Usually when if you are in a mess – and you do not necessarily have to be a politician – and are fresh out of ideas on who or what to turn to, oftentimes, religion sometimes helps. Assuming that you’re doing it for all the right reasons.

These days, the most recognized politician who is going through tough times is New York governor David Paterson. For those who haven’t been following him much or at all, Paterson is the governor who has been under investigation, threw out the window his chance at a reelection bid and put the state of New York deep in the red. so what does Paterson do in response?

He finds religion. Specifically, Kaballah, in this instance.

These days, Paterson is sporting a red string bracelet – common among Kaballah followers – on his right bracelet. Maybe it is just me, but if I remember correctly, don’t followers of this cult religion wear this piece of string on their left wrist? But I digress.

Anyways, Paterson is a Catholic. Yet, he opts to use this Kaballah as his source of comfort for reasons known only to him. Has Madonna gained secret access to the Gov? A-Rod has Paterson on speed-dial? No one knows really, but I find it rather convenient for Paterson to be the man about town with this red string bracelet on his wrist.

The funny thing about all of this is that Paterson is a lame-duck governor, meaning he is on borrowed time in Albany. Which begs the question: If he is close to leaving the governorship, why does he wear the bracelet. At best, it makes him look desperate and at worse, makes him look like a buffoon.

This article isn’t so much ridiculing this Kaballah as it is a piece on what a politician will do to pout himself in a better light – which is what Paterson seems to be doing by publicly wearing this bracelet. chances are that he ditches the piece of string once he leaves office. But a lame-duck politician has to get his slowly dwindling photo ops some way, some how … right?

More than a hundred servicemembers received a Purple Heart June 25 in New York.

I do not want to suggest that the state of New York is on the verge of going broke. But as I have said on more than one occasion, numbers do not lie.

But if recent events mean anything, then it is very safe to say that the Empire State is on very shaky financial footing – to say the least.

The state had recently delayed paying some $2.5 billion (that’s with a B, folks) in bills as a so-called way to stave off insolvency, although all that does is make things worse, beginning around August and September. And this comes from State Budget Director Robert Megna. This would be the third time since December 2009 that New York has withheld funds.

Here are some of the numbers which, if you live in New York, might make you see red:

• The state’s general fund, which counts everything but federal aid and some specific revenues, ran in the red by some $500-600 million dollars.
• The state borrowed from other funds, including the short-term investment fund; about $1.5 billion of the withheld funds must be paid to the schools in June, with the rest to be paid in July.
• Governor David Paterson’s $135 billion budget has yet to be enacted by the state Legislature, although it was due on April 1.
• The state of New York is currently $9.2 billion in the red; the longer the Legislature argues over where cost savings come from, the time window for realizing savings will shrink.

Then you have to factor in what New York is going to do in regards to its layoff plans as they’re waiting to see how many state employees opt to take early retirement, a source of savings.

No matter what the end game is for the State Legislature, one thing is almost certain: Paterson’s successor will more than likely inherit the financial mess that the state is currently in as it appears that time is not on their side.

At the risk of sounding partisan here, it’s going to take a Republican to slowly get the state of New York out of its financial dire straits. And it would behoove them to take a page out of the playbook of New Jersey governor Chris Christie.

The state where I live, California, is around $27 billion or so in the red. And the State Legislature here? All they seem to do is agree to disagree on financial matters and Governor Schwarzenegger seems to be riding out the storm until his successor assumes office in late 2010.

But the bottom line is that New York needs to get on financial solid ground a ssoon as humanly possible. Otherwise, they will be the East Coast’s version of California – and one California is enough.

So if I understand it correctly, just because you’re a lame-duck governor means that you can furlough state workers while giving your closest aides substantial payraises?

Apparently that is what New York governor David Paterson has done; the move involves the issuance of furloughs to 100,000 state workers while at the same time giving pay hikes to up to 29 percent of several key aides in his administration. The action involves five members of his press office.

