Protesters say voters undermined by Senate coup
Legislative Gazette
http://www.legislativegazette.com/day_item.php?item=997
Voters and their advocates held a press conference and protest just outside the Senate Chamber lobby to speak out against the recent turn of events in the state Senate ? specifically billionaire businessman Thomas Golisano?s role.
? The protesters, from Citizen Action of New York, the Justice and Peace Resource Center in Binghamton, the East Broome Parishes in Broome County, the West Side Neighborhood Alliance and the Long Island Progressive Coalition, say Golisano, who, with the support of the political action committee he founded, played a key role in last week?s Senate power flip, should not be allowed to buy the state Senate and go against the will of the citizens of New York.
?They say the new leadership ? which they refer to as the ?Golisano majority? ? does not actually stand for reform, and overthrowing the Senate Democrats blocks real reform that could be accomplished by passing specific pieces of legislation.
??The coup didn?t just change leadership, it put a stop to the people?s agenda ? affordable housing, control of health insurance rates, public funding of elections and many other critical issues that impact the lives of average New Yorkers,? said the Rev. Kevin Bunger of East Broome Parishes in Broome County.
?The protesters also say the Senate leadership flip undermines the votes of New Yorkers. ?The struggle in the state Senate is not a game,? said Veronica Horne from the Capital District Chapter of Citizen Action of New York. ?It?s about whether the people?s vote really counts.? Horne also spoke about the history of voting rights in the country, saying the right to vote was ?won only with people?s blood and tears,? and therefore ?we don?t take the stealing of our democracy by the Golisano majority lightly.?