Thanks, Gov. Paterson!

The governor of New York is very unpopular now throughout the state, but in the 20th Congressional District he ought to be a hero. His decision to elevate Rep. Gillibrand to Senatorial honors created a vacancy that must be filled through a closely and expensively contested special election. Money flows freely throughout the district, much of it to local TV stations, and if it makes watching the local news monotonous (a typical half-hour has dozens of ads for Murphy and Tedisco), I suppose it's worth it to see some of the economy stimulated. Now if the politicians and their committees would only go back to traditional practices and bribe a few voters on Tuesday, the election would have an even more stimulative effect, and turnout would increase. That's my modest proposal for this week, but I think it's a constructive one.