Thursday, February 11, 2010

Is This Really What We're Worried About Right Now?!

When I heard that NY State Senators were in a marathon meeting behind closed doors Tuesday night, I said to myself: finally our elected officials are getting down to the business of saving jobs and balancing this unbelievable 8-billion-dollar deficit. Even though I don’t believe our elected officials should be praised for anything at this point, I was happy to see, even the guise, of good production. Turns out that marathon meeting had nothing to do with saving jobs or balancing the budget. Nope. These guys were deciding whether to expel some Senator from Queens who got caught on security camera dragging his girlfriend through a lobby. The senator I’m referring to is Hiram Monserrate. And yes he was given his walking papers after a 53-8 vote.

Is this really what we’re worried about right now?!

With the state’s unemployment rate at about 11%, and reports that 30-plus teachers at Averill Park, and maybe as many as 100 at Albany City Schools will be on the breadline by June, the Senate’s attention is focused on this nonsense? Really? As a voter, there’s nothing I could care about less than whether they dump some useless senator who beat up his girlfriend on security camera. “The senate can’t turn a blind eye to acts of domestic violence,” said Sen. Eric Schneiderman. But the Senate CAN turn a blind eye to a ballooning deficit and the fact that thousands of NY residents are losing their shirt?

Sometimes perception is reality. And right now the perception is that these buffoons in State Government are more worried about themselves and their own in-house issues. Like I said: You’re asking multi-millionaires to dirty their hands with our problems. Never happen. On the heels of the vote to blow out Monserrate, that clown Sen. Ruben Diaz from the Bronx moronically screamed to reporters “We don’t have a leader” over and over again. If I was a senator I would’ve said, “Who cares about this crap? I’m interested in saving New Yorker’s jobs.”

Do I dispute the decision to dump a woman beater? Of course not. But honestly, it’s nothing more than the latest incident of unethical behavior by an elected official in this country, and this state. And I really believe there are WAY BIGGER issues at hand right now. So many of these guys are cheaters, and wife beaters, and whatever else anyway. Just find a way to save jobs for the people who really need the help. Some lousy senator who can’t control his anger or his hands is really small potatoes at this point.

After the summer gridlock at the Capitol and this deepening deficit, I’m beginning to believe that Albany’s political bunch is nothing more than a band of damn idiots. And this fear was reinforced when News 9’s Capital Tonight reported that senators almost came to blows when deciding Monserrate’s fate behind closed doors. So let me get this straight. When determining whether or not to boot some guy for violence, they themselves nearly resorted to violence? Yeah. Sounds about right.

As I watched the vote come across the Senate floor and listened as Monserrate was allowed to give his farewell speech, promising his legal fight was far from over, I wondered if the 31 teachers at Averill Park, the 100-plus at Albany City, and the countless thousands more out of work across the state would have a chance to give the same kind of sendoff on the local news. The fact is people are losing their jobs by the basket load. But for some reason this woman beater gets to carry on about the injustice against him, poor him. You want injustice you dummy?! Try working hard, doing everything right, scraping by at bill’s time, and losing your job because this state can’t balance a budget! The fact is you dragged a woman through a lobby, thinking you were above the law, and you got caught. Legal fight!? Forget you. You get to go back to being a millionaire, while the rest of NY’s unemployed are watching their whole life go down the drain.

And if this ridiculous waste of time and resources isn’t enough to enrage you, how about the renovation project at the Capitol Building in Albany? Are you kidding me? Talk about self serving! As people are being given pink slips like crazy, the Capitol is getting a full makeover with a price tag in the tens of millions. Five minutes later, I read how Paterson’s budget would mean afterschool care programs for the poor are getting cut. But hey, no biggie, right? The Capitol is getting new carpets. So that’s good.

Everything about our current State government is a total joke. From this cartoonish senate to our governor who’s been accused of everything from cocaine use to swinging. New Yorkers your livelihood is truly in the hands of total idiots.

Brian Huba
2/12/10

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