The arrogance of power breeds corruption

Last week, the state inspector general issued a scathing 308-page report on why the process of selecting a new operator of a casino at Aqueduct Racetrack was hopelessly flawed and wrought with influence peddling and corruption.

The report pointed a finger at State Senate President Malcolm Smith, Conference Leader John Sampson and other Democratic leaders, for the role (or ignorance) they had in pushing for the Aqueduct Entertainment Group, or AEG, to win the state’s multibillion-dollar contract.

This is just the latest example of how broken Albany is, and proves once again that the arrogance of power breeds corruption.

In response, Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, a Republican from Rockville Centre, told Newsday that New Yorkers “have been hurt by the arrogance of one-party rule. This scandal proves once again that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and makes the best case for having checks and balances in state government.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Friends, come next Tuesday, it’s critically important to return two-party rule to Albany and to return one house of state government, the Senate, to Republican control.

Not only is this important to halt the corruption that has ruled our state, but this year is a census year. That means that next year, New York’s congressional and legislative districts will be examined and redrawn by the Joint Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment, a task force with six appointed members.

These six men and women will decide on reapportionment, and which two of New York’s 29 Congressional seats will be redistricted out. Over the past three decades, as New Yorkers have fled south and west to escape skyrocketing taxes, we have consistently lost Congressional seats. In 1980, we lost five; in 1990, three; and in 2000, two.