Duane Considering A Deal With The Devil

The story has been told a million different ways, but boils down to this; somebody wants something, doesn't see it happening in their current circumstances and then a dubious looking character comes along promising them their dream come true as long as they do that tiny little thing often referred to as giving up your soul. Dealing with the devil is almost always a losing proposition, yet Senator Tom Duane, of all people is considering leaving the Democratic caucus to join hands with noted criminals Senators Monserrate and Espada.

His reasoning is that he thinks he'll get a vote on gay marriage:

One of the senators who is believed to be considering breaking ranks with the Senate Democratic conference, Thomas K. Duane of Manhattan, would not say where he planned to cast his political allegiance.

“I am not considering anything but trying to get passed all the legislation I’ve spent my whole life fighting for,” he said. Mr. Duane, who did not attend meetings with his Democratic colleagues on Tuesday, said he had spent all day in discussions with senators from both parties.

Mr. Duane is the sponsor of legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage in New York. He has been working to garner the 32 votes necessary to pass the bill, and said he would continue to do so.

There's already an excellent discussion going on at the Albany Project about this possible defection. My opinion is that if Duane defects the chances of him getting marriage passed with Skelos/Espada in charge is slim to nil. Espada can say he'll put marriage to a vote, but I wouldn't trust anything that comes out of that man's mouth. Duane would also be giving up every other issue important to Democrats and certainly so to the many Democrats that call themselves his constituents. The natural effect of that would be a primary challenge with serious teeth (already coming for Espada and Monserrate). I know Duane passionately wants same-sex marriage passed, but this is not the way to do it.

Sen. Diaz Goes On An Ant-GLBT Tirade Against Sen. Duane

Senator Diaz showed his true inner homophobe this afternoon with an angry press release directed at Senator Duane. Duane has been claiming that he has more than enough votes to pass same-sex marriage but the anti-equality groups think he's bluffing. So Diaz picked up the baton for his side and lashed out at the westside Senator, demanding he show everyone who the "yes" votes are.

From The Daily Politics:

"If Senator Tom Duane has the necessary Senate votes to pass the homosexual marriage bill in New York State, then he should release the names of those Senators who are supporting the bill. If not, he should shut up.

"If any member of the State Senate is so ashamed to have their names released or to release their own names for this or for any pending legislation, then they clearly feel ashamed of their position."

"If any Senators are unwilling to release their names prior to voting for the homosexual marriage bill, they are sending a clear message to the gay community and to the whole State of New York that these Senators are unwilling to let the public know and that they are ashamed to be publicly associated with the gay community."

"Any Senator who commits himself or herself to something, should be man or woman enough to take a stand and stand by his or her convictions. If they give their word to support something that they are ashamed of, then that is a hypocrisy, and could be interpreted as not wanting to be associated with the matter."

"It is a disgrace that Senator Duane is playing this mind game with his colleagues and with the public. If Senator Duane has the votes, he should release the names. If not, then he should be ashamed of himself.”

Whether or not Duane is playing games (this is politics isn't it?) is besides the point. The hate and vitriol in that statement is disgusting. If Duane wants to hold the names, if there are enough names, then it is his right to do so up until the moment everyone votes on the bill. The only person that should be ashamed is Senator Diaz for his ridiculous outburst and of course, admitting in his words that he is ashamed to be publicly associated with a significantly large community in the city he calls home.

Sen. Duane Claims He Has Votes To Spare For Same-Sex Marriage

Yesterday's ESPA advocacy-extravaganza made quite the impact on Albany. Thousands of LGBT allies went up to the capitol to demand equal rights. The focus was on the Senate of course, since the Assembly's passage of a same-sex marriage bill is practically guaranteed. The body's chief proponent of the legislation, Senator Tom Duane was certainly feeling the enthusiasm and expressed quite a bit of confidence in getting the bill passed this year.

From PolitickerNY:

The bill's passage in the Senate is, not surprisingly, less certain, but State Senator Tom Duane said he believes it will pass this year.

