The story of budgetary politics: The necessary is the impossible, until it isn’t — then the impossible is the only alternative.
In the case of the state of New York, the impossible is the billions of dollars in spending cuts that Carl Paladino wants to make in the state, which, among other excesses, spends 40 percent more per government-school student than the national average. Can the impossible be done? Governor Paterson has some unusually insightful words:
“Everybody talks about what they’re going to do when they get into the executive branch, then when they get there the Legislature shuts them down,” said Governor David Paterson, 56, a Democrat and 20-year senator who isn’t on the Nov. 2 ballot.
In politics, the impossible is what you do when the money runs out.