28 posts tagged “new york”

One of the main contributors to YFSF is moving out of the county. As a farewell to his beloved city he posted this:

Is it possible to have a better opening four minutes to a film? I have not seen Manhattan in maybe 10 years and this clip made me want to watch right now.

Side note: I have successfully gotten MLTU to appreciate They Might Be Giants. Her favorite song? "New York City". She knows all the words and now sings it, unprompted, all the time. It's very cute. 

So...is it wrong that she also knows some of the words to "Dead"?

Well, I had been expecting this:

NY State Senator Tom Duane has given up (for now) on the Senate passing (or even voting on) the same-sex marriage bill.

Have I mentioned that I hate my state government? Oh, right, I have.

File this under "You have got to be f**king kidding me".

The coup is over as Pedro Espada has rejoined the Democratic Caucus and is now, wait for it...THE MAJORITY LEADER!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Of all the ways I could have imagined this crisis to resolve, including it not resolving at all, this is the LAST one I wanted to see. Espada is at best a shady character and at worst a crook. Now he leads the New York State Senate.

I suppose the only silver lining is that Malcolm Smith is Senate President so, assuming Paterson doesn't keep pushing for his fake Lieutenant Governor, Smith would become Governor if something happens to Paterson. But all that means is that we'd have another idiot running New York instead of an opportunist, self aggrandizing prick.

Of course. Paterson being Paterson I bet he WILL push to keep the Lt. which will of course just cause more bickering that those of you downstate will not hear about and those of us upstate will hear about every day.

So what do we learn from all of this?

Well, first there is the fact that the Senate Dems are capable of the worlds most bizarre press conference (unseating Sarah Palin and Mark Sanford). Second it tells us that this whole thing has always been about Espada and his quest for power, not the "reforms" that will likely be forgotten (however, Dean Skelos is not letting them go so quickly). And finally it shows us that this state need to throw out all the incumbents and overhaul the State Constitution.

These people f**king suck. They better pass the same-sex marriage bill. Oh wait, who am I kidding.

Oh boy.

So Gov. Paterson has ignored A.G. Cuomo and appointed a new Lieutenant Governor. Politically this makes sense. Paterson needs to score as many points as he can from this coup because lord knows he is not getting points from anywhere else.

Legally however it is yet another step in this whole process that will cause more "confusion and delay" (that's a shout out to all the parents out there). Paterson does not have a legal leg to stand on and the G.O.P will likely sue to block this action. Plus, even if he could appoint a Lt., wouldn't someone have to confirm him (like the State Senate)? With out the voters picking this guy are we just suppose to accept him by executive fiat?

Really I think Paterson is doing all that he can do in this situation. He could have called for a special election I suppose, but that is also extra-constitutional and would likely shine a light on Paterson's un-elected status as well.

The bottom line for me is that while this may one of the only things can do all it serves to do is drive up the tention levels in Albany even more. There is no way Ravitch will serve one day as Lieutenant Governor and now the G.O.P. has a NEW thing to be pissed about. I am so sick of this situation I can't even express it. All of these people suck.

One final note: Back in 2006 when we were dealing with the extra-constitutional situation around the Comptroller (yeah, like our Junior Senator, Governor and "Lt. Governor" he is also un-elected) A Mistake made the case that we needed a State Constitutional Convention. At the time I scoffed at him and said no good could come of that. I officially apologize for that scoff. He is right and I am wrong, our State Constitution is a mockery.

New York Congressman Peter King posted a slightly bizarre video on YouTube in which he calls out (someone? the media? all of us?) for paying more attention to death of "pervert" Micheal Jackson while ignoring everyday heroes like firefighters and members of the armed forces.

Now, Rep. King (who use to be my Congressman) is not "wrong" in that we should recognize and honor those who serve and especially those who give their lives in service. They are true heroes.

But, if Rep. King does intend to run for the U.S. Senate (I believe he last states that he would not), standing in front of a firehouse in Wantagh, while cars drive by, wearing a polo shirt and excoriating (someone? the media? you and me?) for clebrating the life of a black pop star and rehashing old (unproven) alligations about a dead man may not be the best way to kick things off.

Thanks for @jdickerson for this. Maybe Twitter is good for something after all. Oh, and Robert McNamara died (also via @jdickerson).

