2015年经济学人 纽约政治 褪去光环的西尔弗

New York politics

Tarnished¹ Silver

A prosecutor² takes on New York state's culture of corruption³

The six-million-dollar-man

“CORRUPTION'S such an old song that we can sing along in harmony/ And nowhere is it stronger than inAlbany.” 

These lines from “Hamilton”, a musical about Alexander Hamilton now playing inNew York, got an especially loud laugh on January 22nd. 

That morning Sheldon Silver, the long-serving and powerful Speaker of theNew Yorkstate Assembly, was arrested by the FBI and indicted⁴ in a federal court on five corruption charges. 

Each charge could carry a sentence of 20 years.

According to the complaint, Mr Silver, a Democrat⁵ who has served in the Assembly for 38 years and has been Speaker for 21, 

received more than $6mfrom two law firms. This included $700,000 in“bribes and kickbacks” for inducing “real-estate developers with business before the state” to use a particular property-law firm; 

$5.3mfrom Weitz and Luxenberg, a law firm that handles personal-injury cases.

Among other things, he allegedly directed state grants to a doctor who then referred clients to an unsuspecting Weitz for asbestos lawsuits⁶. 

Preet Bharara, the prosecutor, said that Mr Silver had amassed⁷ “a tremendous personal fortune—through the abuse of his political power”. 

He denies it all. The law firms are not accused of wrongdoing.

In 2011 Citizens Union, a watchdog, reported that legislators in Albanywere more likely to leave office under a cloud than in a coffin⁸. 

Since 2000, 28 have left in disgrace and four have been indicted. The New York Post reported that Mr Silver regularly sent a $100 cheque to the campaign fund of a former district attorney. 

The story goes that if the cheque was cashed, Mr Silver would joke that he knew he was not in any trouble.

That cavalier attitude was hardly surprising, given the power he had. Most legislators were firmly under his thumb. 

He could advance or kill legislation with a nod. Sensible ideas like congestion⁹ pricing did not even make it to the Assembly floor. 

Power inAlbanyis entrenched¹⁰ in the hands of the governor, the Senate majority leader (usually a Republican) and the Assembly Speaker (usually a Democrat). 

These “three men in a room” often give their underlings just a few hours to review bills the size of encyclopedias; 

lawmakers then vote as they are told, for fear of being denied money for their districts.

The once-obedient rank-and-file of the Assembly at first appeared to stand by their leader, but then abandoned him. 

On January 27th they announced that a new Speaker would be appointed in February. 

The Assembly is now in chaos¹¹, while lawmakers elbow each other aside for his job. Meanwhile, important budget negotiations¹² simply have to wait.

The affair has caused some to call for term limits for lawmakers. Such calls have been heard before, but most changes have been token. 

During his campaign for governor ofNew Yorkin 2010, Andrew Cuomo vowed¹³ to clean upAlbany. 

But his anti-corruption law and an ethics¹⁴ task-force did not go far enough. 

Later Mr Cuomo went one better, setting up the Moreland Commission to root out public corruption. 

But he disbanded it last March with, curiously¹⁵ enough, Mr Silver's enthusiastic backing.

1 tarnished   

（通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏

参考例句：

• The mirrors had tarnished with age. 这些镜子因年深日久而照影不清楚。
• His bad behaviour has tarnished the good name of the school. 他行为不轨，败坏了学校的声誉。

2 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

3 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

4 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

5 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

6 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

7 amassed   

v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He amassed a fortune from silver mining. 他靠开采银矿积累了一笔财富。
• They have amassed a fortune in just a few years. 他们在几年的时间里就聚集了一笔财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

9 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

10 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

11 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

12 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

13 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

14 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

15 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。