New York Senate channels Kentucky

The New York Senate seems to be another body where the will of the people is a distant memory.

This week, 2 Democratic senators helped stage a coup to restore the Republicans to power in that body - even though the GOP is outnumbered. And the stench is overpowering.

This is strikingly similar to what happened in the Kentucky Senate in the late '90s, when right-wing Democrats joined a Republican coup to put the GOP in charge. As in New York today, Republicans' approval numbers in Kentucky at the time were laughably poor.

The general sentiment was that the Democrats deserved to lose the Kentucky Senate - but not to the Republicans, whose mismanagement and corruption in Congress at the time was infamous.

One of the Democratic turncoats in New York who aided the Republican coup is Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. A few years ago, 3 of Espada's cohorts stole food meant for poor and sick New Yorkers and handed it out at Espada's political rallies.

Espada also owes New York City over $60,000 in fines for years of fraudulent campaign activities. And he doesn't even live in the district he claims to represent.

The Republicans have rewarded Espada by making him president pro tem - which puts him a heartbeat away from becoming governor.

Meanwhile, with the GOP power grab in New York, important initiatives have been dashed. Restoring utility regulation? Gone! Ending the mismanagement of New York City schools? Bye-bye! New laws to help victims of clergy sex abuse? That's gone too.

All at the hands of a party that doesn't even have a plurality, let alone a majority - and 2 collaborators who enabled them.

I guess the Republicans realized they couldn't win back power through elections, so they had to stage a coup.

(Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/nyregion/10about.html;
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04EED61439F932A15756C0A9639C8B63&sec=&spon=&scp=4&sq=Soundview%20guilty&st=cse)