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When did Brian Lehrer become a shill for Bloomberg? Hectoring State Senator Sampson, he identified 2 issues of critical importance: Bloomberg's sales tax increase, (Lehrer just said "tax,"), and Mayoral control of the schools, essential before the schools "careen into chaos." (Lehrer's words.) Bloomberg, the Essential Man.
In fact, he's been awful ruling the schools. He has refused for years to enforce the city council's anti-bullying law, calling it "silly." Most recent result- a Sikh student threatened with having his hair cut off. And Nat Hentoff has documented the outrageous civil liberties abuses of the NYPD "school safety agents" in the schools. The Bd. of Ed has already been reconstituted. But Lehrer says the choice is "BLOOMBERG OR CHAOS!" How redolent of fascist slogans.
And the sales tax is utterly regressive- but Billionaire Bloomberg recently said we can't tax the rich. (Well he would say that, wouldn't he?)

"it's YOUR JOB TO DEAL WITH THAT"#35
And the role of citizens? To walk a block once every 4 years to press a button (or something similar)?
Only in America. With obvious results.

dude - i get that "the republicans won't play fair". it's YOUR JOB TO DEAL WITH THAT! yes, it's hard. that's why they call it work. figure it out.

and i think we should have a constitutional amendment changing the system so that the default is incumbents are NOT in...that they must overcome a presumption against them. let's call it "out-cumbency" as opposed to "in-cumbency".

#33
Apparently to good to keep. Keep the dumb dumb.

well put anna/26

continuation
The threat to power here was the slim Democratic majority that won control of the Senate last fall for the first time in more than 40 years. Consider the timeline: The plotters launched their coup on June 8, the day before the Senate’s housing committee was due to consider legislation — given a good chance of passage — that would curb rent hikes on hundreds of thousands of city apartments. Worse, it was even possible that the new majority might vote to give control over New York City housing policies to the city itself. Imagine that? Home rule! For the real estate and landlord lobby, which had long held full sway in the Senate, this was an impossible state of affairs. A pair of renegade Democrats were recruited at a still undisclosed price. The rebels stepped across the aisle to vote the Republicans back into power, thus ensuring that there would be no further incursions into the business of real estate profit or any other sacred Albany cows.

Despite its often clumsy and muddled performance during its short-lived reign, the Senate’s new Democratic majority became a target of fear and loathing for the state’s traditional powerbrokers. That’s because on the occasions that they did get their act together, the Democrats showed what a progressive coalition might achieve.

One of those moments came a few weeks before the hijacking, when they voted to reverse course on one of the most repugnant episodes in legislative history, the Rockefeller drug laws. These mandatory and draconian prison sentences for even first-time, nonviolent drug offenders had long been widely viewed as costly and ineffective. Passed in 1973, they were a means for then-governor Nelson Rockefeller to add some law-and-order luster to his presidential dreams. Rockefeller never got to be president, but tens of thousands of New Yorkers paid the price for his ambitions, spending the best years of their lives behind the grim walls of places like Dannemora and Bedford Hills.
etc.

From this week’s Village Voice:

Senate Coup Plotters’ Hidden Agenda
Tabloids call it a circus, but the lobbyists’ goal is to squelch reforms

By Tom Robbins

The tabloid version of the Great Senate Stalemate of 2009 goes something like this: Those bozos in the State Senate — who can’t be trusted even on a good day to get their lunch orders straight — brought the people’s business to a screeching halt over a petty internal dispute about who got to wield the gavel at meetings.

There is just enough of a patina of truth to this comic-book description of the Albany shutdown to convince a lot of otherwise sensible citizens to lather up in rage. After all, this is the same corps of elected officials that has managed to incur a higher rate of criminal indictment than many of New York’s toughest neighborhoods. Who were these dolts? How dare they pose as leaders? Throw them all the hell out.

Naturally, the biggest promoter of this tale is the New York Post, which quickly dubbed the standoff a circus and then gleefully provided a clown to wander the capitol halls. The Daily News also got into the act, firing up its readers with its “Don’t Pay the Bums” campaign.

In these accounts, the fact that there are hugely important stakes for everyday New Yorkers in the outcome of the Senate fight is barely mentioned. Nor is the embarrassing truth that what transpired in Albany in the past month is the local version of a banana republic coup. In this case, the conspiring generals were lobbyists and one very power-hungry billionaire, Tom Golisano. Their goal was no different from that of those democracy-fearing Iranian mullahs: to overturn the results of a popular election.

