[Moral Hazard]

“Unfortunately, when the boom ended and the economic cycle turned south, we were left with a tax structure that provided $3 billion less in revenue every fiscal year than it did at the beginning of the ‘90s, but with an expense burden almost 70 percent greater than existed back then. Let me repeat those numbers. Our annual tax revenues are $3 billion less per year, our expense our 70 percent more over the decade. And the attacks of 9/11 just exacerbated that problem.”

The other article you posted shows what a bizarre statement this is. The claim that “tax revenues are $3 billion less per year” is Michael Bloomberg complaining about the Giuliani tax cuts, while trying to make it sound like revenues actually decreased. Instead, as the chart in the article you linked to showed, revenue went from about $15 billion in 1990 to about $23 billion in 2001. And of course the 70% increase in expenses conveniently includes the latter half of the Dinkins administration with its big spending increases.

In other words the Bloomberg quote basically just demonstrates that it was Bloomberg who was the RINO, before he ceased to even call himself a Republican.

[calcowgirl]

The other article you posted shows what a bizarre statement this is.

Actually, no. The infrastructure and spending levels instituted by Rudy were handed over to Bloomberg, along with a revenue structure that was scheduled to decrease taxes (many reductions that Rudy enacted but did not implement--he only authorized them to take place after he left office.) In other words, he left all the heavy lifting for his successor.