Can Anyone Really Be Surprised That Cuomo's Man Jeffrey Klein Sold Out The New York Senate Democrats... Again?

Andrew Cuomo, Jeffrey Klein-- same, same

Blue America didn't get involved with all that many state legislative races this cycle. But one we did work on was in the Bronx, for a reformer and former New York Attorney General, Oliver Koppell, who ran against an extremely corrupt fake Democrat from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party, state Senator Jeffrey Klein. The New York State Senate had been under Republican control for decades until 2008, when a majority of Democrats were elected. However, because small factions of conservative state senators elected as Democrats have split off and voted with Republicans, the balance of power has been constantly shifting between Democrats and Republicans. Klein, who deserted his Democratic Senate colleagues with three other "Democratic" senators in 2012 to vote with Senate Republicans, is now extorting a leadership position with mainstream Senate Democrats as a price for returning to the Democratic fold. Predictably, New York's corrupt conservative governor, Andrew Cuomo, and-- more distressingly-- the Mayor of New York City, Bill De Blasio, and the pathetic cynics and suckers who call themselves the Working Families Party supported Klein’s Machievellian power play-- which anyone with a 3-digit IQ knew was a total ruse.

This is from the joint statement Cuomo and Klein released in June that killed Koppell's chance to beat the anti-working family faction:

Senator Jeffrey D. Klein said, “The Independent Democratic Conference has served as a strong, stabilizing, sensible force for governing in New York State for four years... Yet as we reflect on these past achievements, it is also clear that core Democratic policy initiatives that the IDC championed remain unfinished. As Democrats, the IDC remains committed to the fight for an equal education for all New York students-- which the Dream Act would provide, protecting a woman's right to choose, increasing workers' wages, and enacting meaningful campaign finance reform. I agree with Governor Cuomo that these are progressive priorities we must pass.

“Therefore all IDC members are united and agree to work together to form a new majority coalition between the Independent Democratic Conference and the Senate Democratic Conference after the November elections in order to deliver the results that working families across this state still need and deserve.”

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo said, “I applaud the IDC’s decision. There is no doubt that we have accomplished much for the state over the past four years. We have transformed the state government from dysfunctional to highly functional, a deficit to a surplus, and losing jobs to gaining jobs. There is also no doubt there are progressive goals that we have yet to achieve and that we must accomplish next January.”

Klein, who spent $1.7 million to Koppell's $94,000, won the primary, 65-32%, although Klein lost Riverdale, by far the most enlightened and best educated part of the district. In the general election last Tuesday, 3 Democratic incumbents were defeated, Cecilia Tkaczyk (Albany area), Terry Gipson (Dutchess County) and Ted O'Brien (Rochester suburbs), which landed Republican Leader Dean Skelos a 32-31 seat majority. Cuomo didn't do anything to help the Senate Democrats because he is more comfortable with conservatives controlling the upper chamber while liberal Democrats control the Assembly.

On Tuesday night before the votes were even counted, Klein, firmly allied with Cuomo, was already offering his services to Skelos. Yesterday he publicly proposed an alliance between the IDC and the Republicans. Predictably real Democrats-- not the Cuomo variety-- are furious. And no one more willing to express it openly than our old pal, Oliver Koppell who was so badly betrayed by Cuomo, DeBlasio and the Working Families Party.

"As a condition for support in the Primary from Governor Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio, and the Working Families Party, Jeffrey Klein issued a statement on June 25th conveying that the IDC would form a new coalition with State Senate Democrats to achieve unfinished 'core Democratic policy initiatives.' His candidacy in the Primary further emphasized his commitment to vote with mainstream Senate Democrats. Yet as soon as Republicans earned a State Senate majority with 32 seats on November 4th, Klein chased after their power and once again betrayed Democratic voters by offering to re-partner with Republicans.

"Klein has again demonstrated that his motivation in forming the IDC was never about an idealistic bipartisan State Senate-- it was about personal power. Let's not forget that the Democrats won the Majority in 2012. Senator Klein's partnership with the Minority Republicans stripped the Senate Democrats of the Majority and put it squarely in the hands of Skelos and Klein. That power was used to deny New Yorkers an adequate increase in the minimum wage and passage of the Women's Equality agenda, the DREAM Act, GENDA legislation, a moritorium on fracking, and campaign finance reform with public financing.

"Klein handed the Majority to the Republicans which enabled them to raise the millions of dollars that funded so many Republican State Senate victories on November 4th. Klein now seeks to continue to increase the power of Skelos and Senate Republicans at the expense of fellow Democrats."

As long as grassroots Democrats keep countenancing these sleazy careerist political hacks calling themselves "Democrats," the party-- whether in Albany or DC-- is doomed to the kind of revulsion from enough voters to give the Republicans opportunities to win power. It's the Jeffrey Kleins, Steve Israels, Joe Crowleys-- allies, by the way-- who keep Democrats from participating in elections by making it impossible to simultaneously maintain a sense of human dignity and vote.