Friday, October 22, 2010

Arrogance of Power

Joseph Fisch, New York State Inspector General has released his report on the Aqueduct Entertainment Group VLT fiasco and as expected, it is a treatise on New York State Politics and its corruption filled, lobbyist controlled, greed fiefdom.

One of the culprits slammed by the Inspector General includes State Senator Malcom D. Smith (D). Just how can these shenanigans involving our elected officials continue to occur in New York State?

Easy, when you are continually reelected no matter what you do in office a sense of entitlement reigns. This goes for both sides of the aisle, whether Democrat or Republican. The New York State Senate has members each elected to two year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve.

Senator Malcom D. Smith (D) has been a senator in the 14th district since 2001. Despite what can kindly be called a checkered career with many questionable activities, he wins all his reelections and ran unopposed in 2008. He is up for reelection this November. Should he win as expected, he enters his 10th year in office. This is par for the course in New York State, once you get it, you are basically in, provided you play the game and don't piss off your fellow long term incumbent fellow state politicians. The residents of New York State, the constituents they are elected to represent-they don't count.

For all the sleazy details, you can read the entire 304 page Inspector General report here.

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