Henry J. Stern
May 14, 2007  

The three levels of government, federal, state and local, are viewed in sharply different ways by many New Yorkers.
 
The city government under Mayor Bloomberg is regarded as highly successful.  The city enjoys an honest, reasonably competent administration, headed by a man who is liberal but pragmatic. He is not as interested in the details of city government as some of us would like, but he is a welcome addition to the national scene. We are fortunate to have him as mayor, and that viewpoint is expressed by the polls and the press as well as the public. Many people would like to vote for him for some other position, but the list of similar elective offices stops at two.  It is true that the budget is not structurally balanced and we are riding a wave of prosperity that will end, and that our enormous concentration brings with it vulnerability, but for now, things are OK.
 
The Federal government, on the other hand, is in dismal swamp.  Although many nonpolitical agencies do a good job, there is a negative correlation between professional competence and White House involvement.   Without wanting to get deeply into the litany of failures and losses, wars and deaths, hurricanes, lost opportunities, corrupt, incompetent, and highly politicized appointees, we can conclude that Bush 43 and his crew, not to be partisan, do not measure up to Bush 41. The polls and the 2006 returns recognize substantial unpopularity of the current national administration.  The 2008 Presidential election is for the Democrats to lose, which they are quite capable of doing.
 
That leaves State government, where the new Spitzer team has spent four months getting kicked around by the permanent government, represented by Joe Bruno and Sheldon Silver.   The two legislative leaders began by gifting the new governor with two bills, workers compensation reform and expanded civil commitment of sex offenders.  Then came the flak over the Comptrollership, the so-called 'impartial panel', the rejection of all the Assembly candidates, and the collapse of the purported deal to limit the field to pedigreed candidates.
 
Hopefully, the governor learned that much of what is told to him is simply not true, false, not in comport with objective reality.  When he is told something that indicates how someone will behave at a time in the future, that information is even less likely to be accurate, since people decide what they will  do based on their evaluation of alternatives at the moment of decision, not the moment of commitment.
 
There is no doubt that Bruno and Silver are more politically savvy than Spitzer. Furthermore, they have the votes, unless they go to jail.  If that should occur, someone else will have the votes.  This governor cannot control the legislature unless he can beat incumbents in primaries.  So far the only state leader who has managed that is Tom Suozzi of Nassau County, whose candidate in the 2004 Democratic primary, the former mayor of Glen Cove Charles D. Lavine, defeated the incumbent assemblyman David Sidikman.  That shocking event reinforced some lawmakers' support of Spitzer over the reckless Suozzi, who actually took his case to the people.
 
Having steamrolled (the clipped alternative to steamrollered) both Suozzi in the primary and John Faso in the general election, it is understandable that Spitzer believed himself to be the head of government in New York State.  That was true for several days after he took office January 1, but the debacle over the replacement of the railroaded Alan Hevesi made it all too clear at least where legislative power resided.  We had felt that using one of his drivers to care for his invalid wife was wrong, and should be punished by censure and substantial restitution, but was not an impeachable offense for a newly re-elected state-wide official.  It is possible, however, that Hevesi committed more serious errors and indiscretions, which would be the reason he resigned and accepted a felony conviction so readily.  Time may, or may not, tell.

We believe that there are really four state governments.    The executive branch (known informally as “the second floor”, for that is where it is located in the State Capitol) is run by the governor and his so far anonymous staff.  They are usually policy wonks who work long hours.  A handful are hacks, but that is the price of support from county leaders.

The legislative branch is itself divided into two houses.  The Senate is currently controlled by Republicans and the Assembly by Democrats, but both chambers are in reality loyal adherents to a party that rises above principle, the Incumbents Party.  That party can be said to have three slogans:   One is Rule 14-L: “Live and let Live.”   The other, by Robert Browning, looks to the future: “Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be.”   The last is a paraphrase of one of the Park Rules, 18-I..  We can say it in fifteen letters.: “Is this good for us?”   By us, they mean themselves, the elected officials.  Secondarily, 'us' includes the staff, interns, lobbyists and contributors that fuel Operation Re-Elect Us with food, drink, cash and young people concerned with public issues..

The fourth branch is the judiciary, now reduced to mendicant status by the apparently intractable reluctance of the legislature to grant them a long-overdue pay increase.  The good ol’ boys want more money for themselves, and want to link the judicial pay raise to their own immersion into the public trough.  They also do not want the governor to link the pay increase to reform of redistricting and an end to gerrymandering, which would at least require them to campaign for re-election.

There are a number of differences between judges and legislators, although both are public officials.  Judges hold  full-time, not part-time positions.  Judges are not allowed to practice law, or engage in other business.  Legislators are.   Judges generally do not receive lulus or stipends in addition to their salaries.  Legislators do.  Judges generally do not receive per diem allowances.  Legislators do.

BTW, a lulu is a payment made to chosen legislators “in lieu of expenses” they would incur in performing their duties.   In fact, every expense they have is separately reimbursed in addition to their lulus, so the concept of  “in lieu of” is now what we learned to call a legal fiction.  The money, however, which ranges from $10,000 to about $40,000 per legislator, and is used to compute their pensions, is quite real.

It is early in the term to evaluate the governor.  It is also somewhat painful, because one sees a decent man with analytic ability, fiscal integrity, liberal values and honorable motivation.  The effectiveness of these gifts is somewhat limited by his lack of awareness of the complexities of human nature, and a certain lack of sympathy for the problems of individuals who are not as fortunate or intelligent as he is.  We don’t mean people en masse, we mean people as God created them,  with their own particular subsets of assets and deficits.

The jury is out on Albany.   We have a Legislature led by self-serving scoundrels, who in many ways do reflect their members.  We do not believe that Bruno and Silver are devils, leading honest folk into temptation.  They do, however, have the ability to work with people, including those who they do not totally control or cow into submission.

What would be best is a combination: Spitzer’s integrity and intellect, Silver’s talented leadership
(a Johnsonian mix of persuasion and intimidation) and Bruno’s sense of humor.   Some find Bruno the most personable of the triumvirs, and we will be sorry if he goes to jail, a prospect which appears increasingly unlikely as time passes.

Today is Day 134 in the series that began January 1, 2007 with “Day One: Everything Changes”.
Most of the changes that were made did take place on Day One, so that in comparison with the first four and one half months of the Age of Spitzer, the statement has some resonance.  But it comparison with what we were led to expect by the landslide majorities with which the Governor was elected, many people are disappointed.  He is unquestionably the best of the lot in Albany, but has not been able to do much so far with the donkeys and the elephants who have made Albany their feeding ground for generations.

 Time, however, is not necessarily a friend.  There are just 1327 days remaining in the governor’s first term.  Who knows who lurks in the shadows?   Senator Bruno thinks he does.  But can he hold on long enough to be saved?

To conclude: The city: Doing very well, unless you are looking for an apartment.

The federal government:  A disaster, running its course.   It’s more than the war.

The state: In conflict, hard to predict.   The good guys need coaching, the bad guys need prosecuting.  The former Comptroller is a dead horse; the attorney general and the district attorneys should go after the live ones.

 

 
#372  5.14.07  1102wds