They. Just. Do. Not. Get. It.

Talk about congenital idiocy and thank God for a Governor with some stones. From the New York Times:

Lawmakers Restore Cuts, but a Veto Comes Quickly
Hoping to seize control of a budget battle dominated for weeks by Gov. David A. Paterson, lawmakers voted on Monday to restore hundreds of millions of dollars in education and health spending that the governor had sought to cut. But just hours later, Mr. Paterson exercised his line-item veto power to cancel the added school aid � and said that more such vetoes were on the way.

The appropriation legislation, devised by Democratic leaders in the Senate and Assembly, allowed lawmakers to rebuff emergency bills submitted by Mr. Paterson on Sunday that would have forced a partial government shutdown had the lawmakers failed to approve them. The alternative bills passed comfortably in the Assembly but narrowly in the State Senate. Several Democratic senators had threatened to vote against the legislation because it offered only modest property tax relief for suburban and rural homeowners and omitted a plan backed by Mr. Paterson and the Senate to allow New York�s public universities to set their own tuition without legislative approval.

Passage of the appropriation bills effectively completes the state budget, now almost three months late. But Mr. Paterson�s rapid counterattack sets up a fresh confrontation with the Legislature, which is likely to seek to override the veto, perhaps as early as Tuesday. The Legislature is also preparing to approve nearly $1 billion in taxes, fees and other revenue measures later in the week.

Speaking to reporters on Monday night, Mr. Paterson said that the Legislature had �presented us with a series of bills that have the same gimmicks, chicanery and avoidant conduct that has characterized fiscal management in this state for far too long.�

Mr. Paterson also drew unexpected support from his onetime archrival, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo. Mr. Cuomo, who is running to succeed Mr. Paterson as governor, has for weeks avoided miring himself in Albany�s budget fight. But he waded in on Monday, criticizing the Legislature�s proposal to replace school aid cuts with tax increases.

�I think that�s exactly the wrong thing for this state at this time,� he said, adding, �Restoring the cuts with additional taxation is a mistake.�

Nobody wants to see their pet project get cut but, looking at this from a much larger view, the New York State budget is unsustainable. They are looking at raising taxes at the same time that overtaxed citizens and businesses are fleeing the state for places more favorably to business growth. The mighty engine of Wall Street which used to provide such a major source of tax revenue is just a shade of its former self (thanks to big government) and more regulation and taxation is just going to drive it further into the hole. Time to man up, grow a pair, bite the bullet -- pick your clich� -- and cut the size of the State Government and lower taxes. Contrary to your flawed thinking, incoming revenue will go up -- this has happened before and can happen again.