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Albany Power Vaccuum Lets Speaker Get on a Shelly Roll
By
Billy Parker
Published Mar 8, 2009
Modified Mar 8, 2009
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By
Billy Parker
Published Mar 8, 2009
Modified Mar 8, 2009
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We're barely a couple of months into the long-awaited Democratic rule of both the Assembly and Senate in Albany, but sources say that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is running circles around his new counterpart, Senate Leader Malcolm Smith. One Democrat tells the News, "Malcolm is a newcomer. He needs a year to figure it all out. Shelly has been here forever, so it's really not a fair fight." After initially having his leadership challenged by senators from within his party, maintaining such a slim majority over the GOP and gaining little leverage from a struggling Democratic governor, Smith has been able to get very little passed. Meanwhile Silver, the old veteran, continues chugging along, securing enough votes to pass bills strengthening rent-control laws and easing the Rockefeller drug laws. Another Dem says, "Shelly has played this perfectly. If things get done, he's a hero. If they don't, it's all Smith's fault."
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