Letters to the Editor: Could Karen Bass and Rick Caruso form a ‘team of rivals’?
Karen Bass’ column in Sunday’s Times Union (“Karen Bass: I’ve decided to run again for Assembly”) gave me a chance to discuss her candidacy for State Senate, to say thanks for supporting her and for the good faith she has always shown with me.
My first response to her was to ask why, being a Democrat, she could not do a good thing like John Edwards. Edwards, with his more than 20 years of work over his head, could be such a good legislator that he could overcome the limitations of his age, and he could bring about changes in Washington as well.
After all, this is the man whose campaign was the one that helped me get elected. While he was in the Legislature, he became one of the major players in bringing about my vision for New York State.
The people of New York did not want the legislature to go on for so long, nor did they want to lose control of their state, as we have seen in three recent years.
The first and worst of these was the fiscal year 2006 budget, which was the last budget of any significance before the Great Recession. It was a budget that cut $3.4 billion of services and cut $450 million from health care, school, social services and other areas of New York’s economy, all for the benefit of the wealthy.
Edwards, I thought, would put aside his past political alliances and find some way to do something for real, something that benefits people. This would also mean dealing in a genuine legislative way with the challenges of the age.
I thought this when I wrote to Karen that she could be elected to the Assembly, in the end, as she has been, by the people who elected her, that is, the people of Orange County.
Edwards’ efforts to help the people were admirable. He did what was right, unlike the current governor, Paterson, who wanted to run up the state’s debt, just like his predecessor, George Pataki, who pushed through a $5 billion bond issue.
While the governor has worked to bankrupt the people of New York, Edwards has worked hard for the people.
The governor’s problems