Coup part deux

The fallout from the coup continues:

• The chamber is locked and Sen. Skelos says he'll fire the man with the keys (the Secretary of the Senate) -- except he was just appointed to a two year term.
• Sen. Espada says they will meet outside if they have to
• Sen. Diaz says he is staying with the Democrats and lambasted Tom Golisano, the billionaire king maker (and new resident of Florida) who was apparently behind this deal
  
• Golisano supposedly kicked his support for the coup into high gear after a meeting with Smith in which the Senator kept checking his Blackberry
• Sen. Espada also says that Smith is no longer leading the Democrats
• Same-sex marriage advocates are calling for a floor vote (now that Smith is not blocking it) and Nate points out that with the new rules, the cosponsors (Espada included) may be able to force one
• With no sitting Lt. Governor, guess who is next in line for Paterson's job? President Pro Temp Espada. (Bonus, he's also acting governor when Paterson is out of the state)
• Finally, everyone still thinks Paterson stinks

The two things that really got under my skin today were the realization that Espada is next in line for the Governorship and that Gallisono, a man never elected to office in New York, has pulled the stings of power all while calling this a "great day for New York".

This was not a great day, this was a terrible day. The business of government needs to get done. We have less than two weeks left in a legislative session. And, as Alan Chartock pointed out on WAMC, do you think these guys are going to cancel vacation plans to extend the session?

Yes Smith was awful and a better politician may have been able to keep this together. Yes the budget stinks. Yes, our Governor is ineffective. Yes, a split legislature is most likely better for the state. And yes, the Senators had the right to do what they did, it is in bounds based on the rules of the body. But it was s**t timing and it is a bush league move. You do this at the start of a session, not at the end of one.

The other thing this shows is that permanent majority/minority dynamics are terrible for democracy. The Democrats had been out of power in the Senate for so long that it us clear they simply did not have people qualified to run the body. They don't know the rules. The Republicans (who have run the place for 40 years) had a better command of how to maneuver and a huge sense of entitlement -- this is their house and they did not like the way Smith ran it.

So now Skelos has warmed up to two really bad guys who are clearly power hungry. My quesion is, how long does he thing this will last? Is he counting on a strong GOP candidate for governor to unify the party and thus give him the votes he needs to keep a slim majority? Is he aiming to keep the Dems out of power through 2012 so he has a hand in redistricting? My guess is yes to all, but he is making a lot of big bets and is relying on the trust of two very dubious partners.

All of these people make me sick.