http://today.reuters.com/news/articlene ... ticsNews-8

Spitzer stands by "steamroller" boast
Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:55 PM ET



By Daniel Trotta

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer was unabashed on Wednesday about declaring himself a "steamroller" and the most accomplished governor in the history of the state after three weeks on the job.

"I am a fucking steamroller and I'll roll over you or anybody else," the Democratic governor told Republican Assemblyman James Tedisco in a private conversation last week, the New York Post reported on Wednesday.

"I've done more in three weeks than any governor has done in the history of the state," Spitzer also said, the Post reported.

Asked at a news conference if the comments were inappropriately boastful, Spitzer replied tersely, "No. Next question."

Former New York governors include DeWitt Clinton, who built the Erie Canal in the 1820s, connecting New York to the interior of the United States and cementing New York City's position as a powerhouse of international trade.

Four former governors went on to become president including Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose social welfare programs for the state provided a model for the New Deal when he later entered the White House.

"Most of those things take longer. At that rate we should be in heaven in four weeks, but he (Spitzer) might not get in for lack of modesty," said former Gov. Mario Cuomo, who added that he did not consider the matter serious and did not expect it to hurt Spitzer politically.

"Some people will like it as a show of self-confidence. Others will not like it as a show of boastfulness. I take it as a sign of self-confidence," Cuomo told Reuters.

Spitzer was elected governor with nearly 70 percent of the vote in November following a stint as state attorney general noted for high-profile investigations into Wall Street.

A spokeswoman for Spitzer declined to comment when asked to confirm the conversation.

Tedisco told reporters in the state capital of Albany that "we had a bit of steamy conversation" but he would not reveal details.

"He's a guy who likes to play it tough sometimes, and I don't mind that," Tedisco said. "And I've heard the F-word before."

spitzer swallows

This makes me like him more than I already did.

is Reuters not going to get in trouble for directly quoting that?

Freedom of speech. Welcome to America.

Seriously though, FCC regulations against "indecency" only apply to broadcast media, not print.

yeah i wasn't sure, since all mainstream print/online media have the "bad" words censored all the time. I guess its by choice for them.

hahahaha.

I'm seriously so proud of my state.

I'd rather he be a good leader and say shit like this than a modest idiot.

moxy, baby, moxy!

he comes off so timid in real life but he's pretty much a bull.

http://forums.theskyiscrape.com/vie ... 972#944972

I voted for him.

Spitzer did a LOT while he was...ummmm, I'm brain farting on what his past post was. But it involved tackling curroption and corporate curroption. Attorney General I think. Anyhow, he did a bang up job. Really did. He even won the support of a lot of right wing radio pundits in the area for what he did.

He's a strong leader. And that's something New York State really needs to stop the bleeding.

Fuckin Right. I like this whole not apologizing for the rest of your life because of something you said thing.

I posted that piece a week or so ago about Philly machine politics, but the NY State Legislature is just about the worst example of this sort of shit out there. There is a group called The Albany Project that has been working, with a decent amount of success so far, at undoing the inscrutable headlock that the Legislature has on policy in Albany.

Last week there was a special election for a state senate seat in a district that was won by a Democrat, thus narrowing the Republican control of the senate to only two seats. The only reason that the Republicans control the senate at all is because of an old bargain by which the Dems ALWAYS control the Legislature and the Reps ALWAYS control the senate. And since the leaders in the two houses control ALL legislation that gets to the floor, nothing ever gets done.

Even with the districts drawn so as to allow the GOP to control the senate, the GOP is becoming so scarce in New York that in the next election the Dems are very likely to take control of that body as well. Once that happens, there is the possibility that some reforms of the entire system may take place. Now NY Republicans like LW may fear this event, and the fears may be justified, but being that he is about the most vocal critic of Albany politics that I'v ever seen on this board, he should probably be willing to see what changes may be brought about when the artifical deadlock is finally broken.

There have been some excellent articles about The Albany Project and the NY legislature in the past couple weeks. I'll see if I can find a couple to post.

Why should I be worried? Republicans are fed up with our representation in the New York state government. They're horrible. Awful. There are very few good Republican's in the senate or the legislature.

Hooray for shitting districting, eh?

Well, yeah, but the Democrats aren't much different. It's machine politics at its worst, and parties aren't too important when you've got a system like that.

It'll be interesting to see if when one party control both houses and the governorship whether real reforms get made in order to make the whole system more fair and transparent for all parties in the future.

Probably not. The unions gum up the works more than anything, and the unions aren't going away any time soon.