Lookie here, Governor Paterson wanting to cut into the budget is reaching out to the Republican controlled Senate. Apparently he sees what we have been seeing for years, the Democratically controlled Assembly does exactly the opposite and being controlled by the unions, cannot cut the budget but expand it every single year usually at twice the rate of inflation. Working with the Republican Senate Paterson sees that they will cut and stop the incredible rate of growth. Whouldathunkit…. : )

“If I get the cooperation I’m seeking from Bruno and the Senate majority, and they help me cut into this budget, I will have to honestly state to the public, knowing it will help them politically, that they did what I asked them to do.”

As far as I’m concerned the Governor should not be actively campaigning for anyone, look what it did to the atmosphere in Albany when Spitzer stormed around ordering every Democrat that walked and talked to get out there and defeat Republicans. That is not the job of a governor, his job is to work with both sides to represent the people of this state.

Of the Democrats’ efforts to gain control of the Senate, Mr. Paterson said: “Obviously, I’m the former leader of the Senate Democrats and wish them well.”
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In doing so, Mr. Paterson has changed the tone in the capital from one of combat and animosity to one that is joshing and affectionate, a marked shift from Mr. Spitzer’s rough-and-tumble approach in trying to overhaul one of the nation’s most reform-resistant statehouses.

and that my friends is exactly what we need in Albany. Of course we know Sheldon Silver will not like this at all, and neither will alot of the Democrats in the reform-resistant Assembly.

A New Détente Shakes Albany - Paterson-Bruno

ALBANY — The other day, the state’s top Republican, Joseph L. Bruno, stepped out of a meeting to take a phone call.

“Governor Bruno?” the voice on the other end said.

“Who’s this?” Mr. Bruno asked, momentarily disoriented.

“It’s David!” said the real governor, David A. Paterson, who was in Washington. “You are the governor!”

Technically it was true. Under the State Constitution, when Mr. Paterson leaves New York his duties transfer to Mr. Bruno.

“I’m glad you called,” cracked Mr. Bruno, who described the exchange later to a reporter. “I’m going to run right down and see what the hell bills are hanging around and make a few appointments.”

The back-and-forth was lighthearted, but it underscored a new partnership that has political benefits for both men. It is a shift that is turning Albany upside down and making some of Mr. Paterson’s fellow Democrats privately uneasy. Mr. Paterson has quietly declared a political truce with Mr. Bruno and his party, and though he is committed to raising money for the state’s Democrats, he has been reluctant to recruit candidates to run against incumbent Republicans at a time when the Democrats appear tantalizingly close to taking over the Senate for the first time in more than 40 years.

The shift is noticeable in many ways. Mr. Paterson waved through pork-barrel spending bills that provided $350 million apiece to Mr. Bruno’s Senate and to Assembly Democrats. Mr. Paterson’s predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, held up the legislation for months. Mr. Paterson has also abandoned Mr. Spitzer’s insistence that Republicans agree to legislation limiting campaign contributions.

He consults regularly with Mr. Bruno, whom Mr. Spitzer had stopped speaking to altogether, visiting his office to chat about legislation and talking on the telephone with him several times a week.

In doing so, Mr. Paterson has changed the tone in the capital from one of combat and animosity to one that is joshing and affectionate, a marked shift from Mr. Spitzer’s rough-and-tumble approach in trying to overhaul one of the nation’s most reform-resistant statehouses.

“We’re definitely at peace,” Mr. Paterson said in an interview, describing his warm relationship with Mr. Bruno.

Still, despite their affection, the two men are politicians, and making peace has potential political benefits as they pursue their respective agendas. Mr. Paterson, who admits that he was unprepared to be thrust suddenly into the role of governor, is trying to define himself to the public as someone who can get things done, so he can buttress his chances of being elected in 2010 on his own merits. An amenable Legislature will help, though he may need to reassure some Democrats.

Mr. Bruno, meanwhile, is determined to hang on to the majority in the Senate; he lost two seats during Mr. Spitzer’s tenure in part because of Mr. Spitzer’s aggressive campaigning and fund-raising. A new governor who avoids partisan engagements and is open to making deals gives Mr. Bruno less to worry about.

Mr. Paterson and Mr. Bruno are longtime Albany veterans and their cordial relationship dates back to their days as leaders of their parties in the Senate, but they come from different backgrounds.

Mr. Bruno, 79, grew up in an impoverished Italian-American family in Glens Falls, one of eight children. Mr. Paterson, 54, was the scion of a Harlem political dynasty; his father Basil is a former state senator and deputy mayor.

Both men have traits in common, notably penchants for telling jokes and a preference for cutting political deals to move their interests along.

In an interview in his office in the Capitol on Monday, Mr. Bruno said he got along better with Mr. Paterson than any governor he has worked with as Senate majority leader, including a fellow Republican, George E. Pataki.

“It’s a whole different attitude,” Mr. Bruno said. “Spitzer had to feign being a nice guy, regular guy, unassuming, right? But that was not his nature. David is a regular guy, an unassuming kind of guy, basically unpretentious and humble.”

Mr. Spitzer and Mr. Bruno fought openly and had memorable shouting matches that echoed through the inner offices of the executive chamber in the Capitol. Mr. Spitzer sought to depict Mr. Bruno as a protector of old Albany ways, but ran into trouble when his aides used the State Police to gather information on Mr. Bruno’s use of State Police cars and aircraft.
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