Morning, everybody.\u00a0 Here’s our weekly look at the opinions floating out there on editorial pages across the North Country.\u00a0 The vast majority of comments today focus on issues of taxation and government spending.<\/p>\n
The Glens Falls Post Star<\/a> argues in favor of the property tax cap, describing the measure as an important “first step.”<\/p>\n By enacting a cap, the paper argues, we will force Albany and local governments to follow with significant reforms and efficiencies.<\/p>\n What the tax cap will do is create an emergency situation, for the state, for school districts and for local governments. When governments are forced to make significant cuts to programs and staff that are meaningful to their constituents, taxpayers will actively look for someone to blame.<\/p>\n The local and state governments, now wedged firmly between rock and hard place by the tax limits, will have no choice but to enact the long-overdue reforms to allow government to function with less tax money.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Is managing a budget by creating “an emergency situation” a good idea?\u00a0 Washington DC seems to think so.\u00a0 The Watertown Daily Times<\/a> urges Congress to resolve the debt-ceiling crisis before the Federal government defaults.<\/p>\n How long the brinksmanship will last is anyone’s guess. Overspending is the root of the problem and must be addressed. Speaker Boehner reportedly has told Wall Street that the debt limit will be raised as needed, presumably after spending cuts are agreed upon.<\/p>\n Both sides must continue negotiations and resolve these matters while it can still be done with careful deliberation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Adirondack Daily Enterprise<\/a> praises the Lake Placid village board for canceling insurance coverage for its part-time board members, and urges other elected bodies to do the same.<\/p>\n [W]e have to roll back politicians’ practice of giving themselves better insurance than the rest of us can get, with us paying for it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And the Burlington Free Press<\/a> argues that teacher contracts should be open to public scrutiny, before school districts sign off on the deals.<\/p>\n The reluctance of the Burlington School District to release details of a contract negotiated with teachers before the two sides approved the deal is one more case of a government body withholding information the public needs to know.<\/p>\n A contract with the teachers locks in the biggest single cost within the school district’s budget<\/a> — a budget that must be paid for by taxpayers. The public must be given ample opportunity to study the terms of a contract and weigh in before the district commits itself. A public that’s given a voice might be more willing to support the schools come budget time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n