This has become an embarrassment.

whoever's in charge of promoting to the front page (4.00 / 2)

Please promote this!

I also have doubts it'll happen, but it's past time to talk about it.

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by: simonstl @ Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 16:57:19 PM CDT

"Has become" ? (4.00 / 2)

This has been embarrassing for a long time.

If the sunsetting bills are truly important, then in light of the 10 affidavits submitted by Democrats swearing that Padavan was present at the critical time, the Assembly should recognize and Paterson should sign the bills passed during the Padavan session.

And if the bills really are that important, every single member of the Senate should be ashamed that they didn't voluntarily do what Padavan may have done, and allow quorum to be established by the other side so that the bills could be passed.

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by: arnk @ Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 18:30:03 PM CDT

The problem with a special election (4.00 / 2)

These things move very quickly, and those people who have the resources -- money and organization -- on tap are the ones who win special elections.  In this case, it means the very people we want to get rid of.

After the mass special election, when everyone gets reelected, their position is even stronger.

It's a great idea in theory, but in practice it would backfire.  A better idea is to find challengers in each senate district and start fundraising for them now.

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by: Dan Jacoby @ Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 19:16:00 PM CDT

depressing but true (4.00 / 1)

I really wish we had a parliamentary system at the moment, but you're right.  The rules of New York special elections are completely tilted toward party establishments, and the resources are all going to be on the side of the incumbents.  

It might make some difference on the edges - which in this case could be important - but mostly we'd have the same bunch of dangerous folks feeling stronger than before.

Feh.  Even the possible solutions we have are foul-tasting.

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by: simonstl @ Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 19:35:02 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Maybe there needs to be an organization... (0.00 / 0)

... which has a "throw all the bums out" mission, including finding candidates to primary or challenge all 60 incumbents, helping with ballot access, etc.

But come to think of it, that would be essentially a political party... based not on ideology, but on the notion that we need to clean house completely from time to time.

Or we could just have frickin' term limits already.

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by: Hudson @ Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 20:29:32 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Join Canada! (4.00 / 1)

Ontario, Quebec, any province that'll have us!

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by: robinia @ Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 20:35:59 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Sometimes true, but on the heels of this debacle? (0.00 / 0)

Every quasi-incumbent is going to come back home stinking of the cesspool that currently is the State Senate. And more importantly, neither Espada nor Monserrate would win renomination.  

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by: Adama @ Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 20:37:45 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Women in the house? (4.00 / 1)

In the end--if you're going to fantasize about new elections--how about this fantasy: hose down the chamber to get rid of the testosterone and bring women to the negotiations. Not one women in a proposed leadership position? Shameful.

Also a reality check. "This all started when two Democratic outcasts jumped ship, giving the Republicans an effective majority. It's been said in the past that the Democratic Party is a coalition party, and nowhere is that more obvious than in events like this."

No, this didn't start with two Dems jumping ship. In the beginning there was Golisano and the Repubs negotiating with 2 disgruntled corrupt Dems. The chaos began when the Repubs walked into the chamber and hijacked the body--thinking they would walk away with all the member item money and get back their big offices.

Let's not forget who created the mess. Dems aren't blameless--not by a long shot. But just sayin...

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by: LOBlue @ Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 20:20:51 PM CDT

I hear what you're saying... (0.00 / 0)

But in the final equation Espada and Monsterrat (sic) still jumped. Golisano and company can negotiate all you want, but those two were still vital to this turning into the situation it is.  

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by: Adama @ Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 20:35:30 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Vital but empowered by Republicans (0.00 / 0)

Espada and Monserrate couldn't have done this alone. They had 30 enablers. That message must be hammered--this is what the Repubs created. They gave him power. The Dem conference didn't. The way to get him out is to refer to him as a turncoat as Liz Benjamin repeatedly and adeptly puts it. He's no longer Dem property. The Repubs own him now.  

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by: LOBlue @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 08:02:46 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Politics has always been an embarrassment (0.00 / 0)

Politicians and crooks have always gone together like bread and butter.  Now and then things get TOO embarrassing (See NYC Mayor Robert Van Wyck--the guy they named the expressway after) and the newspapers start screaming, people get up in arms, and then sometimes we get reform movements and sometimes guys like Teddy Roosevelt try to clean house. We are merely in one of those Van Wyck moments and Albany has once again redefined "embarrassing." The lesson that GW Bush probably taught our state legislature is that if you are gonna f*ck up, do it SO obviously and on a scale SO massive that people feel too shell-shocked to respond. Like good middle class Americans, when we witness a train wreck, we turn away in horror, and that's what they're counting on.

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by: JohnS @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 06:59:53 AM CDT

Constitutional convention (4.00 / 1)

Stop investing your energies in "throwing the bums out" and think about investing in a long-term campaign to call a convention.

It seems like the last best chance, really.

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by: NYCO @ Wed Jul 01, 2009 at 08:02:50 AM CDT