Monday Clippage: Craig Johnson, Brunogate, Air Pataki Edition

The outcome of this race, which officials say could cost more than $4
million, making it the most expensive of its kind in New York history, could
determine the future of both Bruno and the shrinking Republican Senate
majority -- the last bastion of GOP power in the state.

But it is also a test of Spitzer's newfound political clout.

...

This is very simply a thumbs up or a thumbs down on the reform agenda I
laid out in the State of the State on Jan. 3," Spitzer said last week. "If
you support that agenda, you must vote for Craig Johnson."

Beyond endorsing Johnson, Spitzer is appearing on campaign mailers and will
be in a TV ad with Johnson made by Jimmy Siegel, the creative force behind
Spitzer's own TV spots during the governor's race. Spitzer will headline a
Jan. 18 fundraiser for Johnson, too.

Heh. "fully engaged" indeed.

Got free strip-club visit from pal whose biz he helped: report

The federal investigation of GOP powerhouse Joe Bruno has led to a swanky Florida strip joint where nude bombshells perform lap dances for $20, it was reported yesterday.

The 77-year-old New York State senator enjoyed a boys' night out at Rachel's in West Palm Beach last year - and rich pal Jared Abbruzzese picked up the tab, according to the Albany Times Union.

The foray to the flesh emporium was part of an expensive two-day Sunshine State vacation bankrolled by Abbruzzese, whose dealings with Bruno are being probed, the newspaper reported.

The June 2006 jaunt - which included a freebie round of golf at an upscale course - was intended to cheer up Bruno, who was battling prostate cancer and whose wife was suffering from an illness that causes dementia, the paper said.

Bruno spokesman John McArdle declined to comment on the Florida excursion. "It was a private trip, and we're not going to discuss anything he does in his private life that doesn't affect what he does as a public official," he said.

The State Comptroller's Office has blocked payment of a $10,712 bill for a luxury charter jet flight taken last month by then-Gov. George Pataki, The Post has learned.

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  "We don't understand why Pataki didn't use the Power Authority's plane or another state plane," said David Neustadt, a Comptroller's Office spokesman. "Other planes were available, so why not use them?"

Both the Power Authority and the State Police regularly provide transportation on three "executive-class" King Air turbo-prop aircraft to top state officials.

The State Police even maintain a special air fleet for the governor, and its two King Airs can fly up to 1,400 miles - well beyond the 471-mile range of Pataki's Virginia flight.

Blocking payment for Pataki's flight could turn out to be a hot political potato for Gov. Spitzer, who has vowed to crack down on unnecessary state spending.

Neustadt said the decision rejecting the bill for the private jet will be sent to the new governor's office for review.

A spokesman for Spitzer, who has come under criticism for providing costly and unprecedented State Police protection for now-private citizen Pataki, said the rejected bill had not yet been received.

Pataki is personally listed on the bill submitted by Jet Aviation Holdings Inc. at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport as the "customer" who rented the Beech 400.

A spokesman for the former governor refused to comment.

Redistricting may be Gov. Spitzer's toughest reform test

Sensible election redistricting in New York - drawing the boundary lines for congressional and state legislative representatives - is integral to political reform in the state. Gov. Eliot Spitzer could not very well have pegged his State of the State address to a reform theme without mentioning the contorted acts of gerrymandering that protect incumbents, punish rebels and undermine principles of democracy.

But let's face it, at this point there aren't very good ideas out there about how to restructure the process to take partisanship and self-interest out of it. This is a problem that has been with the United States virtually since its founding. The Constitution leaves districting up to the state legislatures to manage and that has led to the abuses now evident in every state.

The way out of this conundrum has always been for the public to get angry about an election process that gives incumbents a free ride, locks in political control in Albany regardless of the dysfunction and incompetence there and keeps special interests in the driver's seat.

Politicians have been bold about gerrymandering in New York and throughout history because they have felt no adverse effect. Opinion polls have shown consistently that New Yorkers believe a plus-95 percent incumbency rate is out of whack, yet support their own lawmakers. They're not willing to attach consequences to a truly bad system. When that starts to happen, the reforms Spitzer wants may occur.

Spitzer's idea of creating an independent commission to handle reapportionment is both valid and redundant. Other governors, from both parties, have looked at the same answer. The difficulty has always been in persuading the Legislature to commit its fate to an agency over which it has little control. In the end, redistricting comes down to persuading lawmakers to do the right thing at their peril without a sense that the public is demanding it.

The governor has said that he will use his bully pulpit to force change upon state government when he encounters resistance. On redistricting, he might as well set up his pulpit now. He's going to need it.