A CONFIDENCE GAME

Has anyone noticed that the last time Nassau County faced a financial crises of the magnitude that is currently staring us all in the face it was under Republican leadership?

Let's review. Nassau’s last fiscal meltdown came in 1999, after decades of unchecked spending and out of control patronage at the hands of a series of Republican county executives and supervisors, paid for with mounting debt and one-time revenues like desperation sales of county land at fire sale prices.

This led to a $200 million deficit and a credit rating barely above junk. It triggered a Democratic takeover of what had long been a Republican bastion. And it ended with a $100 million state bailout in 2000 and the creation of a watchdog agency, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, to oversee the county’s fiscal practices.

Under pressure from that authority, Mr. Mangano’s Democratic predecessor, Thomas R. Suozzi, raised property taxes, shrank the county work force and reduced the county’s reliance on borrowing to pay for operating costs.

In an attempt to stabilize the county's revenue stream by establishing a recurring revenue source Mr. Suozzi instituted a 2.5 percent tax on home heating bills. As effective as it was unpopular, the tax was a necessary component of maintaining the county's fiscal health.
 
In the election for county executive that followed, Mr. Mangano and the Nassau Republican machine pounded away at the unpopular tax vowing to repeal it and restore confidence in county government.

As most of us know, there is no free lunch. If you campaign against a tax you either have to find a way to replace the revenue it generated or you need to cut spending to align with the reality of reduced resources.

Mr. Mangano and the Republicans in the county legislature got rid of the energy tax all right but never came up with the spending cuts or a way to replace the lost revenue. It is a pattern straight out of the Republican playbook of the last 40 years. The truth, as we have all witnessed first hand, is that when it comes to fiscal responsibility, Republicans talk a good game but the only time during the past 40 years that Nassau's finances have been under sound footing is the 8 year period of time when the county was under Democratic leadership.

Once again, reckless Republican fiscal policies have put Nassau County on the Brink of financial disaster and a take over of its finances by state watchdogs.

Is this what Mr. Mangano and the Republicans meant by restoring confidence in county government? Sounds more like a confidence game to me.

To the voters of Nassau County, how is voting Republican working out for you so far?

Oh c'mon, that's an easy one for anyone who is paying attention.