Interestingly enough, the double-digit pay raises were granted within the past 10 days or so. They happened hours before the public employee unions went to federal court, seeking a temporary restraining order agaisnt this unprecedented move by Paterson.

The Paterson pay hikes also come in the wake of his decision on April 1 to begin holding back pay raises to unionized state employees coupled with his announcement that non-unionized state workers would receive no pay raise at all.

What’s weird about all of this is that the furlough plan, originally designed to save $250 million, is part of Paterson’s porposal to close thew gap on the state’s$9.2 billion deficit for the current fiscal year.

Among those receiving pay hikes are:

• Press officer Jessica Bassett, from $65,000 to $75,000 (up 15 percent)
• Executive assistant Margaret-Kelly McKeon, from $65,000 to $75,000 (up 15 percent)
• Confidential secretary Elizabeth Banner, $55,000 to $60,000 (up 9 percent)
• Press officer Anna Adams-Sarthou, from $35,000 to $45,000 (up 29 percent)
• Press assistant Melanie Hartgraves, from $38,000 to $45,000 (up 18 percent)

Personally I do not care for the excuses being used by Paterson’s communications director, Morgan Hook ($150,000 a year salary). Excuses such as calling the payraises “promotions” and saying they were justified because they had added responsibilities and work.

Paterson lost his credibility a long time ago when he got the state of New York into a $9 billion+ deficit. His grave just got deeper by furloughing thousands of state workers while granting pay hikes to his “aides”.

I expect that this will make its way into the court system, and when the smoke clears, the payraises granted to the governor’s “aides” will be revoked. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t care much for unions. But at the same time, don’t sacrifice the livelihoods of thousands for the monetary gratification of a select few.

Paterson met privately with key Democratic leaders about his re-election plans as questions swirl around the state capitol about a variety of unproven accusations involving the Democratic governor’s personal conduct.

Paterson campaign spokesman Richard Fife said the weekend calls had nothing to do with the accusations but were “routine re-election campaign calls.”

“The governor started making calls two weeks ago to step up his campaign effort and get ready to officially announce his re-election campaign,” Fife said. “The calls were — and are — going well … And then look what happens — a coordinated effort to stop him and spread rumors.”

A Democrat close to the situation, though, said the meetings included discussions about whether Paterson would resign or announce he will not run. The Democrat spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

One recent New York Post article about the accusations drew a denial by Paterson’s spokeswoman and a strong rebuke by the superintendent of state police.

“Perpetrating lies about the governor, his family and troopers who diligently perform their duties is a disservice to the citizens of New York,” said state police Superintendent Harry J. Corbitt, a career trooper appointed to the top post by Paterson.

A spokesman for the governor sharply criticized the crescendo of questions, rumors and accusations.

“This is a new low even by the standards of Planet Albany,” said Paterson spokesman Peter Kauffmann late Sunday. “The circus of the past week entirely fabricated out of thin air and innuendo is an embarrassment for all who have played a role in fueling it.”

“I’ve never seen the rumor of a story becoming the story as this one has,” said Doug Muzzio, politics professor at New York City’s Baruch College.

Paterson became governor 23 months ago when Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal. Paterson had been forced to confront allegations of sexual affairs and drug use since the day he rose to office on March 17, 2008. He held an extraordinary news conference detailing past affairs that he and his wife were involved in during an 18-month period when it appeared their marriage would end. He also recounted drug use from his youth.

He said he made the admissions so he couldn’t be compromised as governor and to avoid further fracturing a government rocked by Spitzer’s resignation.

Paterson already had plenty of conflict among his fellow Democrats. A week ago he vetoed an ethics bill adopted by the Democrat-controlled Legislature that was widely seen as essential this election year. Paterson says he wants a tougher bill.

He also has refused to abandon his campaign for a full term, even as the far more popular and better-funded Andrew Cuomo, the attorney general, waits in the wings.

To illustrate how bad the national economy is, New York’s cash reserve is dwindling quickly, and the state faces a crisis if it doesn’t address its budget woes soon.

