New York Needs a Senator!
Chris Bowers says:
First, at a Senate progressive media summit today, Senator Charles Schumer said that he was unhappy about the amount of stimulus money set aside for mass transit and rail. He indicated that several other Senators from highly urbanized states were also unhappy about this portion of the stimulus, and that when the legislation reached the Senate, they would be jointly pushing for an increase in money set aside for mass transit and rail. The current amount for mass transit and rail in the stimulus bill is only $10 billion.
This reminds me of something. Around seven percent of the nation’s population lives in New York State. But the constitution allocates just two percent of the nation’s senators to my home state. That’s too bad, and it’s particularly a problem in policy areas such as transportation where we get a structural bias away from the needs of places like New York. But do you know what’s even worse? Right now New York really has only one Senator since Hillary Clinton obviously isn’t focusing her energy on this matter, but David Patterson hasn’t gotten around to naming a replacement yet. He’s doing a disservice to his constituents and to residents of big cities everywhere.
UPDATE: Speaking of which, Caroline Kennedy is withdrawing from consideration.
60 Responses to “New York Needs a Senator!”
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January 21st, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Paterson. One fucking t. Like the city in NJ, and the poem written about it by William Carlos Williams.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:22 pm
Since Hillary was confirmed today he no longer has an excuse, he’s had plenty of time he needs to have a Senator named by tomorrow, he should have named them as soon as the vote was finished.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:25 pm
nc,
When I here Paterson, NJ all I can think about is “this is the story of the Hurricane, the man the authorities came to blame…”
Now it will run through my head all afternoon, which isn’t bad
January 21st, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Yeah, why is he taking so long? He managed to make the future Senator of NY the most junior member this year.
Also, why is the mayor of Newark on MSNBC all the time? That city is a hell hole, he probably has better things to do.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:27 pm
eric – couldn’t agree more – what’s taking so long? This soap opera of a process isn’t helping anyone, especially if he makes the not-so-qualified nepotistic choice.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:30 pm
And Patterson has been a disappointment in general. He is now parading on television talking about the need to cut into education and health care spending like a true neo-Hooverite. Is he trying to get some budget hawk credit for his re-election? Spitzer should have played it like Vitter.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Another Chris Bowers “ARE THEY PROGRESSIVE OR NOT” post. Jeebus.
Open Left should change their URL to http://www.PROGORNOT.com
Other than Mike Lux and the occasional odd piece, I’ve given up on that site.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:33 pm
He’s doing a disservice to his constituents and to residents of big cities everywhere.
Why, by waiting thirteen hours (or whatever the exact total is) to name Hillary’s replacement? I mean, she was just confirmed today. If this lingers beyond tomorrow you’ve got a point, but I see no reason he had to make his announcement before her confirmation, or the very nanosecond the votes were tallied…
January 21st, 2009 at 6:34 pm
the most junior member this year
Eek, I forgot about the Coleman fiasco. But Patterson still managed to take more time than Blago.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:34 pm
But the constitution allocates just two percent of the nation’s senators to my home state.
if only there were some remedy…maybe having some kind of elected body of representatives who’s numbers are proportional to the population of the state?
i dunno…just an idea…
January 21st, 2009 at 6:40 pm
He is now parading on television talking about the need to cut into education and health care spending like a true neo-Hooverite.
All Governors are doing so, for the very good reason that nearly all off them are prohibited from engaging in deficit spending. The very progressive Deval Patrick here in Massachusetts is doing the same thing. They should continue to do so: perhaps more scary talk of vital services cuts will prompt the administration to substantially increase the (to my eyes anyways) wholly inadequate amount of money proposed for aid to state/local governments. As I’ve commented before, given the demand for US government paper and the government’s ownership of printing presses, I see no reason why any state’s budget should suffer any net shrinkage at all while the crisis continues.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:45 pm
He’s doing a disservice to his constituents and to residents of big cities everywhere.
I don’t think this is quite right. NYC carries its own influence, and while facing a serious crisis right now, is already represented well in the House and by a powerful Senator in Schumer. Its the other cities in the State that require a strong voice. Lots of people forget that a nice chunk of that 7 percent lives in Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo, Albany and so on. It would be nice to see Patterson appoint a Senator that might represent those areas better, as well as post-industrial medium-sized cities everywhere.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:49 pm
NYC carries its own influence, and while facing a serious crisis right now, is already represented well in the House and by a powerful Senator in Schumer. Its the other cities in the State that require a strong voice.
