New York is called “The Empire State.”<\/p>\n
Its illustrious history has brought America a generation of political leaders, such as Teddy Roosevelt, and F.D.R.<\/p>\n
So what happened?<\/p>\n
“If you would ask the average person,” says former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, “they would say throw the bums out!, and I would agree.”<\/p>\n
The state has been beset by a slew of problems, from politicians engaged in wrongdoing, to the state legislature unable to agree on how to deal with the projected $9.2 billion budget deficit.<\/p>\n
And that’s on top of more than $8 billion in new fees and taxes already imposed by Democratic Governor David Paterson.<\/p>\n
And the budget is already late.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
At 85 years old, Koch is spearheading an effort to spur voters to fix what many consider the New York State Mess. He’s behind the group, “New York Uprising,” intended to reform what the Brennan Center for Justice has called “the most dysfunctional legislature in the country.”<\/p>\n
“We want a legislature that says we’re here to serve the people, not here to serve ourselves, not here to serve friends,” says Koch, who more than thirty years ago helped save New York City from bankruptcy when he was first elected mayor in 1977.<\/p>\n
“I thought, someone’s going to stand up and organize and throw the rascals out, but nobody did,” he says. “I believe that this is the year to make the changes and if we don’t do it this year, we’ll never have an opportunity comparable…we have an opportunity now to make a difference.”<\/p>\n
The state’s top officials, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and even one of the U.S. Senators are all unelected.<\/p>\n
And a slew of state legislators, both Republican and Democrat, have been convicted of crimes ranging from financial fraud, to domestic abuse, – to even stealing money from the Little League.<\/p>\n
Governor Paterson is not running for election. He’s under investigation for his alleged role in helping a top aide in a domestic abuse case. The Governor has denied any wrongdoing, but the scandal has been enough that he decided to not seek a full term on his own. He got the job after his predecessor, Governor Eliot Spitzer, resigned for patronizing prostitutes.<\/p>\n
“Let’s face it, it’s been a pretty crazy year and a half,” admits the Democratic President of the State Senate, Malcolm Smith.<\/p>\n
He insists progress is being made, ‘change comes slow,” he says.<\/p>\n
“We reformed public authorities, local governments have changed, and we’ve reformed Rockefeller drug laws which were so critical for everybody, transportation and also a pension system. We’ve done all that for the first time in 50 years,” boasts Smith, who says “I think we have been functioning quite well.”<\/p>\n
But the Republican minority leader of the Democratic controlled state Assembly wants what he calls “A Peoples’ Convention” to try and push reform and send a message to the politicians.<\/p>\n
“I think this is our best opportunity to have effective change in Albany if we actually try and get this convention convened,” urges Assemblyman Brian Kolb.<\/p>\n
He says you can’t count on the usual Albany politicians, “because the budget’s late again, last year they passed 8 and a half billion dollars worth of new taxes and fees,” and he says “the last four years it’s been an unmitigated disaster in the executive mansion. There’s been no leadership, we’ve had scandals and that adds to not being able to get things done.”<\/p>\n
Mayor Koch notes there is a reason for the gridlock.<\/p>\n
“You have people in office who are rarely thrown out. Less than 3% in any election lose, who are incumbents. They become satisfied and they begin to think it belongs to them and they don’t realize they’re there to serve the public, they think the public is there to serve them.”<\/p>\n
The Brennan Center for Justice estimates that a state legislator in New York has a better chance of resigning amid a scandal or being convicted of a crime, than losing at the polls.<\/p>\n
In the end, says Koch, the people lose because of the politicians.<\/p>\n
“The good are not good enough. They didn’t stand up. And the bad are evil.”<\/p>\n
-Fox News Senior Correspondent Eric Shawn has covered New York politics since he was in high school. He first interviewed then Congressman Ed Koch for a cable television public access school project in 1974.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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