NEW YORK, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- New York Gov. David Patterson dispensed with joviality, warning state lawmakers he would not run New York like a "payday loan operation."
In his State of the State address to the Legislature Wednesday, Patterson spoke without jokes, smiles or humor, saying the body faced financial reckoning if they failed to fix New York's economy and restore the public's faith in public representatives, The New York Times reported.
"You have left me and other governors no choice," Mr. Paterson said. "Whether it be by vetoes or delayed spending, I will not write bad checks, and we will not mortgage our children's future."
The normally good-humored governor charged lawmakers often yielded to special interests reducing the state's economic fortunes.
"No longer are we going to run New York like a payday loan operation," the governor promises. "We have got to find a procedure that cures the spending structure that has infected our budget process for the last 20 years."
Democratic State Sen. John Sampson was not amused.
"New Yorkers are angry, and so am I. The people want statesmen to fix our problems, not politicians who ascribe blame without offering a solution."
