Krueger Frustrated with Spitzer
Democratic state Senator Liz Krueger aired some of her frustrations about fund-raising and Eliot Spitzer at a panel discussion in Manhattan yesterday, hosted by the Drum Major Institute. Her comments, according to DMI:
"I'm disappointed in the progress of the Spitzer administration's lack of progress on campaign finance reform. The loopholes in the state system are bigger than the system itself. Bundling is a reality even in the city system, I mean, who's kidding who?
I hate fundraising. I hate spending a huge percentage of my time begging strangers for money."
Progress on campaign finance reform, and other major legislative initiatives of Spitzer's, have been delayed since the investigations into the Troopergate incident picked up in July.
What's unusual about Krueger's remarks here, excerpted and posted on DMI's blog, is that she appears to blame Spitzer, and not Republicans in the state Senate, for the delay.
UPDATE: DMI revised their excerpts of Krueger's remarks, and puts them
in context of her complaints about Joe Bruno.
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Azi: It was a shame you were not able to attend the DMI breakfast...the food was great and the panel even better.
The problem with a blogger quoting another blogger is that the sentences posted on the DMI blog were incomplete and thus did not do justice to the complexity of the discussion. In my full remarks, I blamed Senator Bruno for refusing to move campaign finance reform year after year, and criticized Governor Spitzer's proposal for not going far enough.
My full comments made it clear that I do not agree with the Governor's incremental approach to campaign finance reform, and I stated that "bites at the apple of real reform in Albany" are few and far between. Hence, we should jump immediately to full public financing or miss the chance we have to make real change. I don't believe I implied it was the Spitzer Administration's fault that we have not moved his legislation.
I did say that it was Senator Bruno who has made it clear he has no interest in public financing or real campaign reform, and that only with a change in party leadership in the Senate can we accomplish our goals on this -- and many other -- critical 21st century issues.
State Senator
Liz Krueger