If the government can’t reach a budget agreement by Dec. 31, the state’s cash reserve will total only $36 million, and that’s only if the state dips to the bottom of its emergency reserve; New York’s budget deficit totals $3.2 billion.

Democratic Gov. David Paterson has urged the legislature to deal with the gap. But with public support for him virtually non-existent, his words carry little, if any weight.

On the bright side, New York’s legislature is famous for waiting until the last minute to address budget problems. So many legislators and outside experts predict the government will act before it’s too late. In addition, Wall Street bonuses are paid in January, and the state will receive withholding tax revenue from those payments.

But given the lack of progress in negotiations so far, state officials are readying for a cash crisis. Some government services may have to shut down if no action is taken.

“Unless we act, New York will run out of money, even after we delay payments to schools and local governments,” Patterson said in a web cast Tuesday. “This is an unprecedented fiscal emergency.”

Credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service wrote in a report last week, “The next three months will be critical to the state’s credit rating.” Moody’s analyst Emily Raimes told The New York Times:

 “If they solve them [the budget deficits] with one-time measures, that’s going to increase the gaps in future years, and at some point they get so large it becomes difficult to solve them.”

California is in even worse shape than New York. The Golden State’s budget deficit will soar to $20.7 billion over the next 18 months, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.

That’s nearly triple the estimate of just four months ago, and the office says $20 billion deficits will likely be the norm for years.

More often than not, independents tend to make or break an election for either the Democrats or Republicans – more often than not the Democrats. Monday night found that the independent vote loomed big in Virginia and New Jersey as both states had gubernatorial seats up for grabs.

In Virginia, it was Creigh Deeds against Bob McDonnell while in New Jersey, incumbent governor Jon Corzine was up agaisnt Chris Christie; on a smaller scale but no less important was a Congressional seat in the 23rd District of New York state, which had Bill Owens going against the Conservative Party candidate Bill Hoffman.

The end results of the elections? Let’s just say that the GOP made some progress with the 2010 elections right around the corner. As was probably expected, McDonnell won big over Deeds in the Virginia race while Christie edged Corzine in the New Jersey gubernatoirial race. Meanwhile, Bill Owens – a Democrat – defeated Hoffman; and rest assured, the independent vote played no small part in the aforementioned candidates’ victories.

The Virginia and New Jersey election results will no doubtfeed into discussion about the electorate, the status of of the diverse grouping that sent Barack Obama to the White House and the limits – or lack thereof – of the influence that Obama has, especially on the Democratic Party’s base of support and on moderate current lawmakers that he needs to advance his legislative agenda.

Seems to me that Obama’s sphere of influence has been weakened as he personally campaigned for both Deeds and Corzine, yet that didn’t seal the deal as voters rejected them. Now on the election front, the losses by Deeds and Corzine magnify problems Obama faces as he looks to achieve his policy goals, attempt to protect Democratic majorities in Congress and expand his party’s grip on governorships in next year’s elections.

Interestingly enough, an Associated Press poll indicated that nearly one-third of voters in Virginia described themselves as independents while New Jersey nearly matched that percentage; these voters preferred McDonnell over Deeds by a 2-to-1 margin while Christie was preferred over Corzine by a smaller margin.

Voters, while most concerned about local andstate issues, kept in mind the national issues, such as the economy. Attitudes were shaped with to some degree by how people feel about the current state of the nation. And these voters’ attitudes will loom large.

One must remember that the stakes went up markedly as moderate districts and swing states such as Ohio, Colorado and Nevada will loom large during the 2010 mid-term elections. In 2010, most governors, a third of the U.S. Senate and all members of the House of Representatives will be on the ballots.

If anything came out of this, it would be that Obama’s influence is waning and that the independent vote will be of key importance when the 2010 election cycle arrives. And any future actions by Obama will greatly influence the election results come November of 2010.

This is only the beginning folks. Regardless of what the Democratic talking heads and pundits spin on the talk shows and news programs, it is safe to say that the GOP is on the comeback trail, and Virginia and New Jersey were just the beginning.

Photo: AP