In the 18th Century, Samuel Johnson said, “If you are idle, be not solitary” – and with those words, as if by magic, the New York State Senate was established; and a whole lot of otherwise idle men were grouped together, to be idle, but not solitary.
With the state facing a $3.2 billion budget gap, little has been accomplished except a continuous ticking-off-the-list of things we can’t do to fix the budget. Why can’t we do them? It’s this senator’s pet project, or that senator’s constituency (or, perhaps, campaign contributor). Meanwhile, New York State is just days away from declaring bankruptcy.
And who’s leading the shenanigans? Sheepshead Bay State Senator Carl Kruger. Kruger has stymied every effort by Paterson and other leaders, bullying around the Senate by threatening to crumble the Democrats’ two vote majority. He has nixed all cuts and tax hikes, and offered in their place only a series of one-off maneuvers that have little hope of filling state coffers. He inflates his numbers (see: tobacco revenue on Indian reservations), and suggests we can just will away the budget crisis (see: insistence, without evidence, that the shortfall is only half what Governor Paterson says).
Meanwhile, the only fund in New York State that continues to grow is Kruger’s campaign fund. Now at $2.1 million, Kruger’s warchest is by far the largest in the State Senate, filled by real estate, union, gambling, and healthcare interests.
Justifiably, the city and state press are riled up. The past week and a half has seen more editorials mentioning Kruger than in his entire term. Here are some choice picks:
“Carl Kruger, Obstacle”; New York Observer; Nov. 17
Mr. Paterson and the legislative leaders were close to an agreement last week, with details to be hammered out this weekend. Instead, Mr. Kruger threatened to subpoena the records of state agencies, unconcerned by a cash crunch Mr. Paterson says looms in December. The deficit has shown Mr. Kruger to be a more empowered frustrationist, learning the trappings of his chairmanship, and enjoying the longer leash the new Democratic leadership in the chamber appears to have given him.
“Carl Kruger, Job-Killer”; New York Post; Nov. 17
This time, they may not get away with it. Taxpayer outcry has already forced Albany to backtrack on a planned $25-a-vehicle license-plate tax, which would have brought in $129 million. Kruger’s tax is eight times as big — though maybe he’s hoping New Yorkers are too dumb to notice. We think maybe it’s Kruger who’s too dumb to notice what’s going on.
“Gambling industry, others help line Brooklyn state Sen. Carl Kruger’s campaign coffers”; Daily News; Nov. 23
A Daily News review shows Kruger’s public positions often mirror the views of his donors … Still, there are other instances where Kruger’s public positions have dovetailed with the interests of his campaign donors … Kruger has no apologies: “I should be raising more, and I’m going to try to do that…In politics, having a good amount of funds is a good thing.”
“Let Dave do it”; New York Post; Nov. 25
So what, pray tell, will senators use to close the gap — fairy dust? Actually, that’s not far off: Senate Finance Committee Chairman Carl Kruger proposed simply claiming the shortfall is several hundred million dollars less than it actually is. Dems have also eyed hokey one-shot revenues, like refinancing tobacco bonds. … But legislative hot air solves nothing.
Sampson, Skelos, Kruger and Breslin are quite good at gas-bagging — but deathly allergic to heavy lifting.
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I’m guessing that our little state senator is looking for a bigger opportunity. Maybe he’ll switch plans and decide to run for governor. It would be an open field next year. Patterson is not getting the nomination.
I just wanted to jump in and clarify a bit about an earlier article I wrote about stopping budget cuts to education. Since I posted this, I’ve been counting down the minutes until someone says, “Oh, now you’re for cuts and before you were against?” Well, I figured I’d head it off. It just seems more honest.
I still stand by that article, but that doesn’t mean cuts shouldn’t be made. My point was that a disproportionate amount of funding is dropped from education in comparison to other sectors. There has already been severe cuts. In the end, if that’s what’s needed to balance the budget – fine. But at this point, any more cuts to education should be a last resort.
Lisanne: Paterson may walk away with the nomination yet. True, a lot of people don’t like him. And his faltering in the summer and early fall was truly embarrassing. He needs to reign in the Senate and get these guys to work, instead of this nonsense going on now. BUT, I think in the past few weeks he’s been starting to prove himself again. Was the license plate idea stupid? Hell yes. But I think he was trying to get people’s attention – and he got it. Now he’s at last pressuring the Senate, and in demanding that they balance the budget or he will, he’s proving that he can make hard, unpopular decisions… and take all the blame for them. That’s leadership.
In the next few weeks, there will either be bankruptcy or major cuts. The gov will take a lot of heat no matter what happens. But if we avoid bankruptcy, he deserves some credit. Maybe voters and his party will see that. Maybe not.
you beat me to the punch, i was going to write about this on the weekend. I’ll link it here when it’s done!
I agree that Patterson is starting to show leadership qualities. But the differences he has with the state legislature are not to going to be easily surmounted. (Not that this is really anything new, it’s all how its perceived)
Patterson has little support within his party right now. If that can change he might be able to dissuade those who might mount a challenge against him. As the unelected governor he’s not the strongest position. Additionally, the party can blame him for whatever goes wrong in the next year. (given the current situation much will go wrong) He’ll become the sacrificial lamb so the Democrats don’t have to run on the record.
Given the turnover of governors in November’s elections I see this as the most likely scenario. In reality, this has little to do with Patterson’s skills as an executive. It can be compared to Hoover, who recieved a reputation for incomptence as a result of economic conditions that were beyond his ability to control. FDR wasn’t elected because he promised radical changes. In fact, the Democratic platform of 1932 was fiscally a conservative one. Voters, however, wanted someone else at the helm of the ship.
cut education and spend more money on the prisoners. i have been in the correction system for quite some time now. for those of you who have not been in prison before, the food sucks and the beds are unconfortable. i need my own cell so i can get away from bubba. he likes to spoon a lot.
[...] in November he invited a storm of criticism for holding up the budget process and nearly putting the state in bankruptcy. The Penguin – [...]