COMMENTARY
Donn Esmonde: Horrible government gets worse
Here I was, thinking that the assault on democracy that is our state government could not get any worse.
Silly me.
The shared dictatorship of “three men in a room”—the governor and two legislative bosses, who have ruled the state for decades—seems enlightened compared with what we have seen lately.
A judge’s ruling Tuesday legitimized the recent Republican coup that temporarily retook control of the State Senate from Democrats. The subsequent re-enlisting of one of two fence-jumping Democrats a few days ago divided the 62-member Senate at 31-31, causing Albany’s misfiring engine to seize up in total gridlock.
I suppose we should be thankful to these people for entertaining us, now that the NBA and NHL playoffs are over. Unfortunately, the stalemate impacts folks in the real world. It holds up such otherwise-routine business as renewing the county’s sales tax or approving cheap power for manufacturers.
For those keeping score at home, the new president of the State Senate is turncoat Democrat Pedro Espada. The Bronx representative may actually live in Westchester, he owes $62,000 in fines for a stream of campaign violations and, according to New York Times columnist Jim Dwyer, “his cronies stole food meant for poor, sick people and gave it out at his political rallies.”
In other words, he is ideally suited for a leadership position in Albany.
In recent years, the governor quit after a sex scandal, the comptroller resigned for ethical lapses and the recently retired Senate boss was indicted for public corruption. Various legislators committed crimes or dallied with student interns. Espada’s ascension seems completely in character in the character-deprived Capitol.
If there were any justice, we could import what is going on in the streets of Tehran to our state capital. I am not talking about the violence, I mean the mass public uprising against nonrepresentational government. Sadly, most of us are too conditioned to Albany’s abuse to grab pitchforks and storm the capital.
To cut through the slime, Tuesday’s judicial ruling may pave a path from the current chaos back to the usual dysfunction. I know, it is not the stuff to make spirits soar, but it is better than the inertia that now afflicts us.
The judge affirmed last week’s vote that made turncoat Democrat Espada and Republican Dean Skelos the coheads of the Senate. Aside from anything else, it presumably makes it easier for Republicans to entice more Democrats to jump the fence, providing votes needed to break the 31-31 deadlock.
“I anticipate that more Democrats will join [us],” said George Maziarz, the Newfane Republican.
Maziarz told me Tuesday that the handful of Democrats who reportedly were on the fence last week “are still in play.”
It should not be hard for Republicans to pick them off. These folks are notoriously easy to entice with such perks as corner office space or a prime parking spot, along with paycheck-padding baubles like a committee seat or chairmanship. Any Democrat who jumps the fence can puff out his chest and claim it is all in the cause of “coalition building.”
Barf.
As bizarre as it seems, there may be good that arises from the chaos. Bills in the Senate might go to a vote without the blessing of the majority-party boss. Committee chairmen may no longer be able to block a bill simply because they can, as Rochester egomaniac David Gantt recently did with a texting-while-driving law. Absentee voting might end.
As outrageous as it seems, it sounds like the beginnings of a democracy.
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