Two Votes for One Senator?
Remember that drama in New York where the state Senate suddenly switched hands? Now they may resolve the deadlock by giving one senator two votes! And it actually makes sense!
Renegade Democratic Sen. Pedro Espada claimed yesterday he and his Republican allies are forging an explosive new plan to give him an unprecedented two votes to break the newly emerged deadlock in the state Senate.
“I can have two votes,” Espada boldly told The Post.
“We’re going to maintain that, as the president pro tempore of the Senate, I am also the acting lieutenant governor, and the lieutenant governor can vote when there’s a tie.”
…
Finding a way to break the Senate deadlock took on new urgency yesterday after an upstate judge tossed the lawsuit brought by deposed Senate leader Malcolm Smith to undo the 32-30 vote that installed Espada as chamber president on June 8.
Democrats, who first vowed to appeal, later announced they would give up the legal fight.
That leaves the Senate in a 31-31 deadlock after turncoat Democrat Hiram Monserrate of Queens returned to his party Monday.
Tie votes could normally be broken by the lieutenant governor, who is the titular Senate president, but that post has been vacant since Spitzer quit and Gov. Paterson took his place in March 2008.
In such situations, the state Constitution grants “all the duties of the lieutenant governor” to the temporary president of the Senate.
Espada, who has the presidency, claims that language allows him to cast his own vote — plus tie-breakers.
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June 17th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Sounds good to me.
June 17th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
One good reason to not get tatoos:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31400926/ns/world_news-weird_news/?GT1=43001
If she only lived in the good old USA and in San Francisco, the federal gov’t would pay to have all of them removed though LOL!!!
June 17th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
More Krugman quotes promoting the housing bubble solution.
“”KRUGMAN: I’m a little depressed. You know, inventories, probably that’s over, the inventory slump. But you look at the things that could drive a recovery, business investment, nothing happening. Housing, long-term rates haven’t fallen enough to produce a boom there. The trade balance is going to get worst before it gets better because the dollar is still very strong. It’s not a happy picture.””
-Krugman 2001
In time this overhang will be worked off. Meanwhile, economic policy should encourage other spending to offset the temporary slump in business investment. Low interest rates, which promote spending on housing and other durable goods, are the main answer. But it seems inevitable that there will also be a fiscal stimulus package”-Kruman 2001
“”The good news about the U.S. economy is that it fell into recession, but it didn’t fall off a cliff. Most of the credit probably goes to the dogged optimism of American consumers, but the Fed’s dramatic interest rate cuts helped keep housing strong even as business investment plunged.”-Krugman 2001
“”Consumers, who already have low savings and high debt, probably can’t contribute much. But housing, which is highly sensitive to interest rates, could help lead a recovery…. But there has been a peculiar disconnect between Fed policy and the financial variables that affect housing and trade. Housing demand depends on long-term rather than short-term interest rates — and though the Fed has cut short rates from 6.5 to 3.75 percent since the beginning of the year, the 10-year rate is slightly higher than it was on Jan. 1…. Sooner or later, of course, investors will realize that 2001 isn’t 1998. When they do, mortgage rates and the dollar will come way down, and the conditions for a recovery led by housing and exports will be in place.”
-Krugman 2001
June 17th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Tom Woods interviewed.
Alex Jones interviews Tom Woods part 1 and part 2 and part 3
June 17th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
The Detroit Police Dept. probably got their education from Obama’s economic team aa the police dept. has under reported the number of murders:
http://www.detnews.com/article/20090618/METRO/906180406/Detroit-police-routinely-underreport-homicides
June 17th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Rand Paul Speaks To Conservative Leaders in Lexington, Kentucky, bashes Ronald Reagan, Obama and George Bush.
June 18th, 2009 at 5:53 am
What’s to stop Patterson from just appointing a Lt. Governor and throwing it thus in favor of the democrats?
June 18th, 2009 at 5:54 am
Gotta love Sen. John Ensign. Too bad that he isn’t GOP. He can’t possibly be, by definition.
June 18th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
At least Sen. Ensign came clean unlike Slick Willie, who still says “It depends on the definition of is is!!!!”