Given The News analysis of New York s "tax the rich" mentality in its editorial on Sept. 28, as well as Gov. David A. Paterson s admission that "we ve probably lost jobs and driven people out of the state," it s clear that Albany needs to demonstrate it can be a little more business-friendly.

You see, the "rich" in the "tax the rich" message has been effectively spun by Albany special interests to vilify those who have amassed personal wealth, an easy target given Wall Street s shortcomings over the past year. But Wall Street s multimillionaires are a far cry from the people who actually were punished in the 2009/10 state budget — employers. Those of us who aren t spinning facts know that when those protecting Albany s expensive environment say tax the "rich," they mean employers. Job creators. And unfortunately, the shortsightedness in demonizing the "rich" is now being realized.

The drawback, of course, to this approach is—as the governor has pointed out — employers can leave for states that won t punish them for creating jobs and investing in the economy. When you drive employers away or out of business, you put everyone they employed out of work, pulling a host of New York State residents off the tax rolls. Is the state s loss of revenues a surprise to anyone?

New York companies do not want to leave. They don t want to shift jobs to the South and uproot families. But no one goes into business with a goal of giving state government as much cash as possible. "Take one for the team" is not a tenet taught in MBA courses, particularly when that team is the most dysfunctional and expensive state government in the nation.

In the midst of a budget crisis, the state took dramatic, albeit ill-advised, actions to try to right the ship, and much of the burden of its actions fell on the state s job creators. Now is absolutely the time to reverse the anti-business sentiment, and begin empowering employers to invest and create jobs in New York rather than discouraging them. We believe the state can start on that track by doing the following:

Repeal the 18-A assessments on energy that are costing manufacturers in Buffalo Niagara into the hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

Allow IDAs to provide incentives for not-for-profits, creating jobs on more than $2.4 billion in projects for New York s working men and women, without including union-backed, job-killing wage mandates.

Create a replacement initiative for the failed Empire Zone program that is objective, user-friendly, reliable and transparent.

New York has been utilizing the find-any-way-to-squeeze-money-out-of-employers approach for a while, and it s not working. Special interests and public employee unions have had their way with Albany, and, here we are $3 billion in the hole. It s time to try something different.

Craig W. Turner is senior director of public policy at the Buffalo Niagara Partnership.