Tom Precious of the Buffalo News writes - ” Gov. David A. Paterson wasted little time Monday night vetoing some of the last major spending portions of the budget that had breezed through the State Legislature just hours earlier.

The governor took out his veto stamp, with reporters as his witnesses, to strike out $419 million in education spending he said is politically popular in an election year but unaffordable for the state.

And he said more vetoes are coming — 6,900 of them in line-item fashion.

“Rather than act in the interest of the people of New York State, [legislators] have engaged in legislation that is in self-interest and have presented us with a series of bills that have the same gimmicks, chicanery and avoidance conduct that has characterized fiscal management in this state for far too long,” Paterson said.

The vetoes came as a major push to give more financial autonomy to the State University of New York — an integral part of the University at Buffalo’s expansion plans — appeared all but dead Monday night.”

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