By The TimesLedger
Minutes after Gov. Pataki finished his State of the State speech last week, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) was on television offering an opposing point of view. The contrast was stark. Although the state is facing difficult fiscal times, Pataki gave an upbeat, optimistic view of the year to come.
Silver, on the other hand, was absolutely depressing. He looked even more grim than usual. His speech was obviously written long before the governor’s address was released, and yet the speaker knew that the State of the State would be short on detail and would not address specific steps that the governor would propose to solve the budget problem. Of course, no one expected the governor to get into budget details, but the speaker used this as a kind of rhetorical device.
The State of the State was delivered in the middle of the work day and was carried live by New York 1. It is likely that by the time Silver offered his rebuttal, almost no one was watching but the political wonks. Still Silver did his best to throw a wet blanket on the Pataki address.
It’s become a tradition for the opposition party to get air time following a State of the Union, State or City address. It’s a tradition we could do without. If partisans feel compelled to reply, they should listen first, take a reasonable time to digest what was said, then offer thoughtful criticism. Anything less is the political equivalent of sticking your tongue out and shouting, “Oh, yea, so’s your Mom.”
While we’re at it, we’d like to call for a moratorium on the use of the phrase “balance the budget on the backs of …” which is usually preceded by the phrase, “We’re not going to allow.”
How refreshing it would have been if Silver had said, “we’re not going to allow the state to miss another budget deadline. We’re going to start working now with the governor and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R-Way Upstate) to iron out a budget before the April 1 deadline.” The state has not made a budget deadline in the entire time that Silver has been the speaker. If he wanted to be really bold, Silver could have promised that the assembly members will not leave Albany in April until the budget is passed.
Now that would have been worth watching.
Editorial: Say it ain’t so
Count us among the many who are absolutely stunned by the thought of former City Councilman Sheldon Leffler standing handcuffed in a Manhattan courtroom. Leffler was arraigned on a 13-count indictment, which include conspiracy, attempted grand larceny, forgery, filing false documents. He is accused of engaging in a scheme to violate the city’s campaign financing laws.
According to the Manhattan district attorney, Leffler asked a Hollis real estate agent to make a $10,000 contribution to his campaign by submitting 38 money orders worth $250 each in the names of tenants, employees and relatives. In this way, the donation would qualify for matching funds of $4 for ever dollar donated.
These are serious charges. In essence, Leffler is charged with attempting to steal from the taxpayer by illegally collecting $40,000 in matching funds. If he is convicted, Leffler could spend as much as seven years in prison.
As the chairman of the Public Safety Committee, Leffler was easily one of the hardest working people on the Council. Given his standing in the community and the nonviolent nature of the alleged crime, we don’t see why DA Robert Morgenthau found it necessary to bring Leffler handcuffed into the courtroom.
