First the bad news: A Business Council of New York State report card on economic growth gave Cayuga County a grade of D based on data from 1995 to 2005.

Now the worse news: That was actually a decent grade compared with much of upstate New York.

It seems like every few months, the business council is coming out with reports about New York's economic struggles. Hopefully this one will resonate with some of the politicians in Albany, who have been occupied lately by political scandals (not to mention the annual capital region distraction of horse racing at Saratoga).

The council's study was straightforward. They looked at counties' growth in five key areas: jobs, average wage per job, total personal income, per-capita personal income and population.

Grades were based on the number of categories in which a county fell above or below the average. Those below the average in all five categories scored an F. Incredibly, 27 of the 52 upstate counties received that grade.

Cayuga County managed a D because it exceeded the national average in per capita personal income growth, though we wonder if that was fueled in part by a decline in overall population.

The business council again pointed at the same weaknesses driving these hideous numbers: heavy tax burdens, oppressive bureaucracy and skyrocketing utility costs. For all the lip service from politicians about the economy, these key obstacles remain firmly in place.

And for the most part, these are issues that start with state government. Local municipalities and school districts often are made out to be villains when they put their budgets together, but much of their spending comes from state mandates.

The last legislative session in Albany showed so much promise in terms of legislation and programs aimed at helping the economy, but much of the important work never got done. It's an unfortunate pattern we've seen far too often in state politics, and it's the reason we see these types of disturbing reports.