What about Gallisano and Roger Stone the unprincipled tricksters who started this whole thing. They created this mess but haven't been heard from since. Gallisano even skipped out of the state -- moved to Florida, I believe. Who is going to get these guys on the hot seat and make them account for their actions?

"gary

i think you meant Jim Jeffords but your point stands"
Oh really? Why would anyone know the difference between an honest evolution, change as a response to changes within a party, etc. and a PAID, CORRUPT betrayal of the constituency?

gary
i think you meant Jim Jeffords but your point stands

"This cowardly loser Dean Skelos is holding us hostage. Very un-american."#24
Yeah, coup d'etats by rich criminals are American. Way to go.

HYPOCRITES!

When Senator Lincoln Chafee----Republican from the TINY state of Rhode Island----switched control of the US Senate by changing his party affiliation overnight, we didn't see republicans boycott the Senate and shut it down.

Why does a state even need two houses (ie assembly and the senate)? It's a joke. We only need one house an "assembly". The only reason we have a senate at the federal level is to make for state size. A state senate is unnecessary and wasteful, because every senate district is of equal population size.

Isn't it time for Manhattan to secede and become a state on its own?

How do we publicly shame those responsible? Maybe a WNYC photoshop contest on the topic of gridlock in Albany?

This cowardly loser Dean Skelos is holding us hostage. Very un-american.

HOME RULE FOR NYC!

Our voices should be much louder... bring in a new team.

This entire issue is one big circus...all of these bozo's should be kicked in the rear.

As long as they can't pass tax increases and gay marriage, I'm all for the gridlock in the state senate.

As a democrat for over 30yrs the democratic party is so arrogant I am so tired of democrats and the political rangling you have a few leaders that only care about power and power alone and don't want to share any of it I think the should all be fired and let us start all aver again with new leadership pure arrogance in everyones part

What can people do to make sure Espada loses his next campaign?

I think it is shameful that WNYC dignifies the corrupt situation in Albany by putting this person on the air. Nothing he has said is helpful or entirely accurate. All I can say is that I hope these self-serving "senators" get thrown out of office in the next election. All of them. This is an emergency, and this evasive clown has the temerity to laugh on the air. Nauseating.

D.J., the Democrats aren't as wrong as the other side.

The Republicans are trying to take over the legislature to stop the Democrats from leveling taxes on the rich.

the State MANDATES arts education. It is part of the law.
Principals find ways to side step the arts requirements and go unchecked.
Parental involvement could help - if properly organized - to impact on how their children are being denied needed and mandated educational services.
Mayoral control with a mayor who takes no salary is untenable. Bloomberg/Klein go unchecked and unregulated in the current "system".
Albany has to get back to work. Anarchy is not the solution to the problems we face.

What are the statuses of the criminal investigations of Monserrate (assualt) and Espada (campaign finance fraud)?

It is just outrageous that they have stopped working...we should just stop paying them for not working!! I continue to send taxes $$ to Albany..what if we all stopped sending our tax money..If New York State weren't such a beautiful state we would all probably just leave with such outrageous embarrassing behavior..

If your sick and tired of it - then compromise with the Republicans and bring the issues to the floor.

You realize that if Eliot Spitzer hadn't resigned, Paterson would still be lieutenant governor and he could have voted to break the stalemate.

How could you be so stupid as to fall for that sex scandal.

Good idea Jorge.

If the Assembly can do its job, why can't you do yours?

Mayoral control is what we've had and WHAT WE SHOULD GET RID OF ALONG WITH THE MAYOR!!! DUMP HIM!!!

Am I hearing things? Did this man just say, "fisciality"?

He just said the Republicans lost control, but it seems to me the Democrats have also lost control. You couldn't keep your members in line. Why should you be in control?

Does he agree with Tom Robbins' analysis that this was a coup motivated by Golisano and some rich Republicans rebelling against the Democrats trying to levy progressive taxes?

We sent you to Albany to work on issues and VOTE on them. If you're not voting, than you're not working. So why should any of you be re-elected?

Stop "power-sharing" and start "legislating"!

This is about the well-being of the citizens of New York State, not your petty power struggles.

All NYS senators should be ashamed - and media personalities should be questioning their oaths, their honesty, their qualifications for re-election.

(haven't heard yesterday's podcast on this subject yet, apologies if this angle was already explored)

Any reason why the brawling pols aren't being charged for rent for their offices, seats, etc.?

And who on earth made the decision to NOT SUSPEND THEIR PAY? ("Docking" is for wussies. Cut...them...off...) Seriously.