Do You Want Democrats Calling All the Shots in NYS?
Gentle Reader:
One of our primary purposes here at Monroerising.com is to fill the void left in the news coverage of New York State politics by Rochester’s traditional media outlets. We have commented before that it is almost like Rochester is a part of Ohio or Pennsylvania when it comes to the lack of coverage of state government.
The New York Times had an editorial Saturday about the implications of this November’s elections. The editorial talks about two items we covered last week that received no attention here in Rochester, Governor Steamroller’s violation of the spirit of reforms he claimed as part of his “Day one everything changes non-sense,” and Sheldon’s Silver placing his law partner on a judicial review committee.
Democrats, of course, argue that they are the reform party. But as Danny Hakim reported in The Times recently, Gov. Eliot Spitzer, while standing firm on his promise to cap contributions to his own campaign at $10,000, has routed larger dollops of campaign money to the state Democratic Party, which he also controls. That party money was essential to the Democrats taking a Senate seat last month in a strong Republican area upstate.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the state’s other top-ranking Democrat, has chosen a member of his law firm to lead a state panel that chooses judges. He also refuses to disclose the details of how much he earns as a lawyer and who his clients are. Neither official has broken laws, but if the Democrats want voters to hand them one-party rule in November, they need to earn it.
(snip)
One-party rule in Albany could mean that important bills — on such issues as civil liberties and gay rights — long blocked by Republicans will become law. But giving one party so much power would require a leap of faith by voters. Now is the time for Democrats to show that this faith would be well placed.
Regular readers of Monroerising.com know that when it comes to state government, gridlock is the only thing between us and higher taxes and extreme liberalism. Let’s hope that the traditional media outlets start doing a better job of reporting on what is really going on across our state before it is too late.
Discussion Area - Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.