New York's Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch accused the Obama Administration of ignoring a growing fiscal crisis that is being felt in state capitals across the country.

"Why is the White House, and I can tell you this is a fact, is ignoring and deflecting any effort to talk about the problem of states," Ravitch said at a budget panel in Manhattan on Thursday. "Hopefully that is just through the November election." 

Ravitch's comments came the same day a report on the fiscal condition of the nation's largest 15 states estimated their collective budget gap at close to $200 billion. The state-by-state analysis was done by financial analyst Meredith Whitney, who is widely credited with predicting the global banking crisis. Her report ranks New Jersey and New York as two of the nation's worst performers. Whitney faulted the states for excessive spending and a lack of fiscal transparency.