Happy belated birthday to the U.S.A.

Morris: Mr. Secretary, New York abstains, courteously.
Hancock: Mr. Morris, WHAT IN HELL GOES ON IN NEW YORK?
Morris: I'm sorry Mr. President, but the simple fact is that our legislature has never sent us explicit instructions on anything!
Hancock: NEVER? That's impossible!
Morris: Mr. President, have you ever been present at a meeting of the New York legislature?
[Hancock shakes his head "No"]
Morris: They speak very fast and very loud, and nobody listens to anybody else, with the result that nothing ever gets done. I beg the Congress's pardon.
Hancock: My sympathies, Mr. Morris.

Things remain at a stand still in Albany, but the governor is apparently threatening to force the Senate back to work for a special session. In preparation for this move, the Democrats have reintroduced a power sharing deal. I'm skeptical that the GOP will accept it this time around, but who knows.

To end this crazy week on a visual note, here are two clips that really just sum up the whole situation:

First, proof that Sen. Espada is in this game for Sen. Espada: watch him basically say "I don't care what the Dems and GOP do, so long as I keep my fancy new job":

And finally a little song to play out the week:

Thanks to Capitol Confidential for all of these links.  

I read CapCon so you don't have to.

It seems that my prediction yesterday the the New York Senate Dems would only enter into a power sharing agreement if the GOP dumps Sen. Espada may be coming to pass. The rank and file are making noise to that effect and Sen. Skelos dodged a direct question on the subject.

I'm not sayin' "I told you so"...yet.

Developing.

Update: Or maybe not. It seems Skelos is still firmly with Espada. 

Or maybe it’s more like a circus.

Here's the latest:

• Sen. Monserrate rejoined the Democrats over the weekend so we have a 31-31 deadlock
• Monserrate (I believe) has said that he still supports Sen. Espada as President Pro Tem, but has stood with the rest of the Democrats in not attending session, thus not allowing for a quorum
• Espada, claims (and this is true) that as President Pro Tem he is the de facto Lt. Governor and therefore should get TWO votes which would mean the GOP can have a quorum -- legally this seems to be a stretch, and our AG may be looking into it
• There have been several attempts at a power sharing deal but none have panned out
• The governor is trying to broker a deal, but because he has no political capital of his own, nothing is happening

So, here is my idea for the Democrats: call the GOP on their bluff. You see, the coup was pulled off under the guise of "reform", which was laughable considering Monserrate and Espada's records, but none the less that was the premise.  The GOP claimed that Albany is broken, Sen. Smith was using strong arm tactics, and it would take a coalition of Senators to fix it.

This is why Tom Golisanno claims that he got involved, this is what Espada and Skelos have said. Indeed, Skelos released new rules hours after the coup that opened up the process for the chamber and took power away from the Majority Leader.

I say call the GOP on their bluff and give them the reform. Give them the rules changes. Tell them they can have the new rules and they can have Skelos as President Pro Tem (NOT Espada) if they abstain from voting on the rest of the leadership. Then the Democrats can say "we agree that Albany needs change and we look forward to working across the aisle to make it happen".

They will essentially have the moral high ground and force Skelos to throw Espada under a bus, which I bet he will in a second. Or we just have the status quo: non-functioning state government. 

Note: it's late so I don't have time to link. I'll add them tomorrow se sheck back if you care. In the mean time you can read CapCon.

UPDATED with links. This coup would be so much worse without Capitol Confidential.

(Sorry, I can't resist the puns).

Smith has taken this to court, Espada has a key, Monserrate is on the fence, the reporters are pissed (I mean really pissed) and the NY Post sent a clown up to Albany (appropriate on so many levels).

Meanwhile the sponsor of the marriage rights bill, Tom Duane, has been silent on who he supports and is hold up in a hotel to "reassess". My bet is he is using his support as leverage to get the SSM bill passed.

So the hopes for a functioning state government rests on a man who is accused of slashing his girlfriend and a Senator on a mission to pass same-sex marriage. Hmmm, a crazy man and a politician trying to make his mark on history are potentially calling all the shots right now...yeah nothing can go wrong here.

You'd think Skelos would have thought this through a little bit before getting into bed with a nut job like Monserrate.