NY - 23

Doug Hoffman , who put in a less than stellar performance at the Gouverneur interview session is being considered by the New York State Conservative Party.

Hoffman is a CPA and native of Saranac Lake.

According to the Daily New the Chairman of the New York State Conservative party, Mike Long said, "He was competitive for the Republican nomination because of his business contacts in almost every county in the district, because of his personal wealth and his capacity to raise money,"

With all respect Hoffman was a competitor by his own declaration, not sure though how competitive he was in the process.

Read more: NY Daily News

"Teachable Moment"

The Great One is having difficulty these days, especially without his teleprompter during a recent press conference that lead to today's suds summit.

This is an issue that the POTUS has no business meddling in.

Today's pictorial event held in the White House Rose Beer Garden was suppose to be a "teachable moment" according to our leader in chief.

What exactly is the teachable part here - his idea of settling a dispute over beers!

Leftovers

The departure of Darrel Aubertine and now Dan French from the list of potential candidates leaves the Democrats in the 23rd Congressional district race pretty much with the B Team.

They all must be reading the same polls showing Democrats weakened by the recent Albany debacle, a sinking President and a sluggish economy that they promised to fix.

The race is becoming deflated real fast.

Here is a list of 11 candidates from the PolitickerNY

Andy Bisselle, Essex County (Republican)
Stu Brody, Essex County
Steve Burke, St. Lawrence County
Danny Francis, Jefferson County
Bob Johnson, Jefferson County
Rudolph Johnson, Franklin County
Brian McGrath, Lewis County
David Ryan, Franklin County
John Sullivan Jr., Oswego County
Michael Oot, Madison County
Bill Owens, Clinton County

The list includes a spurned Republican, three failed former congressional candidates, a couple party insiders, a hotel clerk from the Adirondacks, and three lawyers, including one from NYC.

Code Blue For ObamaCare

The Wall Street Journal poll demonstrates that ObamaCare is about to code out and is in need defibrillating. The Great One needs a vacation and so does the country from his policies.

 

 

Odds and Ends

Addie Jenne Russell withdraws her name from consideration in the 23rd Congressional race (Newzjunky), did anyone really take her candidacy serious anyway?

Meanwhile, the Democrats are still tripping over themselves in an attempt to look organized, yet, they have not even arrived at a selection process to date. (Watertown Daily Times). The special election will be over and Sean Hennessey will still be appealing to the media that he has a process under control .

"...11 Democratic county chairmen meeting to discuss a candidate selection process. No details were released following the 90-minute meeting."

Also, Andrew Bisselle is having a weak mental moment thinking the Democrats will actually consider him as a registered Republican to run on the Democratic line for the special election.

The coup in the State Senate is paying dividends for some of the birds there. Steve Pigeon (Albany Times Union) has been hired as counsel for Aubertine's buddy and boss Pedro Espada to the tune of $150,253 making him the 8th highest paid staffer. And Aubertine's friend, Pedro Espada, is also getting new and larger digs at the capital which comes with all the power that was bestowed upon him by Aubertine, et al.

The Mayor used campaign funds to attend Sarah Palin's fundraiser for the Seward Museum in Auburn. (Watertown Daily Times). One might say his fascination with Palin is a bit over the top. Here is a picture forwarded to PIV of a card board cutout of Palin in the Mayor's bar. Ahhh enthusiasm is a good thing I guess.

 

Brian McGrath candidate for the Democratic line for the 23rd Congressional Race is said to have ads on You Tube. Stay tune for more details and the ad. 

Back To School

E. J.  McMahon covers school spending on his blog NY Fiscal Watch and we're still number one!

Here are his highlights:

