By Alan S. Chartock

With Chief Justice John Roberts supporting the congressional right to pass the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), the politics of health care rises to the top of the list in New York state. Let there be no mistake about it: Politics in New York can get very dirty, especially when big money is involved. We had better be careful.

State Sen. Pedro Espada serves as a perfect example of the toxic mixture of health care, politics and money. His Soundview Health Center clinic is now closed, thanks to his political corruption. First he raised people’s expectations about health care, then he crashed them.

New York is certainly not the only state where politics can get dirty—it’s just the way the game is too often played. When you are a state senator, you are powerful. When you are a corrupt state senator, not only are you powerful, you can put your dirty hand into the pot and take money that should go to people who need it a lot more than you do.

We have seen it time and again. When dirty politicians like Carl Kruger get to vote, that vote and that influence become toxic. A system that allows this kind of thing—in health care or any other area—is poison.

In New York, a lot of influence is doled out to individual senators. In order to put together a winning coalition that can rule the political roost, a leader has to find the votes to make a majority. When the Democrats got their chance, they needed Espada so much that they gave him enormous power. When the Republicans had to put together a winning coalition, they likewise gave the corrupt Kruger enormous power in order to get him on board. When people wanted something from him, they went to his bagman, Richard Lipsky, who put in the order, not unlike a waitress at the local greasy spoon.

When President Barack Obama, as part of his health care legislation, asked that states establish “exchanges” where people could buy their health care insurance, state Senate Republicans balked. As a result, instead of having a state law establishing the exchange, Gov. Andrew Cuomo established the exchange in New York by executive order. The last thing that Republicans, taking cues from the national party of the same name, were going to do was to help Obama win re-election with his signature heath care program.

The problem is, things are going to get complicated. The same political influences that allowed Espada and Kruger to do their dirty work will undoubtedly show their faces in this complicated exchange system. The more complicated it is, the more points of access there will be for the few rotten apple politicians who give a bad name to all their colleagues. We will need to police the new system—and that’s easier said than done. In my mind’s eye, I see some politicians drooling over the potential opportunities here.

The question, of course, is one of political will. If we truly want to make the new system corruption-free, we will be able to. In the past, however, we have been known to present crooks with opportunities. Our mistake was that we should have extended a single payer system, like Medicare, to all Americans. After all, that system works and we know it.

Of course, there are crooks who try to game that system, but it has by and large been highly successful and uncomplicated. Now the powers that be are insisting that the insurance companies get their greedy hands into the mix, hence the complicated exchange system.
Once again, the foxes have been put in charge of the hen house. As Pete Seeger wrote in “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” “When will we ever learn?”

Alan S. Chartock is president and CEO of WAMC/Northeast Public Radio and an executive publisher at The Legislative Gazette.

Pedro Espada

The Four Amigos – the band of New York State Senate Democrats who were instrumental in handing control of the Senate to Republicans in a wild power grab in 2009 – are now just one.

After a string of criminal prosecutions felled former Senators Carl Kruger, Hiram Monserrate and, Pedro Espada, Jr., who was convicted on four counts of fraud in Brooklyn federal court yesterday, the only member of the amigos still free from felony conviction, not to mention still in office, is Rubén Díaz, Sr., the Bronx preacher in the cowboy hat known for his outspokenness on same-sex marriage and really, anything else that springs to his mind.

Diaz says he’s not worried he will fall victim to the same fate as the others, and he faces no indictment or charges of wrongdoing. But Clement Gardner, the head of nonprofit agency Christian Community Benevolent Association, which Diaz founded, was indicted in March on a $75,000 embezzlement charge.

“There’s been persecution of all of us since the coup,” said Diaz in a phone interview, when I told him about the jury verdict in Espada’s trial.

“I never worry. I never worry. I am a pastor, I am a preacher, and my life is in the hands of my savior Jesus Christ,” he said.

But Diaz distrusts the Cuomo administration.

“Listen, listen, listen!” he said. “You know what they say is you could indict a ham and cheese sandwich if you want. People say that, yeah, they say you could indict a ham and cheese sandwich if you want!”

Diaz didn’t know if Espada was guilty or not — “I don’t know, I wasn’t there” — but he did think the case against him was a personal vendetta of the Cuomo administration.

“Why when he was the attorney general, why did he make a press conference and accuse Pedro Espada of stealing $14 million? And now, he’s indicted for only half a million, and the jury took two weeks to find him guilty, so that means that either Governor Cuomo lied when he said that Pedro Espada stole $14 million, or he overreacted or he did not know the laws,” Diaz said.

