The NY Coup Could Get Juicy

For the first time in 40 years, the Democrats took control of the NY State Senate in January. NY State residents voted for a Democratic majority.... looking for a change. It looked like the gay marriage bill among other things like giving control of the public schools to the mayor, Democratic ethics reform, changes in city rent laws and passing the state budget were going to get pushed through the senate... until yesterday when 2 NYC Democratic senators defected unexpectedly and said they would caucus with the Republicans throwing the senate into havoc. Governor Paterson called this a coup. It is not clear whether or not this coup was legal.

Who are these defectors? One is Pedro Esada (D-Bronx) who will become the president of the Senate in NY. He is being investigated by the AG, Andrew Cuomo for whether or not he used non profit groups to benefit Esada's campaigns. There's a list of things he's being investigated for. The other is Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens) who was last seen in the news in handcuffs for beating his girlfriend.

Billionaire Tom Golisano and his PAC 'Responsible (sic) New York' claims that they are responsible for the defection. It is also interesting to note that both defectors are in need of legal defense funds. hmmm. NYC Democrats are notoriously rotten apples and one wonders if more of the NYC senators and assemblymen who've walked the perp walk will also defect. With funding coercion help from Golisano, it may be very likely we'll see more defectors.

90% of felonies and misdemeanors committed by politicians in the state have been NYC Democrats.