Democrat culture of corruption

The odor of Albany

Ever since news broke that Sheldon Silver failed to disclose substantial payments to him from Goldberg & Iryami, we’ve had one question: Just what did the speaker of the Assembly do for that money?
Apparently US Attorney Preet Bharara wants answers to the same question.

The news of payments from Goldberg & Iryami over a period of about a decade is a surprise for two reasons.

First, Silver’s main law firm — which pays him five times his salary as speaker — is Weitz & Luxenberg. Silver is a tort lawyer and W&L is a tort powerhouse in this state, so this arrangement makes some sense.

Goldberg & Iryami, by contrast, is a firm specializing in getting tax breaks for New York City properties.

Capital New York this week reports that at least 27 Goldberg & Iryami clients received state-authorized tax breaks, thanks to a program that was quietly inserted in a 2013 legislative housing bill by — who else? — Sheldon Silver.

That at least was the conclusion of the Moreland Commission before it was abruptly disbanded by Gov. Cuomo.

After 9/11, moreover, Silver also sponsored legislation that expanded the definition of small businesses eligible to receive tax breaks for relocating in lower Manhattan (which includes his district) to include limited liability companies. Now 172 of these companies are seeking tax abatements through a firm that pays Silver.

None of this proves improper behavior by the speaker.

But the legislation he pushed would almost certainly have attracted more public scrutiny had the public known that people who were apparently paying Speaker Silver had a strong financial interest in seeing this pass. Silver’s failure to list this income on his disclosure forms only underscores the question.

As Preet Bharara has said before, New York cannot prosecute its way to clean government. But if all our politicians were forced to tell us who’s paying them and for what, maybe we wouldn’t have to.