Another Democrat paying his “fair share” of taxes:

Gov. David Paterson’s chief of staff blames depression for failing to file income taxes for five years.

Charles O’Byrne, who earns $178,500, has paid more than $200,000 in back taxes.

The tax debt came to light when New York’s Department of State filed an outstanding warrant against O’Byrne last year.

He says he’s ashamed, but told the New York Post he’s aware that his failure to pay taxes was a consequence of an illness over which he had no control.

UPDATE: Senate GOP calls for an investigation:

The Senate’s Republican majority, fighting to keep its slim, decades-old control, is calling for an investigation into Democratic Gov. David Paterson’s top aide who repaid $200,000 in back taxes and penalties but didn’t include the debt on his ethics disclosure report.

Over the weekend, Paterson Chief of Staff Charles O’Byrne said he has paid the taxes and penalties he owed from 2001 to 2005. During that time, O’Byrne said he was clinically depressed and had informed Paterson, then the Senate Democratic leader, of his debts and medical condition.

In that five years, records show O’Byrne contributed $3,500 to the Democratic National Committee and Sen. John Kerry’s presidential campaign. In New York, he contributed just $5 during that time, but $750 the following year.

The New York Post first reported the story Saturday based on public tax records portraying O’Byrne as a deadbeat whose excuse, according to the front-page headline, was, “HE’S CRAZY.”

On Monday, Senate Republicans seized the issue to fight back against a Democratic governor who, riding high in polls, has sought to get the Legislature to agree to spending cuts to stave off billions of dollars in deficits. In recent weeks, Paterson irked Senate Republican leaders when he endorsed and raised funds for Democrats.

The office of Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos of Long Island said Monday that “serious questions are being raised here.”

Read Full Post »

Buffalo 14228 makes this weak argument against Mike Ranzenhofer:

He’ll do what Mary Lou Rath, the current Republican state senator for 14 years, was unable or unwilling to do…get something done. No sense going through the list of all the previous ineffectve Republican predecessors. All you need to know is that the State Senate has been controlled by Ranzenhofer’s Republican Party for the last 75 years. Electing him won’t correct what amounts to a Republican institutional problem.

The fallacy of this argument is that the New York state government is by no means a Republican institution. If Republicans lose control of the state senate, then the Democrats will have control of the Assembly, the Senate, and the governorship. That, my friends, would mean the Democrats would have an unfettered rubber stamp to impose more regulations and higher taxes, which ultimately leads to driving out the population and driving out businesses. You don’t have to take my word for it… it’s happening right now in Massachusetts.

If that’s what the netroots want, then by all means they can vote for Baby Joe. But, I think this state deserves better than a dysfunctional one-party government.

Read Full Post »

A sad, but amusing article in the Buffalo News today says that with New York’s capital city, with its fair share of sex scandals, has earned the label of “Sin City.”

A former legislative aide accuses an assemblyman of sexually harassing her.

An underage intern accuses an assemblyman of raping her in a hotel room, then recants and says it was consensual, although he gave her alcohol.

An aide to the Assembly’s top leader is accused of raping two women, and the assemblyman stands by him until very recently.

The governor resigns as a federal investigation uncovers he had been seeking the services of high-price prostitutes. His successor admits that he and his wife had had affairs.

And now a Buffalo assemblyman admits he had been unfaithful to his wife several years ago but says his conduct did not violate any laws or State Legislature rules.

What is going on in Albany? According to longtime Albany insiders, the state capital has more than earned its nickname “Sin City.”

“Albany is a conducive environment to this kind of thing,” said Barbara Bartoletti, legislative director of the League of Women Voters of New York State, who has spent 28 years in Albany. “That may be true of every capital in the nation. You have a lot of powerful people, and young people tend to be attracted to powerful men.”

.

I moved to Buffalo the day before Eliot Spitzer resigned in disgrace. As much as I despised the man, it was unfortunate to be welcomed to New York when its top executive was forced to resign. It’s just really unfortunate Albany is more of a city of elected officials doing monkey business rather than the people’s business.

But, I guess they’re all private matters, right? 

UPDATE: More at Albany’s Insanity.

Read Full Post »