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Which New York State departments could be eliminated completely to save money?

By Howard B. Owens
Howard B. Owens

Why do we need a State Department of Education (we don't need a federal one, but as long as their is one -- talk about a department that is totally redundant!) Not to mention education is a local issue, not a state or federal issue.

And some of these departments perform important functions, but they could be pushed down to the local level (social services, for example) and/or made into much smaller agencies (rather than departments), such as agriculture and markets.

Nov 19, 2009, 8:43am Permalink
Peter O'Brien

Limiting it to 3 is not enough. I would eliminate everything but corrections, motor vehicle, and taxation, all three of those would be reduced.

First to go would be family assistance.

Nov 19, 2009, 9:13am Permalink
bud prevost

While elimination of any would be improbable, not to mention near impossible, I agree that everything should be looked at for fraud, duplication of services, inefficiencies, anything that costs money. Also, why do we spend so much money on support staffs, multiple offices, transportation of our elected officials?? You would think with the advances in technology and communications, the need for bigger government would be eliminated.
If we cut fraud by 10%, the savings would be astronomical

Nov 19, 2009, 10:04am Permalink
tom hunt

I support a 15% reduction across the board in all departments. With unemployment soaring why should the private sector bear the burden?

Nov 19, 2009, 11:46am Permalink
Doug Yeomans

Medicaid and welfare could take the largest cuts. With Medicaid, fraud accounts for some astronomical monetary number. Get control of it. Welfare is also a bloated monster that could have lots of fat trimmed from it.

If you can walk and breathe, you can work doing something. I don't care if it's working on a farm, picking apples in an orchard, sweeping floors somewhere, working at a corner store, cleaning houses..etc. WORK!

Don't tell me you can't find work. I haven't been unemployed in 28 years of working and that covers 2 recessions. I used to groom horses on a horse farm in Mendon, NY to get a paycheck. I've swept floors, emptied trash, dug ditches, worked in a pop bottling factory, been a fork truck mechanic, twisted wrenches on production equipment and then got my heating and AC licenses which is what I now do for a living.

As far as I'm concerned, too many people are spoiled. My grandfather came to this country through Ellis Island like so many others and there was no welfare. There were times when he lived in a tent because there wasn't any other place to stay. For money he would go to the hardware store, buy a few light bulbs and then knock on doors trying to sell them for a few cents more than he paid for them.

Look around you. Times are tough but compared to the rest of the world and compared to how it used to be, we're still pretty damn lucky to be where we are. Lets get out priorities in order.

Food, shelter, jobs, manners, no entitlement. Everything else is a luxury. Do people need things they can't possibly pay for and get to keep when they file for bankruptcy, leaving the rest of us to pay for it? HELL NO!

There's something that's never mentioned much. Bankruptcy. It costs everyone dearly. My belief is, if you created the debt, you pay for it. I don't care if it takes you the rest of your life. TOO BAD! Take responsibility.

Rant over..this one got me going..

Nov 19, 2009, 2:25pm Permalink
robert fazio

i agree with doug. there is always something for people to do. these medicaid people about 95% just don't have any intention to work. they know how to work the system.i say if you are on welfare you shouldn't have t.v.or cigarettes or cell phones. just aroom to sleep in and food to eat and i don't mean steak. sorry but i feel like doug that they should get off their ----- and go to work.

Nov 19, 2009, 3:15pm Permalink
Bea McManis

Posted by robert fazio on November 19, 2009 - 3:15pm
i agree with doug. there is always something for people to do. these medicaid people about 95% just don't have any intention to work. they know how to work the system.i say if you are on welfare you shouldn't have t.v.or cigarettes or cell phones. just aroom to sleep in and food to eat and i don't mean steak. sorry but i feel like doug that they should get off their ----- and go to work.

There are several people who are on public assistance where I live. They are not old enough for social security, but have illnesses that keep them from working.
Are these people to be treated like criminals? A cell, with a bed and a ration of food. No television? Even criminals get TV.
What exactly is the diet for people unable to make it on their own? Do we go back to the days of work houses; poor houses and, in the spirit of the season, gruel?
Not everyone works the system. I see these people everyday. They suffer pain I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Do we really have to add to that pain by branding them as people who only deserve what we (the collective, we) determine to be punishment for their current situation?

Nov 19, 2009, 8:34pm Permalink
George Richardson

Eliminate Taxation! Nobody likes Taxes. Get rid of Motor Vehicle too, registration and inspection are just taxes, they should be part of Taxation. Eliminate Taxation! Nobody likes taxes, except old liberals like Bea.

Nov 19, 2009, 10:12pm Permalink
George Richardson

Peter, when you start selling Muffin Tops, be sure to donate the Muffin Bottoms to the street urchins and associated riff raff. You could be bad for business bud, but if Chelsea can bake worth a damn it won't matter. Just the sight of Weck Rolls makes me salivate.

