Yes, it's been kind of quiet around here. I have a cold (flu?) that just won't let go, and can only concentrate for a little while at a time. It's better in the evening than during the day, but still... yuck.
Fortunately it's been fairly quiet. The main headline over the weekend was a 5-year sentence for a Dryden man involved in a home invasion robbery in January.
Today's paper has lots of state news, including the possible end of a career for the hard-fighting chair of the Lobbying Commission, and continuing negotiations over the budget. There's also a letter from a government teacher that I think is especially worth highlighting, even though it's not from Dryden:
As a high school government teacher (a shout out to my seventh period class), I am called upon to discuss the legislative branch of our state government. I applaud the efforts at reform by our new governor and the recent editorial of The Ithaca Journal, in which the Legislature was described as “dysfunctional.” However, in light of the recent comptroller-selection debacle and the looming prospect of another late budget, it seems like our legislators in Albany will continue to be a source of embarrassment.
Perhaps we should revise Participation in Government (or civics, or whatever it's called this year) textbooks to explain how the New York State legislature really works, rather than the vision of democracy portrayed in most textbooks.
"Legislative districts are designed to ensure that incumbency is guaranteed to the extent possible, for the legislator but more importantly for the party in control of each house. Legislators provide a public face for the leadership in their district, explaining to the district why what the leadership has decided to do must be right for the district. Legislators also look for projects that the leadership can approve to demonstrate how valuable the leadership is to the district."
Well, that's my version, but as I said, I'm not thinking too clearly today.
Posted by simon at March 26, 2007 12:05 PM in Ithaca Journal , politics (state)