Golisano Defends Coup
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- July
- 7
Tom Golisano, an architect of the state Senate leadership vote that has thrown the chamber into chaos, defended the coup today, blaming Senate Democrats for failing to accept the June 8th vote that tossed them from power.
The Rochester-area billionaire said Senate Democrats are acting like “a bunch of irresponsible children. Why can’t they admit they got beat?”
Golisano and his aide Steve Pigeon worked behind the scenes to lure two Democrats to join the Republican conference and vote out the Democratic majority June 8.
But after one of the Democratic senators, Sen. Hiram Monserrate, D-Queens, rejoined the Democratic conference, the Senate has been deadlocked at 31-31 – and no legislation has passed.
Golisano has been criticized by watchdog groups for trying influence the Senate. And Democrats have refused to accept the vote, saying it was illegal.
But Golisano, who unsuccessfully ran three times for governor on the Independence Party line, said Democrats should accept the 32-30 leadership vote that installed Sen. Pedro Espada, D-Bronx, as Senate president, and Sen. Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, as majority leader.
And if the sides are now stuck at 31-31, they should agree to hold session under Espada and Skelos to pass time-sensitive legislation, Golisano said.
“They haven’t found anything illegal with what the process was,” Golisano said in an interview with Gannett’s Albany bureau. “How can the body not come in there and vote 32-30 to change leadership? What is wrong with that?”
Golisano said he helped orchestrate the leadership vote after then-Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, went back on a promise to hold the line on taxes and state spending.
The 2009-10 state budget includes a 9 percent increase in spending and higher income taxes on the wealthy. After the budget’s passage, the Paychex Inc. founder announced he has changed his residency to Florida to save about $5 million a year in income taxes.
He said Smith and other New York City Democrats were ruining the state. Golisano added that the new majority passed a series of rules reforms after the coup that will improve the Senate.
“When I walk down the street I don’t have people saying, “Hey, Tom what are going to do about the deadlock? What they are saying is, ‘Congratulations. We’ve put a stop to what’s going on.’”
Golisano’s political action committee Responsible New York started running ads this week across the state, calling on voters to support the new majority coalition.
“It’s time to return Albany to its rightful owners,” one ad states. “We want reform on taxes, we want real ethics reform and we want real action out of Albany and so do a bi-partisan majority of state senators.”
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 1:29 pm by Joseph Spector.
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HERE IS WHERE GOLLISANO IS WRONG..THE DEMOCRATS DID NOT
GET BEAT..THEY WOULD HAVE HAD MONSERRAT STAYED WITH THE
REPUBLICANS..BUT HE DIDN’T..SO THE COUP FAILED..AND THAT
IS WHAT THE CHAOS IS ALL ABOUT…31-31 IS NOT A VICTORY
FOR GOLLISANO..ITS A FAILED ATTEMPT TO DELIVER CONTROL
TO THE REPUBLICANS WHICH HAS NOW RESULTED IN NO GOVERNMENT
FOR WAY TOO LONG
A nine percent INCREASE IN SPENDING. In these perilous times, if that’s not enough of an indictment of the insanity of Democratic control, nothing is! And, too, the vote to change leadership was obviously legal, if nefarious. Case closed. Where are the courts to definitively rule with alacrity on this single, elementary issue? If it’s 31-31, let’s get logical and get these bozos back in session FOR FULL DAYS, NOT MINUTES. There are many important issues affecting the financial efficacy of the State that they easily CAN. and will, agree upon.
Hey Bloomerg are you listening? You got beat by New York’s upstate Billionaire. He doesn’t like you ignoring term limits (he said so) and he doesn’t like your tax increases. He wants you to find another way to balance your budget and/or tighten your belt. He single handidly stopped your legislation from passing hasn’t he? Battle of the Billionaires. I thought you guys had a secret rich person club pact whereby you don’t mess in eachother’s business. Guess not. Guess you got the same problems as us riffraff.
Hey Spector, why don’t you go ask Bloomberg for a comment on Golosano’s fist in his face.
This comment is for ed1…....... the 9% increase is a bold face lie. Golosano and his thugs like to say that number but the truth is a man by the name of Obama has sent NY Billions in Federal assistance never seen before. These bright lights are counting stimulus funds to come up with 9%. State spending did not go up this year and that is actualy an untold historic fact in New york. But no one likes to talk about a positive achievement when you can spin falsehoods.
what has gone up is the cost of pensions for uniformed
employees and teachers…it goes up as salaries go up
with no help from the legislative branch..thats the
deal that politicians have been cutting of both parties
for years to garner support…what other state lets
uniformed personell double their pensions by working
overtime…and gives the teachers cradle to grave
health insurance..its time to start cutting so that
taxpayers all over this state don’t simply pull up
stakes and go elsewhere
A positive achievement? A POSITIVE ACHIEVEMENT? Talk about spin!
To paraphrase Robert Frost:
SOME SAY THE STATE WILL END IN FIRES,
SOME SAY IN ICE.
FROM WHAT I’VE SEEN OF POLITICAL LIARS,
I HOLD WITH THOSE WHO FAVOR FIRES.
BUT IF IT HAD TO PERISH TWICE,
I THINK I’VE SEEN ENOUGH OF VICE
TO KNOW THAT FOR DESTRUCTION ICE
IS ALSO GREAT
AND WOULD SUFFICE.
I grew up in Rochester (16) and have spent the last 23 years in New York City, and I cannot believe what a colossal jacka$$ this Golisano guy is. He can’t get elected to office, so he tries to BUY the NY State Senate.
And now he is a resident of Florida?
STAY THERE! Ruin that state, you lousy Boss-Tweed wannabe!
I hope with all my heart that the voters of Queens and the Bronx will step in to restore sanity to NYS by ceremoniously ousting the utterly corrupt MontserRAT and the power-crazed Pedro Espada in a Democratic primary. MontserRAT and Espada have unceremoniously earned the right for their political careers to be OVER!