Nov 19, 2009, 10:21pm Permalink
Amy Davis

How about some cuts in the Governor's office...not much good coming from there. He's looking everywhere to take more money from the one's who are already struggling to make their bills...we don't hear much about him cutting anything in "his area" at this point.

Sorry that option wasn't included.

Nov 20, 2009, 12:53am Permalink
Bruce Wiseley

I'm a retired military Nurse, and I have a little part-time job that takes throughout Batavia everyday. I started to do an un-official survey asking the individuals I would see walking the streets a few questions. Do you have a job; do you have a big screen TV; do you have a cell phone ( which they usually had in their hand); are you in school; if un-employed, are you looking for work; and would you work a minimum wage job if it was offered; if they lived in a two parent household now, or when they were growing up;? I didn't ask what part of town they lived in; although I could figure out what their ethnicity was (usually), I didn't ask. The answers I recieved, and the statistics I compiled are frightening!, and maybe indicative of the Country we are now living in. This was just an idea I had while driving around Batavia, and everyone I spoke with had no problem telling me their situation, and a few did it with pride in the voice! I would love to release my findings, but the back-lash would create more problems than solutions. Suffice it to say, even in our small town, the entitlement mentality is alive and well.

Nov 20, 2009, 6:42am Permalink
Howard B. Owens

I just deleted a few comments that were either directly personal attacks, or getting too personal with some hard feelings behind them.

Look, if you find yourself writing about the other person rather than what the person said, you're at least starting to get into an area where it's getting too personal, getting into personal attacks and that's where trouble starts.

Stick to ideas, to what the person says, not who the person is. That' only causes problems.

I get feedback all the time -- people don't want to read the bickering. It diminishes the value of the site.

If you don't like somebody's ideas, tough. Don't make it personal. Debunk their ideas, but don't start degrading them or calling into question who they are or what they do because you disagree with them politically.

Nov 20, 2009, 8:12am Permalink
Jeff Allen

Just curious...to the 27 people who voted to eliminate the Department of Corrections, what would you propose we do with all the criminals?

Nov 20, 2009, 8:37am Permalink
bud prevost

While it would never fly here, many prisons out west are private businesses, who subcontract housing inmates. Off the top of my head, I don't know the logistics, but if Arizona is doing it, why can't it be done here?

That's the terrible thing about our state. We all have a mentality that the government is there to take care of us, up to and including offering lifetime employment. While I'm not exactly an anarchist, I feel very strongly that many functions of government could be privatized and run more efficiently. The plethora of authorties (thruway,gaming,racing,housing,blah blah blah) could easily be eliminated and managed better by private enterprise, with the AG's office there for law enforcement. I really think people BELIEVE that the world would end if government in Albany were to be completely revamped. Guess what? It won't.

Nov 20, 2009, 9:42am Permalink
Chelsea O'Brien

Privatizing the parks system would save a lot of money. Eliminating some family assistance as well as some education programs would save money. Changing the way SUNYs work, and how most of their tuition spikes go straight to Albany, might fix some things. Combining resources, eliminating support staff for state legislators and the governor's office would save a crap ton of money.

We aren't BORN with the right to collect unemployment, family assistance, free lunches, disability, social security, etc etc. Those programs have all been implemented by our ever-growing government, at both the state and federal levels. While unemployment definitely helps the people that collect it, it is limited to a certain amount of money and number of weeks one can collect from it. That's how other assistance programs should be run, it would be more efficient and could eliminate rampant fraud. Difficult choices need to be made, and if discussions like these can't be civil at this level, how do we expect our elected officials to be able to make these decisions? Politics can't be personal, it should be run like a business, and should be based on fiscal responsibility.

If legislators cut programs, they lose votes. If they raise taxes, they lose votes. If they do nothing, except discussing somehow creating more programs while lowering taxes, they get reelected. You do the math.

Nov 20, 2009, 10:21am Permalink
Jeff Allen

"If legislators cut programs, they lose votes. If they raise taxes, they lose votes. If they do nothing, except discussing somehow creating more programs while lowering taxes, they get reelected. You do the math. "
Chelsea, you just summed up politics as briefly and succinctly as I've seen in a long time...well said.

Nov 20, 2009, 11:08am Permalink
Bruce Wiseley

I have to disagree with "Social Security" being included on that list. Every paxpayer has contributed to that SLUSH FUND their entire working life, for the exact purpose of either helping with a disability, or with retirement. There is certainly fraud within the disability part of the system, but the retirement payments must be maintained! Unfortunately, the idiots in Washington have so mis-managed the fund, that our kids, who are also paying into it, will never see a dime! If any private company money manager acted the same way with your money, he would be fired, and then brought up on criminal charges!

Nov 21, 2009, 7:16am Permalink

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