Nookie in New York

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I'm surprised no one has started a thread on this one, so I will. The Governor of New York (his name escapes me at the moment) was caught arranging a tryst with a high priced prostitute. He is likely to resign (perhaps as we speak he has already done so, I haven't heard the news this morning.) What do you folks think of this situation? Will it affect the Presidential election? Any juicy bits of gossip that haven't reached me up here in the Great White North?

 

I don't see why he should resign. But then, I also don't see why the US criminalise prostitution.

 

dmc, good one!! It looks like immoral behaviour crosses party lines, which should not be a shock to anyone.

What gets me is that apparently this all started when the bank noticed some funny withdrawals. What bloody business is it of the bank what he does with his money? I've heard some rumblings that it's not merely the hypocracy of the prostitution but the way he paid for it. That really floors me. If the act is illegal, then what difference does it make how he pays for it? (Assuming he's using his own money, that is -- if he's using government money or investors money, that's a whole different kettle of fish.)

In any event, it seems that the mighty have fallen, as his repuation of "Mr. Clean" is now shot right to the Nine Hells.

 

Zoing!!!

I'm glad he resigned, and so quickly. He deserves every ounce of scorn he gets. I could forgive (or at least ignore) this if he weren't such a hard-ass when it comes to prosecuting others for corruption and misdeed. It's the hypocrisy, stupid. He really is an unbelievable ass for this. I don't think he's a bad person deep down, I just think he did it for the same reason Clinton and Giuliani did their philandering: because he could.

The lesson here is clear, though: power corrupts. There's no political party or wing who is immune to letting power get the best of them. Republicans have cornered the market in recent years, but I think that's probably a function of their being the top dogs. We'll see if the piety-pendulum swings back to hit the left in the next decade. It probably will.

 

To catch drug dealers and white collar criminals laundering money--as Spitzer knows very well from his time going after the same as Attorney General. Any time transfers of more than $5000 enter an account, the receiver needs to file paperwork about the transfer. Hiding a large transfer as several smaller transfers (i.e. a couple of $4900 transfers to avoid these filings), a practice known as 'structuring', is also illegal. Both are federal offenses.

 

I understand intellectually about the need to stop white collar crime. It's just that instinctively I feel a little violated knowing that "Big Brother" is watching my bank transactions. When a huge amount of money enters my account, then they can look, but once it is in my accounts, can I move it from one of my accounts to another of my accounts without reporting it? If not, it doesn't sit right with me, though as I said, logically it is acceptable.

It's enough to make me start saving my money under my mattress!

 

That may not be such a good idea - your hookers might find it a steal it. But on the other hand, it would sure make it easier for you to pay them.

Anyway, not much to add here - it just goes to show that hypocrisy is alive and well in politics (big surprise there).

The ones I feel sorry for are his wife and kids. The look on her face on Monday basically said it all.

 

Dude, the mattress won't help you keep up with inflation. Unless it's an air mattress. Of course, with interest rates plummeting, neither will the bank for much longer.

Anway, the guy got messed up in stuff that he painted himself as a hero for fighting so hard. Not even the ignorant will stand for a politician like that for long.

 

Ahh, but Splunge, I don't have any hookers coming to visit me ! I'm a little hurt that it looks like you think I do

So we now will have New York's first Black governor, right? Anyone from the East coast got any thoughts on what the ramifications (if any) of that one are going to be? Will the State legislative branch make his life difficult because he was not elected to the top office?

 

I for one am disappointed. I'm not sure I would have voted for him if I lived in New York, but I thought he did good work keeping Wall Street and others honest. I also don't think that prostitution should be illegal. It seems like a shame. If he had a girlfriend on the side, it would be a scandal and he would without a doubt lose his marriage, but he probably would have kept his job. You just can't be a law and order guy and then think you are above the law. I actually think he may do time because of this.

As to the banks looking at your money, I think the actual number is $10K not $5K (not that it matters). From what I read it was an interesting paper trail as this hit all sorts of departments as they slowly figured out what the money was being used for and by whom. I' m stunned he never caught word.

I also nominate this thread for "Thread title of the year"

 

I personally don't care that much about that incident - it is a scandal, surely, but not so big that I want to follow it closely. Had he not been such a hypocrite, I wouldn't have bothered at all. However, when you make a name for fighting prostitution, you should not indulge in almost-minor call girls. For that, he deserved to resign - and I'm glad he didn't waste too much time doing so.

I think prostitution should have been decriminalized anyway, but I do consider it important that public persons, more than others, practice what they preach. This one didn't, and I'm not sad to see him go. I only hope his successor will continue to pay attention to white collar crime - unlike prostitution, it can lead to serious abuses and hurt many people.

@LKD: actually, I'd be a lot more irked if he payed with state money for that. It may come from taxes anyway, but his salary is money that he has been issued to use as he sees fit. State money is supposed to be used only for official purposes, so using it for personal expenses is an offense in its own right - and a further slap in the face for the people whom he represented.

 

I heard his wife wanted him to resist and not resign. Maybe it's more money in the Divorce settlement...

 

Regardless of what your thoughts are about whether or not prosititution should be illegal, the fact that it is illegal in the US and that Spitzer's rise in popularity was due to fighting exactly this type fo corruption is the reaosn he needs to resign. Snook correctly points out that he wouldn't have lost his job if he had a girlfriend. The other problem he has is this is going to be considered a federal crime, because at least once he had a girl come from New York to DC to meet him - meaning the crime crossed state lines.

To answer LKD's initial question of will this effect the presidential race, it will in once small way: As a Democratic governor, Spitzer was a superdelegate - and one that was supporting Hillary. The Lieutenant Governor I know very little about, other than he is black and legally blind. I do not know who he supports, or whether or not he was considered a superdelegate before or if he only becomes one now. I also don't know if he is required to appoint his own Lieutenant Governor, and whether or not that person will be considered a superdelegate or not.

 

David Patterson, like Spitzer, is a Clinton superdelegate. There will not be a new Lieutenant Governor appointed, so it's essentially a loss of one superdelegate for Clinton.

 

Shaman, I hope you didn't misunderstand me -- I'd be a lot more scandalized and concerned if the guy had used public money. It doesn't look like he did, though. It looks like he was paying for his side action with his own hard earned cash. What a goof! I mean, what a horrible way to lose everything, following your Little Hero right into history's Book of Idiots.

 

Well, it might be too early to say that he's lost everything - luck comes and goes, and his political fortunes may improve again. I mean it's not as if he were caught with a dead hooker and a kilogram of coke, I guess. Still, I get what you mean, and I agree - it's kinda sad that this scandal seems to be getting so much so much attention, when the cause is imo fairly minor.

 

I'm fairly certain that the verdict on New York's first black governor will be *YAWN*. They already had an extremely well respected black Lieutenant Governor, after all, and no one really had a problem with that.

 

The New York Times explains that federal authorities discovered former Governor Spitzer's connections with a prostitution ring because banks made reports of suspicious financial transactions as a result of legislation passed following the 2001 terror attacks.

It is quite reassuring that counter terror legislation was instrumental in helping the authorities to crack down on vice. The IRS and the treasury united in the epic struggle fight against blow jobs and prostitution. Awesome.

 

I have to cry "foul" about your post. Just because counter terror legislation has proven to be effective against other types of crimes as well is no reason to mock it. I for one am glad to see that the banking industry is following the law, that law enforcement takes it seriously, and it is obviously effective.