Taking Control Away From Developers In New York Is An Uphill Battle

It is hard to argue that money in politics as it is today is harming us here in New York and across the country. Our new Governor has vowed to fight the influence of big money, even after accepting gobs of it in his race to win the gubernatorial election last year. One of the specific problems is the amount of money given to politicians from developers. Despite limits of $5,000 from corporations and $150,000 from individuals, people like Leonard Litwin get around these limits by setting up multiple L.L.C.s, enabling Litwin to give a million dollars to both parties in last year's cycle.

Who is Leonard Litwin? Listed in Forbes 400 most wealthy Americans, this real estate developer in Manhattan has contributed to many campaigns in order to get access and get his way when it comes to greasing the wheels of the New York political system. He purposefully stays as obscure as possible, shying away from the limelight in order to keep his business dealings going at full speed.

So what do we do about the problem? The money goes everywhere. A contribution that is accepted and spent by a candidate is always subjected to scrutiny, Democrats and Republicans alike. Nevertheless, Spitzer is talking tough and the Republicans are fighting him tooth and nail.

From The New York Times:

Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who raised more money from L.L.C.’s last year than any other state official, swore off them after the election and is now proposing to ban them as part of an overhaul of the state’s campaign finance laws. He and others have argued that L.L.C.’s have made the state’s contribution limits essentially meaningless. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and other city officials have moved to restrict donations though L.L.C.’s for city candidates.

But the governor’s proposal has met stiff resistance from Senate Republicans, who have reaped big money from limited liability companies. That is in part because real estate developers are especially generous to Republicans in Albany.

Take, for instance, Mr. Litwin. Since last year, Mr. Litwin; his firm, Glenwood Management; and affiliated L.L.C.’s have given a total of $155,000 to campaign accounts maintained by the Senate Republican leadership. They also gave to 23 of the State Senate’s 33 Republicans.

Now the Republicans are stalling. Despite the bipartisan giving, it is the Republicans that get the majority of the money and consequently fight the most to keep the status quo. I'm sure there are some Democrats up in Albany that are on the side of Joe Bruno's crew. That is even more reason for us to fight for change at the ballot box next year to not only take the Senate back, but to fight for progressive candidates that can sweep out the garbage with D's next to their names as well.