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Rick Lazio on Budget & EconomyFormer Republican/Conservative Representative (NY-2) |
CLINTON: I don’t think that’s a good use of that space or of taxpayer dollars. There is work we need to do to upgrade the infrastructure. That’s why I support the Second Avenue subway. That’s why I support the East Side connector, a rail link to La Guardia and to JFK. I will go to the Senate to continue the work on Penn Station and others that Senator Moynihan has started.
LAZIO: I think it’s important to get the Jets and Giants back. This is not just a plan for a stadium; it’s also a plan for expansion of convention space. I don’t think this should be funded with public money entirely. But I believe that this is an important initiative to build jobs for New York.
CLINTON: I’m a very strong supporter of these changes that are needed to stimulate the upstate economy. And many of those changes can only take place at the state and local level. Because what I have laid forth in my economic plan for upstate is a way to use tax credits to stimulate business, to expand the high tech industry that is coming to Buffalo.
LAZIO: I do believe that the upstate economy has turned the corner. It also needs new partnerships, alliances, something I’ve been doing down in Long Island. Creating technology incubators, building on our assets in the upstate economy. Making sure that we build good partnerships and a first-class educational system. One of the things you can do is to begin to address the issue of taxation. We need to make sure that people don’t pay taxes on top of income that they’ve already paid taxes on.
A: Well, the real problem really is not that New York City gets more than it deserves. It’s that New York doesn’t get enough as a state. When we send $15 billion a year more to Washington in our tax dollars than we get back, something is desperately wrong.
LAZIO: I don’t believe that it’s a good idea for us to be building casinos. I would allow the state of New York to make these decisions. But in the end, I’m not a big fan of gambling. Economic development in the area is an important issue, but I would not focus on the quick hit, the cheap hit in gambling. I’d focus on the kind of jobs where our children can afford to stay here, raise a family, buy their own home.
CLINTON: I know how hard the people in Niagara are working to try to turn their economy around, and if they believe that a casino would help attract more tourists back, I would support that. I leave that to their judgment. But there has to be more of a strategy about the upstate economy --tax credits to help jobs be created, creating the regional skills, alliances, commitment to work force development, etc.
He was a member of the Budget Committee in 1995 that produced the measure with almost $200 billion in tax cuts over 5 years, the abolition of the Department of Education and sharp reductions in anticipated government spending for Medicare and many other popular programs. Ultimately, the fight with President Clinton over this budget led to the shutdown of the government in the winter of 1995-96.
When his committee adopted the Republican budget in May 1995, Lazio proclaimed that it would “move us from the path of increasing debt and inefficient, big, centralized government toward a government that is smaller, more decentralized and efficient.”
Over the years, Lazio voted for a constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget, billions more than President Clinton sought in military spending and sweeping tax cuts.
[As part of the Contract with America, within 100 days we pledge to bring to the House Floor the following bill]:
The Fiscal Responsibility Act:
A balanced budget/tax limitation amendment and a legislative line-item veto to restore fiscal responsibility to an out-of-control Congress, requiring them to live under the same budget constraints as families and businesses.