 Accountability.
In business, if you make a lousy product or treat your customers like dog food, you'll be hanging out a quick "going out of business" sign. In schools, in the workplace, and even in personal relationships, you mess up, you pay the price. Accountability. It's the ultimate check and balance.
Here in New York, our state government is the poster child for corrupt and secret political wheeling and dealing. Here, the status quo has, over the years, legalized unaccountability…actually written secrecy and evasiveness into the statutes that govern how the legislature operates.
Roll with me..... |
Got an example, NYBri? Goodness...Where do I begin? Pick a department, any department…or all of them, for that matter. The authority system in New York consists of all the agencies that are responsible for the operation of the government…from transportation to building dormitories for universities. You know what? There is no oversight by the legislature to make them accountable for their actions. In fact, the legislature has turned accountability on its head and is using state agencies as a way to launder pork money and sidestep borrowing regulations.
Recently, we've been looking into another secret shell game the legislature has devised to avoid accountability...the "member items" expenditures, which is New Yorkeese for pork. Now, in the budget, the legislature has appropriated a $200 million lump-sum for "services and expenses, grants in aid, or for contracts with certain not-for-profit agencies, universities, colleges, school districts, corporations, and/or municipalities." I'm not kidding. That is what it says in the budget.
Now that the items have been released, a quick glance at the pages here at The Albany Project will show you how the secret system has been totally corrupted by power and money and transformed into, for all intents and purposes, a taxpayer funded bribery system. Ah New York.
That's why we are here on this blog. To DEMAND openess and transparency from our legislature. In the coming days, weeks, months and years (as long as it takes) we will be researching, writing and sharing; holding our employees (the legislature) accountable for their actions.
We demand accountability. We will be satisfied with nothing less, because it's the very essence of our democracy, the essence of our relationships, the essence of our lives.
We have so much work to do and now is the time to get involved. Read these pages, sign up, comment, research, write and get involved with our calls to action (stay tuned).
This is your state. Those who have been in power have broken it. Take it back and fix it.
Let's return New York State Government to its rightful owners - the people. |
