36 posts tagged “upstate new york”

Vice President Biden was in the Capital District yesterday to speak about "recovery in action" (and boost Congressman Scott Murphy).

I happened to by flying out of Albany for a business trip (I'm in not so sunny Orlando right now) and as I drove to the airport there were a ton of police (State and County) along side the roads. I actually thought it was the worlds biggest speed trap. Then I got to the airport and the nice TSA lady mentioned VPOTUS.

Turns out my timing was great, had my flight been an hour or so earlier I may have found the road to the airport road totally shut down.

As my flight taxied towards the runway we passed right by Air Force Two. Yeah, it was kinda cool.

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.

(I'm out of coup puns)

A lot has been happening with our State Senate up here in the Capital Region. The long and short of it is that the Governor is forcing the Senate into session every day, a move that he can make now that the official session is over. The Senate is finding ways to simply hold a quick session and do nothing. 

Gov. Paterson has also been openly hostile to his former colleagues, accusing them of letting petty personal turf wars get in the way of "the people's work".

Then this afternoon this situation took just one more bizarre turn. Sen. Kevin Parker of Brooklyn, who less than a month ago was indicted for assaulting a New York Post photographer called the Paterson the "coke-snorting, staff-banging Governor". That's right now BOTH of the State Senators under indictment for assault have claimed the moral high ground.

Massachusetts is looking good right now.  

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.

...David Paterson is the voice of reason.

The governor is calling for the Senate to go into session and hold a leadership vote. Assuming the two dissident Democrats still plan to caucus with the GOP, the results would likely be the same as Monday. The only exception: it would not be a political stunt.

Hey, Sen. Smith: even your old boss is saying that holding onto the keys will not get your job back. You're done. You're officially a historical footnote. On some level you should be happy -- most State Senate leaders never make it into the history books.

BTW, wasn't I just lamenting the lack of excitement in politics? OK, I'll shut up now.

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. 

There has already been a ton said about today's political coup in the New York State Senate. If you want the inside baseball view I recommend adding Capital Confidential to your feed for the next few days as this continues to unfold. Indeed, there is already a suggestion that more Democrats might jump ship.

My initial reaction was that this is about same-sex marriage and that two men (Sens. Espada and Monserrate) had put their own bias above the will of the people and the good of the state (more on that in a second). But Nate points out something obvious that no one else is remembering: Espada was for the SSM bill and Monserrate was "undecided". It's Kruger and Diaz, the other two would-be dissidents, that opposed the bill (both are still with the Democrats for now).

Add to this the fact that the errant Senators are not switching parties and all this points to one thing for me: its all about Malcolm Smith. The Democratic lead has proved to be a political amateur who was not ready for prime time. Actually, forget prime time, he is not ready for public access TV. His inability to control his caucus from the start, his lack of political skills and the way he has been strong armed by everyone around him shows that he commands no respect from his peers or his party.

One wonders what the hell the Senate Democrats, poised to take back control of the chamber back in 2006, where thinking when the elected him. I suppose they assumed at the time that newly elected Lt. Governor Paterson could essentially run the chamber and let Smith be a mouth piece...but someone messed up that plan.

And now back to my earlier statement about this being against the will of the people and the good of the state. Let me be clear (as if I had not already): I think Smith was a terrible leader and bad for the state in general. I also voted for a Republican to the Senate and believe that a divided legislature is a better option than having the NY Dems control the whole show (look how that has turned out).

But, I do feel that pulling this stunt with two weeks left in the session is really selfish and terrible for democracy. This is not how our system is suppose to operate. We go to the polls every two years and our popular will gives us our leadership. In 2008 that will (one that I disagreed with) selected the Democrats lead by Malcolm Smith. Two men with huge egos (and even larger legal problems) shouldn't just upend that will in the middle of a session.

Sen. Skelos has made his bed, and he had new rules ready to go so he clearly aired out the sheets a while ago. Now he has to get into bed with two dubious, untrustworthy self-centered individuals.

Man, the quest for power can make people do dumb things.