Tuesday, January 02, 2007

New York State has a new Governor

And the first thing he did was the not only the RIGHT thing, but something that exposed how corrupt the State government has been for a long, long time.

In signing his executive orders, Mr. Spitzer said he was fulfilling a promise “that one of the first acts I would take as governor, officially, was to put in place a series of ethics guidelines and strictures that would begin the process of restoring government to what it should be, which is responsive, open, transparent, available to the public.

“I am hoping that others in other branches will join me in this,” he added.

Mr. Spitzer prohibited nepotism in hiring and contracting, and barred former state workers from lobbying the agency or authority where they worked for two years after their departure. State employment officials were also barred from asking job candidates about their party affiliation.

Mr. Spitzer also prohibited state workers from making contributions to the campaigns of the governor or lieutenant governor, or affiliated political action committees.

“I do not believe it looks proper for individuals who work for the governor, the lieutenant governor, to be making contributions,” Mr. Spitzer said, adding, “the appearance might be that they have been expected to do so, or it is a condition of employment. None of that should exist.”


I imgine that most New Yorkers readin this are thinking to themselves, "Nepotism is no longer allowed? You can't use public property for personal use? You can't ask prospective public employees what party they belong to? Your own employees can't contribute to your political campaign? Wait a minute. You mean ALL THAT SHIT was ALLOWED when we had a Republican Governor?"

Yes, New Yorkers, it was.

No more.

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