Seventeen weeks and no budget in sight: Incumbent 139th Assembly Member Steve Hawley has leveled blame at the Democratic Majority.  He avoided mention that the Republican leadership has all their ducks in a row prepared to scuttle a state budget.  It takes two to tango; only one to stonewall.  The Republican leadership has manufactured a loggerhead, set to block budget passage.

Hawley proclaims, “… instead of doing the job that voters elected them to do, the Legislative majorities instead decided to gavel in and gavel out of session, leaving the budget to wait another week, if not another month.” 

Shy the necessary 32 votes for passage, up against a partisan road block; what choice?

The Republican strategy is not limited to state government; it mirrors the GOP overall strategy. In Washington Senate Republicans, voting as a bloc, mounted a filibuster to derail campaign finance reform. Oddly enough, John McCain who championed reform with his McCain Feingold Act of 2004 voted against cloture, citing, “…opposing this motion (is) very simple – this is clearly a partisan attempt by the majority to gain an advantage in the upcoming election.”   …A familiar ring?

I agree with Mr. Hawley’s closing remark- albeit painted with a wider brush: New York cannot afford this kind of incompetent leadership anymore.  A Quinnipiac University Poll reveals 83% of New Yorkers feel their state government is dysfunctional.  The partisanship has to end.

The governor went on to say that it was unfair, in a climate of 300,000 lost jobs and a 9 percent unemployment rate- private sector wage freezes, salary cuts and furloughs to grant 4% wage increases to state workers.

Unions countered by accusing Paterson of financial mismanagement, and reminded the governor that the contracts sanctioning the raises in question are legally binding.