Saturday, January 6, 2007

Sheriff Spitzer's In Town

Thursday, December 21, 2006
NY Comptroller Allan Hevesi will avoid any real punishment for stealing over $200,000 worth of free rides for his wife by agreeing to resign. It’s really just a slap on the wrist for a major crime and a violation of the public’s trust.

Corruption in government is especially hurtful to the state's poor and working classes. The rules get stacked against them as the connected, the privileged and the powerful get undeserved access, resources and preferences.

Unfortunately, that’s Albany--or at least that’s the way it’s been.

The good news is that Sheriff Spitzer, i.e., Governor-elect Elliot Spitzer, will soon arrive in town, and a fresh breeze is about to sweep through the muck that is Albany politics.

Pataki and his dealmakers will be out--and that alone will greatly improve the odor up there. Hevesi's resignation will help, too. But Albany’s corruption-plagued politics emanates from the illegal, legal and unethical practices that have been a fixture there for a long time. Really, Albany's primary product is corruption.

Worst, is the fact that all power is held by three men. The people's elected representatives are essentially window dressing. This allows the 3 men to simply focus catering to the interests of the powerful. The result of this type of corruption of the democratic process include: huge give-a-ways to power groups, greater inefficiency in government, the creation of a “pay-to-play” culture throughout the bureaucracy, and a stifling of real problem solving and innovations.

The truth is that Albany is a hornet’s nest controlled by lobbyists, interest group powerbrokers, corrupt bureaucrats and ethically-challenged lawmakers.

The abuse of power and corruption is so pervasive in Albany that people have come to accept it as normal. For example, Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Assembly Majority Leader are on the payroll of powerful lobbying firms looking for state favors for big interests. Recently, Senator Bruno publicly scolded an audience in the College of St. Rose for not sufficiently appreciating the fact that he is one of the three men in a room doling out favors. Of course, neither Bruno nor Silver sees a problem with this arrangement.

To extend the madness further, the political bosses' children are also paid lobbyists. They get paid big bucks to lobby, well, their fathers on behalf of big interests. This too would be unethical, immoral, questionable and/or illegal, but not in New York.

These are some of what's been unearth in Albany in just the last 2 months: In October, Queens Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin was charged with racketeering and accused of pocketing more than $2 million in illegal cash.

A few weeks ago State Senator Efrain González was charged with fraud involving over $400,000 in state funds to pet “charities”.

And this week it was unveiled that Majority Leader Joe Bruno is himself is the subject of a federal probe into his private business practices.

So Hevesi has been pushed out. That’s welcomed news, but his crime was providing his wife with free limousine service. In state government that spends over $100,000,000, doles out countless millions annually in tax give-a-ways, and generally operates by the infamous "Albany Rules", believe me, these cases are just the tip of the ice-berg.

Albany needs a thorough cleaning out. The embedded special interest fixers within the bureaucracy, the out-of-control lobbying industry, and “self-dealing” politicians must be flushed out of the system. Many should probably be jailed, while others should be made to stay far away from Albany, state government, government-funded contracts and elected officials.

And the culprits are Republican and Democratic, liberal and conservative. Corruption for those inclined is an equal opportunity business.

So let the cleansing begin, and may Albany and New York shine as a model of good governance where the interests of the people come first, second and third.
Posted by USTaino at 3:46 PM

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