A great way to start the new year:
Mr. Spitzer took the oath of office as New York’s 54th governor in a capital desperately in need of a new moral authority figure. In his inaugural speech later in the day, he emphasized that New York State was on the brink of reform and a change of course from the past.
“Over the last decade, we have seen what can happen when our government stands still in the face of great challenge and inevitable change,” Mr. Spitzer said.
“We’ve seen it in the burdensome property taxes and the health care we can’t afford; in the jobs that have disappeared from our upstate cities and the schools that keep failing our children; in a government that works for those who hold office -- not those who put them there.”
“Like Rip Van Winkle, the legendary character created by the New York author Washington Irving, New York has slept through much of the past decade while the rest of the world has passed us by,” Mr. Spitzer said, as his wife and three daughters looked on from an audience that included the former governor and other state officials.
“Today is the day when all of that changes — when we stop standing still and start moving forward once more,” he said.
“Day One is now,” he said at the end of the speech.
