The headline says it all: "Congestion Pricing Killed in Albany." I can't say I'm surprised but I'm certainly disappointed. New York's Mayor Mike Bloomberg was pushing to charge cars that came into the heart of Manhattan in an attempt to cut back on pollution, congestion and, not coincidentally, generate billions of dollars in fees for mass transit. The city would also pick up some $360 million from the feds along the way. Well, thanks to our dysfunctional friends in Albany, the plan was killed without even reaching the floor for a vote. Everyone talks about "new ideas" and "thinking out of the box," but just try it and see what happens. A handful of people in Albany call the shots and the everyone else falls in line. Not only have they failed to halt the rest of the state's decline into poverty by developing a knowledge-based economy in a region teeming with brainiacs, they also relish blocking any new ideas that comes out of New York. It's so bad in Albany that the city had to go to court numerous times to get the money it was entitled to from the state for the New York City public schools. So if you're waiting around for the state to get its act together now that they've driven Spitzer out of town and installed crony David Paterson in the Governor's mansion, don't hold your breath.