You really don't want to know my comments, but I could fix NYS in 5 minutes. Deport all illegal aliens, make everyone in service, business and education speak English only, cut spending to education, make sports in school club sports, flat 10% tax rate on purchases. No income or state taxes. 2 Term limit for all politicians. Time limit of 1 years on public assistance offering GED and work training or military option and limit number of children born to unwed recipients to 1. Investigate all medicaid recipients for eligibility especially for handicap permits and who is using them. End all frivolous lawsuits that clog legitimate judicial actions. 3 strike law applies to all convicted criminals. Build more prisons. Re-instate death penalty. That's a start. I'll think of more.

collect ALL delinquent dues,fines and taxes. Close all redundant ,obsolete agencies. Reorganize the remaining priority ,purpose and relationship of cost to resulting service. COST/BENEFIT testing !!!!

Terminate planned $650M investment through NYS Empire Development Corp. in AMD and its spin-off The Foundry Co. The semiconductor industry is no longer growing, it has not grown significantly for 10 yrs and there is widespread agreement that Moore's Law has ended. Only Intel, Samsung and TSMC have viable business models. NYS needs to end corporate welfare subsidies to AMD, IBM or any other corporation. The market must choose winners and losers, not the government. Corporate welfare is the way that socialism run to the ground the failed Soviet experiment.

So far as many state institutions go, especially universities, what we really need to do is shrink the disparity between administrators and faculty. The business model is broken, and the top-down approach of throwing money at the system has resulted in institutions where administrators, department chairs, and tenured faculty at our universities--who often teach no more than five classes per year--are making salaries of close to or over $100K while adjuncts, who teach a significant portion if not a majority of university classes in this state, make $2,500 per class. When administrators are left in charge of these large institutions, they give themselves raises and foster an underclass of workers that suffer. There needs to be more government oversight as to the pay disparities between the administrators and those instructors.

Invest in education and make SUNY one of the most attractive and effective university systems in the U.S. (by investing in medical research, renewable energy research, nursing education, etc. NY will create jobs - look at how CA and MA are using their colleges as economic drivers).

Seniors are being taxed from their homes, while the millions on section 8 never have to worry about a roof over their head. Those who no longer qualify for welfare are going to SSDI for a permanent source of income. There are not enough people working to support our system and as such we are allowing a welfare state. A state where over 5 million New Yorkers do not contribute to the tax base.

Why not start taxing the credit unions that do all the same services as other financial institutions.

Closely examine cost of Workmans Compensation fraud & prosecute offenders accordingly. Raise the rent of state owned housing for current state employees and retirees. Current rate too low. Eliminate payment of overtime - most can be avoided by all state agencies. Offer State municipal bonds allowing state tax payers to "buy into" their government ! . (i.e. Offer a special program.) Consolidate facilities within ALL state agencies DOCS, OMH, DEC, DOT, Etc. Close outdated facilities such as SING SING and sell the premium real estate along the Hudson river ! . The list goes on, I have a million answers but nobody is listening!

I must agree with the statement from "America Now"

My husband and I have been in business in NYS since 1974, when my husband was laid off from the telephone company. While i believe we should invest in education and take care of our elders, i think there is a limit to the spending in these areas. We are working harder today than ever for much much less, we had to borrow for our children's education, we had to borrow to meet everyday expenses over and over. After 30 years of doing business in NYS we pay more taxes both personally and business. we get it at both ends. we have very little benefits, such as health insurance. we have no retirement saved all we ever made we invested into our business. who will bail us or our business out? NYS need to cut state jobs, cut benefits that are so unfair to us; we pay for doctors, medication and have high insurance premium costs. Cut holiday pay, increase work week to 45 hours. this is what we do in our business to survive. Please cut all spending. it is the little bits that make a difference, not just the huge cuts, please do it. Thank you!

I think the Governor should address the Budget Deficit through cutting State Jobs from the top down. I am a former state worker of the Insurance Department's Consumer Services Bureau in Albany. While employed I observed so much fraud and abuse of tax payers dollars from high ranking officials it was sickening. The Governor should begin cutting state jobs and cut from the top down because that is where the employees with the highest salaries are doing little. The principal examiner in my department was the worst customer friendly person I met and she is making close to over $100,000 and she did nothing but attend meetings and complain about the department not making the monthly quota for closing consumer complaints. Where I worked there were employees sleeping at their desk, reading newspapers, doing crossword puzzles, taking hour breaks and 2-3 hour lunches, salaried employees would come in at 730 leave at 2pm or 3pm after their long lunch, their would be 30 minute "walk" breaks in addition to lunches and other breaks. So start the state cuts at the top and you will see a change in the deficit. Start the cuts at the bottom and you will see a decline in work done and customer service.

Appreciate the Governor's candid honesty and willingness to recognize and face the fiscal problem head on. Hope we get rid of NYS Empire Program, reduce govt bureaucracy and take away that secret slush fund that the majority leaders use to bribe and reward the other legislators with. In cutting back on programs, please don't close Van Duyn Nsy. Home. It is very much needed in Onondaga Cty. Schools can cut out their big sports programs. Let parent/student efforts raise the money for them.

NY has one of the lowest ratios of private citizens to public employees. The last I heard the ratio was 9 private citizens to every public employee. This is so out of whack with every other state whose averages vary between 12:1 - 15:1 citizens to public employees. Most of the department cuts of employees are targeted toward attrition. Most departments would better serve the state and it's budget crises by laying off employees and learning to do more with less. The cost to NYS in personnel costs is staggering and the biggest bang for the buck would be to cut personnel costs.

Has anyone in the State government ever thought of the possibility of selling some of the massive amounts of land that NY State owns? The government could sell/auction portions of the Catskills, Adirondaks, etc. and generate a significant revenue. I am sure there would be no shortage of people eager to make such investments.

Information is the way to go. Knowledge balance the heart and the home or territory and compassion. Information systems that are accessible yet secure and private would help markets and replace most bureaucrats and administrators. Our students would help build these systems along with our future economy based on renewable fuels, human energy, whole plant based diet, and community development.

First, I question the governor's numbers. Most of these are derived from projected job losses/reduced bonuses on Wall Street. How can his experts reasonably project what those will look like in 2011/2012 as they are doing when no one can predict the stock market from one day to the next. Second, New York more than deserves additional money from the federal government. For many years our state has paid billions more to the federal government than we have received in return. We don't need a bailout, just our fair share. Third, SUNY tuition must be raised. My son attends a private New York college where tuition is close to 40,000/year. I work at a SUNY college where tuition is 4,350/year. SUNY is a ridiculous bargain and there are many SUNY students from families with greater resources than mine. Finally, there are probably numerous ways to consolidate government services, but I take offense at those who propose cuts in benefits to state employees. I left the private business world to work for the state 15 years ago. It took almost 5 years for my income to reach the level I had been at with my previous employer and people of similar skills were earning twice my income in the private sector during the late 90's. Still, I loved my job and worked very long hours, regularly sacrificing unused vacation and sick time...and I'm not that unique. State employees, for the most part, are hard-working and generous people who love being of service. For many years they have sacrificed potential income to work at a job they were enthusiastic about because it served the public, not stockholders. These jobs also happened to provide good benefits. I find the current attacks on their benefits to be a mean-spirited response to the many broken promises made to retirees in private business. If government itself can't be held to the promises that lured and retained its workforce then no employer is to be trusted.