Is kidnapping or false imprisonment next?
As posted in Newsday today: http://www.watchkalibrun.com/2009/7/1/933047/cup-of-coffee-sets-off-lega...
by Zak Woods on Jul 1, 2009 9:31 AM EDT
The latest episode coming out of Albany is a court challenge due to coffee run, that's right a cup of coffee started a new legal battle.
Shortly before noon on Tuesday, as Democrats prepared to convene what they expected to be another fruitless one-party session, they saw Frank Padavan, a Queens Republican, walk through the rear of the chamber.
Mr. Padavan would later say he had simply been taking a shortcut to the members' lounge to grab a cup of coffee. But to the 31 Democrats in the chamber, that did not matter. Claiming that Mr. Padavan's brief presence gave them the 32-member quorum required to gavel the Senate into session, Democrats began ramming through dozens of measures, including sales tax extensions and bond authorizations that were set to expire at midnight.
By the time the Democrats adjourned, Mr. Padavan's coffee run had thrust the Capitol into a new round of recriminations and legal debate. Democrats insisted that the bills had been lawfully passed, Republicans denounced the session as fraudulent and inappropriate, and Gov. David A. Paterson suggested that he would not sign the bills into law.
The Senate is so desperate to get something done that a coffee run can start off a court battle. Now both sides are presenting sworn affidavits as it is up to the court to decide if the "session" was legal.
This latest event demonstrates the absolute gridlock facing Albany right now. A gridlock that will prevent anything substantive from getting done with regards to MMA legislation because the government of New York is facing far more serious issues than MMA legalization.
Wow! I never would have
Wow! I never would have thought a cup of coffee could spark all that. It appalls me that those we trust to look out for our countries best interests would act in this manner; it seems like such an embarrassing act of self interest on the part of the Democrats to me.
- Amanda Kay
Who knew a cup of coffee
Who knew a cup of coffee could jump start New York State government? Something needs to.
:o)
Crystal
This makes me wonder if it
This makes me wonder if it is really in the best interests of our country to have an exclusive two party system. It seems that for the last several years that our country has grown more and more divided along party lines. What is happening in Albany appears to be the culmination of years of polarization. It also is completely against what President Obama has invited us to do since before he was even elected ... "come together".
I heard it wasn't coffee
I heard it wasn't coffee but a V-8....BIG difference!
As for this problem in the Senate it's like all the worst elements of the law colliding to create an unbreakable deadlock.
If Spitzer hadn't been run out of office by scandal, we'd have a lieutant governor to step in and that would prevent this face off.
If 2 Democrats hadn't flipped sides it wouldn't have started, and one of them returning to the Democrats made the problem impossible by creating a deadlock.
Even if they're forced into the same chamber, they're split on party line votes and don't pass anything. We need a provision in the law for a replacement lieutant governor when the current one steps up to be governor - this is a huge problem.
I can't wait to see the
I can't wait to see the script for the film that will undoubtedly come out of this fiasco.
Karen Levy, Library Media Specialist Columbus Campus H.S. 925 Astor Avenue Bronx, N.Y. 10469
All these career politicians
All these career politicians should be removed and their place filled with people who actually work for a living.