New NYS budget, forget the youth?

Due to the relative failure of the NYS government over the years, the state is left with a huge deficit. With this we usually see budget cuts start and be aimed of the children of the state. It seems to be that they are the most worthy of lesser funds, even though they are the ones who need it the most.

Governor Cuomo does not care as much for the well being of some of these children as he aims to shutdown many youth centers. These youth centers are safe havens for children who have no where to go after school. They also teach fundamental career and life building skills.

Even worse is the fact that the new budget gets rid of funding for homeless youth. New York has 45,000 homeless youth, can we be okay with saying no we can't help you? Where do these children go? They can't get a job and an apartment, do we just let them die? Why should criminals in jail be given food and a home while we say no to homeless children. If we ignore these needy children eventually they will become criminals, just to survive or just to get into jail to live.

These are the great NY officials making these policies, feel free to call and voice your opinion.
- Governor Andrew Cuomo (518) 474-8390
- Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (518) 455-3791
- Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (518) 455-3171
- Senator Joseph Robach (877) 854-2687

Budget Trimming

As New York trims it's budget, Long Island and the rest of the state will be severly hurt in many different ways. As Governor Cuomo's promise not to raise taxes stays true, there is only one way to balance the budget. That means trimming and removing programs that may not see important but have a greater affect than actually known. One example is Youth centers, these places give kids who parents work a place to go to so they don't have to be home alone or out in the streets doing the wrong thing. As funding gets smaller and smaller many youth centers will have to close down and it will greatly affect the lives of many kids. After school programs like youth centers are just as important to school itself. Youth centers give under privileged children access to technology, opportunities to learn useful skills, a respect for the community, and the comfort of having someone to talk to.

Why should kids always be the first ones to suffer during economic reform? Money is wasted through many different programs that have little to no benefits. The correctional system is a joke in it self. Many convicts return to jail after being released making it a pointless system. Many convicts themselves are in jail for drug related offenses themselves. A solution can be the taxation of drugs themselves, it would earn money through taxes and remove people from jail. Another thing is that it can deter the use of drugs as well. It can be done the same way cigarettes are sold, the high taxes on them deter people from buying them which will make use possibly less but in the end more profit for the government.

Should kids really need to suffer though, aren't there other programs that can take a hit? If Long Island was a state would we need to ask these questions? Think about it