The Wave that Missed New York or Maybe Carl Paladino was Right About a Few Things

Across the country, the November 2nd elections left a tide of destruction for incumbent Democrats everywhere. Everywhere, that is, except New York. While the Republicans picked up House seats across the country at a fairly even rate (including in New York State), their even better record in state legislatures (approximately 650 seats gained) and governorships did not extend to the Empire State. While the effectiveness of the GOP platform nationwide is debatable, New York’s failure to elect more Republicans to its legislature represents a missed opportunity to rid the government of Democrat-perpetuated corruption.

Consider the structure of New York State’s government. The executive branch is headed by the governor, who is relatively weak by American standards. The state is normally governed by the troika of the Majority Leader of the State Senate (which has 62 members, elected biannually), and the Speaker of the State Assembly (which has 150 members, also elected biannually). The Senate, with its larger districts and heavier incumbent privilege, has traditionally been home to a Republican majority, a pattern that ended in 2008 with a slim Democratic majority taking office. By contrast, the Assembly has been home to large Democratic majorities, frequently with the power to override a gubernatorial veto (that is, controlling more than 2/3 of the seats).

One source of the corruption plaguing New York can be found in the state’s many independent agencies, the largest of which is the MTA, a bureaucratic octopus that costs the state a fortune while delivering dubious benefits. The legislature is the other abundant source of corruption. While the list of transgressions is (nearly) endless, a couple of salient examples should serve. Until 2008, state legislators were allowed to conduct private business from their offices using government supplies. New York has placed no limit on campaign finance contributions, and, until recently, no ban on using campaign funds for private purposes (essentially legalizing bribery). Legislators are also given a sum by the head of their body to disburse in their district—essentially, a slush fund for distributing favors. These funds have been used by the long-serving Speaker, Sheldon Silver, to exert an iron grip on the Assembly. The promise of additional funds lured two highly corrupt liberal Democrats to briefly join the state Republicans in the Senate, miring that body in coup and counter-coup for much of the winter of 2008-09.

Both bodies have brazenly refused to censure members who commit illegal activities. The Senate has not expelled the Democratic leadership over a bribery scheme involving the Aqueduct Racetrack, nor did it expel ex-Senator Hiram Monserrate for diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars intended for hospitals to his own private accounts. The only member expelled recently was the other coup plotter, ex-Senator aptly named Pedro Espada, who cut his girlfriend’s face open with a broken bottle during an argument. Rather, New York State’s legislators have been happy to indulge in endemic corruption, wasting the State’s massive budget (originating in some of the Nation’s highest taxes: property, gas, sales, and income) on favors to their special interest supporters.

These special interests deserve further consideration. The long-time rule by liberal Democrats has led to an overly powerful union lobby. Unionized state employees, from LIRR brakemen to tax auditors, cheat on overtime rules and rack up huge pensions. Hundreds of state employees have pensions of over $100,000 per year, attained through clever manipulation of pension rules and friendly managers. Public employee unions also block any attempts to reform the system. For example, Buffalo has approximately the same number of employees that it did in 1950, despite the halving of its population and the collapse of its economy. The teachers’ union has blocked many of the city’s attempts at reform by performing an end run and going directly to Albany. This has resulted in the cap on charter schools, the near-inability to fire even those teachers convicted of a felony, and the retention of incompetent teachers. The power of union lobbies is strong enough that Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo (son of the liberal darling Mario Cuomo) is pushing business leaders to form a strong Albany lobby to counteract the agenda of organized labor. The power of the Senate and Assembly leaders means that special interests can achieve their goals easily by targeting only a handful of top legislators.

Beyond corruption, there is a sense of impunity around Albany. Slush funds and political machines allow legislators who manifestly do not represent the interests of their constituents to stay in power. Senator Bill Perkins (Harlem) refuses to support charter schools or school reform, despite being the beneficiary of a private-school education. Sheldon Silver (LES, Chinatown) led the move to take dedicated tax revenue from the MTA and will not support congestion pricing—despite the fact that he represents one of the most public-transit-dependent districts in the State. Legislators insulate themselves from public opinion by choosing their constituents (and opponents) through redistricting. Every ten years, all states must redraw the boundaries of their congressional and state legislature districts; in New York, boundaries are finagled so as to keep incumbents protected by their machines and to move powerful opponents into neighboring districts. The Republican Party has deftly maintained a bastion upstate by including large prisons in their districts, upping the population by adding people who cannot vote.

Rampant corruption would be easier to stomach if the state ran well. But it doesn’t. For instance, graduate student stipends fall into the 7% tax bracket, yet no benefits of state government are seen (MTA subsidies have been declining, and the State is one of the biggest barriers to reforming public education). It is evident that something is wrong with the system. Given New York’s alarmingly high taxes, pointless regulations enforced by bloated bureaucracies, lack of a responsible budgeting process, and yawning budget deficit, it is reasonable to wonder why the State works at all. Again, it is telling that Governor-elect Cuomo wants to cut taxes and regulation, despite being a liberal Democrat.

So why the Republican Party? Why should it deserve to run New York, despite having a record almost as awful as that of the Democrats? The answer is the New York Uprising reform pledge. NY Uprising, headed by former mayor Ed Koch, is a bipartisan movement dedicated to ending the corruption and double-dealing in Albany through non-partisan redistricting, ethics reform, and responsible budgeting. All the Republican candidates for State Senate, and nearly all of those for State Assembly, signed on to the movement. The Democrats, enjoying uniform control of state government for the first time in decades, signed on at a much lower rate. In addition, Carl Paladino, for all his personality flaws, captured much of the anger and disgust that voters have with State politics. To paraphrase him: why should Andrew Cuomo, son of the governor who bankrupted the state, be the one who fixes it? Paladino represented what New York needs most—a movement to clean house and start afresh. At the very least, it was refreshing to hear someone call Sheldon Silver a “criminal.” If you don’t believe me, watch Paladino’s final pre-election statement on YouTube—it even melted the hearts of the snarky liberals at New York Magazine.

Ultimately, however, the presence of a weak, flawed, and socially regressive candidate at the top of the ballot destroyed the hope for large Republican gains. While they likely took the State Senate back by a narrow margin, it is unclear whether they cut into the Assembly’s veto-proof majority, leaving Sheldon Silver’s dictat all-powerful. Civic-minded financier Harry Wilson lost a narrow election for comptroller, largely due to a weak presence at the top of the ticket, leaving the massive state pension funds in the control of corruptly-appointed Thomas DiNapoli. Dan Donovan, the Republican running for Attorney General on a platform to clean up Albany and end corrupt union pension deals, lost a close race to Eric Schneiderman (the only statewide Democrat not running against Albany this year).

Hope must reside in Governor-elect Cuomo, whose detailed reform plans and record as Attorney General bode well for the future. In the end, the voters of New York have only themselves to blame for their state’s dismal circumstances. Too enamored with the benefits of machine politics, or overly-loyal to leaders who play to ideological sympathies while hiding their records, voters have refused, once again, to clean house. The next time you hear a New York resident complain about corruption, high taxes, or even the lack of legalized gay marriage, ask that person who he or she voted for. My excuse? I voted in Virginia.

NB: All factual claims come from mainstream media sources, especially The New York Times. Feel free to email me for more information.