NYT's Gail Collings: Is Yours More Corrupt Than Mine?

[Scuba]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/opinion/sunday/collins-is-yours-more-corrupt-than-mine.html?_r=0

Also, is New York’s State Legislature the most corrupt in the country? At last count we had 32 state officials get into deep trouble over the last few years, including four former Senate majority or minority leaders. The offenses ranged from taking bribes to throwing coffee in the face of a staff member. The last was not actually a corruption matter, but it was definitely behavior we wish to discourage.

It’s quite a record, but there are still other states in contention.

“We have three people in the State Legislature facing trial. Four of the last seven governors have gone to jail,” said Andy Shaw of Illinois’ Better Government Association. “And we’re a fiscal train wreck.”

That four-of-the-last-seven-governors record is really hard to argue with. New York, of course, had the disastrous resignation of Eliot Spitzer. But that was about sex. Sex scandals, while embarrassing, are far less depressing than financial corruption. I would way rather have an important elected official who patronized prostitutes than one who spent $60,000 of the taxpayers’ money on sushi and lobster. Although in New York we have recently had both.

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. Yes.

And I've only read the first sentence:

>>Also, is New York’s State Legislature the most corrupt in the country?>>>

Yes. I said it again.

[cali]

2. I honestly love my state legislature

Not only is it not corrupt, it's loaded with thinking liberals- dems and Progressive Party members.

Look at these guys and gals!
David Zuckerberg, Progressive Party:

n 2012, David became the third Progressive elected to the Vermont Senate. Prior to becoming a Senator, Dave was a State Representative from Burlington for 14 years before stepping down in 2010 to move to Hinesburg and grow Full Moon Farm, an organic farm co-owned with his spouse, Rachel Nevitt. Dave has been a leader on many issues that will likely come before the Senate in the coming years. On sustainable agricultural issues, healthcare reform, labor relations, end-of-life-choice, marijuana policy, labeling of GMO foods and progressive taxation, Dave has continued to be an outspoken leader.
http://www.progressiveparty.org/organize/people/david-zuckerman

Tim Ashe, Progressive Party:

Tim graduated from the University of Vermont in 1999. He immediately went to work in Congressman Bernie Sanders’ Burlington office. During his two and half years there, he helped hundreds of Vermont veterans access low cost prescription drugs through the VA and helped coordinate one of the first bus trips of Vermonters across the border to highlight the exorbitant costs of essential prescriptions in the US. He credits his time with Bernie with cementing his belief that government can play a positive role in improving people’s lives AND that we must always strive to use public resources as effectively and efficiently as possible.
http://www.timashe.com/about-tim/
In 2008, Tim was elected to the Vermont State Senate and re-elected in 2010. Now in his second term, Tim has sponsored bills and been a leader on issues ranging from Marriage Equality, to Universal Health Care, to protecting middle-class taxpayers. Learn more about Tim’s Senate work here.
www.timashe.co

Anthony Pollina, P/D


Pollina served as a Senior Policy Advisor for then Congressman Bernie Sanders from 1991-1996. Pollina has worked as the Interim Director and as a Policy Director for the Vermont Public Interest Research Group. During the 1997 and 1998 sessions of the Vermont Legislature, Pollina worked as advocate for campaign finance legislation that established public funding for statewide political campaigns. In 2002, when Pollina’s campaign for Lt. Governor failed to qualify for public funding, he filed suit in federal court to overturn the law. In 2003, Pollina started a call in radio show on WDEV called Equal Time Radio. The program was a forum for Pollina to discuss local and national politics from a left-leaning perspective. He quit the radio program in 2007 in order to run for Governor.

Pollina served as a founding board member of the Vermont Milk Company, a farmer owned and operated dairy in Hardwick, Vermont. The company was established in 2006 with a focus on paying farmers a higher than average price for milk and marketing the products locally. Pollina resigned from the board of the Vermont Milk company in 2008 to focus on his campaign for governor.

In November 2012, Pollina won the "Lawmaker of the Year" award during his freshman term along with fellow lawmaker Rep. Bill Botzow, D-Bennington, by "Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility". The lawmaker scored perfectly for the award based on his stance on health-care reform, establishing a Genuine Process Indicator, and attempting to overturn the Citizens United court decision. [9]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Pollina

Ginny Lyons, D

http://www.senatorginnylyons.com/senatorginnylyons.com/Home.html

Philip Baruth, D

http://vermontdailybriefing.com/?page_id=11

Shap Smith, D Vermont Speaker of the House:

http://speaker.vermont.gov/about-the-speaker