Voter Poll Indicates Change Wanted in Albany

In an article in today's Journal News, there was a story from their Albany bureau stating that New York voters want to vote all state elected officials out of office, according to a new poll.We know that this will never happen. I'm not sure what criteria poll takers use in the questioning and the answers they seek, but it will never happen! For some obscure, unknown and irrational reason, when voters, particularly Democrats, get to the polling station, they overwhelmingly vote for and re-elect the incumbents!


A total of 48 percent of voters polled said they believe all state officials should be voted out so "new officials can start with a clean slate," a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday showed. So, even though people are telling pollsters they want change, they have been so ingrained to remain "party faithful", they won't even entertain a candidate from another party, i.e., a Republican. Can you hear the gasps? "Me, a Democrat, vote for a Republican? No way!" Their stereotypical reasons get tiring after awhile. Sometimes you have to go against the grain to get real change. Sometimes you need to do something different.

Conversely, 34 percent said they believe current officials are capable of cleaning up corruption in Albany. I don't believe that politician in Albany has any interest in cleaning up anything in Albany. If they were truely interested in doing so, they would start by offering a bill for Term Limits. The public would then be able to see who is serious about changing Albany or not. Actions speak louder than words.

"Can the people we elect to state government clean up the mess in Albany? Voters don't think so," Quinnipiac pollster Maurice Carroll said in a statement. "They want to clean out the Albany crowd."

 The same poll showed 50 percent of voters believe Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature will not take the steps to create ethics reform in state government, while 38 percent believe they will.
Eighty-six percent of New York voters say that government corruption is either a very serious problem or a somewhat serious problem.

"Overwhelmingly, New Yorker's think corruption is a serious Albany problem," Carroll said. "People in all sections of the state worry about corruption." But again, typically, they will not do anything about it.
The poll also showed that 48 percent of voters think that Cuomo is a part of the problem of corrupt government, while 39 percent say the Democratic governor is a part of the solution. Those who believe Cuomo is part of the solution are probably easily swayed by bright, shiny objects. Seriously, Cuomo is masking the issues and not correcting them. He's mailing out tax rebates as we approach an election. He wants to "overhaul" the STAR program and so on. What he needs to do is start reducing taxes and regulations in NY to make our state business competitive. Otherwise the exodus will continue as jobs, seniors and Millenials move away.
 
The state of New York is not good. We can delude ourselves all we want. The issues that plague our state are system and start in Albany. It has to change. Otherwise, New York will no longer be the Empire State. Rather, it will be the Welfare State - only if someone wants to stay and overpay for everything.