The following are excerpts from a Politico article by Ben Smith & Glenn Thrush discussing the widespread corruption amongst New York elected officials:

Once a source of national leaders of both political parties, New York state has descended into a bizarre, riveting spectacle of corruption and political debasement, with its governor facing calls to resign as well as new charges of accepting illicit perks and lying under oath, the dean of its congressional delegation giving up his gavel over corruption charges and another House member announcing he won’t run again amid allegations of “harassment” (edited).

And that was just yesterday.

The latest, dizzying episodes of political disgrace in New York follow a half-decade of disaster during which three top state politicians were forced out amid allegations of everything and everything (edited).

And while Republican leaders have drawn their share of blame (and indictments), New York is now effectively a one-party state. Its current scandals attach themselves to the dominant Democrats, and the riveting soap opera is feeding a narrative of corruption that threatens to deepen the party’s national woes and distract from the White House’s attempt to refocus the country on health care.

“I have never seen a situation in New York, in my entire life, where there are so many legislators who have turned out to be bums — and a couple of executives, too,” said former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, whose third term as mayor dissolved in a humbling scandal at the Parking Violations Bureau.

Albany’s political scandals are a diverse mix, but the current wave began when Alan Hevesi, the respected, professorial state comptroller, was accused first of using his staff for errands and then of selling access to New York’s giant pension fund. Eliot Spitzer followed with his notorious scandal (edited), but already dogged by charges he’d used the state police to spy on his top Republican foe.

That rival, New York Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a Republican, was next, indicted for allegedly taking bribes. Then on to Rangel, the dean of the congressional delegation and a worthy heir to the man he defeated for the seat, Adam Clayton Powell Jr., who was censured by Congress for corruption that included Caribbean trips. On Wednesday, Rangel stepped down from his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee after the House ethics committee found that he had broken House gift rules by accepting corporate-sponsored travel to the Caribbean.

Paterson, for his part, reportedly intervened in an aide’s domestic violence case and allegedly received free tickets to Yankees games, then lied about it to investigators.

Two Republican congressmen left office in recent years amid ugly scandals: Rep. John Sweeney was defeated after his wife’s reports of domestic abuse became public; he’s now reportedly under investigation in a lobbying case. And Rep. Vito Fossella was forced out when a drunken-driving charge led to the discovery of his second, secret family.

In New York City, meanwhile, prosecutors just finished tending to one of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s top aides, Bernard Kerik, the former police commissioner, who was convicted on corruption charges. And the city has heard a steady drumbeat of lower-level indictments, with members of the state Assembly, state Senate and City Council marching to the courthouse on charges ranging from extortion to domestic violence.

At this point, only two of the six statewide elected officials, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, were actually elected to the positions they hold.

The hail of dropping shoes has shocked even the state’s blithest political operatives.

“It used to be, you could at least look across the river at New Jersey and feel good about yourself. Those days are gone,” mourned Kevin Sheekey, Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s longtime political adviser, adding, “It’s going to get worse before it gets worse.”

READ MORE: http://www.politico.com/