• New York’s state government paid for 45.2 percent of school spending, slightly below the national state-funded average of 47.6 percent.  New York’s 48.4 percent locally funded share was above the national average of 44 percent.  But in absolute terms, New York ranked high in both categories — fifth among states in state-supported spending at $8,293 per pupil, and third in local spending at $8,875 per pupil.
• The lion’s share of the $6,315 per-pupil difference between New York and the national average could be attributed to higher spending on salaries and benefits for instructional purposes, the new federal data indicate.   In fact, New York’s spending on instructional salaries and benefits alone–which came to $11,042 per pupil, 88 percent above average–exceeded the total per-pupil spending of 37 states.
• Many assume that New York’s high school spending is in part a factor of its unusually large number of local school districts.  But if true, this is not reflected in spending on education administration. New York’s per-pupil administrative expenditures were just 18 percent above the national average.  If New York had reduced its administrative spending to the national average in 2006-07, the resulting savings would have come to $270 million — just 0.06 percent of the total that year.
• New York’s schools were ranked among the nation’s best in Education Week’s recent annual “Quality Count” report.  But two higher-ranked states, Maryland and Massachusetts, spent $4,257 and $3,243 less per pupil, respectively.  If New York spent at the Maryland rate, it would have saved $11.7 billion; if it had spent Massachusetts rate, it would have saved $8.9 billion.

Another Misunderstanding?

Senator Aubertine in a WWNY interview said,

"No.  No I didn't (have a meeting).  The Governor and I haven't had any conversations revolving around my decision to run or not run for congress."

But the Daily News reports,

"He was leaning against running, but the calls from the governor and Sampson definitely put him over the top," a D.C. source said.

Read more: NY Daily News 

Someone cannot get their story straight, but that is nothing new between Governor Paterson and Senator Aubertine...can you say NYPA!

Turmoil

Say what you want, the decision by Senator Aubertine caught the Democrats by surprise. All indications from every report indicate it was a last minute change of heart not to run.

From The Hill

New York Democrats are struggling with self-imposed deadlines for candidates interested in the upcoming special House election, as major potential candidates continue to be noncommittal about seeking their party’s nomination.

It was still unclear Friday who had applied by Thursday’s deadline or if further applications would be accepted. A spokesman for the 11 county chairmen tasked with picking a nominee in Army Secretary-designate John McHugh’s (R-N.Y.) district wasn’t commenting Friday.

A conference call has been set for Tuesday, but for now, chaos reins.

Attorney Dan French and Dr. Robert Johnson are among the major possible candidates who had yet to file at Thursday’s deadline.

Johnson told the Syracuse Post-Standard shortly after the deadline that he remained undecided.

French told The Hill that he is not sure whether the deadline will be extended, but he doesn’t appear in any hurry to submit his name.

“First and foremost, I plan on spending the next week discussing with my family whether a run makes sense at this time, as I have two young children,” French said.

Much of the indecision and confusion stems from the fact that leaders and several of the candidates were expecting state Sen. Darrel Aubertine (D) to run for the seat. Aubertine, who announced shortly after the deadline that he wouldn’t run, probably would have cleared the field of major opponents.

Former assistant state Attorney General John Sullivan has formally applied but is still weighing his options. He said the uncertainty created by Aubertine’s decision Thursday has left Democrats in a tough spot.

“What does concern me is … it would have been nice to have had time to do some vetting for fundraising and that kind of thing,” Sullivan said. “But everything was in suspended animation until Darrel made his decision.

”Aubertine’s decision has left Democrats without their top candidate and has also had the effect of handing Scozzafava the Independence Party’s line on the ballot. The biggest third party in the state was quick to endorse Scozzafava on Friday.

Sullivan said he spoke with Aubertine and those close to Aubertine and truly believed he would run.

“I think something changed; I think he really was going to go, and then he decided not to,” Sullivan said. “Now the question is what is Plan B. Am I part of Plan B? I don’t know yet.

”Others who could be a part of Plan B include former state Democratic Rural Conference Chairman Stuart Brody, Assemblywoman Addie Russell and 2008 candidate Michael Oot. All three appear to have expressed their interest to the county chairmen.

Others mentioned include attorneys Brian McGrath and Bill Owens, and Danny Francis, who was the party’s nominee against McHugh in 1994.

Sullivan said Friday that about a dozen candidates filed by the original deadline, which was set for least week, while another six applied by Thursday’s deadline.

But he expected more candidates to be allowed to seek the nomination.

“They’d have to further extend their deadline to allow French and Johnson,” Sullivan said. “I assume they will. Certainly Darrel’s withdrawal is a game-changer.”

