‘We can always count on the Americans to do the right thing,” Winston Churchill reportedly said, “after they have exhausted all the other possibilities.”
He could have been talking about Andrew Cuomo.
After five earlier threats to investigate the Legislature, the governor issued his sixth last week. My reaction, printed here, was “wake me when he actually does something.”
I am now awake. Cuomo isn’t just doing something — he’s dropping a bomb on Albany.
By announcing that he is appointing an investigative commission under the Moreland Act, Cuomo gives the panel subpoena power and support for public hearings into the most corrupt legislature in America.
How serious is he?
“As serious as a heart attack,” he told me.
His plan is twofold. First, he is loading the commission with current and former prosecutors, what he calls “top-shelf law-enforcement people.” The goal is to raise the chances that any dirt uncovered will lead to swift criminal charges.
Second, he aims to avoid a separation-of-powers claim by using the Board of Elections as a portal for the probers. Part of the executive branch, the board collects campaign-finance filings from candidates — then ignores them.
Cuomo wants to use those documents as a starting point, and connect the dots between the contributions legislators get and their official actions to reward donors.
“It’s going to be a real follow-the-money investigation,” he said. “We want to see who gives you money, the legislation you introduce and your member items.”
The once-in-a-generation chance for a clean sweep is there for the taking. About three dozen state officials, mostly lawmakers, have been convicted of crimes in the last decade. Corruption is so brazen that some new members come to Albany with their hands out from Day One.
Cuomo, because of his work as attorney general, talked of a Moreland commission during his 2010 campaign. But once elected, he followed a different path, compromising on ethics reforms in exchange for getting his agenda adopted.
“I wanted to make the relationship work,” he told me, adding that his approach did get results. “We’ve had three on-time budgets, and the capital is actually functioning better. But the integrity is rotten.”
The last point, I’ve argued repeatedly, is not incidental. The transactional nature of Albany means almost everything is for sale or barter, and suspicion hangs over every action.
Most important, making the state more business- and family-friendly can’t happen if decisions are shaped to favor some New Yorkers over others. Expecting people to trust the result is like pouring water into a bucket that’s got a gaping hole in the bottom. You get nowhere.
The corrosive effects are dramatic when prosecutors bring out the handcuffs, but corruption’s damage to the public trust isn’t limited to crimes that can be proven.
Not when the leaders of both parties, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority co-leader Dean Skelos, have outside income from tort law firms. The firms do well because of their rainmakers’ official posts, and both resist changing the laws that have turned the state’s court system into a casino stacked against taxpayers.
And Silver’s role in hiding sexual- harassment claims testifies to the loopholes in the ethics law. Any system that gives the parties vetoes over investigations, as current law does, will conceal as much corruption as it reveals.
Cuomo accepted that as the price of doing business, but now sees it as a bad bargain. The final straw was the Legislature’s refusal to pass his anti-corruption proposals last week.
“I gave them a chance but I wasn’t going to compromise and let them water it down,” he said. “A Moreland commission is the only way to do it now.”
Actually, a Moreland commission was the only way to do it all along. But better late than never.
Voting Act: Mission accomplished
Talk about your disappointments. The first black president of the United States and the first black attorney general say they are deeply disappointed that the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act.
In fact, the ruling is worth celebrating. It reflects the success of the civil rights-era legislation in ending laws and practices aimed at denying blacks the right to vote. As chief Justice John Roberts noted in his majority opinion, two hotbeds of anti-black violence in those days, Selma, Ala., and Philadelphia, Miss., both have African-American mayors.
“Problems remain in these states and others, but there is no denying that, due to the Voting Rights Act, our nation has made great strides,” he wrote in the 5-4 decision.
The act required that routine election changes in all or most of nine states and parts of others — including New York — get advance approval from the Justice Department. Opponents argued the law relied on data from 40 years ago and intruded on the states’ sovereignty.
Holder’s objections are especially galling. He once called America “a nation of cowards” on race, but apparently wants a conversation only when he gets his way.
The court correctly concluded that America’s race relations have changed dramatically since 1965, even if some who benefitted from those changes refuse to take yes for an answer.
A nation goes wimp
That was quick. A day after he warned of “consequences” if Russia did not hand over NSA leaker Edward Snowden, Secretary of State John Kerry waved the white flag.
“We’re not looking for a confrontation,” he told reporters. “We are not ordering anybody. We are simply requesting under a very normal procedure for the transfer of somebody.”
Kerry went soft after Russia’s foreign minister blasted him for making “threats” and said Russia would not return Snowden, the indicted fugitive thought to be at a Moscow airport.
In truth, Kerry’s surrender wasn’t necessary. Nobody, especially Vladimir Putin, believes there are any “consequences” for insulting the United States these days.
That’s the real meaning of President Obama’s “reset” with Russia. They now snub us with impunity.
No-Quinn situation
Mayor Bloomberg should put his support where his mouth is. He is warning about two anti-police bills in the City Council, saying they will handcuff cops and lead to more crime.
Yet he is still likely to support Speaker Chris Quinn’s bid to succeed him. Quinn could stop both bills in a heartbeat, but refuses.
Something’s got to give, Mayor. If the bills are as bad as you say, you can’t really trust Quinn to keep the city safe.
Which is it?
Daredevil in details
The city is saying no to daredevil Nik Wallenda’s latest high-wire proposal — to walk across a cable between the Chrysler and Empire State buildings.
Wallenda’s mistake is in not understanding City Hall’s prejudices. If he offers to ride a Citi Bike through the sky, I’m sure something can be arranged.