So after all is said and done, the defections, the coca cola quorum, and the attempt to appoint a Lt. Governor, who would have thought the easiest solution would actually work. Once the Democrats managed to convince the second of the two defectors, Pedro Estrada to re-defect back to his own party caucus, they had the majority and started passing bills left and right.
From what I have read so far, none of the controversial bills were covered, including the bill that continued to allow the Mayor of New York control over the schools in New York City (why that was "controversial" I do not know). For his re-defection, Pedro Estrada is now the "Majority Leader."
So what is the fallout of all this? Apart from the Senate (and thus the state) looking like a bunch of clowns for a month, it seems that the deal with the devil (Estrada) may have serious implications for the re-established Democrat majority. We can see these strains in an open letter by Adama D Brown in the Daily Kos.
"It was quite bad enough when Eliot Spitzer was unable to keep his pants on, but that was at least a personal failing and not related to government. You guys, however, just pretty much produced a signed letter to every independent, moderate Republican, and a lot of rank and file Democrats, attesting to the fact that you intend to be just as rancidly dysfunctional as the Republicans were."
The reason she is upset is because Estrada is "a Senate majority leader who I would not trust with a shiny nickel. A man who has, quite probably, committed a federal felony or two just since he got into office."
She may have a point, on the other hand, when Dean Skelos accepted Estrada's first defection (along with another) one could argue that the Republicans were also tarred with the brush of Estrada. We will have to see what happens as we approach election time! Stay tuned!
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Comments: 5
Throw them all out
What a mess. Well, you had a couple of weeks where they couldn't pass any new spending/tax bills on you...
Unless things have changed greatily the bulk of income for the State of New York comes from the City of New York which gets back only a very small portion of the dollars its sends Albany.
Considering its where many of the evil rich live, why would that surprise me that they pay the most taxes? Isn't that the progressive way?
But with NY's financial mess only a bit less than CA's, maybe it's time they actually look at how to trim their budgets like taxpayers do in lean times instead of acting like nothing has changed.
Actually, Carol, it's narrower than that. There is an article in the New York Post that points this out, then and now. NEW YORK TAKES $1B TAX REVENUE HIT
Before the financial crisis hit Wall Street last October, business and personal income tax collections from Wall Street activities accounted for nearly 20 percent of state tax revenues and 12 percent of city tax revenues, DiNapoli said.
In one sense the problem in New York (unlike California) is the reliance on one form of revenue source (Wall Street). In one sense this is unavoidable; you have to balance the budget, you have to consider all sources equally and some sources (Wall Street) generated so much tax revenue that it is hard to balance the system should that source suddenly come up dry (or less wet as it is now).