Governor Patterson is resisting the urge to hold a special election to replace the disgraced congressman Eric Massa in the 29th district (my own district). His reasoning... the state of New York can not afford to hold a special election because of their budget problems.
Whether this is really for budgetary reasons or political reasons, essentially the Governor of New York State has placed a price on the voting rights and representation of every voting resident of the 29th district. How does that feel?
Normally, I am all for fiscal conservatism. I think that budgets, both state and federal have ballooned beyond sustainable levels and must be brought within control. There are however certain things that budgets MUST account for... police and fire departments, military for security and defense, education (keeping expenditures here reasonable), running the court system and maintaining the process of our representative government.
That means that special elections, despite them being an unexpected cost burden, must be held in a timely manner. Anything less is a reckless disregard for the voting and representation rights of the electorate in the particular district in question.
The consequences? Well... just think, throughout the final votes on the health care reconciliation bill, I had absolutely no elected official to contact and cast a vote on behalf of my district.
So I say to you Governor Patterson... I hope that our rights are worth for all those savings you will accumulate in your state budget. I would love to know how much money you saved for denying me of my vote and representation.
