As the world laments at the disaster in Haiti and we see the images of the aftermath of the massive quake, the human death toll, followed by a second quake; we often only see images and hear survivor stories brought to us by Western media. One would think that the United States is solely involved in the massive relief efforts. It was such a relief to know that the whole world has in fact pitched in to provide humanitarian assistance to the people and the island country of Haiti.

Governor David Paterson today proposed a series of spending cuts and new fees and taxes to close a total $15 billion gap in the State's budget this year and next. Major areas hit in the Governor's Executive Budget for FY2009-2010 are health care ($3.5 billion), education ($2 billion) and elimination of the STAR school tax adjustment rebate ($1.7 billion). Human services programs were targeted for $385 million in cuts while mental hygiene services (OMH, OMRDD, OASAS) will be cut by $425 million. Proposals to increase revenues by $3.1 billion focused on fees and sales tax increases while avoiding increases to the State's personal income tax rates.

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