The Atma of Politics

Welcome to the Big Apple Circus: The New York State Senate, a Model for How NOT to Behave in Politics
[ OP-ED ]

A few weeks ago, if you lived in New York or kept up with New York state politics a shock might have ripped through your spine. The shock I am referring to was the initial defection of two (now only one) NY State Senate Democrats to caucus with the State Republican senators which would reverse the newly created democratic majority, after only five months in power. The results of this political coup has left the people of New York confused and angry and made the State Senate look like a big joke. 

After 43 years of the Republican Party being the majority party in the Senate, the Democratic Party took control this past January, making Malcolm Smith, the first African- American State Senate Majority leader. The Democrats had 32 seats and the Republicans 30. Once negotiations were finalized within the party on leadership, in January, the power structure for the party in 2009 was laid out and the agenda set. Little did anyone know that two out of four party dissidents were beginning to feel very disenfranchised with the party leadership and were being courted by some senior members of the Republican Party for defection, which lead to the final revolt which took place the first week in June leaving the Democrats with 30 loyal members and the Republicans with a 32 member majority, including the two dissidents.

Lets talk about the players: 1) Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. (Bronx Democrat)- Dissident # 1- who had been vying for a large leadership position which he seemed to secure through his agreement with the Republicans to become the Senate President; 2) Sen. Hiram Monserrate (Queens Democrat) Dissident # 2- who came back to the Democratic Caucus after only one week of defecting; 3) Sen. Malcolm Smith (Queens Democrat) - Deposed Senate Leader- was completely taken by surprise along with most of his colleagues by the political insurgency; 4) Sen. Dean G. Skelos (Long Island Republican)- New Senate Leader- formerly Senate Leader who lost his position when the Democrats gained control of the Senate but who has been reinstated after the recent political coup; 5) Sen. Carl Kruger (Brooklyn Democrat) who had been unhappy with the way things had been moving within the party but who has not broken away from his caucus in any formal way; 6) Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. (Bronx Democrat) had also been unhappy with the way things had been moving within the party but did not break away from his caucus in any formal way; and 7) Tom Golisano (Rochester billionaire) who had heavily supported the Democratic party and spent significant amounts of energy and finances to help Democrats win in 2008 but has since become very disappointed with the way the Democratic leadership is running things. These are all the major characters that played a role in what ended up being one of the biggest embarrassments in the New York State Senate history.  

Even more extraordinary, is what transpired after former Senate Leader Malcolm Smith was deposed and the Republicans looked like they had full control of the Senate… The Democrats threw a temper tantrum at what they saw as an illegal act and refused to recognize the new composition of leadership. At one point, Democratic Party members even turned off the lights in the Senate Chambers so as to prohibit the Republicans from conducting business. Then, Hiram Monserrate decided that he didn’t want to break away from the Democrats after all and returned to his party’s caucus. Nonetheless, damage had been caused by the breakaway and the leadership had changed. Moreover, the legislative agenda went out the window with the change in leadership. But, now the Senate is split 31-31 with no tie breaking the vote because Governor David Patterson is no longer Lieutenant Governor since he left the post to fill the job as governor and nobody has replaced him in that position.

So essentially, what we have is a State Senate that has proven itself to be unwilling or unable to work together and what we end up with is a legislative agenda that will go nowhere because of partisan politics, political treason, egos, and immaturity. The ones who end up suffering are the people of New York who not only have to suffer the consequences of extremely tough economic times but also are forced to deal with politicians acting like rogue mavericks with nothing to lose. Ironically, as this political warfare continues, these politicians are actually losing the State of New York.  

So as we move into the next half of our year please remember what transpired in New York and continues to plague the State as I write this piece. What has happened in the New York State Senate is a travesty of all types of proportions and should be the model of what not to do as a representative of the people. Politicians are supposed to be representatives for the people, the voice of a constituency, however, given what has happened recently in New York, there is little faith that any of these characters were motivated by anything other than self-interest and/or party power.  

The question that all of you must ask yourselves moving forward is: “What do we want and expect from our legislature and, are these people meeting those expectations?” If the answer to your question is no, then it will do you right, wherever you are, to stand up to such hypocrisy and callousness and make your voice heard now and, most importantly, at election time. Remember, although it is the legislature who makes the laws, it is we who create the legislature. If our legislature is not performing well then it is our responsibility to make sure they begin to or get people in office who will. This is the Atma of Politics!  

Dev B. Viswanath is a practicing attorney who is currently hosting a weekly political show called Desis & Politics which airs on Saturdays at 8:30 am and repeated on Sundays at 10:00 am on ITV/ITVGOLD in NY, NJ, and Conn. on Time Warner Cable (Channel 77 or 563), in NY and NJ on Cablevision (Channel 244), and in NY, Boston, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia on RCN (Channel 476) You can also watch previously aired programs at www.itvonweb.com . Please feel free to email Dev with our comments or suggestions at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

[ DEV B. VISWANATH ]