The NY Times reports Paterson has promised to name his pick no later than Saturday. So, if Paterson is true to his word, in the worst case scenario NY will have to somehow survive a Thursday and a Friday with only one Senator. I expect the Empire State will muddle through these dangerous 48 hours. I’d rather see him get it right, if another day or two to mull his choice is what it takes, than get it wrong.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:54 pm
If I’m not mistaken, Senator Clinton has not yet resigned, so I’m at somewhat of a loss as to what Paterson is supposed to do here.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:57 pm
New York really has only one Senator since Hillary Clinton obviously isn’t focusing her energy on this matter, but David Patterson hasn’t gotten around to naming a replacement yet
Seriously? He said he’s naming the replacement by Saturday. New York can go one and a half days without a Senator.
January 21st, 2009 at 7:00 pm
I’ll second Jasper. You’re being absurd Matt. Hillary Clinton hasn’t officially resigned yet, and nobody can take her place until she does.
Odds that major legislation affecting New York will passed between now and when she does?….. Just about zero.
January 21st, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Hillary Clinton hasn’t officially resigned yet
if i’m not mistaken, it’s illegal to work for two branches of the government at the same time.
so, hillary can’t be both a senator AND a SOS at the same time…
if i’m not mistaken, that is…
January 21st, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Kennedy “withdraws” in a facing saving bid
what a fiasco
hopefully Patterson is going with someone not named Andrew Cuomo
January 21st, 2009 at 8:24 pm
If only we had a body of government with representation proportional to population whose responsibility it was to initiate all spending bills. If only …
January 21st, 2009 at 8:27 pm
$10 billion. That much alone could be spent here in Los Angeles.
January 21st, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Schumer likes to pretend he represents us Upstaters. I passed by him at the Lilac Festival in Rochester last year (with an aide holding a sign saying “Come talk to Senator Schumer). But he is bought and paid for by the banking industry, so I do not consider him my Senator.
Hopefully Paterson will find us someone who pays attention to the Upstaters.
January 21st, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Elliot Spitzer – IN YOUR FACE!!!
January 21st, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Speaking of which, Caroline Kennedy is withdrawing from consideration.
Yes, those grapes were sour anyway.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Hopefully Paterson will find us someone who pays attention to the Upstaters.
Kirsten Gillibrand: possibly lose the district, but she’s got the chops to run statewide.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Appropriations bills originate in the House of Representatives. Amend your post as necessary.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Joe Biden didn’t resign his seat until a few days ago and Gov. Millner announced Kaufman’s appointment more than a month ago. Gov. Ritter in Colorado announced his choice before Salazar had resigned his seat. As should have been clear from the Burris flap, someone doesn’t automatically become a Senator the second a Governor names them. Nothing was stopping Paterson from announcing who his choice was at any point in the last two months. He’s just one of those guys like Mario Cuomo or Adlai Stevenson who revel in a state of Exquisite Indecision.
I’m waiting for Petey’s confident assertions as to who’ll get the seat so we can all start pointing and laughing at him when he proves hilariously wrong one more time. C’mon, Petey, don’t dissapoint us!
January 21st, 2009 at 10:37 pm
nbc seems to think the story isn’t true
January 21st, 2009 at 11:18 pm
A quick look at the 110th Congress shows Chuck Schumer co-sponsored one bill that was the least bit in conflict with our car culture, S. 3380 ‘Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act of 2008′, which was read twice and put in a drawer in the Banking Committee. The same bill passed 322-98 in the House. So Mr. Transit Chuck Schumer is such a leader on transit issues that he can’t even get a bill that passed the House with a ton of Republican support on the agenda in the Senate, the same Senate where he is in the leadership of the majority. So take what Chuck Schumer says about transit priorities with a boulder of salt. He’s done exactly zero heavy lifting on the issue and he’s from freaking NYC. If anything, the guy is an obstacle to good transit policy by being such a tepid advocate from the preeminent transit state.
And WTF is up with the Senate splitting jurisdiction over ‘mass transit’ into the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs committee and not keeping jurisdiction of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation committee? That’s a pretty stupid setup guaranteed to deny any serious holistic look at transporation issues in the US Senate.
The US Senate, where old ideas never die and good ideas rarely live!
January 21st, 2009 at 11:47 pm
It’s not just that Hillary isn’t paying attention to NY — she officially resigned today. She’s all SecStated up now, yo!
January 22nd, 2009 at 12:28 am
I do feel sorry for Caroline Kennedy, as she is clearly well-meaning, but incapable. One cannot but feel a tremor of sympathy.
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:00 am
thanks very good
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:14 am
Speaking of the need for sweet rail projects, take a look at what’s happening in Pittsburgh:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_608273.html
Remember when MY said that people advocating for rail projects should really think about lying about how much such projects cost? He ought to love this. Seems that the $400 million project to take light rail under the river is actually more like $520 million. The state and county are out of money, and now they are asking for “stimulus” cash. At least it’s shovel ready.
