Monday, January 22, 2007

Reforming Albany takes more than talk

Newsday Opinion Page NELSON A. DENIS

Here is another rant on what Spitzer should do to clean up the "Albany" mess... .......Nelson's Spitzer Wish List........
Abolish all messages of necessity by executive order and end the practice immediately.
Reform Medicaid and the public authorities. Both are billion-dollar piggybanks for lobbyists and special interests
. Appoint an inspector general in each area with full subpoena powers.
Dismantle the Albany politburo. The Assembly speaker and Senate majority leader have too much power and too little accountability. Impose term limits. The re-election rate of New York legislators is 98 percent. Only death or criminal indictment seems to remove them.
Move the legislature to New York City. This may seem drastic, but it would enhance efficiency, access and public accountability. For one thing, you'd have key city, state and federal agencies in the same town, which happens to be the media capital of the country.
Invoke the Moreland Act of 1907, which authorizes the governor to "examine and investigate the management and affairs of any department, board, bureau or commission," invest it with full subpoena powers and examine the legislators' member items.
Convene a state Constitutional Convention. New York voters may call a convention every 20 years. Since the last convention was in 1967, we can insist on having one immediately. Every reform on this list, and in the Brennan report, could be codified.

Yeah.......and Santa Claus should really start using modern transportation and get rid of the reindeer.........for the rest of this article...click here........andy

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