Gov. Paterson’s Performance

Joe Scarborough, a former United States representative and a leader in the Republican attack squad, noted gleefully that New York could verywell go Republican “thanks to David Paterson.”

 when he endorsed same-sex marriage and urged state senators to stop haggling behind the scenes and take a public vote that would have revealed who stood where on an important civil right issue. But within days, Mr. Paterson had retreated and said that, no, he did not mean to advise the senators on how to conduct their back-room business.

how best to shore up New York City’s public transportation system and help its eight million riders. Having first supported a balanced, four-star plan involving new tolls, taxes and fare increases, Mr. Paterson shifted to a weaker-though-still-acceptable proposal, then to a deficient Senate plan whose main virtue was that it had enough votes to pass.

Finally, after a public outcry, Mr. Paterson, Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver agreed this week on a compromise that would keep the Metropolitan Transportation Authority going for two more years. In the end, the governor did not appear to play a leading role.

After his job approval dropped to historic lows, Mr. Paterson hired a new set of advisers and embarked on a good-will tour, handing out federal stimulus dollars like candy — especially upstate. He has endorsed property-tax relief and said he would seek a spending cap tied to the rate of inflation. Each would require a legislative miracle.

Progress is missing on other fronts. The Democrats have stalled campaign finance reform, and Mr. Paterson has yet to propose an independent commission to redraw Congressional and legislative districts. The governor would be wise not to leave this to the Republicans.

Mr. Paterson has other tasks: helping Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City to keep control of city schools and accelerating projects like the former World Trade Center site and the Moynihan Station. But at the top of the to-do list is Mr. Paterson’s need to assert himself as a leader to be needed or feared — preferably both.（黑体字中提到的一些公共服务，其实在我国，还是进行得很慢的，事情不到很严重的地步，不会有人去关心，那么多公务员，因为制度问题，都喝酒去了，稍微有点追求的，贪污去了，更有追求的，直接自己去一边挂职，一边经商）

这就是美国的州政府的一个例子，你州长干得不好，人民有权力有自由去骂你，如果人民骂你没用，那么就不会有人去骂你的，但是他们可以用手投票，把Paterson换下，或者用脚投票，离开纽约州。这是一种制度，也是一种激励，它保证不了没有坏事发生，但是它可以保证坏事发生了有途径解决。

展开来说，联邦政府体制下的人事权、财权的分配也值得研究，如何保证整个国家不至于散架，又不至于太集中，重要的不是具体联邦和地方的分配比例是多少，而是确定分配比例的机制。