Dear Mr. Paladino, You lost the race

Carl Paladino ["Governor, this budget doesn't cut it," Opinion, Feb. 16] seems flummoxed that Andrew M. Cuomo hasn't adopted the questionable economic platform from Paladino's dismally failed run for governor last year.

He should read the news before he waxes rhapsodic about Texas. Since that state adopts a budget only every other year, and the last budget included a huge infusion of now expended federal stimulus money, the fiscal bankruptcy of Gov. Rick Perry's policies is just now becoming apparent. Texas has a projected budget shortfall for the upcoming two-year cycle of $27 billion.

There is much to do, and Cuomo seems to have made a good start in attacking a troublesome budget deficit. Paladino should support Cuomo's efforts, which seem so much more genuine than those of his immediate predecessors, David Paterson, Eliot Spitzer and George Pataki. As Republicans like to say, "Elections have consequences." One of the consequences was the utter repudiation of Paladino's economic platform.

Paul Landaw, Floral Park