That’s the other one I love… watching all these Democrats cry about how Tommy G bought these two guys. So what would you call pouring all that money in to get Smith and several other Democrats elected to shift the power to the dems in the first place?
I guess we can file that in the same folder as calling out what bad people Espada and Monserrate are only now that they’re not voting down party lines. They had no problem with them when they were part of the Democrat 32 vote majority.
Just one actually, Malcolm Smith. He’ll be replaced with Dean Skelos, Republican Nassau County. So in the room you’ll have Paterson sitting in Silver’s lap, as Silver pets his head like Dr Evil’s cat, and Skelos sitting across the desk with the biggest shit grin ever.
More importantly, read the nypost article I linked earlier. It’s going to force the Democrats to confront the fact that the reforms they supposedly ran on and then refused to vote for are now being pushed by the Republicans. It puts the governor, and any other Democrat to stand against it, in a real ugly place come election time.
Paterson was sweeping in his view of the situation. He called the coup “an insult to government” that disrupted the work of Albany. Yet, he did not offer support for Sen. Malcolm Smith, who had been majority leader until Monday’s takeover. Smith is fighting for his political survival this afternoon, with lawmakers saying he will not be able to even serve as minority leader in the new environment at the Capitol.
And then Paterson talked of new opportunities that could be created by the coup, siding with Espada’s idea of letting bills to the floor for a straight up or down vote. The governor said then he and the Senate could go to the Democratic Assembly “and ask them to join in” in letting members have the power to vote on all kinds of bills and not just the ones leadership lets to the floor.
That Paterson would put the issue into the lap of the Assembly could be interpreted in the halls of the Capitol as a slap at Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who rules the house with great control.
Imagine a state where Sheldon Silver doesn’t decide what all the representatives voted from other parts of the state get to vote on.
Things like Medicaid reform don’t happen not because of a lack of majority vote, but because Silver never lets it come to a vote.
Listen, there is a reason why I’m willing to let a couple scumbags like Espada and Monserrate crawl into bed with my party. It’s one of those, “the ends justify the means” things. If this results in changes that mean any bill can be brought for an up or down vote it will be the biggest reform NY has ever seen.
Wait, this guy wants a Republican Senate so he can legalize gay marriage? WAT?
The new leader added that legalizing gay marriage “is my signature issue at this point.” Espada is actively trying to woo Sen. Thomas Duane, a Manhattan Democrat who is pushing the gay marriage bill, to join with him and the Republicans in running the Senate.
The Republicans have promised they’ll let it go to a vote. They didn’t say they’ll vote for it, but unlike Silver and Smith’s version of democracy where only bills they want and know will pass getting to the floor, they’re willing to say, “go put your name on the vote and let democracy work”.
Maybe a couple of them are going to vote for it as part of the deal. I can’t see him making the switch to the R side because he’s really THAT excited to see his bill get shot down by them. Hmm.
If so, then go for it, I don’t care what party pushes through the agenda I’m in favor of, as long as it passes. Anything to get people to actually come to NY by choice.
I’m waiting to see where Bill Stachowski ends up if this coup survives. He barely won his seat and the people he represents are not big on the NYC agenda that his party has been pushing. His career is over if he stands his ground in trying to block the reforms being pushed by the Republicans.
He’s one they are definitely pursuing to join the coalition.
The judge threw out the dems’ lawsuit to regain control. Once they fired Malcolm Smith as their leader and picked a new guy, Montserrate switched back to the democratic side. Now we’re at a 31 to 31 tie. Great, our state constitution has a provision for this. The lieutenant governor breaks the tie. Oh wait, we don’t have one. We need 32 votes to affirm the new leadership, or to reinstate the old. Um… :fail:
Patterson is such an idiot. He called a bunch of state constitutional law experts and they all told him he couldn’t appoint a lieutenant governor, including one of the top NY constitutional law experts right here in WNY. So the governor keeps searching until he finds some idiot that agrees with him and does it anyway.
I heard last night that part of the deal was to keep the changes the coup made regarding bringing bills to the floor, but as soon as the democrats set the new agenda that was conveniently missing and now they’re claiming it was never part of the deal. So we’re back to 3 democrats in a room deciding everything for the state. :tup:
Cuomo is breaking ranks and coming out against it saying it’s illegal. I’m hoping he uses it as his excuse to primary challenge Paterson without pissing off a bunch of minorities. If he runs, he’ll win the primary and the general easily.