Waste Not, Want Not

The new breed of big-city mayor acts like a CEO, cutting almost every cost except the police budget

The amount involved mere fractions, but Rudolph Giuliani proudly made his point last week. For the first time since 1978, a mayor of New York City was proposing a budget smaller than the previous year's. The actual difference -- about $102 million sliced out of $31.6 billion, or just 0.3% less than the current budget -- still caused critics to carp and unions to bawl. But Giuliani remained adamant. "Disagree with us about how we distribute the pie," said the Republican, "but agree with us that it has to be a smaller pie." It was Giuliani's most substantial signal that New...

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