Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold
As we reported last night, Democrat Darrel Aubertine beat Republican Will Barclay in the 48th Senate District race. In an earlier post, we explained why a Republican loss in that race would likely mean that the Senate will turn Democratic in the very near future. I’ve talked to several people about the race this morning, and a common reaction seems to be “Things are kind of screwed up in Albany; ushering in some change will be good.”
In response, I stated “Change? Change? Punching you in the face would be change! How would you like that kind of change!” (Note: in reality, I smiled politely and avoided the urge to threaten physical violence; it would have been pretty satisfying, though).
We certainly will get some change, but I would dispute that it will be good for us. If the Democrats take the Senate, New York state will be effectively run by the following three people: 1. Eliot Spitzer, an angry, rich Manhattan lawyer beholden to unions and powerful downstate interests; 2. Shelly Silver, a rich Manhattan trial lawyer beholden to unions, trial lawyers, and powerful downstate interest groups; and 3. The current minority leader of the Senate, Malcolm Smith, a Queens real estate developer who is beholden to unions, liberal special interest groups, and other powerful downstate interests. Undoubtedly, the entire state will be controlled by downstate interests (to the extent that it wasn’t before).
Critically, it will become even more difficult to do business in New York. The unions will ensure that significant union-friendly legislation will pass (i.e., any project tangentially related to the public sector - like IDA projects or projects that receive grant money from the state - will be forced to pay union wages). And you can forget about reform to the Wicks Law, the scaffold law, or any of the other antiquated rules that exponentially increase the cost of construction in this state.
As for property taxes, they will increase drastically. One of the principal reasons for the high cost of property taxes is that the state forces counties to pay for half of the cost of Medicare. Medicare costs will continue to rise, and if you think this cabal of downstate Democrats is going to cut benefits, you drank too much cough medicine as a teenager.
Do you have qualms about abortion on demand? Last year, Eliot Spitzer introduced the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act, which makes it the “public policy of the state of New York” that every woman has a “fundamental right” to terminate her pregnancy. Something tells me that it will be difficult to pass any kind of common-sense restrictions on abortion after that bill gets passed.
Do you care about the definition of marriage? I predict that within a year of the Senate going Democratic, gay marriage will be legalized in this state (and I do not mean some kind of civil union legislation either).
Do you care about your Second Amendment rights? Let’s put it this way, Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith sponsored legislation (S. 1860) that would require any person purchasing ammunition for any kind of firearm to fill out an application that “shall include, but not be limited to, the applicant’s full name, date of birth and address, and the calibre, make, model, manufacturer’s name and serial number of the firearm for which the applicant is purchasing the bullets. Copies of the application shall be forwarded to all law enforcement agencies of the state.”
And by the way, the state legislature is going to redraw all the Assembly, Senate, and Congressional districts in 2010. Without a doubt, the democrats will gerrymander the districts to give themselves an even greater majority. Moreover, the redistricting is based on census figures. Because of downstate policies and inaction, upstate has been losing population at an alarming rate, while downstate has been gaining population. Accordingly, several upstate seats will be eradicated, and several new downstate seats will be created. Am I the only one to see the irony in this?
Obviously, the world is not going to end if Democrats take control. However, people need to consider the implications of one party rule in a state that faces the challenges of New York.
4 Responses to “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold”
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If only Upstate could secede and form Western NY!
I don’t know Occam, part of me looks at Spitzer’s master plan for a Democratic takeover of Senate as a good thing for Republicans.
While it’ll take some time to get it back, the last thing the Democrats want is to have to actually run this state. It’s been all fun and games for them to just whine and complain about Republicans, but none of them really wants to have to be responsible for serious governing.
They’ll start by force feeding the public some pointless things to keep us distracted. Then they’ll pass all the held up special interest and union legislation to make their bankrollers happy. Then they’ll pass themselves a big fat juicy pay raise since no one will be able to stop them. And then they’ll run out of ideas to make themselves look busy. And then things will get bad. Really bad.
But think about it for a second. Who will they and the media have to blame when it all turns to poop?
Of course, this does mean that our state will go further to pot and the taxpayers who sadly bought into Spitzer’s master plan will all be screwed with the rest of us, but we could maybe then see New York turn red someday.
Dare to dream.
Perhaps you are correct, Mr. Peabody. Another way to look at it is that the Democrats will foul things up so fast and so completely that it will be much easier for conservative candidates to swoop in and clean things up.
Time will tell, and the good news is that the Republicans in the Senate appear to be standing strong.
You are right about everything except the pay increases. They have voted across the aisle on the issue almost unanimously in the past. I don’t think it’s a party line issue.