The Great Empire State

Dede Scozzafava can stop going into all these convoluted explanations of what is happening to her family's business, people will glaze over.

Here is the short and sweet answer: New York is a difficult place to create jobs and do business! 

Further, as the state and federal governments lurch more to the left it will become even more expensive for business owners to survive.

So here is a memo to ya' Dede - tell business owners that you understand, share and experience their anguish first hand. And whomever else wants to criticize you, someone should ask them how many jobs they have created.

If they need proof of how difficult it is to do business in NYS point them right here. Cost of Business Index

"Cost is a major consideration when a company chooses a state. We looked at the tax burden, including individual income and property taxes, business taxes, even the gasoline tax. Utility costs can add up to a huge expense for business, and they vary widely by state. We also looked at the cost of wages and state workers’ compensation insurance, as well as rental costs for office and industrial space."

New York ranked the 50 out of 50 in the cost of doing business and cost of workforce categories, 47 of 50 in cost of living and 42 of 50 for business friendliness.

Dede To Get IP Line

Dede will get the Independence Party line in the race for the 23rd Congressional seat.

Here is Mayor Graham's endorsement of Dede Scozzafava.

The North Country has an opportunity to elect a decent,independent woman to the Congress of the United States in DeidreScozzafava.

Like many of my constituents in Watertown, I have knownAssemblywoman Scozzafava for years and found her to be a conscientiousand dedicated advocate for our region and in particular for Fort Drum,which means so much to Jefferson County.

DeDe Scozzafava is a former mayor from the Village of Gouverneurwho understands life in the small towns and rural stretches that arethe 23rd Congressional District.

DeDe knows the North Country....knows its people....and has theblend of fiscal conservatism and social tolerance that is shared by thepeople of this district.

She will be an able and exemplary representative of the peopleof the 23rd, and I heartily support her candidacy for the seat held byRep. John McHugh, whom I have also had the privilege of supporting overthe years.

Jeffrey E. Graham

Mayor, City of Watertown (small but still the biggest city in the 23rd !)

Why?

There is a lot of speculation on why Senator Darrel Aubertine abruptly chose not to run for Congress after weeks of people (who are in close at the Democratic Party) saying he was running.

1. Family - at this point in his career why do it. He values is time at home and having to work Monday through Thursday in Washington and trying to travel 11 counties Friday through Sunday would be grueling; he would not be home much.
2. His poll numbers are down (along with 61 other Senators), which would make this campaign an up hill battle. The NRCCC early release of an ad likely prompted a quicker decision by Aubertine in order to shut down the ad attacking his vote on this year's budget. The strategy worked.
   
3. Negative ads were already running and this would make it his 3rd strenuous campaign in 19 months. In this case again the NRCCC strategy worked.
4. Dede's poll numbers are good and show her beating Aubertine. He did not want to run a campaign against her, one in which undoubtedly he would be required to attack her. Once she was chosen his decision was easy.
5. Threats from NYC bosses in the State Senate put him in a must win situation if he ran.
   
6. (fill in the blank)

Add your thought!

Now the Democrats have to emerge from the back room and get bogged down with some silly open process. (insert sarcasm)  like the one the Republicans went through. Clearly they were caught off guard by this decision.

Not In

Aubertine: I'm Not Running for Congressional Seat

Media Release

WATERTOWN, N.Y., July 23, 2009  —  Statement from state Senator Darrel J. Aubertine:

“There has been a lot of speculation as to whether I would run in a special election for the 23rd Congressional District.

“My priority must continue to be the work I have started in the state Senate, representing Oswego, Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties. My commitment is to the people of the 48th Senate District and has been all along. Before I could even consider the possibility of serving another eight counties, I had a duty to finish out this year’s session.

"This seat in Congress belongs to the people who live in these 11 counties, not any elected official or political party.

“Unfortunately, the National Republican Party has viewed the seat differently. National Republicans have demonstrated their belief that party registration matters more than the issues by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to attack and vilify me. They never mentioned the important issues we care about here in the 23rd, whether it’s our military and Fort Drum, border security and international trade, agriculture, energy and the economy of the future, or rural healthcare.
“It’s no small wonder why the Washington Republicans are going extinct, and contributors should question why the money they’ve given was squandered here for no good reason at all.

