Finance

Mitt Romney is a Cluster Bomb

November 28, 2011 Finance

Like cluster bombs, Mitt Romney is indifferent to indiscriminate “collateral damage.” I’ve been doing some research on private equity firms and the more I see, the more I suspect that they’re just another version of the rapacious financial practices of the last couple decades. They may be better disguised than “collateralized debt obligations” and other […]

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“Balanced” Budgets are Fine When You Have Plenty of Cash, but Balance May Not be Enough to Prevent a Crash

November 14, 2011 Budget

When I was a young Air Force pilot, one of the greybeards that I flew with counseled me that the most important job of an Aircraft Commander was “managing the margin of error.” Flying close to home, with less than a full load, or in good weather was much different from flying over the Pacific, […]

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Albany County & Orange County, NY Budgets and their County Nursing Homes

October 5, 2011 Budget

Those who know me, know that for several years as the Albany County, NY Commissioner of Management & Budget, I developed and pushed very hard for a strategy to expand home and community based long-term care services and to close the Albany County Nursing Home. I thought and still think that this direction made much […]

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Good – Voters Turn Down Bond Authorization for Another Arena

August 3, 2011 Debt

Nassau County, NY is already in deep, deep financial trouble. Despite the fact that it is one of if not the wealthiest county in New York, its finances are currently being overseen by a state-sponsored and enforced financial control board. Despite their weakened financial straits, Nassau proposed borrowing $400 million for a new hockey arena. […]

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