> Its main sponsor is Silver (who for you out-of-staters, is the Dem
> leader who runs the assembly), and it's got like, what, 20 co-
> sponsors in the assembly. That's not nothing.
It is, in fact, exactly nothing. Silver can pass any number of bills.
(For the uninitiated: Every bill the State Assembly or Senate leader supports will eventually make it to the floor of the respective chamber and pass. Those without this support will do neither.)
The key question is which bills Silver and/or Bruno will push for when the "three men in a room" (Bruno, Silver, and Gov. David Paterson) confer to decide what, if anything, will pass both houses and the governor's desk. Everything else is red meat thrown to the masses, not far removed from the endless stream of proclamations declaring days in commemoration of pretty much everything.
And beyond Silver, A9168 has 83 co-sponsors. That's more than enough to woo a small army of Senate supporters.
> The fact that it has no Senate co-sponsors sort of proves my
> point (but does an assembly bill ever have Senate co-sponsors? that's
> not the way it works in the U.S. Congress).
It's how it works in Albany.
How on Earth does the fact that not a single Democratic Senator has lifted a finger supporting A9168 prove your point that Joe Bruno, the Republican majority leader, is obstructing it partially or in whole, in any way, shape, or form?
> Does this sort of language increase your working-class cred? Because
> it makes you sound like Pat Buchanan or Spiro Agnew to me.
Hey, you complain about the effects; I name the causes. And I could compare your writing style to that of Milton Friedman for any number of reasons, but what would be the point of that?
-- "Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen lytlað."