Here is something that is light hearted but at the same time it shows how much the Democrats in the assembly like their Republican colleagues.

Daily and Sunday Review - On dinosaurs, bugs, defunct politicians, moribund legislatures
For residents of New York as well as Pennsylvania, it is instructive to note that the legislatures in each state are embarrassingly dysfunctional. Pennsylvania by no means stands alone as an outrageous model of self-serving and incompetent dawdlers.

Consider this portion of an article from the New York Times: “Property taxes are soaring and upstaters are fleeing New York. But lawmakers decided that they had to tackle the ladybug question first.

“The state’s official insect, a nine-spotted ladybug, would no longer fly in that role: it is extinct in New York State. So legislators took a break from bickering over health care spending and property taxes in the waning days of the session and found common ground on the issue of designating a new state insect, making it the pink spotted ladybug instead.

“They passed other laws, too: The snapping turtle would become the state’s official reptile. And the striped bass would henceforth become the state’s official saltwater fish.

“The rush to designate official state critters came amid a crush of activity as lawmakers put aside some more pressing problems, but it showed how things often get done in Albany. The sponsor of the ladybug bill, for instance, did not know it had a chance until it suddenly came to the floor for a vote. Why? Because she is a Republican in the Democratic-controlled State Assembly, and members of the minority party often find it impossible to get their bills passed.

But pass it did, almost unanimously — though a few members did not vote. It must also be acted on by the Senate. “I know it’s not earth-shattering,” said the assemblywoman, Nancy Calhoun, who represents parts of Orange and Rockland Counties.

Right. But then, politicians never have had a healthy record for setting priorities correctly. What’s more, political party does not matter. In Pennsylvania, the main culprits for the dysfunction are the Republicans, who control both houses of the legislature. In New York, the culprits are the Democrats, who control the lower house, along with Republicans, who control the upper house.

Referring to the buggy legislation, Ms. Calhoun says she was just trying to right a wrong. Lawmakers first adopted New York’s official bug in 1989, but the nine-spotted ladybug had already become extinct in the state. Ms. Calhoun was alerted to the error by a reporter a couple of years ago and she submitted a bill to rectify the matter. “Why do we want to get something like this wrong?” Ms. Calhoun said. “It would be like having a dinosaur as our state reptile.”

Say now, she may have hit upon something! Don’t you think it would be appropriate for the legislatures in both states to adopt the dinosaur as their mascot? Now that’s an issue that could typify the state of affairs. Legislators could arise from a state of callous indifference to real, pressing problems, whip themselves up into a state of haughty lethargy, and lurch into a state of exhausting indecision.