My, my, see how they run. The chance that a little sunlight will shine on Albany is causing a lot of scurrying in the top ranks of the Democratic establishment.
The finger-pointing and run-for-your-life atmosphere suggest that a level of panic is taking hold. It’s a curious reaction because, if they’re all innocent, why are they so afraid?
Take Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, who belatedly decided to get out of the way of a probe into one of his patrons, Assemblyman Vito Lopez. Hynes regularly received the backing of the party machine, courtesy of Lopez, and recently called him “a good guy.”
But now that the heat is rising over Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s secret payout of $100,000 in hush money to two of the four women who charged Lopez with sexual harassment, Hynes admitted his conflict of interest and called for a special prosecutor to see whether Lopez committed any crimes, including of election laws.
On Friday, a judge gave the case to Dan Donovan, the Staten Island DA and a Republican. That’s a start.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is trying to wiggle out of any responsibility for the secret payout. That won’t be easy because an e-mail trail shows his office helped Silver craft the agreement and the confidentiality clause.
It counts as big news that the Attorney General’s Office played any role in conspiring to hide from taxpayers such seedy deals. Are there other cases we should know about?
Silver, of course, is the big fish. Speaker for 18 years, he is a power center that, in some ways, eclipses that of the governor. Chief executives come and go, but Silver has played a steady, masterful game of accumulating control over legislation, spending and patronage. Hardly a dime leaves Albany without his say-so, and that includes all those “member items” that fund phony community organizations. They are an expensive scandal, yet there is a black hole about the decisions to fund them.
In this case, Silver admitted he was wrong to make the secret payout, but an honest investigation would almost certainly find that this was not the first time he buried something unsavory.
Then there is Gov. Cuomo. For now he seems content to let Donovan and the ethics panel do the digging. Depending on what they find, Cuomo could have a chance to finally put an end to the old, crooked ways of Albany.
Cuomo could become a complete reformer and offer no refuge or support for anyone caught engaging in any wrongdoing. Zero tolerance for corruption should be his new motto.
More likely, he will play the magnanimous healer and appear to forgive the transgressions while holding them as leverage over Silver and others for future bargaining. His power would grow at their expense.
Either way, buckle up. If Donovan rises to the challenge, Albany suddenly could get very interesting.
Press has facts to grind
The ancients warned that “truth is the first casualty of war,” but the 2012 campaign is also proving deadly to facts, thanks to the decline of standards at major news organizations. Consider the “fact checking” of Paul Ryan’s claim that President Obama “funneled” $716 billion from Medicare over 10 years to help pay for ObamaCare.
“The greatest threat to Medicare is ObamaCare, and we’re going to stop it,” Mitt Romney’s running mate thundered in his acceptance speech.
The claim is potent and goes to the heart of the entire health-care debate. Yet three liberal news organizations, CNN, The New York Times and PolitiFact, declared Ryan’s claim inaccurate because, well, the Obama campaign says so.
CNN and The Times echo PolitiFact that while “Obama’s law did find $716 billion in spending reductions,” the cuts “were mainly aimed at insurance companies and hospitals, not beneficiaries.”
This is nonsense on stilts.
The notion that large cuts to providers won’t mean cuts to patients is possible only if you believe doctors and hospitals will offer the same services for less money. Why would they, when many already say Medicare payments are too low?
Here’s another test: If the “fact checkers” are right that the cuts won’t lead to reduced care, why not apply the same logic to other programs?
Thus, Obama could cut payments to defense contractors, and they would still supply the same fighter jets, tanks and bullets. Ditto for federal workers — cut their pay, and they would still do their jobs. He could cut interest payments to China, and they would still lend us money.
Think of the savings!
Yes, truth is a casualty — especially when facts don’t matter to the fact checkers.
‘Bipartisan’ bites dust
One of the mysteries of the campaign is what President Obama would do in a second term. For example, if he has serious plans to reduce the deficit, they’re a secret. Chatting with then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Obama said he would have “more flexibility” if re-elected, but why he wants it isn’t clear. He told the Palestinians to be patient, which is bad news for Israel.
But now we at least know what Obama won’t do — work with Republicans on anything important. The Wall Street Journal reports that the president tells aides he was wrong to seek bipartisan solutions.
“He won’t make that mistake again,” an aide tells the Journal.
Wow, that’s quite an attitude. Beyond marking the official end of any illusions that Obama would become a uniter, it signals a determination to expand the reach of the presidency, probably with more executive orders and czars. Congress would be even more frozen out.
As the Democratic convention gets started, watch for signs that, like hope and change, limits on government power have been thrown under the bus.
Rice is so right
The GOP convention produced some great lines, but for my money, the most important came from Condi Rice. The former secretary of state gave an inspiring address that included this passage: “Ours has never been a narrative of grievance and entitlement. We have not believed that I am doing poorly because you are doing well.”
Historically, she’s right. But the cultural subtext of the election is whether that America still exists.
The right to ‘scare’ arms
Scariest sight at the GOP convention: A member of the Tampa security team, carrying a huge assault-type rifle and gulping a can of Red Bull. I worried that the caffeine jolt would make him as jittery as he made me.