Bloomberg: Layoffs Coming, Budget Going To Be "Painful"

The Mayor of Money is digging in on layoffs and budget cuts, at least according to the Bloombergian mouthpiece paper, the Murdoch Street Post:

After weeks of issuing dire warnings that large-scale layoffs are coming, Mayor Bloomberg declared yesterday that when the numbers are finally released next week they'll be "very painful."

He offered no specifics, but indicated there's not much hope of a reprieve once his $65.6 billion executive budget for fiscal 2012 is made public May 5.

The mayor laid the blame on Albany and Washington, which he asserted had left the city with about $3 billion less in aid than it needs and was counting on.

He suggested that demonstrators planning a massive rally on Wall Street May 12 to protest his budgets cuts would be better suited directing their anger at the state and federal governments.

"New York City has to balance its budget by law," he said. "We will go ahead and do that, you can rest assured. And it will be very painful because we have a lot less money, which means a lot fewer people."

Hizzoner added, "What we have to do is decide will it be fewer cops, fewer firefighters, fewer teachers, fewer this, fewer that."

Bloomberg repeated that ominous assessment three times in slightly different versions during a press conference that dealt mostly with immigration.

More than 5,000 jobs -- primarily teachers -- are on the line.

In past years, the City Council has restored many service cuts imposed by the mayor as part of the annual budget negotiations. But one source said that will be much more difficult this year because tax revenues, which had been coming in beyond projections, have flattened since the preliminary budget was issued in February.

"There's going to be less money," said the source.

The mayor has proposed reductions to services ranging from day care to libraries to fire companies -- over and above 4,666 teacher layoffs.

...

Bloomberg does have one financial ace up his sleeve should he choose -- or be forced -- to use it.

In a savvy move during the boom years, the city established a health-benefits reserve for future retirees which it's been tapping to avoid even worse cuts. About $2 billion is left.

But the mayor has said he needs that cushion for 2013, when the city faces a deficit estimated at $4 billion.

This "very painful" budget comes on the heels of Bloomberg saying that we MUST NOT raise taxes on rich people because, well, just because.

So there you have it - very painful budget for working and middle class New Yorkers, continued low taxes and tax breaks for wealthy Bloomberg cronies.

Oh, and don't forget the continued squandering of city money on no-bid contract boondoggles like CityTime and outside consultant contracts like the crooks the DOE has hired.

Bloomberg says he has no budget surplus, that it MUST be used to service next year's debt.

I dunno if that's actually true (if Bloomberg is saying it, it's probably not), but even if it is true (and that's a big if) there are SO MANY OTHER THINGS he is choosing to spend money on rather than teachers, firehouses, senior services, libraries, etc.

Bloomberg says he'll save $300 million by firing 4,666 teachers and letting another 1,500 go by attrition.

Yet he has chosen to spend $500 million to upgrade technology services in schools so that there can be more computerized instruction via School of One (which his former schools chancellor, Joel Klein, now helps run) as well computerized standardized testing that can measure both student and teacher performance simultaneously.

He could save the teacher jobs by delaying the technology spending by a few years.

But he has chosen NOT to do this.

So when he says this budget is going to be "very painful" and makes it sound as if it's a force of nature that cannot be changed, he is full of it.

This is a very deliberate and conscious choice by him to push layoffs so that he can get changes to LIFO next year as well as to weaken the union and further diminish teachers.

He can try and publicly rationalize the cuts and layoffs and try and displace blame all he wants.

This is BLOOMBERG'S budget.

These are HIS choices.

HE CHOSE TECHNOLOGY OVER TEACHERS.