Posted on 07/09/2009 10:50:24 AM PDT by GreaterSwiss
SEN. ESPADA RETURNING TO DEMOCRATS POWER IN ALBANY FLIPS AGAIN
ALBANY - Bronx state Sen. Pedro Espada, whose defection to the Republican camp helped trigger the current Senate crisis, will return to the Democratic fold and end the month-long Senate stalemate, The Post has learned.
Espada, whose defection to the Republicans was the main reason for Gov. Paterson's controversial action yesterday "naming" Richard Ravitch as lieutenant governor, revealed his startling plans to The Post.
The defection would bring a quick end to the Senate's current 31-31 vote stalemate, in which Espada has repeatedly joined with the 30 Republican members in opposition to the Democrats.
"I'm going to tell (Republican leader Sen.) Dean Skelos that I have a handshake agreement with (Democratic leader Sen.) John Sampson to become the majority leader,'' Espada revealed.
Espada, who had been designated as the Senate president by a bare majority vote during the June 8 "coup'' in which he and Sen. Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens) joined 30 Democrats to oust Democratic Majority Leader and Senate President Malcolm Smith of Queens, said that Smith would retain his "president'' title under the arrangement until the end of the year.
Smith would then be replaced by Democratic Sen. John Sampson of Brooklyn, who ousted Smith as the top Democratic leader in the wake of the "coup.''
Espada said, "Unfortunately, Dean rejected an opportunity to reach a compromise under which Republicans would have had equal access to all the resources of the Senate.''
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Maybe Andrew "I stole 56 billion dollars" Cuomo should threaten to investigate somebody about something.
“Make me team captain or I’m taking my ball and going home!”
That’s how I read it.
What a d**che.
On a related note, Bronx state Sen. Pedro Espada, announced that he was a “political whore”. The NY state Democratic party accepted this announcement with open arms.
” Espada said, “Unfortunately, Dean rejected an opportunity to reach a compromise under which Republicans would have had equal access to all the resources of the Senate.”
Espada said the “compromise” would have kept him as Senate president and made Democratic Sen. Carl Kruger of Brooklyn the Senate majority leader, with Skelos “able to have whatever other title he would have liked.” “
I have to tell you, IMHO, if Skelos was willing to make a deal with scumbags such as Espada and Monserrate, it’s silly for him to nix a deal with Espada and Kruger (the latter of whom opposes same-sex marriage) that would have kept the GOP in partial control of the agenda. I just hope that Espada returning control to the Democrats doesn’t result in the same-sex marriage bill getting to the floor.
We definitely need the GOP to pick up one or two state Senate seats in 2010 so that we have a seat in the table during post-2010-Census redistricting, or it will be an absolute bloodbath for the party in 2012.
This guy has flipped so much does his handshake matter?
I don’t mind party-switchers if they do it based on the issues and are serious about the switch; I certainly didn’t mind the fact that Romald Reagan had been a Democrat until age 50 or so.
I would like to have one party switcher back.
You mean like FDR Democrat and Union President Ronald Reagan?
what a circus-—the piggies are in full control of this parastate.
He didn’t switch parties so much as the parties switched from underneath him. See also Strom Thurmond and other 50’s era Democrats-to-Republicans. These switchers are nothing like the Espadas and Specters of today.
Espada thought he was being a political “papi chulo” (pimp) by his actions-—but I knew him and the other dud (Monserrate) were full of it.
fyi, Ronald Reagan was a democrat.
Thurmond actually resigned from the senate and ran again as a Republican in a special election... and his seat made no difference in the balance of power. He actually switched to the minority.
In 1953, Wayne Morris switched to the Democrats, but refused to make his switch effective until the following election because it would have flipped party control of the senate. The integrity of politicians has taken a real dive...
The GOP may be Espada’s soulmates, but he’s going to try his hardest to fall back in love with the Dems.
I have to disagree. My favorite President of all time (Reagan) was a Party switcher...
I just say never trust anyone who was recently a Democrat ;)
I have to disagree. My favorite President of all time (Reagan) was a Party switcher...
I just say never trust anyone who was recently a Democrat ;)
Gotta admire someone who always stands by their strong convictions.
No, you're confused. When he first ran in 1954, he won as a write-in candidate (Democrat), defeating the regular Democrat. He resigned in 1956 (as per prior agreement) and won the Dem primary outright without a write-in, where he served without interruption until 2003. He switched to the GOP in 1964 but did not resign. However, SC Congressman Albert Watson, who was a DINO Goldwater supporter, resigned in early 1965 (after the Dems stripped him of seniority) and ran as a Republican, winning in the special a few months later where he remained until 1971 when he lost for Governor.
*ping*
Here we go again... We’ll see how long it lasts.
We may have 2 seats left by the time the special for McHugh’s seat is held, it really can’t get much worse at the federal level. It’s inexcusable we have less than a dozen seats in NY.
YES!!!!!!!
Hmmm. Was this ‘defection’ a put-up job all along? What was the reason behind it?
Ronald Reagan was a Democrat, before he became Gov. of CA.
lesson: never trust a party switcher. They have no loyalty and will set out pretty easy. I def. don’t want one as president.
You already did...President Reagan. Uh oh...yieks I am in a pickle now...
What was his price?
They knew what you meant...they were just trying to be clever.
“lesson: never trust a party switcher. They have no loyalty and will set out pretty easy. I def. don’t want one as president.”
I guess that’s why Phil Graham lost out to Bob Dole for the Presidential nomination back in ‘96. Graham was a party-switcher. Look what we got instead.
Never trust a democrat.
This is the same Espada that the Democrats attacked a couple of weeks ago as a criminal who should be thrown out of the Senate.
Okay, the Dems are high fiving, the Senator got his gig, the Pubbies got screwed again.
Any reporter think of asking the constituency, aka “The People” how they feel?
Guess it doesn’t matter, does it?
I guess we got lucky with that one. Its too risky though.
[cue “Entrance of the Gladiators”, aka “Thunder and Blazes”, aka “Oh, yeah, that circus march!”]
An honest politician is one who stays bought.
Espada didn’t switch. He entered into a coation with the Senate Republicans.
BTW, NYS GOP is an acronymic oxymoron.
Maybe it’s better Skelos rejected it? Let everyone know the NY government is totally rat-run and everything that happens is their fault.
Hopefully they can elect Governor Ricky Lazio and a GOP Senate next year. If they don’t take the Senate back next year, the rats will draw the senate lines, and they may never be able to get it back.
so screwed up, and this is a government that wants to make decisions for us!
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