Wow, what an incredible article and this is just part one? Hold onto your hats… I discovered this post at The Politicker.. the Blog is called Room Eight.

Political Organized Crime - Part I

Everyone recognizes that bid rigging of cement or traffic light contracts are the work of organized crime. However when elected officials rig our state and city elections to ensure that every incumbent gets reelected, no one calls their deliberate strategy criminal and organized.

Newspaper editorials and good government groups push for individual fixes to our crisis in local government – for example, public financing of state campaigns. But, no one says outright that our right to representative democracy has been hijacked. Local elections have become the “ins” verses the “outs” and the process has been rigged to block any of the “outs” from winning. Our local elections have become so noncompetitive, that, behind public view, most incumbents, regardless of party or reform beliefs, work together as the “ins” to keep the outs “out.”

A number of factors have caused the collapse of local competitive elections: The barriers erected to block ballot access to non-incumbent candidates; redistricting to protect incumbents and divide organized communities; the political use of the government budget by incumbents; the disconnect of the public and the press from the political process, and replacement the clubhouse system with public relations professionals.

Democracy is strongest and the public is best represented when one candidate gets 49% and the other gets 51%. In a close election incumbents are forced to pay attention to their voter’s needs and their legislative leaders funnel programs and services to their district to help them get reelected.

Rigging Elections Build Incumbent Cynicism Against the Public

Today, with the shut down of competitive elections and the rise of public relations experts that program the incumbent to tell the public what they want to hear, the public’s needs and delivering on campaign promises are unimportant. The only time elected officials talk about affordable housing is in the campaign flyers or newsletters they send to their constitutions. Campaign flyers are also the only place the public can occasionally see an incumbent who is being strongly challenged, criticize the way Albany or the City Council operates. Once the election is over and the incumbent wins, not another peep is heard on the dysfunctional government. Incumbents, proudly, and without shame, operate in a public relations Potemkin Village where three men write all the bills that they vote on without even reading. It can only be describe as an organized criminal act to knowingly participate in a political system organized to mislead the public, reduce their influence and remain silent.

Rigging Elections Builds Incumbent Loyalty to Their Leaders

Another result of the permanent incumbent and the public being cut out of Albany, State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and, the Assembly Majority Leader Shelly Silver have acquired alarming doctoral powers. With those powers they have changed Albany into a culture of “pay to play.” Many of the lobbyists who run the state government are family members, former employees or lovers of government leaders.

The rigging of elections has caused the public to become much less interested in politics. In 1982 almost a million more people voted for governor than voted for that position this year. The voters are saying collectively, “What is the use in voting, when noting changes. The public wants change but is trapped by the rigged voting system. Almost 70% of the public supports term limits to fix Albany. This disconnect of the public has caused a chain reaction which has made incumbent reelections even easier and strengthens their ability and will to “circle the wagons” and ignore outside opinion and critics.”

Leaders now openly work with special interests and lobbyists, making millions for their friends, stealing the state and city blind. Editorials of every newspaper have attacked the way Albany is run. The leadership simply ignores the attacks and suffers no consequences. Incumbents not only rig elections, they have rigged all oversight, regulations and laws designed to keep them in line. It has been a long time since the New York State Board of Elections went after anyone for illegal campaign spending. Brian McLaughlin will probably be able to use the money he raised running for mayor and put illegally in his Assembly account, to hire lawyers to defend him from using his government position to steal from the public.

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