Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's reign was on brink, but spokesman said nothing happens in Senate till Smith says so.
Posted on 06/10/2009 6:34:42 AM PDT by NYer
Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's reign was on brink, but spokesman said nothing happens in Senate till Smith says so.
ALBANY - Blame it on the BlackBerry.
Upstate billionaire Thomas Golisano said he began plotting to overthrow Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith after the Democrat spent a whole meeting in late April reading e-mails.
"Of course I was upset, I thought that was very rude," he said of the meeting in Smith's office.
"When I travel 250 miles to make a case on how to save the state a lot of money ... and the guy comes into his office and starts playing with his BlackBerry, I was miffed."
Golisano, who spent millions helping Democrats take control of the Senate for the first time since 1965, said Smith and party leaders reneged on a promise of reform and engaged in a secretive budget process that resulted in $8 billion in new taxes and fees.
After the meeting, Golisano, who founded the Independence Party, asked political operative Steve Pigeon to see if he could work a deal with Republicans.
Golisano had a good relationship with Sen. George Maziarz (R-Erie), who introduced him to Deputy Minority Leader Tom Libous (R-Binghamton).
At the same time, Pigeon met with Democrat Pedro Espada, a longtime friend.
Espada had become increasingly frustrated with Smith's leadership, calling him a "disaster," and spoke to Maziarz and Libous about how bad things had become.
"When [Pigeon] became involved, it escalated," Espada said.
Early last month, GOP Minority Leader Dean Skelos traveled to Rochester for weekend meetings with Golisano, Pigeon and Niagara County GOP Chairman Henry Wojtaszek.
Golisano was skeptical that Republicans, who ran the Senate for more than 40 years, would make reforms he wants, including an independent Senate budget office and term limits for leadership posts.
"He told him you had 40 years and didn't make a difference," Pigeon said of Golisano. "He said, give me a reason why it should be Frick over Frack."
Skelos made a compelling argument that the Republicans learned their lesson, and talks intensified over the next five weeks.
Major obstacles had to be overcome, including whether a two-party coalition could work and how it would operate.
A final deal was reached in an Albany hotel suite last week, with Golisano chiming in by phone from Florida.
Libous said Republican lawmakers then met in a Albany apartment across the street from the governor's mansion and planned their move over pizza and trail mix.
Libous was chosen to handle the floor procedures necessary for a leadership change.
"We're gonna jump out of a plane without a parachute," Libous told his colleagues. "And we're gonna land on our feet."
Done in by a handheld.
Heard this morning that there are several other dems ‘talking’ to the republicans.
This is going to be fun to watch.
The tide is turning in America and the rest of the world.
There's bound to be a way to work racism into it.
Not really. The kingmaker went back to the GOP, because he discovered that, even though they suck, they suck less than the Democrats.
Sources said White House political director Patrick Gaspard w/ deep New York ties was tasked to work the phones. They're not looking to save Malcolm (or the hapless Paterson), they want renegade Dems back in the fold ASAP.
Betcha Sen Dean Skelos is being bombarded by Pubs allover the US wanting his gameplan.
" I told my limo driver,' I don't give a damn where you park it.' "
I heard on the local news this AM, that there are other democrats talking to the GOP, and that the GOP may be willing to split committee chairmanships with defecting Dems, if it will help establish a coalition.
And so they did.
HAHAHAHAHA!
Can’t wait to sit down with Golisano.
“But this little Blackberry is so shiny and blingy and all. Who can resist it?”
If he truly were diverse and multicultural, he'd be using a Whiteberry.
Other sources had Republicans boasting 3-4 more Democratic senators could enter the GOP fold. Sources identified Martin Dilan and Carl Kruger of Brooklyn, and Bill Stachowski of Buffalo, as Democrats that Republicans hoped would flip.
Bronx Democrat Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. defected along with Hiram Monserrate of Queens to give the GOP a 32-30 working majority.
The fact that the Pubbies made good on their promises by installing Espada as leader is sure to help the Dem defections increase.
The two dems who flipped are scoundrels who ought to have been thrown out of the party. But they’re dems so they continued in their positions.
What a delicious turn of events.
One slashed his girlfriend with a broken glass and the other does NOT live in his district.
One indicted and the other under investigation.
Perfect dems!
As politicians, these guys are interested in power and money. And that’s all. Party is irrelevant except as a vehicle for the acquisition of power and money.
.......There’s bound to be a way to work racism into it. .....
Detroit, Philadelphia, Oakland, Atlanta, NY Senate.....
Black leadership failure from hacks
Is Golisano the one talking about moving to Florida half time?
Sources identified Martin Dilan and Carl Kruger of Brooklyn, and Bill Stachowski of Buffalo, as Democrats that Republicans hoped would flip. At least one maverick Democrat, Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr., said he had no plans to switch sides, blaming billionaire Tom Golisano for engineering the Albany coup.
It should be an interesting day. The Senate Chambers are still closed.
The Senate chamber is locked and empty yesterday on orders of Sergeant-at-Arms William Martin
Fred Dicker, who has an office at the state capitol, has a good handle on the evolving situation.
* Rumors swirled that a handful of other Democratic lawmakers were preparing to defect to the Republicans.* The White House even jumped into the fray, trying to save Democratic control of the state Senate.
* More chaos loomed with the GOP threatening to hold a session in a public park near the Capitol today if Democrats failed to hand over keys to the gilded chamber.
Meanwhile, the governor is holding a press conference just past noon today. Fasten your seatbelts, we're in for an interesting ride.
There is good news as well. The new Republican/Democratic alliance that voted Monday to remove Smith is preparing to vote over the next two weeks on a range of conservative-oriented reforms, including a cap on state spending, a cap on local school property taxes, and the re-establishment of the popular STAR property tax rebates, which were abolished by Paterson's budget.
If they don’t get spending under control, NY is doomed.
All this phoney baloney ‘investment’ talk is just code word for spending.
Americans are waking up to the reality that the spending did nothing to help the economy and the money went down the rat hole.
Yeah, but that was the billiance of the plan. Goody Two Shoe guys would never have flipped. And the Pubbies have the latino vote in their pocket as well.
Malcolm was pressuring Espada to come clean....... so he was a natural to flip. Monserrate was also tainted, and anxious to change the political discourse.
In the aftermath---both of these tainted lawmakers look like superheros.
Flipping bleached out all their sins. ROTFL.
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