By the way, this was a $400 project when it included a spine line that might have actually taken people where they want to go. Then somebody cut out the spine line. And guess how much the project cost then? Right: $400 million. I mean $520 million.
At least now people will be able to get from downtown to the (publicly funded!) stadiums. Although walking across one of the bridges would probably be faster.
Go Steelers.
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:45 am
Slaugh-ter! Slaugh-ter! Slaugh-ter! Her latest ridiculously gerrymandered district is a much safer D hold than Gillibrand’s.
The sad thing is, that’s still an improvement, because at least he and his staff could find Monroe County. Rudy probably still doesn’t know that it exists. But yeah, it’s more lip service than anything else. The former junior senator from NY seemed to do a much better job actually working for upstate. That’s the main reason I’m so disappointed that she didn’t stay in the Senate.
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:51 am
Around seven percent of the nation’s population lives in New York State. But the constitution allocates just two percent of the nation’s senators to my home state. That’s too bad, and it’s particularly a problem in policy areas such as transportation where we get a structural bias away from the needs of places like New York.
As others have pointed out, this is precisely why spending bills originate in the House.
However, once you get through Senate amendments and a conference committee, it doesn’t really matter where they originated. Maybe we need stronger rules that give the House more control over spending – e.g., forbidding the Senate to even amend a spending bill, and only allowing them to take an up or down vote.
I think the Senate could adopt those as its own rules, but that’s hardly likely, so if you really want to see that, it would have to be done by constitutional amendment. Which would probably be blocked in the Senate by senators from small states.
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:24 am
I know you harp on this from time to time, but really, worrying about the Great Compromise is not something that keeps me awake at night. And I live in California, so theoretically I’m even less well-represented than you are. I get two Senators. Wyoming gets two Senators. Fine with me. They need something. Let’s just be glad they don’t have the Vice Presidency anymore.
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:48 am
Nothing was stopping Paterson from announcing who his choice was at any point in the last two months.
So what? I don’t understand this distress that a New York doesn’t have a Senator. The Senate doesn’t move that fast, New York isn’t going to be stripped of all it’s federal funds in 2 days and many of us would prefer that governors didn’t have the right to pick Senators, anyway.
There was a better argument for replacing McCain, Obama, Clinton and Biden when they were missing vote after vote during the election. I must have missed Matt’s demand for that over the last year.
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:03 am
As others have pointed out, this is precisely why spending bills originate in the House.
The others pointing this out, and you, are wrong. Revenue bills originate in the House. Spending bills can originate in either chamber.
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:55 am
If you care about infrastructure, I think Suozzi is the best bet. He’s a wonk, knows how to run a huge government, and would get a primary challenge in 2012, which for the sake of the idea of democracy, might be the most important thing to me.
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:00 am
http://fatheadedbaby.blogspot.com/2009/01/suozzi.html — more on Suozzi.
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:07 am
so New York state has 200 million people?
no only about 19 million which is closer to 7%. Every state has two senators and California and Florida can complain before we can in New York about that.
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:12 am
sorry read that wrong, thought seven was seventy. if it was proportioned to population then the senate would just mirror the house and what would be the point of having both.
January 22nd, 2009 at 12:24 pm
I agree Matt that Paterson’s long drawn out process is totally bogus! Colorado choose their new Senator expeditiously, why can’t New York? Patterson seems like a decent fellow, but lacking in assertive leadership skills. Bring back Spitzer! Originally Patterson said he was waiting until Hillary was confirmed, which has now already happened; let’s get going!
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:01 pm
California’s population is larger than the bottom 20 states of the United States and we get two measly senators. In an equal world, California would have 15-20 senators, or something like that.
As a California resident, I am always shocked to see the number of idiots puttering around in the Senate. Not just Rep. Senators like David Vitter, but also Dem. Senators who are little slow, like Akaka from Hawaii. But not so shocking when you factor in how little competition they are up against in their states.
The Senate is a very unrepresentative institution.
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Obviously the solution is secession and statehood for New York City.
(And, of course, the same for the Bay Area on the other side of the country. Houston, Chicago, and Atlanta are optional. Combine that with DC statehood and Puerto Rico and we’ve got a Senate-Packing Scheme we can believe in!)
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:18 pm
FIrst, what will the people of the United States do when, somewhere in the near future, Teddy K. leaves the senate (voluntarily or otherwise) and there is no Kennedy to screw us up? What a dilemma!
Secondly, my fear is that President Obama will turn the United States into something resembling the People’s Republic of New York, anywsy.
In any event, the field is thin in New York, because all you’ll get from PaTerson (one “t”) is yet another fouled up New York liberal to follow the wishes of Chucky Cheese Schumer.
Good luck to all….God HELP America…Oh, can I say GOD?
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