Even when Eliot Spitzer wins, he still loses -- or rather, we lose.

Sure, he saved the $2.00 fare -- for now. But who cares? Only one out of every seven riders actually pays that -- and most of them are tourists (the rest are the poor, and I'll get to that problem below). Almost all of the rest of us either buy "multitrip" card (those "six-for-five" $10 cards) or buy weekly or monthly cards. And guess what? Those fares are going up!

When the monthly card was introduced, it was $63; now it's going to $81 -- a 28% increase while the "base rate" hasn't risen at all.

What's worse, many people have practically begged the MTA to hold off on fare increases until the next budget is passed, figuring they could put the heat on to get more state funding. Now that the MTA is going ahead, there's little chance of accomplishing that goal.

In short, Governor Spitzer played a quick song for the cameras, but failed

The Albany Times Union is reporting that, not only will Albany DA David Soares release a report further exonerating members of Eliot Spitzer's staff in the so called "Troopergate" scandal, but he will also criticize Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's initial investigation as well as the "political theater" that dragged his office into a "needless investigation". It's got to be a rather stinging rebuke to the Bruno crew.

X-posted at TAP

Any hope that the Governor was adjusting his game plan in the wake of “Travelgate” is now officially over. It appears that weeks of pleading and prodding have had no discernable effect in light of his recent speech at the Chautauqua Institution on Tuesday.

Specifically, the Governor expressed his continued adherence to the belief that force is his only weapon against the Albany establishment. While acknowledging that passion had gotten the best of his administration in recent weeks, the Governor asserted that, “only when we are willing to confront power with power can we even begin to address the injustices of our time.” (NYT – Metro – B2 – 8/8/07)

This type of rhetoric and attitude was great when he was the so-called sheriff of Wall Street. However, times and circumstances have dramatically changed. He no longer has a badge and gun (figuratively). That is, he is no longer the Attorney General (a.k.a. – chief law enforcement officer) of New York.

Having offered the Governor a cool glass of lemonade (i.e., “Rules Reform”) to slake his thirst for something – anything – other than “Travelgate,” “Spitzergate,” “Planegate” or whatever other clever “gate” the media can concoct in our post–Watergate era, it was pointed out that there might be something missing – i.e., “sweetener”. Well, sweetener in the sense of – “What’s in it for Joe Bruno and Sheldon Silver?”

What interest do they have in disarming? How does it serve them? And, how does weakening themselves and purportedly strengthening the governor help them? How does it play out?

Basically – what’s their motivation? To begin – both Senator Bruno and Speaker Silver admit that the Legislature needs to do something to restore the public’s confidence in institution. It is one of the reasons they passed rules changes in 2005 and 2007. After the ’07 changes Joe Bruno stated that, “these reforms are the first step, not the last, in our overall government reform effort.” Not to beat a dead horse, but read the City Bar’s report - http://www.nycbar.org/pdf/report/Committee_on_State_Affairs.pdf .