No Quick Fix

Community leaders are calling for a quick pick from the losing Aqueduct bidders.

“Given that no new bidders have entered into the Aqueduct selection process for over a year and that the state has all the financial and background information on the remaining bidders, it is conceivable that a quick, efficient and valid selection of an Aqueduct operator can be made,” said state Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach). [Queens Chronicle]

The Senate Democratic leader Senator John Sampson is also reportedly in favor of a quick resolution, ostensibly because, he says, the state needs the money, but probably mostly to get it all over with before the Inspector General's report comes out and exposes the fact that it was he and his cronies who stubbornly held out for AEG, wearing down the governor until he went along.

But Paterson, whose statements and explanations are becoming increasingly bizarre and of questionable veracity, said the other day that he is hopeful that they'll come up with a procedure in a month!! And Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver apparently will not press the issue as long as the investigation is going on.

So this thing is obviously going to go on for awhile. Longer. At some point, NYRA will run out of money, and the state will, despite an unimaginable budget deficit that's almost five times the one that Albany couldn't quite deal with late last year, will figure out a way to step in and keep racing going. I suspect that I'm in the stark minority of those who still believe the latter. We'll see.

Interesting to note that the governor wants to scrap Sheldon Silver's condition that every single investor, down to the last speck and drop, be eligible for licensing by the state.

"We're going to have to have something in there that goes to the spirit of what the speaker wants, but it's got to be one that's actually practical and feasible," the aides said. [Daily News]

Of course it was exactly that which ultimately led to the DQ of AEG. You can bet that they're just going to love that.