American Literature

First of all I would like to say that Paterson got himself into a really big mess, something that could leave a negative mark on New York and most importantly ruin his career. The least that I could do as a Senior Policy Director is to try not to make matters worse for the guy. Also with his case regarding domestic violence, it would be best not to put him in a deeper hole he currently is in. As his media savvy policy director the best thing to do is to tell him the truth about his status, and give him the best options and recommendations that willat the very least get him out of bigger trouble and not letting the hole get any deeper and wider andmost importantly balancing the state budget.

It has been agreed upon that in the United States, it is very important to aim for balanced budgets as suggested by fiscal conservatism. One of the states that greatly suffer from this imbalance in budget is New York City. As Senior Policy Director, before giving Paterson my views on how to balance the budget, it is very important to consider three things, 1.) Income Tax2.) State Spending and 3.) Revenue. Having these threechecked out first will surely lead to a budget with very minimal or with no deficits or surplus. From these three important things he could come up with a plan.

Income Tax During Patersons term as governor in NYC, due to the global recession, many New Yorkers were found not to be paying their taxes because of cases of unemployment,it was also found out that a lot of people considered to be millionaires pay a certain amount of tax that when compared to how much they earn is just a grain of sand in a big sand box. As Senior Policy Director, I would suggest Gov. Paterson to impose a millionaires tax that would increase the tax being paid on high earners in New York. This will greatly help in state expenditure and avoiding deficits. An important note to give to Paterson regarding this possible recommendation is economic theory which says that it is economically favorable to increase taxes on those with high earning jobs than to decrease state spending. This is because people with high income normally use up only a portion of their earnings at a given year. While state expenditure on the other hand goes to labor, grant services and provides New Yorkers in need with moneySort of a situation with least pain and more gain approach.

State Spending The nextsuggestion I would have gave to Paterson is the way the state spends should cut down. As a basis, when Paterson was a state senator and lieutenant governor, state spending from 2004-2008 grew at less than 2.9 percent a year. Also at 2007 an article from the Business Council states that New York State governments per-capita spending in 2005 was the fourth highest in the nation and 43 percent above the national average.(Moran, 2007). Looking at these statistics, it is best to advise Paterson to cut down on the spending or at least follow my first suggestion which is to increase tax rates for high earners.

Revenue As a final suggestion to the budget problem, a very important thing to consider is proper finance. It is true that spending too much from the budget will mean good for services such as health care and education but as a consequence there will be a deficit in the state budget. The thing that Paterson must do, would be to provide the proper and fitting revenues to finance these initiatives. When tax revenues are allocated correctly, it could extinguish any type of budget gap in New York.

With regards to the bad story foreseen by Paterson, as a person that is in to news and media. I would suggest him to avoid media as much as possible. This does not mean that there will be no media coverage of him. He needs to avoid spontaneous media exposures and ambush interviews that would put him in the spot. But at the same time, he needs to aggressively counteract negative views about him. The way to do this is to show the media that despite issues and problems, he still goes on with his commitment to do what is right. The thing that must be prioritized is addressing to balance the budget. The recommendations I have given him will be good in making the masses look at him in a good way despite the bad stories and accusations he is facing. He can also make press releases on activities that he is connected with and the good work he is doing in other areas of his life such as being a family man, an artist, or his hobbies, or some other concerns in his job not related to the current issue. As a media savvy person, I would advise Paterson not to be present in media activities that he himself did not organize. He can project to the media that he is doing everything to address the major issue that people will most likely want to hear about which would also clean up his image as a good governor  issue on state budget.

News Sources
Moran, M. (2007). Analysis New Yorks state spending 43 percent above national average. New York The Business Council.

Essay 2
Robert Moses impact on New York

When being discussed in class, at the beginning I was amazed on who this guy was and what didtoNew York. But then, I had a feeling that he was somehow, just too good to be true.

His Greatest Achievement
Robert Moses as discussed in class can be considered as the master planner and master builder of New York. He is responsible for almost every known landmark in the city today. Looking at his record on the things that he built in the past 40 plus years, I can say it is very impressive, over 600 Playgrounds, 200 Tennis Courts, 600 Baseball Fields, thousands of houses,20 Roads, and 9 Bridges. Truly, Robert Moses is the shaper of New York City back then. It can be considered that what he has done in the past surely cannot be done in New York today. He had created infrastructures, roads and houses in a view to benefit the state and its people. He generated much money for the state and for himself as well as an urban planner in the city. He also became in good terms withthe city government, making him the official City Construction Coordinator and making himself very appealing to most of the people that benefited from his creations. He also had and was elected in 11 more different positions in the government during his peak in power. In the 20th century, New York City was under the Robert Moses era.

All of these numbers and achievements could make anyone be astounded but it could also make them feelskeptical. There has to besome kind of catch or there had to be a consequence for all of these. Unfortunately, there was, and it was something that affected the city of New York in a big way.

His Largest Failing
Moses rise to power in NYC marked the beginning of an era in the city. Being one of the most powerful, rich and influential persons in the state at that time, led to some negative effects. One of them is the thousands of evictions that occurred. Half a million people were evicted due to the demolition of houses to pave ways for Moses roads and highways. What was once a vision to help and benefit the people in NYC now became an individual thing for him- the need for power.He wanted to benefit from his works and no one else. He wanted to remain in power and control New York at his own terms and conditions. Because of that, many people fought against Moses, which was another failure for him, making enemies and having people oppose you because you dont listen to what they have to say. Probably the biggest failure he has done as was discussed in class was the 1964 Worlds Fair that failed miserably because the earnings from the park was not even able to cover for the expenses in building them. Overall, the fair was a disaster both financially and socially, he even tried to defend the fair, but to no avail. The failure of the fair marked the end of Robert Moses 44 year legacy in New York.

Lessons in Urban Planning
His mistake shows the real importance of being rational when it comes to planning, looking at all possible ways and outcomes, comparing and evaluating alternatives and also trying to forecast every consequences that might occur, something that Robert Moses missed out on. His legacy also taught me that it is important to listen to other peoples feedback because thats where you will obtain your improvements from. Also, urban planning has to deal with logical thinking and making sure that planning must be done carefully and effectively.

Summing things up, I think Robert Moses is the main character of this Good guy gone Bad story. He was so addicted to power that the things that he dreamt of putting him on that golden status, ironically was same ones that brought him down. His greatest achievement was probably the bridges that he made mainly because they are still being importantly used now. His biggest failure, architecture wise was the Worlds fair that put New York in much deficits. However, we can never deny the fact that Robert Moses still plays an important role in New York today because of his contributions, if he never existed then New York wouldnt be The New York of today, big skyscrapers and beautiful roads and highways. His failure when looked at critically can be seen to be helpful and influential too especially in urban planning. Finally the most important thing I have learned from his legacy was not to abuse your power or position in the government, and avoiding personal benefits for it can ruin your planning and your career as well.