| Name your Scandal
I often ask people, "What would you pick as the most outrageous scandal on the part of the NYS Senate during the past year?"
Most folks initially say, "Do I have to pick just one?" . After a few minutes of derisive laughter and disgust, they come up with answers that have been varied but all of them have a good deal of merit. Most point out the June coup, others chime in about the Monserrate broken glass attack of his girlfriend, and still others make mention of the January power blackmail of the Three Amigos --Diaz, Espada and Kruger--(which eventually led to the coup, BTW).
Those more in the know have referred to Espada's attempt to funnel a couple of million in member items to his own "non-profit" organizations, while other insiders insist that Dean Skelos' demand for millions of state payroll dollars in exchange for votes or even basic co-operation to pay for a large minority Central Staff that could then be used as a state funded campaign army for Republicans in 2009 and 2010. In reality, those examples just scratch the surface.
Dysfunction is everywhere, from the battle between Paterson and, well, everyone while the budget crumbles, to Kevin Parker's attack of a NY Post reporter, to the revelations of decades of systemic, "legal" corruption and institutionalized "pay to play" on the part of the entire Republican leadership that has been made public during the Joe Bruno trial.
Let's face it, the entire Senate and how it operates reminds one of the recent Cavemen episode, where state workers drew a hefty paycheck while holed up in a private "cave" where they watched TV, did drugs and hung out. In the case of the Senate, the cave is right there in the open. It's called the third floor of the Capitol Building in Albany. And though they don't do drugs in the Capitol, an argument can be made that don't do much to deserve their paychecks. I know. I used to work there.
Now, not all Senators are cavemen, but the system has created the ability for a few of them to hold the entire state hostage to their greed.
The System is Broken
How many times have you heard that phrase? I want to disagree. Unfortunately, the system is not broken. If it were, it would be easy to fix. The problem is that the system is running incredibly well and it has evolved into a perfect self protective, re-election pay-to-play machine that would make any systems analyst drool. It's like the alien of Hollywood fame; a magnificent organism that uses the travels and bodies of its enemies to propagate and spread its evil throughout the universe.
As an example, look at how the Senate System has trained the special interest groups, good government organizations, political parties and the media to play its game. They all have adapted and know what buttons to push to get what they want, and none of that has to do with democracy (with a small d). In the media's case, the press even occupies space on the same third floor of the Capitol Building and is constantly played like a cheap violin by the senate leadership and rank and file to distract the public from what is really happening.
What can we do?
That's a great question...and many organizations in the past have tried to "fix" Albany, but they haven't really had a chance against the "perfect system." They have failed for one, simple reason...they have played by the system's rules...which is just what the system wants.
Some have tried to reform by working with one political party or the other, but the parties have been, unfortunately, co-opted by the system and have no interest in changing it substantively. Others have appealed to specific Senators to champion specific legislation, only to run into a complicated maze of Committee rules and fiefdoms and the veto power of the leadership.
Like I said, this system is far from broken. A broken system doesn't last as long as this one has and doesn't come up stronger each time it is threatened.
A New Way Forward
The folks who created Fire Monserrate, the effort to gather signatures and create public pressure on the Senate to remove Hiram Monserrate from office, have decided to tackle a greater mission; to substantively change the way the New York Senate does business. It's one thing to have a criminal Senator removed from office, but it doesn't change the political system that has allowed far too many "Monserrate Events" to happen...all at the cost of the people of New York.
The new organization is a PAC and is called Rebootny.org and it will take quite a different approach to change. We have no interest, for example, of getting rid of Hiram Monserrate or Dean Skelos only to replace them with another Hiram Monserrate and Dean Skelos with the same or a different party affiliation.
We are in the early stages of development...in the process of raising money, approaching candidates, lining up folks to help train campaign staff and building a statewide organization to elect not necessarily more Democrats or Republicans, but to elect BETTER SENATORS who have had enough of the crap and are willing to actually do their job...serve the people of their district and New York...NOT SIMPLY GET ELECTED TO BE A COG IN THE PERFECT MEMBER ITEM DOLLAR DELIVERY SYSTEM OF CORRUPTION. Remember, every Senator supported Pedro Espada for either President of the Senate or Majority Leader at some point this summer. No one should get a free ride.
Initially, we have a core organization of about 50 people from around the state to get us going. We, of course, will be looking for thousands more to join our effort.
Watch for more about ReBootNY here and on other blogs, in ads, editorials, and local meetings in the near future.
We can't trust the people who created this system to dismantle it. We, the people of New York, have to do it ourselves and we are hopeful that all the attention on the corrupt Albany way-of-doing-things will motivate Democrats, Republicans and Independents to toss out the dead weight and find some quality people who will do the hard work necessary to make New York the best it can be. |
