3/04/2006

Some People Just Like To Hear Themselves Talk

After reading a second post from "the angry economist", I am convinced that he must have A LOT of time on his hands, and thrives on being miserable. For whatever reason, he seems to have a real beef with Elliot Spitzer, and feels that his proposals for economic growth and development in Upstate New York are not efficient, however I completely disagree! If you read the link within the angry economist's post of Spitzer, it is clear that he is a highly intelligent, and rational, with many great ideas on how to improve the state of upstate New York's economy. I am especially impressed with his ideas concerning the promoting more accessible health care, and economic opporunities for women, etc. To me, Spitzer seems like a man with high integrity, and hopes for the common man. Unlike many "managers" of our time, he is truly out to yield the best for the people he works for, and wants those with the least opportunity to have equal access to the necessities of life. Perhaps the angry economist needs to recognize those qualities in Spitzer, and tone down on his demeaning attacks against him.

1 comment:

Dr. Tufte said...

Hmmm ... I'm from upstate New York, so let me clue you all in (not just Blake).

First off, The Angry Economist is negative almost all the time - just about always anti-Republican, and anti-Democrat a good deal of the time as well.

Second, the government of New York state is a triumvirate: there is little power outside the governor, assembly speaker, and senate majority leader (everyone in New York knows this, but I have inside information, since my cousin is #4 in the list of three ... and it doesn't do him much good).

Third, those positions are always dominated by political interests from downstate (New York, Long Island, and the Hudson valley suburbs). This has created a long history of a taxes being greater than spending in the poorer upstate areas, and taxes being less than spending in the richer downstate areas. It is very common in New York to pander to upstate interests to get votes, and then to recognize the realpolitique and focus on New York City (this is how Hillary Clinton won a Senate seat from a state she'd never lived in).

Fourth: a classic ways to get into higher office in New York (either in that triumvirate, or as Mayor of New York) is through the office of Attorney General, which Spitzer now holds. It is cynical, but it is standard practice to use this office to get your name in the news.

Spitzer may turn out to the exception to these observations, but my guess is that he is just another amoral sleazeball who is playing the same political game that has taken New York from the richest most populous state down to third, and soon fourth. After that there's only 46 left.