I am a bit annoyed at what at least appears in my mind to be the House Minority Leader using his power to push around state government to his fitting – – namely doing what he can to pick up the suburban US House seats in New York so he can become Speaker of the House.

I watched him push overturning the US House lines drawn by the Special Master and most recently canning the Congestion Pricing in Lower Manhattan. While he certainly did not act alone, I think he put a lot of pressure on the state government to adopt both initiatives – – the result being more partisan politics and dirtier air.

Now I know he didn’t act alone. The Court of Appeals, the Governor and the legislature enacted the partisan Gerrymandering of the house lines. At least they showed some restraint. Not that the Special Master was completely neutral – – the Stueben County Probate Court Judge who oversaw him was be definition a hard-core Republican hack. Heck, that judge oversaw the partisan, Republican redistricting of the Stueben County legislature. And he was the finance chair for the Stueben County GOP for many years. Still, I do think his plan was more competitive then the one the Democrats crammed through.

And then Congestion Pricing. I get it, life is tough, budgets suck these days with inflation. That extra $15 or $60 a week, even in the inflated nature of Manhattan prices and salaries had to be a tough bite for many, especially those reliant on private automobiles to get to work. Even relatively well off-to-do people, like most Manhattan commuters have tight budgets. I would be cranky too if I had to pay it. But let’s be honest, it was for the better good of society – – namely less traffic in LOMA and less air pollution.

Maybe I’m blaming all of our state and nation’s problems on one man, and maybe I’m not a good Democrat. But I don’t like bending the rules just so the Democrats can win the house, and I certainly do not like bending the rules on grounds, “we are saving democracy”. Sure, I would like a check on President Trump’s power if it’s he’s re-elected, but playing partisan politics with some of our state’s most important policies kind of stinks in my mind.