Headline "Republicans Seize Control of State Senate."
Republicans apparently seized control of the New York State Senate on Monday, in a stunning and sudden reversal of fortunes for the Democratic Party, which controlled the chamber for barely five months.
A raucous leadership fight erupted on the floor of the Senate around 3 p.m., with two Democrats, Pedro Espada Jr. of the Bronx and Hiram Monserrate of Queens, joining the 30 Senate Republicans in a motion that would displace Democrats as the party in control.
In a news conference in the early evening, Senator Malcolm A. Smith of Queens, leader of the Senate Democrats, insisted that the Republican-engineered vote was illegal and violated parliamentary procedure. He said the vote was illegal because it had already taken place after the meeting was already brought to an end.
New York, of all places...
Expect a lot of spin on reasoning, expect even more denunciations of the procedure but if they back the GOP on important issues, then control of the New York Senate has just changed to Republicans again.
I am not the only one shocked by this turn of events.... as evidenced by PoliGazette:
Republicans reacted immediately. They issued a statement saying: “A new bipartisan, coalition is being established that is bringing real reform to the Senate right now.”
This development is so shocking because Democrats only took control of the Senate a mere four months ago. Before that, Republicans had controlled it for four decades.
They won the elections for two reasons: Bush’s low favorability ratings and massive public support for Obama.
Not anymore, it seems.
At least one reason Republicans rebelled against Democrats, and were joined by two Democrats, is the direction in which the latter have tried to take the state. They proposed terrible budgets and want to raise taxes. New Yorkers voted for change, but not of the far-left kind.
Hot Air:
What better way to complete a day in which Barack Obama’s economic policies lose the majority in a Gallup poll, Dems lose the edge on the GOP in a Rasmussen poll on economics, and the Supreme Court apparently blocks Obama’s dictatorial dissolution of an American carmaker than to highlight a “parliamentary coup” in Albany, NY? Manic Monday turned literal in the New York state Senate, where Democrats Pedro Espada and Hiram Monserrate switched sides and gave control of the chamber to the Republicans, only five months after losing control of it:
Has Obama's spending policies, backed by the Democratic politicians, finally upset the public enough to see a change in thinking twice about giving Democrats so much control and letting them spend taxpayer money like drunks?
What other factors weigh in here? Is it permanent? Is it something we will start seeing across the board?
Time will tell.
A little peek into how chaotic things got from NYDailyNews:
UPDATE: I strongly urge you to tune in ASAP. Sen. Tom Libous, a Republican from Bringhamton, just removed Albany Democrat Sen. Neil Breslin from the chair presiding over the Senate and replaced him with Sen. George Winner, an
Utica-areaElmira Republican.The vote was 32-30, which means two Democrats are voting with the Republicans.
UPDATE2: The floor fight was over a GOP motion to make Pedro Espada Jr. temporary president of the Senate and Dean Skelos majority leader. - the very deal that Smith originally offered Espada that was rejected by the rest of his Democratic members.
UPDATE3: Apparently, Tom Golisano was on the scene. (Funny, I thought he had moved to Florida). Remember, he played a role in putting together the original leadership deal - the one that fell apart.An observer in the Senate chamber tells me Skelos was sitting in Smith's chair with a BIG smile on his face and Smith was nowhere to be seen. The chamber has now emptied out and Republicans are talking about electing themselves to committee chairmanships.
Heh
Evidently it will take some time to sort through the legalities, but this sure has the blogosphere as well as the media, jumping like mad.
Never a dull moment in New York!
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