The past couple of weeks featured another round of political pugilism in the State Capitol, pitting a hard-nosed Eliot Spitzer against the heavyweight state legislature again. This time the battle was over pay and Spitzer scored a major victory for all taxpayers in the Empire State.

In late-April the Senate quickly and secretly threw together a bill that would have increased their wages. When the idea was introduced the Senate was unanimously in favor of the bill. But, Spitzer swore that he would veto it and then leaned heavily on his party of affiliation - the Democrats – in the Senate minority in regards to the issue of campaign finance reform. He declared that in order for a legislative victory to be achieved with pay raises they needed to simultaneously drop something near and dear to their hearts: a huge chunk of their special interest receipts.

Because of this threat and the importance of party politics the Senate’s support swung from unanimous approval to a 34 to 24 vote in favor, a number that could not override a gubernatorial veto. In one fell swoop Spitzer managed to halt the raises while demanding a cleaning of house. Whether the raises do come fruition sometime in the future remains to be seen due to old habits being hard to break in Albany, none being older (or dirtier) than campaign funding.

For now, let us believe that the raises are a dead.

Even so, the mindset behind the concept of a raise remains very much alive. Prior to the Governor’s threat every Senator (and probably every assemblyman) to a man believed he was worthy of a significant pay raise. Those shouldering the burden of such a giveaway – the taxpayers - cannot help but look at this with disdain, especially when it is taken into consideration that this would not happen in the private sector.

A similar position of entrustment in a typical company might be something akin to a top-level manager, an individual employed to oversee a distinct function along the lines of sales, operations, logistics, personnel and the like. Such an individual would typically receive a raise only if the company itself was successful and/or the function under that manager’s realm of responsibility was successful. Conversely, if that individual failed in his or her responsibilities or the company was not up to par the manager would not receive a raise.

The latter is the approach that should be applied to legislative raises. Essentially, the Senate and the Assembly are glorified managers running an enterprise known as New York State. They have been empowered to create the laws, regulations, and catalysts necessary to promote a healthy socio-economic environment in this state. They should not be granted any semblance of a raise for they have failed miserably in the their responsibilities.

Despite being the second highest paid legislature in the United States with a base salary of $79,500 they have shown a level of success not equal to their level of pay. The legislature named the Nation’s "most dysfunctional" has driven up taxes and regulations to the point of driving out good companies and good citizens. Statistically stated, economic growth has been stymied by a business climate that ranks a pitiful 47 out of 50. This, in turn, has caused New York to rank dead last in terms of personal Economic Freedom (which measures the obstacles that a state has cast upon its residents). These combined factors have led to an exodus of New Yorkers that totaled some 1.9 million people in the 1990’s and 422,000 more in the 2000’s.

To put this into perspective, were NY to be looked at as a private corporation, it could be said that it is offering far too expensive of a product that has caused it to lose customers. No private sector manager would deserve nor receive a raise under such circumstances.

You understand this. I understand this. But, those who are running our state - and running it into the ground no less – don’t. Looking at the world through a strange kaleidoscope they all believe that they have done and are doing a bang-up job worthy of even greater riches. Thankfully, Spitzer set them straight for a while.

But, understand that this fight should not be Spitzer’s alone. Completely oblivious, under-performing managers like our legislature would probably be fired in the Real World. Thus, this state legislature should be fired and you, the voter, should issue their pink slips in the next election.