Panel Weighs In On Paterson, Budget

MYFOXNY.COM - Four political insiders joined Good Day NY's Greg Kelly on Wednesday in a discussion about the possibility NY Governor David Paterson will resign and the effect such an upheaval would have on an unfinished state budget.

Kelly: Speaker Sheldon Silver and Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch have said Paterson should not resign. Do they want him to resign anyway?

NY Post State Editor Fred Dicker: I’m not sure Ravitch is envying the possibility of being governor.  I think Silver wants to be politically prudent.  There is nothing on the table right now to offer an outright call.

Pollster Scott Rasmussen: 53% say he should not resign.  You get a very partisan response typicaly, but that's not the case with Paterson. One out of 3 say it's somewhat likely that he’ll step down.

Kelly: How crucial for the budget process is Paterson?

Political Consultant Basil Smikle Jr.:  Very crucial.  You have the majority leader and Shelly Silver. They talk about the three people in the room. These are the three people. The people of New York are waiting for their money. They feel confident for whatever David’s problems are…important that they have a person across the table negotiating this budget.

Crain's New York Business Politics Editor Eric Enquist: I don’t think he survives.. at the very least he showed very bad judgement.. they’ll get a budget passed whether there is a strong governor or a weak governor.. the problem with paterson is that he has no leverage.

Kelly: I’m kind of reminded about Richard Nixon.  He could survive as long as he had the Republicans in his corner.  This hasn’t happened for Paterson.

Dicker: Women are moving away from the Democrat. Leaders are afraid of this. I think we’re going to see the longest delayed budget here.

Kelly: Is this racially motivated?

Smikle Jr.: If you look at South Carolina.  (Mark Sanford) resigned earlier in the scandal. That others have told him (Paterson) to stay in is very significant, but we’re not only looking at Paterson. There is Rangel, Meeks.. so even if there is no racial scandal… for many it seems that way…there are a lot of people concerned that it will be 25 years before we see another African American governor.