My father got so fed up with me during one 5-year period back in the 1970’s, that he repeatedly charged and convicted me for a series of fatal character flaws:
“You are irresponsible, thoughtless, and you take for granted that one of us will clean up after you.”

 I was thinking about that refrain Thursday afternoon as Senator Liz Krueger held an impromptu press conference on why the Senate Democrats decided to go home for the weekend without closing the budget gap.

Krueger explained that the Governor’s proposal to cut 600 million dollars from education in mid-year simply wasn’t acceptable to the members of her conference (fyi, it wasn’t acceptable to the GOP conference either). So, instead of staying in Albany, Senators will be spending the weekend detailing a plan which only trims $150 million from education.

When asked how this plan would work, Senator Krueger used a term I had never heard before in this context: 

 

 “Spinning Up“

Here is the term used in a sentence:

Senator Krueger explained that by “spinning up” over 360-plus million dollars from NEXT year’s stimulus funding, the gap to close in education would only total $150 million dollars.

 Definition:  Spinning up

After some excellent Perry Mason-quality grilling by Ken Lovett of the NY Daily News, it became apparently that “spinning up” was another way of saying,  borrowing against future federal aid.  

If government were a regular person like us, it would be saying,

“I’m borrowing money from a future paycheck”.

The problem is this: New York State, as legislators know, will have to deal with a budget gap next year that is billions of dollars larger than the one we are facing now.

So, really, if Government were a regular person like you and me, it would be saying,

“I’m borrowing against a future paycheck even though our new car payment (for a hot BMW 12 Series) will begin at the very moment my paychecks start to dwindle”.

Why does the State Senate advocate “Spinning Up”?

Because, stated the Senator, it was a better option than cutting schools in the middle of the year.  And besides, the Federal government will probably extend the stimulus money through 2012. All 50 states, said Krueger, are actively asking the Federal Government for another round of stimulus aid.

On the next show —

On the next edition of The Capitol Pressroom, I will talk with Senator Liz Krueger about this concept of “spinning up” (which I cannot find in the dictionary) and what may happen to schools in the future if there is not another round of stimulus. 

Also, Russ Sciandra  will discuss the details of a proposal to begin collecting taxes from cigarettes sold on Indian lands.

And Brian Sampson of UnShackle Upstate  has a bone to pick with the Governor about a deal Paterson cut with the unions earlier this week, regarding Industrial Development Agencies.

You can hear The Capitol Pressroom live (or via podcast) on our website.

Or simply quit your job and move to a bucolic location somewhere between Herkimer and Buffalo where you can hear The Capitol Pressroom on a bunch of public radio stations across the central & western parts of the State.