Winners & Losers

The News does a sort of post-budget-debacle roundup of winners & losers.

Losers?

• The people of Erie County
• Anyone who shops in Erie County
• Joel Giambra & his credibility

Winners?

• Masiello
• Holt
• Anyone who decides to run for CE in 2007.
  

Apparently, now Joel wants to start his consolidation dog & pony show. Honestly, given the way that Joel has performed, and the way Masiello has performed, I'm ready to give Kevin Gaughan a shot at explaining exactly how a government - consolidated or not - SHOULD be run.

With his craptacular technicolor budgets, Joel Giambra has spent every last *ahem* penny of political capital he had. How on Earth does he expect to be taken seriously as a proponent of a consolidated city-county government. Hell, the Republican county legislators almost universally rejected the "compromise" budget. Only democrat-until-last-year-when-it-was-politically-expedient-to-become-a-Republican Chuck Swanick and Jeanne Chase voted for the budget & sales tax hike.

"Joel is done," Lenihan said. "You can't create an enormous deficit, spend down a surplus, cut taxes and increase spending without facing Judgment Day. Well, this is Judgment Day."

Oh - and there have been at least two scandals under Joel's watch. That we know of. Buffalo Office Furniture & the Aurora Barn.

Hell, the city's run better than the county now. No handout, no bailout indeed.