Ruben Diaz, Sr.

“I say that was personal to make sure that Pedro Espada lost his seat,” Diaz said. “I do know that after the government used all their power, all their resources, the jury took two weeks to decide. That means that they didn’t have a solid case,” he said.

Cuomo, who began the investigation when he was Attorney General, took the unusual step of issuing a press release when Espada’s conviction was announced yesterday, calling Espada “the prime example of government corruption.”

“Mr. Espada has made many accusations and comments about me since my actions began,” Cuomo wrote in the statement. “Today the jury spoke loud and clear making Mr. Espada a convicted felon.”

Memories of the coup seem to be fading fast. A new Siena poll out yesterday showed 56 percent of New York voters would like to see Democrats re-take control of the Senate, and some Democrats praised the Espada conviction as another step in burying the party’s sordid past.

“You really have a brand new conference with about half a dozen new members,” said one Albany Democratic insider, adding, “People seem to forget that the coup was actually started by Senate Republicans.”

Diaz, who said he is still friends with Espada and prayed with him last week, said he had “nothing to worry about” personally. “I’m a preacher. The Bible says that everything that’s going to happen, God knows. It’s already written. So why worry when something is already written, what is going to happen with your life?”

To read more from City & State click here.

Christine Quinn

WINNERS

George Amedore – Sixty-three seats, it is. New York’s highest court ruled the Senate Republicans’ redistricting map wasn’t so extreme as to be unconstitutional, affirming a fundamental element in the GOP’s strategy to hold onto their narrow majority. Other than the party as a whole, one clear winner is Assemblyman Amedore, who plans to run for the new seat, which was seen by many as tailor-made for the wealthy lawmaker.

Pedro Espada – Just when all seemed lost for the flamboyant ex-senator, on trial for allegedly skimming millions from his state-financed health clinic, Espada was buoyed by the news that one juror was refusing to deliberate, making the possibility of a hung jury suddenly very real. A former boxer, Espada immediately went on the offensive, slamming Governor Cuomo for indicting him, and raising the specter of possible patients dying from lack of Medicaid funding. Crooked or not, this is why we miss this guy.

 Jason Helgerson – The Medicaid Redesign Team was already a big success last year, helping the governor close a huge budget gap. But the benefits haven’t run out yet, apparently. The savings achieved as a result of the work of the task force, headed by healthcare funding wunderkind Helgerson, exceeded expectations in its first year, coming in $14 million under its cap even as the state added 140,000 people to the Medicaid rolls. Not a bad prognosis.

Christine Quinn – Sure, she ditched a public rally in a snit because someone had the gall (the gall!) to call the mayor “Pharaoh Bloomberg.” But the council speaker was also doubling down on her close relationship with his majesty, which in the context of 2013, is gutsy. What else is gutsy? Saying “vagina” on television, which Quinn did during a press conference urging passage of a state reproductive health bill in Albany. And saving 2,500 teachers from getting fired? Just another day’s work for the most powerful woman in New York City politics.

Chris Ward – Lost amid all the back slapping over 1 World Trade Center’s milestone this week – its now the tallest building in the city – was gratitude to one of the men who made it happen: ex-Port Authority boss Chris Ward. Booted from his job so the governor could install one of his own, Ward was instrumental in transforming Ground Zero into the bustling hub of activity it is today. Not that he needs any thanks. All he has to do to know he did a good job is look up.

LOSERS

Joe Addabbo – Before popular City Councilman Eric Ulrich jumped into a state Senate race in southeast Queens, the common wisdom was the he would stay on the sidelines. It seems Ulrich’s entry even surprised Addabbo, the Democratic incumbent, who it turns out had less than $2,000 in his campaign account. And while Democrats are pledging to support Addabbo, they might not have much extra cash to throw his way. Bake sale anyone?

Joe Bruno – Normally the former Senate majority leader loves nothing more than some good banter with the Albany press corps. Not so on Thursday, when Bruno appeared in court facing a second indictment on charges of corruption and theft of honest services. The federal government flubbed the first trial, and no doubt Bruno’s lawyers will try to make these new charges out to be a case of double jeopardy. But the possibility of 20 years behind bars has already had an effect on the 83-year-old Republican: it’s silenced him.

To read the full list and vote for the top winner and loser of the week visit City & State by clicking here.