ALBANY - Gov. Paterson, convinced the state faces its worst fiscal crisis since the mid-1970s, will deliver the grim news in an unprecedented special address to New Yorkers as soon as tomorrow night, The Post has learned.
The governor's address - which his aides hope will be televised by public and cable news stations - will say that plunging state revenues will force painful cuts in state services, necessitate a reduction in the state work force, possibly through layoffs, and require other difficult economic measures, source said.
Paterson is also expected to announce that he's ordered state agencies to slash spending beyond the relatively modest 3.3 percent cuts he ordered in late spring.
He may also call a special session of the Legislature to propose reducing some of the record-high levels of spending that were approved as part of the state's new budget in April.
"The situation is worse than anyone realizes," said a source close to Paterson.
"The governor has said he's tired of the state going from deficit to deficit, spending like it has a credit card that never has to be paid, and that he's prepared to take action," the source said.
There is a relatively simple solution, but one that will never be offered by the governor or his advisors: Cut tax rates. It works every time it's tried. Slash the tax rates on capital gains and other income-producing activities and he'll soon see state revenues jump in the right direction.
However, Paterson is a Democrat so his answer will be a combination of threatened spending cuts and tax increases. Nothing will ever get cut - he'll just make the threats to bully the legislature into passing more taxes. New York, like California, is already driving business out of their state with absurd taxes on businesses and individuals, and now they're reaping the reward.
Blame it on the economy if you want, but they were positioning themselves for this fiscal disaster long before the economic downturn started.
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