Governor: As I Say, Not As I Do (Updated 2/21)

Spitzer's Special Slush

When Eliot Spitzer ran on a platform of reform we all cheered. When he lambasted legislators for divvying up member item monies (read: pork) in secret with no regard for the public we cheered again.

Get ready to cheer again as Spitzer has . . . created . . . wait, what? According to an article from the New York Sun:

Governor Spitzer is planning to funnel millions of dollars in borrowed state money to Senate Democrats, who have been secretly asked by the administration to submit their wish lists for local capital projects, according to lawmakers.

Backroom deals, secret pots of money, sounds a lot like business as usual in the state Capitol. It's unfortunate that it only took Spitzer two months in office as the Great Reformer to realize that if he wants to get his legislative agenda passed he is going to have to pay.

It is also unfortunate that the main obstacle that has caused Spitzer to undertake such dealings, Shelly Silver, is a member of his own party.

(2/21/07) From newsday.com -

The Spitzer line on this, from press secretary Christine Anderson: The administration hasn't invited any particular conference to submit a wish list, but it has told whoever may have asked that any legislator is welcome to submit economic development ideas for their districts.
That may have included Malcolm Smith, and he may have passed that along to his conference, but in any event no proposal is going to get favored consideration for political reasons, like making sure the Senate Democratic conference continues to vote Spitzer's way. "We'll judge each and every one on its merits," says Anderson.