Buffalo News on Albany's shenanigans.

The News has an editorial today about the continuing gamesmanship in Albany. NYS Government is like a mandatory casino. We all have to pay, but only a select few get to cash out. It's also quite clear that there's not a single soul with any sort of juice in Albany who's serious about reform. Especially not in the Senate. Wouldn't it be nice if New York State was a representative democracy? 'Cause it sure ain't now.

The lawmakers' desire to evade the consequences of not meeting their responsibility explains the push for a flabby contingency budget that essentially substitutes for the budget extenders that legislators periodically pass to keep the government functioning beyond the budget deadline. A Legislature that was serious about fixing a problem as long-standing and consequential as this would insist on a contingency budget that truly squeezes spending. That's how to ensure deadline compliance: by making the alternative unpalatable. But that's not what either the vetoed budget or the Senate's follow-up did. More than anything else, the vetoed budget plan tried to wrest control over the budget from the governor's office. Now the Senate, after deciding not to override Pataki's veto, has merely sought to save face.