My State Legislature's Crazier than Yours. Oh Yeah?

California should just be done with it and rename the entire state "Neverland Ranch."

This serves several useful purposes. It would be the ultimate tribute
to Michael Jackson, pleasing his most ardent and bereft fans. Further
validate the state's Cloud Cuckoo, fairy tale reputation, thus probably
promoting additional, revenue-generating tourism. Stand as an accurate
metaphor for the state government's airheaded inability to cope with
its current financial disaster.

On Wednesday, Governor Schwarzenegger announced that California's
deficit has grown to $26.3 billion and proposed billions of additional
cuts to education. He declared a fiscal emergency, triggering an
automatic 45-day deadline for the state legislature to come up with a
plan to cover the shortfall and balance the budget. If that fails,
they're banned from considering any other legislation until they come
up with a solution.

Arnold also signed an executive order forcing the state's 220,000
employees to take a third, unpaid furlough day every month. This, after
weeks of failed proposals, threatened vetoes, political contortionism,
suspended social programs -- a fiscal train wreck of such proportions
that on Thursday the state planned on starting to pay its bills with
IOU's instead of cash.

It's "an institutional breakdown," according to State Treasurer Bill
Lockyer, a Democrat. Lockyer has called for professional mediation to
unjam talks between legislators and Governor Terminator, and even a
two-tiered budget system that would raise taxes and allot resources
differently for different parts of the state.

That may sound crazy, but this is California. Besides, we in New York
State are in no position to cast stones. Our State Senate has
degenerated into a slaphappy free-for-all that resembles a drunken
demolition derby more than anything remotely like a deliberative body.

On June 8, two Democratic state senators, both of whom are under
investigation on an assortment of charges, defected to the other side
of the aisle, giving the Republicans a 32-30 majority. Then one of the
Democrats changed what was left of his mind and went back, creating a
31-31 split and deadlock.

Under normal circumstances, the lieutenant governor, who also serves as
Senate president, could break a tie. But currently, we don't have one
of those. David Paterson had the job until he was elevated to the top
spot when Governor Eliot Spitzer was caught engaged in commercialized
bedhopping and resigned.

Last month's legislative coup has led to name-calling, accusations,
general inertia and circumstances under which, among other assorted
wackiness, the guy who the Republicans say is the current Senate
president has claimed that because there is no lieutenant governor, he
should have two votes.

Because neither side can come up with the requisite 32 members for a
quorum, the Senate disintegrated into a series of alternating,
one-party sessions during which nothing could be accomplished. Although
on Tuesday, when Democrats spotted Republican member Frank Padavan
walking through the rear of the chamber, they seized on the moment,
claiming a quorum, and started ramming through legislation, which the
Republicans say was illegal. Padavan says he was just taking a shortcut
for a cup of coffee.

Imagine West Side Story meets Duck Soup,
with the Marx Brothers playing the Sharks and Jets, using whoopee
cushions instead of switchblades, and you get the general idea. With
the backing of a court order, Governor Paterson is trying to force all
62 members into the chamber for daily "extraordinary" sessions at which
he hopes a deal can be cut that will get the Senate up and running
again. He says he'll keep them coming right through the Fourth of July
weekend. Some are refusing to attend. Watch this space.

Because, despite all the foolishness, as in California, this is serious stuff with potentially dire consequences. As The New York Times
reports, June 30 "was the expiration date of more than a dozen statutes
that authorize local governments to carry out their everyday duties,
from planning budgets to collecting taxes. And as Democrats and
Republicans in the Senate continued... to argue fruitlessly over who
controlled the chamber, officials around the state were left to ponder
contingency plans that they never thought they would need."

What's also infuriating is the way certain enabled individuals
consciously are helping stymie any possible breakthrough. In
California, it's Governor Schwarzenegger, whose veto threats, blocking
of short-term loans, and refusal to raise any tax or virtually any fee
have thrown additional wooden shoes into the works.

In New York, it's not the governor, who has tried to break gridlock but
whose efficacy is virtually nil and popularity is south of "get lost."
It's upstate billionaire businessman Tom Golisano, a gadfly who,
according to the Times,
helped broker the defection of the two NY Senate Democrats that
precipitated the current mess. Apparently, he did so out of pique over
proposed tax hikes on the wealthy.

It's all a nasty game that puts cronyism, partisan bickering, and
corrupt, despicable self-interest above the needs of increasingly
desperate citizens. Especially abhorrent as we celebrate the country's
independence and commemorate that long ago struggle against abuses of
power.

At least Brooklyn Democratic Senator John Sampson, when asked this week
if he was embarrassed about the situation, had the grace to reply,
"Embarrassed? That's an understatement. We're ashamed."

Indeed.