Senate Shut Down All Week
As Parties Keep Squabbling;
Will Courts Take On Clowns?
By Henry J. Stern
June 19, 2009
As some of you may recall, we started counting days on June 8, the day the Republicans took control of the State Senate with the aid of two renegade (or enlightened) Democrats. We write late Friday (Day 12) and the next business and court day is Monday, June 22 (Day 15). The Senate had planned to adjourn for the summer that day, leaving eight days before the law providing mayoral control of the public schools, adopted in 2002, expires unless it is renewed. There are external consequences to the Senate’s inability to convene, much less function.
It was just one week ago that we reported Tom Golisano’s profound disappointment at Malcolm Smith’s frequent conversations with his pet Blackberry while the man who helped finance the Democratic take-over of the Senate had been granted an audience to discuss matters of substance. Smith had been installed as temporary president of the Senate, 32-30, with Golisano’s financial assistance in electing Democrats. His previous choices, the Republicans, lost his support for deceiving him into believing they supported budget reductions, but such misrepresentation, as Golisano is learning, is par for the political course.
Our article was unintentionally called “The Blackberry Revolution”, harkening back to the Cedar Revolution (Lebanon), the Velvet Revolution (Czech Republic), and the Orange Revolution (Ukraine). We meant to give it a more precise title, considering the twists and turns caused by the parties’ efforts to retain, or regain, power and pelf. We meant to call the article “The Blackberry Turnover”; think of it that way.
Like the courts, we gave the lawmakers some time to straighten out their situation. This they have conspicuously to do. In fact, they left Albany to go home for the weekend, which is understandable if not commendable.
Every day the Senators scrap and dawdle, what little public regard still exists for any of them is diminished. The news that they hastened to sign their own pay vouchers (link to the Daily News and the Post) despite failing to transact any public business will only reinforce the low esteem in which the squabbling senators are held.
We can, however, think of four beneficial aspects of the leadership fiasco.
1) The Senate, by their inaction, corroborated all the negatives we and others declaimed about them. The removal of any interim doubt as to their efficacy may speed reform.
2) They have made the Assembly look good by comparison, moderate despotism being regarded as more desirable than total anarchy.
3) Some Senators have shown a willingness to sell each other out. This merits a reality show of its own, with them voting each other off the island.
4) Local District Attorneys have stepped up their inquiries, apparently only of the turncoats, although those derelictions have been widely known for years. The switchers are far from the only sinners in the Senate.
We also ask four tactical questions about the Senators’ roles in the ongoing unseemly fracas.
1) How, in fact, does a legislator say anything public about the subject without getting into trouble with his colleagues, peers, leaders, rivals and aspirants for his office?
2) How can attention be diverted from Senators Espada and Monserrate, the stars of the spectacle, without coming too close to the discredited duo? Senators want to shine individually, but escape the pall of their colleagues’ misconduct.
3) This provides a new test for the more avid seekers of public attention: how does one handle a situation where the underlying story is negative – protracted dereliction of duty – and yet develop a positive sound bite for yourself.
4) How can one appear to be above the fray, while at the same time influencing the outcome in his own and his party’s favor?
Our last quartet of questions looks to the future.
1) When, if ever, will public distaste for the Senate be expressed at the ballot box?
2) What will happen if the circus lasts beyond June 30th, and the money for towns and for agencies runs out?
3) When, if ever, will the courts assume jurisdiction over the impasse, citing irreparable damage which would occur in time?
4) How will all this affect the 2010 legislative election? Who will be blamed for the crisis?
Keep in mind the nuclear solution: Emulate Nebraska, and become the second state with a unicameral legislature. This would be a lot cheaper, not only in terms of salaries for members and staff, but all the member items ($48.7 million this year in New York) that would not have to be spent.
In conclusion, the most poignant and painful article this week on the mess in Albany was Clyde Haberman’s column, which appeared in Monday’s Times. We strongly recommend that you read it, although it may cause some distress. Link here and writhe.
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