Senator of New York
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Senator Schumer richly deserves all the congratulations headed his way after snagging two of the most important posts in the leadership of the Democratic minority. He will not only sit on the prestigious Finance Committee – the same lofty position that Senator Moynihan once occupied – but also lead the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, mirroring Senator D’Amato’s former fund-raising role for the Republicans.
New Yorkers can only hope that Mr. Schumer will channel the combined clout of these two forebears. The incoming minority leader, Senator Reid of Nevada, further sweetened the offer by allowing Mr. Schumer to keep his seats on the Judiciary and Banking committees, which surely makes the senior senator from New York one of the most influential Democrats in Washington.
It is no accident that Mr. Schumer has achieved these heights. We occasionally disagree with his politics, but we do not question the intelligence and energy he brings to his job. He also played his cards well. It crosses our minds that all the recent talk about him wanting to run for governor – a job that many observe is more executive in nature while Mr. Schumer is said to have a more legislative personality – put him in an excellent position to drive a hard bargain with Mr. Reid.
Although Mr. Schumer has sometimes used his Judiciary membership to block worthy nominees to the federal courts – Miguel Estrada being the most egregious example – we cannot help but conclude that his growing power in other areas could well redound to the benefit of his constituents. At least it could – if Mr. Schumer keeps in mind that he is the senator from New York.
Consider that the Finance Committee reviews almost every major bill that passes through Congress, and exercises particular jurisdiction over Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and tax policy, all areas of paramount importance to his home state. As he sits in judgment of federal tax policy at the Finance Committee, for instance, the senator from New York can re member that his state sends far more of its hard-earned cash to the Treasury at Washington than it receives back in the form of federal spending. Let him remember that he represents more than his share of productive, successful citizens who pay income taxes at the highest rate and would benefit disproportionately from tax cuts.
As he considers President Bush’s proposed reform of Social Security, the senator from New York can help his home town by remembering that allowing beneficiaries to set up private investment accounts would potentially generate billions of dollars and thousands of jobs for Wall Street, the beating heart of New York’s economy.
As he ponders the future of Medicaid and Medicare, the senator from New York could remember, as well, that the proficient but bloated health-care system of his home state absorbs a disproportionate share of both programs and that the costs of Medicaid, which are shared by the state and local governments, weigh heavily on taxpayers.
Too many of Mr. Schumer’s Democratic colleagues vote the knee-jerk liberal positions on these issues, invariably favoring higher taxes and more government spending. They not only ignore the tenets of pro-growth public policy, but also the narrow self-interests of their constituency. Imagine, for example, if a senator from Michigan voted against tax breaks for the automobile industry, or a senator from Texas supported a tax on Stetson hats. Yet the Democratic representatives of the financial capital of the world consistently oppose elimination of the tax on capital gains.
Mr. Schumer doesn’t need to be reminded by us – though we’re happy to offer the thought – that neither Senator Moynihan nor Senator D’Amato, whose shoes he now fills, could be accused of knee-jerk liberalism. The senator from New York is entering a phase of his career where a premium will be put on his ability to look past his party’s worst instincts as he exercises the admirably earned powers at his disposal.