| This has got to be some sort of new land speed record, no? The newly formed Independent Democratic Conference has apparently just given up. I mean, they seem to be not even trying anymore.
A couple of weeks after watching Senator Valesky, the man who was previously the Democratic conference's most engaged member on the issue of redistricting and the man who introduced the independent redistricting bill now being carried by freshman Senator Gianaris, vote, along with the three other IDC members, for Skelos' "we have to amend the constitution and it will (conveniently) take a decade" bill, we now see three of the four voting for Skelos' latest "eff you" to democracy, a fresh batch of rules changes that cement just that much more power in the Majority Leader's hands.
Hours after the joint conference committee hearing put a cap on the budget agreement, Senate Republicans sprang a surprise rules change on their Democratic colleagues by giving themselves more representation on two vital committees: Rules and Finance.
The changes, which were approved late Monday night with all Republican members and three Independent Democratic Conference members voting "yes," would give the majority the ability to move bills from the Finance Committee to the Senate floor without having to go through the Rules Committee first. The changes would also allow a committee to sub in members an hour prior to meetings if any member were absent that day.
....
"I don't think I've ever heard of any process for establishing committees where you move the members on and off, with an hour's notice," said Sen. Liz Krueger, who called the proposed change, "fundamentally dangerous."
The last fight over a rules vote took place in early February, the day before Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed his budget. That vote stripped Lt. Gov. Bob Duffy of his ability to cast a tie-breaking procedural vote.
Sen. Dan Squadron said that to propose a rules change on a day when the Senate should have been tying up the lose ends of the budget violated an existing rule requiring 48 hours notice prior to voting.
"This is in contradiction to good faith and transparency," he said.
Um, how does one defend that, Senators Klein, Savino and Valesky? Do these changes promote better government? More transparency? Do they empower members and help them better represent those for which they work?
Or did you just sign off again whatever bullshit Skelos wanted to ram through, leaving all your reformer cred in tatters...again?
I sincerely had hope for the IDC. I thought the formation of the conference, for a number of reasons I shan't really expand upon, was a healthy and necessary development. I really like Savino. I like Valesky for the most part. The election of Carlucci (and Rivera) was the high points of a disappointing election cycle, in my opinion. And say what you like about Klein - he's an asshole - but, I'd always been kinda glad that he was our asshole.
But this is really not what I think most reformers were hoping for with the IDC. My first thought when I heard that they had voted en masse for GOP's redistricting sham was that it was quite possibly the stupidest thing they could have done because then they weren't special anymore.
The events of last night just seem to solidify that perception in my mind. Who exactly is supposed to be supporting the IDC now and why? They aren't reformers. In fact, one could now very easily make the opposite case. They aren't terribly "independent" now either. They've proven themselves to be fairly reliable votes for unpopular bullshit when Skelos needs to cover his ass, even when those votes seemingly run counter to what were supposedly deeply held convictions just a few short months ago. (Senator Valesky, I'm looking at you.) What exactly are they trying to accomplish as an independent conference now and, perhaps most importantly, why should anyone care?
The IDC once, just a short time ago really, seemed like a potential breath of fresh air, a chance for some promising Democratic pols to do things differently - apart from the internecine squabbles and shortcomings of such a NYC-centric conference.
Now they appear to be - sadly - just yet another cog in Albany's enduring Suck Machine.
And that sucks. |
