You're welcome, New York

So, in my blog Tuesday, I finally waded in with an opinion about the New York state Senate stalemate. I filed the blog about 10:30 a.m., which included the line, "Either way, whoever it is who can reach across the aisle and find a solution to this crisis will have the gratitude of the voters." And I made some suggestions about the real problem I saw, the vacant lieutenant governor's office and the constitutional weakness that caused this crisis.

I also e-mailed my blog to state Sen. George Winner and posted it on the Star-Gazette Web site.

Then, that afternoon, the state senators announced that they were making progress on a deal to share resources and leadership. This announcement followed a meeting with Gov. Paterson, but clearly it was my blog posting that was the catalyst for the breakthrough. Even though they are not using my solution, I can't help but take the credit.

You're welcome, New York.

I'll pause now to give some of you time to realize that I'm kidding.

Paterson is scheduled to give a speech at 5 p.m. today, and we should pay attention. Perhaps there will be a resolution to this crisis after all.

By the way, this morning I actually got a response from George Winner. Here it is:

Dear Mr. Bond:

Thank you for your e-mail and for sharing the link to your July 7th blog post on the Senate leadership change. I appreciate having your input.

Your suggestion as to the joint selection of a Lieutenant Governor, while well thought out, would be unconstitutional as per opinion of Attorney General Cuomo.

Thank you again for sharing a few thoughts, and I hope that we can stay in touch on the issue of changing New York government.

Sincerely,

NYS Senator George Winner
53rd District


I'm grateful to get a reply, and if the Democrats and the Republicans finally have a power sharing arrangement, that's all I need to see for now.

However, I would still insist that by having no provision in our state constitution to replace our lieutenant governor there is a serious weakness in our government. Somehow that needs to be fixed before the next crisis arises.