(Insert expletive here)

 

It started out as a revolt, but has turned out to be just plain revolting.

We, of course, are speaking of the once esteemed, but now-sullied house known as the state Senate.
It was funny when the New York Post placed the face of a clown on the Senators for a front page photo.
Three weeks later it is no longer funny.

What is funny is that no one leader from the political or business arena has stepped forward to say enough is enough.
A plea to return to work on essential legislation from a governor who garners very little respect from the people he governs, received no respect from his former colleagues in the Senate.

The economy and the state of our state remains in disarray. Everyone we speak with is fed up. But no one is channeling that anger into something positive.

We feel like Diogenes, but instead of seeking out an honest man, we are seeking someone, be they male or female, to lead us out of this crisis. And make no mistake, it is a crisis.

These so-called legislators are holding the entire state captive.
We should turn around and hold them in contempt.
We should not pay them their base salaries ($79,500).
We should not pay their committee stipends ($12,500 to $41,000).
We should not pay for their daily stipends when in Albany ($160).
We should not pay for their health insurance.
We should not pay for their staffs.
We should not pay for their travel allowances.
And most of all, it does not pay to re-elect them.
These bush league politics need to end.

As each side files another lawsuit over the procedures of the Senate chamber, the only people benefitting are the lawyers representing the respective sides.

What happened to the leaders who championed the causes of the people?

Is there no one person or organization willing to step forward and act quickly to end this travesty in the highest offices of our state government?

As for the bickering lawmakers, maybe some concussions of exploding fireworks will knock some sense into them.
There is something for us and them to reflect on in the twilight of this Independence Day:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”