On Day Thirty Nothing Has Changed

I had written up the following feature article for the Queens Village Eagle before the news of Governor Spitzer’s ethics reform legislation. However, I agree with the New York Post editorial Lunches With Wolves, that these reforms, which ban gifts and paid speeches for lawmakers and prohibits their staff from lobbying legislators for two years after retiring, while they sound impressive, amount to nothing much. Rather it’s more of a cosmetic reform that’s tantamount to taking a pebble out of a mountain of debt, systemic corruption and sleazy aging legislators. The Post says, “(Spitzer) shouldn’t be rushing into inconsequential deals with his new bargaining buddies and calling it reform.” Of course, his new bargaining buddies are State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, but now in the back room with Governor Spitzer instead of Pataki. Since his reform deal was negotiated behind closed doors, it is the same old “three men in a room” signifying that nothing has changed.
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On Day Thirty Nothing Has Changed

The new governor of New York State Elliot Spitzer promised, “on day one, everything changes” but it’s almost day thirty and nothing has changed in purportedly the most dysfunctional state legislature in the nation. But on day one an impatient Governor Spitzer showed his contempt for the Republican Party and the national day of mourning in honor of President Gerald Ford by keeping his offices open while most other federal and state government facilities were closed for remembrance of one of our great presidents.

On January 1st the new governor delivered an inaugural address offering a blunt critique of twelve years of cynicism and corruption in state government under the Pataki administration although he was an integral part of the problem. He compared the decline of New York State to Rip Van Winkle, saying “New York has slept through much of the past decade while the rest of the world has passed us by.”

It is true that New York declined while the rest of the country prospered enjoying a booming economy propelled by the pro-growth policies of the Bush administration. During Governor Spitzer’s previous tenure as Attorney General, businessmen and workers fled the state for greener pastures since they found it harder to compete and do business in New York State. He contributed to this decline by chasing after Wall Street and hounding New York businesses, yet he condoned the billion dollar back room union deals in Albany, the blatant thievery of SEIU 1199, the nation’s largest and most partisan union, and averted his gaze from the waste, fraud and abuse of the New York State Medicaid industry which has been ripping off the elderly and the poor for $$ billions per year.

Traditionally, the job of the state AG is to prosecute local cases of consumer fraud and protect the public from being defrauded by powerful unions and corruption of local government programs. However Spitzer has stepped way out of bounds to prosecute cases under federal jurisdiction reserved for the SEC and Congress. But since Wall Street was within the jurisdiction of AG Spitzer, he used his office to prosecute high profile corporate cases for political gain as some analysts say. He acted as prosecuting attorney, judge, jury and chief executioner of corporations and mutual fund brokers, harassing businessmen throughout the state and country. Thomas Donohue, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce described Spitzer's approach as "the most egregious and unacceptable form of intimidation we've seen in this country in modern times.”

Now Spitzer is vigorously working to topple the slim Republican majority in the state Senate. He has selected Republican Senator Michael Balboni for his administration as homeland security administrator leaving his seat vacant and up for grabs. Furthermore, he has been campaigning unethically for the Democrat Craig Johnson to seize the seat, by funneling money into his coffers and hosting a $25,000 per plate fundraiser for Johnson, right after he placed an unconditional $10,000 limit on campaign contributions.

The unintended good news is that the governor has fired the first public shot to end the enduring nonaggression pact that has created an undemocratic and unlawful collusion between Democrats and Republicans in the state legislature to support opposing candidates in protected districts. Now it’s time for the Republican leadership to end their part of the sinister bargain and start firing back by supporting good Republican candidates for public office.

Fortunately, the Nassau County Republicans have been doing just that, by organizing a massive campaign to send Maureen O’Connell, the Nassau County clerk and former Assemblywoman, back to Albany in the special election to be held on February 6th. Now it’s high time for our county to do the same in order to give the residents of Queens a real choice at the polls and allow them to encounter the great principles and patriotic heart of the Party of Lincoln.