Subverting democracy
It’s bad enough Democrats in the Albany County Legislature allegedly tried to cheat black residents out of full representation. Now, in a contrived act of redemption, they’re talking about depriving...
View ArticleWork to overturn Citizens United
The corrupting influence of money on politics is surely an issue where people of all backgrounds and political views can come together. Therefore, I was heartened to see a bipartisan panel following...
View ArticleA vote against legislative raises
I read the commentary by lobbyist Robert J. Malito promoting a pay raise for our “poor” legislators (“Raise pay of elected officials,” Dec. 23) and have to ask “Is he kidding?” He’s the last person...
View ArticleLet court decide on district lines
After months of Democrats attempting to make deals regarding a multiyear lawsuit, the Albany County Legislature seems to have finally gotten it right – let the courts decide. The lawsuit centers on the...
View ArticleCrying out for reform
The name of a man mostly otherwise forgotten arises in moments such as this because of a single quotation we easily recall: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” wrote Lord...
View ArticleFix Congress and our election laws
I blame our dysfunctional and largely non-representative legislative branch for bringing us to a presidential race that includes a cartoonish professional wrestling and reality TV entrepreneur and...
View ArticleThe legacy of corruption
In the end, justice was done in the case of former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. The question now is whether the state Legislature will compound one tragedy with another. For Mr. Silver, the tragedy...
View ArticleWater crisis probe needed
Holding one another accountable is an important role for the legislative and executive branches of state government, but in the case of the contaminated public water supply in the village of Hoosick...
View ArticleBe honest on pay hike
No doubt most New York state lawmakers running right now for re-election would say they oppose a massive pay hike for themselves. And no doubt, if they get one, they’ll tell you there was just nothing...
View ArticleAssembly picks openness
While state senators are blocking the use of contemporary tools that would make their actions more transparent to the people who elect them, their counterparts up the hallway in the state Assembly...
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