OK not to start an argument here, but I see a lot of democrat bashing here. You guys do realize that our state legislature was controlled by republicans forever before this last session, and Bush was running the country for the 8 years before Obama was elected right? I agree that fed and state government is bloated and state worker union legacy payments are drowning this state, but you can't blame democrats for all the problems going on, just like I can't blame republicans for all the problems going on either. You all may not agree with the approach but I believe the Obama administration is doing all they can to help the country get going again. It will take more than a couple years to fix more than a decades worth of irresponsible government.BTW I can't find the study right now but in my American Gov course a few semesters ago I saw a study that was done on state freedoms; NYS was ranked as the least free state in the US based on amount of restrictive laws and taxation.
Esox I'm not going to argue with you about any of this because you've already made up your mind and are obviously very partisan. I've taken many financial, accounting, financial markets, and economics courses. While that one thing you pointed out had a part in the default rate, repeal of the Glass Steigal Act (a republican move), banks leveraging at a 30:1 ratios, and getting insane with mortgage backed derivatives was the major cause of the financial meltdowns and subsequent bailouts. Believe it or not, they could have more than survived the defaults without a bailout if they had practiced restraint instead of outright greed. These are cold hard facts, not speculation, and backed up by most economists and financial professionals.
I agree with you on the whole D and R thing. I just get sick of the blame games. I align myself with more of the D ideas than the R's but I am by no means a party line guy. There are obviously crooks and morons on both sides. I do believe that Obama is doing the best with what he has to work with. I don't know if that's saying too much though....