Michael Bloomberg is an economically rational animal. The federal government has half a billion dollars or so that it would love to throw at a New York City congestion-pricing scheme. So Bloomberg put together such a scheme. Result: half a billion dollars in free money! Or, not so much. For of course this isn't just New York City, home of bankers and economists and billionaires who know a good opportunity when they see one. This is New York State, home of ridiculously arcane politics, a place where a personal beef between the governor and the senate majority leader carries much greater weight than any federal dollars. This is New York State, where one man, Shelly Silver, whose constituents almost without exception support the congestion charge, will happily watch it wither on the vine for reasons which even the New York Times editorial page can't begin to fathom.