Gang of Three Continued

The Gang of Three met yesterday in New York City, while there are no updates from the meeting here is some speculation.

Senator Ruben Diaz, D-Bronx will defect from the Gang of Three. Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith will come to the conclusion that he does not have the votes in his conference for gay marriage and he will cede that point of contention to Diaz. This move will no doubt publicly weaken Malcolm Smith more than he already is by his conveyance of his street style persona.

Senator Carl Kruger along with Former Senator and now Senator Elect Pedro Espada are in this stalemate for the long haul. They appeared to be resolute in their belief that they will not support Malcolm Smith or Dean Skelos.

Here is what Kruger had to say about the special session.

"I don't approve of the way Skelos handled himself or Malcolm," the senator continued. "Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, he comes to the table with a lifetime of experience...In this particular case, if he saw the Senate was dysfunctional, then the Assembly could have passed a bill and thrown it at the Senate."

"Waiting for Dean Skelos and Malcolm Smith to strip to the waist and duel on State Street is not the way of governing."

The conference that blinks first and dumps their leader will win the majority, for the Republicans, their choice is Tom Libous, pictured above on the left with Dean Skelos and the Democrats choice is Jeff Klein.

The Democrats need every one of their 32 members for their majority vote to avoid a tie. Even if Diaz leaves the Gang of Three the vote count is 30-30-2, currently vote count is GOP 30, Democrats 29 and Gang 3.

If they remain a cohesive Gang of Three they will control all the legislation that moves through the New York State Legislature.