Apparently, lowering taxes doesn't fix every single problem, including cancer.
Facing a huge budget deficit when he took office in January, Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano did not impose a hiring freeze. He did not stop borrowing to subsidize some of the richest school districts in the country. He did not eliminate the Police Department’s beloved mounted unit.
Instead, Mr. Mangano, a Republican who won one of the first upsets of the Tea Party era, did what he had promised: He cut taxes, adding $40 million to the county’s deficit, which has since reached nearly $350 million.
Now, with its bonds suddenly downgraded and a state oversight agency preparing to seize its checkbook and credit cards, Nassau is on the verge of a full-fledged fiscal crisis.
I bet Mr. Mangano screeched a ton about the deficit, even as he plotted his tax-cut fix all. Not to worry, though -- he can fix everything by breaking the unions!
For the fiscal year that begins Jan. 1, Mr. Mangano’s budget appears to include as many prayers as plans. He penciled in $60 million in givebacks from labor — surprising unions, who have contracts that run through 2015. Pressed on that point, Mr. Mangano said he would “order” union concessions, ignoring the idea’s dubious constitutionality and drawing biting mockery.
Voters get what they voted for.