Can voters’ anger lead to real change?

New columnist Jerry Kremer was a state assemblyman for 23 years, and chaired the Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee for 12 years. He now heads Empire Government Strategies, a business development and legislative strategy firm.
His column will alternate with that of Herald Senior Editor Scott Brinton.

Last week, 92 percent of Long Island school budgets won public approval. Aware of the public’s anger over rising taxes, most districts held their growth down to between 2 and 4 percent. Thankfully, the voters didn’t punish the children.

But the political talking heads are telling us that the public is angry. They didn’t take it out on the schools, but people are looking for some scapegoats, and between now and November, quite a few politicians will have quite a few sleepless nights.

Republicans tell us that the Democrats will get slammed on Election Day. Democrats predict that they will keep their power. Sweep away all the rhetoric and it looks like both parties have a lot to worry about. The obvious cause of the voter unrest is the economy, but there are issues below the surface that will have an impact on both parties.

Since the days of Julius Caesar, politicians have never been held in very high esteem, but the current crop is suffering from credibility problems of major proportions. Let’s start with the U.S. Congress, which, for good reason, gets no respect. Even the most casual observer will tell you that these days in Washington, they can’t get anything done.

The passage of the Obama health care plan should have been heralded as the accomplishment of the century, but the deal-making done in public view was ugly. The members of the Senate who used to keep their horse-trading in the back rooms allowed every one of their concessions to be well publicized.

Once upon a time things got done in Washington because a few solid senators from both political parties would sit down and negotiate a compromise on some key issue. Those days are over. Republicans, led by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have pledged that they will oppose any Democratic program so as not to give the Democrats any victories.

Ethical lapses have further eroded the voters’ respect for federal and state officials. The moral failures of the Republican Congress led to the loss of the House and the Senate in 2006. Since then, both parties have been hit with scandals that have forced their members to resign in disgrace. The picture in Albany isn’t any brighter.

Last year the state Senate was crippled by party switches and one scandal after another. Three Democratic senators were welcomed by the Republicans in a short-lived relationship that tied up the Senate for over a month. The successful prosecution of former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno further dragged down Albany’s image. For now the ethics cloud has been eclipsed by the state’s budget fiasco.

The passage of so many school budgets on May 18 was a miracle considering that the districts have no idea at all of how much state aid they will gain or lose. It’s awfully hard to plan locally when the state Legislature is unable to pass its own budget, which is now almost two months late.

Albany is almost a carbon copy of Washington. The Democrats are squabbling among themselves over the best way to close a $9 billion budget hole. The Republicans, copying the Washington script, won’t give any votes for any kind of budget, in the hope that voters will vent their anger at the Democrats on Election Day.

There is more than enough justification for the voters to punish all of the incumbents from both parties. But if past history is any guide, Long Island voters will re-elect the vast majority of incumbents while they fume at politicians in general.

Comments about this column? JKremer@liherald.com