If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Corruption and crime has become cancerous in our body politic in New York in the last decade. What kind of example are our leaders setting for the rest of society?
The bizarre late-night fight involving state Sen. Mark Grisanti, R-Buffalo, proves that the state legislature retains its amazing capacity to surprise, delight, amuse and nauseate.
Kruger's bribery conviction is part of the answer to an Albany mystery -- why Gov. Andrew Cuomo is so indifferent to the question of whether his Democratic Party can win back the state Senate in the next election.
If you look at the recent political corruption cases in New York City, you'll see certain patterns. One is consulting. Another is health care. If you want to know why the state is drowning in Medicaid bills, this is a good hint.
Let's face it, when you count your blessings this year the first thing that springs to mind is not going to be the New York state legislature. Still, there's lots in New York to give thanks for.
The other shoe dropped Tuesday for Hiram Monserrate. The first state Senator to be expelled from that body since 1781, Monserrate was indicted by a Federal grand jury.
Since Hevesi has turned out to be a crook, what politician can we believe to be honest? In China, such a person would be executed, but that is not the American way.
The Democratic and Republican party organizations continue to weaken. They are most influential in races where no one knows who the candidates are.
New York Republicans have nominated a man to sit at the top of their ticket who has a history of sending obscene and racist e-mails to his "friends." At least one of these e-mails used the n-word.
New York's state government is a mess, and we're all paying the price. But the Working Families Party is launching a major push to change that -- by kicking out the worst politician in Albany.
It is still remarkably difficult to be a challenger. Consider Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter's race to unseat New York State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's recent filing of a civil suit against State Senator Pedro Espada is another episode in the disheartening saga of public "service" in New York.
It is frustrating, to be sure, to be thought of as in the same company as Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada, but the most profound reaction I have to all this is: "how did he get away with it?"
Takeout sushi is to Pedro Espada as shoes were to Imelda Marcos. Of all the outrages in a civil lawsuit against the Senate Majority Leader, the $20,000 bill from a sushi restaurant takes the cake. Make that the sashimi.
New York State Senator Pedro Espada, ardent opponent of bridge tolls in the past, has now proposed a $2 toll on the East River Bridges.
Our state government, which once had the vision to build the Erie Canal, has fallen into such a funk of dysfunctional paralysis that it can no long perform even the most basic tasks.
