Ethics Reform In Albany, New York

The recent indictment of former New York State Senator Joseph A. Bruno on federal corruption charges has once again brought attention to the need for ethics reform in New York state government.

Albany has been the capital of New York state since 1797. That is 212 years. I think that is enough time to come up with a strong, meaningful ethics law for its lawmakers.

I have some commonsense suggestions.

Senate and Assembly “jobs” should be considered full time. We are paying them $79,500 a year for a job they consider “part time.” That is more than the full time pay of most New Yorkers who work 40 hours a week for the entire year. The legislature meets from January to mid-June, several days a week. While they have part time hours, they get full time pay. What are they doing the rest of the year? They should be representing the people of New York at all times.

Let’s tell our 62 Senators and 150 Assembly Members that their job is now considered full time. They are not allowed to receive one dime more than their legislative salary in compensation from any other employment or “consultant” source. If they don’t like it, they can go back to whatever they were doing before they got elected. That should weed out some of the ones that are in it for the money and the power.

Senators and Assembly Members should also be limited to three, two year terms. Six years is enough. These should not be lifetime career positions. This would also insure a turnover in the ranks. You wouldn’t have people hanging around for 30 years for the power trip and the what’s in it for me attitude. If we had average citizens in the legislature instead of “professional” politicians, a lot more meaningful work would get done. If you doubt that, let’s try it and see.

I read in a letter to the editor that rank and file state workers are prohibited from outside employment with, or financial gain from, companies that do business with state government. Why doesn’t this apply to the legislature? It’s ridiculous. Senators and Assembly Members should not be able to leave the legislature and go to work for a company that does business with the state for at least 5 years. Period. What is so difficult about that?

According to the Albany Times Union, New York’s rules for public officials are widely viewed as among the weakest of any large state. What does the physical size of the state or the size of the population have to do with ethics? The same rules should apply to Alaska that apply to Rhode Island. This is not rocket science. It is commonsense and it’s about time.

It should take Albany about an hour to create and pass a meaningful ethics law, but I’ll give them an entire day. It should be written so that a fifth grader can read it and understand it in less than 20 minutes.

If they don’t want to take my suggestions, Common Cause has a list called, “Ten Steps Lawmakers Can Take to Reform Albany.” Step 6 says: The Governor and legislators should agree to ban gifts from lobbyists and create an independent ethics commission. Well, I guess that would be a start. If they mean an actual commission that will watch over the shenanigans of the legislature after a strong ethics bill is in force, that would be fine. After 212 years, I think we need to put a strong ethics law together quickly. Isn’t there a state somewhere in this country that has an honest, straightforward, commonsense ethics law with teeth, to govern their lawmakers? Can’t we just copy that?

Step 1 of Common Cause’s 10 Steps is about redistricting. It says: “Support the creation of an independent redistricting commission based on the state of Iowa’s successful model.”

The way that the state of New York’s districts were made is just another form of unethical behavior. Commonsense, logic and fairness were completely absent when the legislative districts were created. The Senate Republicans and the Assembly Democrats are allowed to draw the district lines for their respective house. That is just unbelievable. Who thought that one up?

Read what Common Cause says about redistricting reform. Common Cause says that incumbent state legislative candidates are re-elected at a staggering rate. In over 2500 general election races in the past 24 years, a challenger has beaten an incumbent only 34 times. Holy cow. That is ridiculous.

A lot of people that I talk to seem to accept that New York and Albany have been dysfunctional and corrupt for years and that it will always be that way. What can you do? That’s just the way it is.

There must be something that can be done. There must be a way for New Yorkers to get an honest, functional government in Albany that works for the citizens instead of special interests.

Why can’t the citizens of New York get their representatives to create and pass a serious ethics law? That would be a good first step.

Cheating, Lying Politicians

According to the New York Observer, Joe Bruno, speaking to the New York delegation at the Republican National Convention, compared Barack Obama to Eliot Spitzer. The former Republican State Senator implied that since Obama is articulate like Spitzer,  we may be in for a big suprise if he is elected. That is quite a leap. Spitzer resigned as Governor of New York in March 2008 after it was disclosed that he patronized a prostitute. Joe thinks that Spitzer was elected because of great marketing. I think Spitzer was elected because people were sick of Republicans running New York.  People voted for him because he had a reputation for honesty and integrity and they hoped he would clean up the mess in Albany, the state capital. Spitzer had a great opportunity and he blew it. He disappointed a lot of New Yorkers who expected great things from him. Now, everyone is looking to David Paterson, the new governor, to change Albany. He is New York’s first black governor. Governor Paterson, can you take away Joe’s hall pass so that he can’t roam around the building while people are trying to work? Thanks.

I would like to see our first black president elected this year too. Barack Obama will be elected because people are sick of Republicans running the country and tired of hearing George Bush abuse the English language.

John Edwards didn’t appear at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. He finally admitted to cheating on his wife. I guess he was still too ashamed and didn’t want to disrupt the convention. John McCain, who cheated on his first wife when he met his second wife, was nominated to be president at the Republican Convention. His cheating occurred over 30 years ago so it isn’t talked about much these days.

Larry Craig, Republican from Idaho, cheated on his wife and is still a United States Senator. The Senate Ethics Committee “admonished” him in February for his conduct in an airport bathroom. They slapped him on the wrist really hard.  Where is the outrage in the Senate? He pleaded guilty to the charges but, when the story surfaced, said that he was innocent. He said that he would resign by September 30th, 2007. Then he said he would finish out his term and not run for re-election this November. How would you like to sit next to Larry in the Senate?

David Vitter, Republican Senator from Louisiana, cheated on his wife by visiting prostitutes. He is running for re-election. Vitter and Larry Craig are co-sponsors (along with several others) of The Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution, which would define marriage as only the union between a man and a woman. What shining examples Larry and David are. How heroic. It sounds like they worry about sex too much.

Bill Clinton cheated on Hillary in the White House. He lied about it and was impeached. Republicans went nuts. The impeachment distracted him from running the country.

Jim McGreevey, the Democratic former governor of New Jersey, cheated on his wife with a man. He resigned and admitted that he was a homosexual.

George Bush lied and took our country into an unnecessary war. Only Congressman Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat from Ohio, had the guts to try and impeach him. One person out of 100 Senators and 435 Representatives. What do they do all day in Washington, D.C.?

Presidents John Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower and Franklin Roosevelt all cheated on their wives.

Why is it that some politicians who lie and cheat resign, and others do not?

I’m voting for Barack Obama for President. You should too.