The Democrats blame the coalition of Republicans plus one dissident Democrat. The coalition blames the Democrats.

Both sides place plenty of blame on the governor. The governor blames both sides.

But there's another person who deserves some major credit for the mess in the state Senate the past few weeks - former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

If Spitzer had been able to do the job voters elected him to do without patronizing prostitutes, he would likely still be in office. And that means David Paterson would still be the lieutenant governor.

And that means there would be a person available to break a 31-31 tie in the state Senate.

Because of the state Constitution, most legal experts say, there is no way to appoint a lieutenant governor if the position should become vacant, as it has in the case of Paterson's ascension to the governor's office.

Usually, the state can function quite well (at least compared with how it usually functions) without a lieutenant governor. That's because one of that position's most important roles - breaking ties in the Senate - rarely comes into play.

But as we are seeing now, Senate ties can happen and the results of a prolonged stalemate can be damaging.

The gridlock in Albany is starting to directly affect taxpayers.

Once this power struggle has been settled, state lawmakers need to work on establishing a process under the law for filling a lieutenant governor vacancy. The best approach is probably to give the sitting governor power to make an appointment, subject to approval of the Legislature.

Such a change to the state Constitution would require voter approval, but after witnessing the debacle of the past few weeks, we're sure the public would back anything that can help avoid a repeat of this painful experience.