Psss...What Would You Do?

Yesterday on CNBC's Squawk Box embattled Governor Paterson came out swinging at the ghosts challenging would be candidates to explain what they would do.

"If you had any courage ... get up and say what you'd do now."

It sounded to me like poor Dave was desperately fishing for some free advice. Can he really be that lost? Well, he just might be, but, Paterson would never have the sense to realize it. Instead, he was actually trying to turn up the heat as it becomes more and more apparent that his own Party wants him out.

Than the Governor threw a swing while dropping his guard:

"When all these phantom people who say they are running for governor get into this race, they're going to have to answer the same questions that I've been answering for 18 months,"

Well, most New Yorkers really don't think you have been answering our financial crisis, Mr. Governor. In fact, roughly 80% DISAPPROVE of the way you are executing the duties of your office. We simply do not like your "answers".

And if you are taking a swing at potential candidates like Mayor Rudy Giuliani, you are way out of your league.

Do you really want to know how Rudy Giuliani would handle New York's financial crisis? Look how he governed as mayor.

When he became mayor, New York City was in severe financial trouble. His pro-growth, conservative policies cut unemployment in half, created 423,000 private sector jobs, and increased personal income by nearly 50%.

Like you, Rudy faced a massive budget deficit; $2.3 billion dollars. However, by 2001, he turned that into a $2.9 billion dollar deficit.

Stop scratching your head Dave, I will tell you how he did it. As mayor, Rudy slashed the wasteful spending and drastically reduced the size of government. In fact, he eliminated 20,000 full-time city-funded city jobs (or nearly 20%)excluding teachers and uniformed police officers. I know Mr. Governor, what about all those jobs lost! Unemployment must have spiked! Actually, 640,000 people were able to come off the welfare rolls.

And, the answer was never to burden New Yorkers with more taxes. Rudy reduced or completely eliminated 23 taxes, including sales, income and business taxes. This resulted in over $9 billion dollars in tax savings for hard working New Yorkers.

Mr. Governor, if you want to know what Rudy would do, I suppose the answer is simple: he would rise to the occasion and tackle the tough issues facing New Yorkers day in and day out with common sense solutions built on the principles of accountability and responsibility. Rudy would get us on the right track. Unlike you, Mr. Governor, he would actually work on our behalf.

If you want to challenge candidates like Mayor Rudy Giuliani on economic policies, you are way out of your league.. I hope your suit cases are ready ( oh, and leave the $20,000 rug your wife bought to decorate the mansion in Albany. That belongs to the taxpayers silly!).