December 15, 2006

As you probably know, the legislature met Wednesday for one day. The three men in a room failed to agree, so no civil confinement law or pay increase was adopted.  Sometimes, the fact that the leaders despise each other turns out to be in the public interest, because the legislation they could pass if they agreed might not be beneficial.
 
The civil confinement bill for sexual predators can be taken up in January, and we are assured by Speaker Silver that no rapists or murderers will be freed over the holidays.  The pay raise is another matter, because the State Constitution prohibits legislators from increasing their own salaries during their term office, so a raise approved next year could not take effect until 2009.
 
The Assembly and its lawyers are ingenious, however, in finding ways to circumvent any law or the State Constitution for that matter.  They can vote themselves cost-of-living adjustments, increase their lulus, or raise the expense allowances they already receive for each day’s session in Albany or New York City.  It will be up to the courts to decide on the legality of any of these schemes and remember that it is the legislature that sets salaries for the judges. The good old boys in Albany are proficient pickers of the public's pockets, and only Governor Spitzer and the courts stand between their snouts and the public trough.
 
The Governor should never bargain pay raises for consent to any piece of legislation, because then he will be in the position of having to purchase approval for whatever bills he proposes.  Rudyard Kipling wrote a very fine poem on the subject, Dane-Geld, which you should link to in order to supplement your cultural literacy. The poem offers a valuable lesson. 
 
The Legislature deserves some credit for not rejecting the report of the Berger Commission on Hospital Closings.  To do that, the two houses would have had to agree with each other by December 31. We imagine that next year, the legislators will respond to pressure from the health-care lobby, but the major players there appear to have given tacit consent to the relatively mild Berger report, so it is possible that the plan will be implemented.  
 

Just a couple of updates on the ongoing Hevesi drama. Clyde Haberman wrote a column December 12 on the Hevesi case, in which he cited us.  You can't get the full column which is typically witty and insightful, on the Web unless you are a New York Times subscriber, but we can quote his reference to us without fear of litigation. He wrote: 

“Another thought came from Henry J. Stern, a former city parks commissioner, now director of a watchdog group called New York Civic. If the State Senate or Assembly removes Mr. Hevesi, or if he is forced to resign, a new comptroller will be chosen by the very politicians he is supposed to monitor. Not good, Mr. Stern wrote the other day in his organization’s newsletter. “The state comptroller is an independent elected official for a valid reason,” he said.”

Governor Pataki has backed out of the pursuit, PATAKI  PASSES HEVESI HASSLE TO NEXT GOV, Dec. 15, Post, by Kenneth Lovett, because he says any action he or the State Senate took in December would not affect the term that Hevesi will be sworn in for on January 1, 2007.  If that be the case, why did the Governor appoint a Special Counsel and then give him subpoena power?  What happened to change the game plan?
 
We are somewhat distressed at the ostracism to which the Comptroller is being subjected before he has been convicted of anything.  Hevesi was excluded from the election night victory party, his name is only mentioned in whispers, and he was not at the recent Democratic state committee festivities.  Although he is a sinner (aren't many of us) he is not a rapist or murderer, and the social exclusion to which he is being subjected seems childish.  In a previous column, I alluded to "Lord of the Flies" the William Goldman novel about boys isolated on a island turning on each other and tormenting the one (Piggy) they see as weakest.  It does not enhance anyone's reputation to be thought of as a bully, even if one succeeds in obliterating his prey.

A well-known reporter-investigator has offered ten reasons why the beleaguered Hevesi should not be removed from office. Wayne Barrett, who has a reputation as a muckraker, wrote an extensive article in this week’s Village Voice “Twisted Spitzer”. Dec 13-19, p26.  Unfortunately, as we have occasionally noted, because of journalistic competition and some professional jealousy, Voice exposes often serve as an inoculation for the person accused, saving him/her from further scrutiny by mainstream media.  Sometimes the Voice triggers the dailies, but usually their allegations are ignored.

 
The superseding indictment of State Senator Efrain Gonzales for stealing $425,000, largely from a nonprofit he funded as a member item, reminds us of the vulnerability to fraud of this area of legislative largesse.   The Senate and Assembly's own leaders and central staff should do basic policing of the grants their members make, before the State Comptroller gets to audit a beneficiary agency which may already have been looted.
 

Happy Chanukah, which began Friday afternoon and lasts for eight days.  By extending good wishes on this festival, we are enabled to wish you Merry Christmas next week, which we will.  



#338 12.15.06   919wds