Photo Courtesy AP/Mike Groll The special legislative session called upon by Governor Paterson yesterday fell on its face with no action being taken to address the already sizable and quickly growing state budget deficit. The ninety-minute session open to the public amounted to what some called nothing more than "political theater" and even "an exercise in mockery." Paterson and current Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos were expected to butt heads going into the meeting,......

The much-hyped Gang of Four, the group of Democratic state senators who were showing resistance in following new Senate leader Malcolm Smith have one less to count among their rankings. Hiram Monserrate, just elected to the senate out of Queens, said yesterday, I'm ready to move forward and not waste one more minute debating politics. I am prepared to lead, and Malcolm Smith is prepared to lead the Senate." Monserrate denied being promised anything in......

After some lobbyists told the Post and Daily News that State Senator Malcolm Smith, the Democratic minority leader, seemed to imply they should pay up now to gain Democrats' help (before the Dems win control of the State Senate this fall), Smith now says he was joking. Smith told the Daily News since the event for lobbyists was rained out, "like any good host" he thought it was "important to entertain all guests...That is simply......

State Senator Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) may be Senate's minority leader but he's very confident Democrats will take control of the the State Senate. So confident that, per what some lobbyists told the Post, at a golf event for lobbyists, Smith told them to "think of his fund-raising event as being like an IPO, an initial public offering...He said we should get in early because then it doesn't cost as much. The longer you wait to......