too many years the schools have been short changed. This will not only save jobs but will give teachers the resources that they need to be able to give their students the best education that they are entitled to. After all,
children are our future, and if our children don't get the best education that they deserve, how
will they compete in a very cmpetitive society.

Hospital Clossings

Two hospitals in Queens have shut their doors. Mary Immaculate in Elmhurst and St John's in Jamaica this coming after their operator filed for bankruptcy in early February.

These closings don't just affect nearly 3,000 employees who are now unemployed but also about two different communties who relied on these hospitals for their health care. What is hard for these communties is that at the moment they have no where to go for their health care.

This reminds me of an advertisement I seen on TV where you have a young couple driving upto the emergency room and the doors are closed. The mom turns back to check on her child and is screaming what do we do now? Is this what our reality is going to be? Where people don't know where to turn in an emergency. If people don't have a hospital near by, how far is the nearest hospital and will they make it on time. Is a though that the people who are in
charge are playing Russian Roulette with our lives.