"We'll have enough votes to pass it, and I'll get a few extra to spare," Duane told me after a rally this morning. He did not name names.

I for one would love to know those names, besides that of Senator Alesi. Duane is going to need at least one or two other votes from the Republican caucus as Diaz Sr. and several other Dems have already gone on record as being against the bill.

Tom Duane Sends A Message To Pedro Espada

Not only is Senator Tom Duane not concerned about the Gang of Three, he rubs it in their faces that being a Republican is a bad idea here in New York. Jeff Campagna follows it up at this weekend's Same-Sex Marriage forum with a pro-Democratic message.



While Espada hasn't shown he's coming to his senses anytime soon, it is comforting to see the others start to come around, regardless of the language they use about the matter.

Tom Duane Schools Ruben Diaz For Trying To Be A Bully

This isn't a schoolyard fight we're talking about, this is between two grown men in the New York State Senate with two very different views about marriage equality. Senator Duane, being the only openly gay member has been outspoken on the issue and with a Democratic Senate, is poised to help deliver equality in the state. As a current renegade Democrat, Diaz doesn't particularly like teh gay and wants potential Majority Leader Smith not to bring such a bill to the floor for a vote. Too bad he doesn't know that things, they are a changin' in Albany.

From The Daily Politics:

Sen. Tom Duane today accused Gang of Three member Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. of being "a little bit of a bully" on same-sex marriage and said the Bronx Democrat is mistakenly working under an old model of how the Senate works by casting this as a make-or-break issue in the leadership battle.

"It's absurd that Sen. Diaz thinks he can bully his way on this issue," Duane said. "That is just not the way the government is going to be in the new Senate."

"I guess he thinks he hasn't been getting enough attention, so he feels need to bully his way to the forefront, but that's not going to fly in the Senate anymore. He'll get used to things running in a more democratic way."

"Sen. (Malcolm) Smith is going to be the leader of the Senate differently than Sen. (Joe) Bruno or even Sen. (Dean) Skelos," Duane continued. "It's a whole new way to operate. It's not just going to be up to Sen. Smith...on what comes to the floor."

Smith said something along the same lines in a Times interview just before Election Day, promising to provide more power to rank-and-file lawmakers and even share power, to some degree, with the Republican minority (assuming they lose the leadership fight).

Aww poor Ruben, just because you want to exclude the gay community from rights that heterosexuals have doesn't mean you'll get your way if you threaten the balance of power in the Senate. If anything, the longer you wait to fall in line behind Smith, the more momentum a challenger has to take you out in two years. With the tide of power swaying back to our side, no one needs a backstabber around while we try and clear up some of the muck that has brought progress to a halt in New York. Duane can bring the bill down by himself and no one will care how loud you scream and shout.

NY Legislators Find HMOs Deny Medicine To Patients

What was already obvious to thousands, if not millions of HMO patients was made clear to New York's elected officials. Insurance companies deny service and medication to their paying clients is the status quo, yet with lax oversight by the Bush Administration and their approval of the practice, nothing has been done to help regular people. Hopefully the study these officials commissioned will make things go in the right direction.

From NY1:

State Senators Jeff Klein, Tom Duane and John Sabini analyzed 19 of New York's major HMOs, and found that 14 of them deny or restrict access to medications which do not have a generic equivalent.

They also said many of those drugs are used to treat conditions that affect higher percentages of blacks and Hispanics as compared to whites, such as heart disease and diabetes.

"The most expensive drugs for the most critical of illnesses are made prohibitively expensive on co-pays and this is just another example on how hard it is to fight to ensure people -- no matter what they come from, no matter what language they speak, no matter what they look like -- have the same access to healthcare as everyone else," said Sabini.

It is a terrible system where Big Pharma and the HMO industry gets to profit from each other's policies while people who desperately need medication are those that suffer the most. Perhaps the executives at Blue Cross, Pfizer, etc like to see people in pain and add to their suffering. They already have fistfulls of money, do they really want that much more? Or is it, like the article suggest, something against minorities?