Comments on: Has Client-9 Screwed us All?

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 03:22:13 +0000

He was going to raise taxes and fees. Oh wait, that’s not reform that’s the status quo in this state.

By: Timothy Domst

Timothy Domst — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:39:20 +0000

The problem with Spitzer was that he didn’t go after structural changes in the State Government, and he didn’t use the bully pulpit to get the public behind him. Maybe it’s because the problems with the state are complicated. People want a sound bite, they don’t want to hear about committee appointments and the way our state committees operate, and how the constitution has a bazillion amendments, and about the authorities. Spitzer instead went after ONLY Bruno, in a gotcha way that would just get rid of Bruno, and let someone else take his place. Silver is just as much an enemy of reform.

Now he’s done in a gotcha way, which is fine, because he wasn’t going to do anything to really reform NYS as far as I could tell.

Aside from that, why isn’t prostitution legal? Is it opposition from wives who can’t stand the thought of their husbands spending money on anyone else? The strip club opponents always seem to be women and a few male preachers.

By: starbuck

starbuck — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:29:23 +0000

Listen dudes, you really want the comment?

After seeing what he did as governor for 14 months, anybody who still really thought he’d bring hopeful passionate change should realize that was always just a fairy tale. We should be long past the morning after for all that.

As Kristen would say, it’s just kind of like whatever… Upstate is here for a [purpose]. We should know what that purpose is. Let’s not get it twisted - we know what we do, you know.

By: Ben Franklin

Ben Franklin — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:04:41 +0000

I hope the USA takes him down and shows no mercy - just like the way that Turd screwed over so many before him.

By: Robin

Robin — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:54:30 +0000

Those that live by the sword, die by the sword. I will be appalled but not surprised if he tries to lessen the charges by refusing to resign. The scuttlebutt is that he was prepared to resign yesterday until the lawyers got to him. I would hope that his wife would say, “Resign and get your family out of the spotlight now.”

Paterson is a supporter of school vouchers, so that’s something.

By: Greg

Greg — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:33:11 +0000

I keep hearing about him using resignation as a bargaining chip for a plea deal. If I was the prosecuter I’d laugh in his face and tell him he’s resigning regardless of a plea and that they won’t reduce charges just because he says he’ll resign

By: steve

steve — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:25:46 +0000

Russell — “The state is about to take a giant step backward.”

Without commenting specifically about Paterson, exactly how many steps forward has the state taken since Spitzer took office?

That said, I agree that Paterson does not instill a sense of hope.

Terry — “I am unimpressed with the Mann Act charge…”

So what? Are you suggesting that we are allowed to violate laws if we feel they no longer fit “current lifestyles?” I’m unimpressed with the speed limit on my street because current lifestyles suggest that all the little kids that used to roam the driveways have now grown up. Am I now free to drive 50 in a 30?

Let’s be clear that Spitzer made his mark — in fact, built his career — not on policy smarts or patronage or fund raising (all of which he is good at). No, he built his his career on the image of the squeaky-clean ethics crusader. And on that front, so far, he has been a boatload of fail, as Pundit might say.

By: ike

ike — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:58:02 +0000

the real problem here is the he opened himself to potential blackmail through his use of these prostitutes, and the hypocrisy of mr. clean getting what’s coming to him after nailing everyone to the wall that he possibly could to further his career

good riddance. bring on the blind guy

By: Terry

Terry — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:35:28 +0000

I am unimpressed with the Mann Act charge…current lifestyles have extended beyond those times during which that legislation was enacted and it is all too likely that any hook-up these days may involve some degree of travel…as is the case with most legislation, it is overkill. Nor am I necessarily troubled with the prostitution, per se, as I was not privy to the status of the marital boudoir….where I do take issue, of course, is the seemingly amateurish manner in which he operated. All of the mechanisms should have been handled by a trusted functionary. In any event, at least he was doing a woman, ha ha….

By: Russell

Russell — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:35:00 +0000

BP, it’s not just because he paid for a hooker to cross state lines. What’s really going to bring him down is the allegations of money laundering and tax fraud. If those charges stick, he’s really in deep.

I hope he resigns soon, but he may use his position as a bargaining chip. He might hang onto the governorship so he can use the resignation as part of a deal. That might not be possible if enough Democrats line up to tell him to get out, though.

When a reformer is shown to be a fake and a fraud, the successor does not normally pick up that mantle and carry on. Unfortunately, we are probably heading right into much more business as usual in NYS. Paterson is a long serving product of the Albany system who has very little accomplishment to show for his two-plus decades in Albany. This state is about to take a giant step backwards.