“I support the process that the Democratic Party has put in place to come up with a candidate to run for the expected vacancy in the 23rd Congressional District. I’m certain the 11 county chairs involved in the process will continue to move toward finding a qualified candidate who understands the issues here and will embark on an honest campaign that puts people before politics.”



Official: Senator Aubertine

Courtesy


Newzjunky, Inc.   

Historical View of the 23rd

Good Process

The Republicans chose not to play footsy with the Democrats and selected their candidate yesterday; Dede Scozzafava. And now she awaits the decision from the Democrats who are in the back room making their decision.

The process for the GOP was deemed fair and open by everyone near the selection process including those who participated as candidates. A special election does not allow for a primary, therefore absent a primary this is the most open process possible.

It was a hard fought battle for the decision between Matt Doheny and Dede Scozzafava, taking three rounds of balloting by county committee chairs before a decision was reached.

Matt Doheny came to table serious about the selection and put a lot of time, energy and resources behind his bid, which caught Dede Scozzafava off guard. In the end the known candidate, Scozzafava, prevailed.

Doheny was gracious and a gentleman in the end as well, first by congratulating Dede and then by calling over 200 committee people last evening to thank them for participating in the process. Matt Doheny is a class act and if anyone paid attention to his brief campaign there was something to learn. The Republicans would be well served to embrace Doheny and keep him around.

The benefit of this process for the Republican's proved their bench is deeper than the Democrats, who only drag around on Darrel Aubertine's pant legs begging him to run for the next open seat. The GOP unearthed the likes of Doheny and Josh Lynch who have promising futures.

Congratulations Dede, you have a lot of pressure on you and hard work ahead of you in what will be a hard fought campaign.

Congratulation to the GOP for running a fair process.

Let The Game Begin

O Fatigue? And 23rd!

Yesterday in a post it was pointed out that the 23rd Congressional Race will be different than the 20th Congressional race when the country was still giddy over the great One.

There is more polling information out and it is consistent with the other recent polls, which show people are leery of the Obama administration's policies.

AP GfK Poll

The May polling showed 48% of the people polled thought the country was headed in the right direction while 46% thought the country was headed in the wrong direction. The July polling shows a reversal in the numbers at 40% and 54% respectively.

The same periods showed Obama had a 64% approval and a 32% disapproval and during the current poll the numbers are 55% and 42%.

Unemployment and the economy remain the issues with the highest importance followed by health care and the federal deficit - all issues that have been recently impacted by decisions or currently being dealt with by Obama and the Democratic Congress in Washington and people's view of Obama's handling is waning considerably.

These issues loom large in the upcoming election for the 23rd district. The Republican candidate, RNC  and NRCC will be critical of the Democrats handling of them, but that criticism should not be without their own ideas.

It will be interesting to watch Aubertine or whomever attempt to defend policies that are losing support with the public.

On the Verge

Jefferson County has tallied the results of their committee member’s vote and their choice for the candidate in the 23rd Congressional district race is Dede Scozzafava. This will make it an uphill battle for Matt Doheny to capture the nomination by the eleven county chairs when they are scheduled to meet tomorrow.

The larger picture is becoming a bit clearer with the possible stage being set for a match up between moderate Republican Dede Scozzafava versus blue dog Democrat Darrel Aubertine.

Dede will need to prove the GOP message has relevance for what ails people such as what was once said – it’s the economy stupid. While Aubertine will be left to defend the policies of the current administration such as; Cap and Trade, Health Care, stimulus II, etc., which are rapidly moving the country to the left. He will be forced to take a stand on that movement to the left by the Obama administration while support for the policies appears to be waning in the public’s opinion or heaven help Aubertine if he has to defend Nancy Pelosi.

If Dede is the candidate, there will be a lot of pressure on her to stop the hemorrhaging of the Republican Party, which was most recently on display in the 20^th Congressional race. But, the dynamics have changed since that race when the Obama presidency was in its infancy stage and still very popular and the Republicans were staggering from the pounding they took in the November elections.

As well, Aubertine is associated with the recent Senate debacle, which has done nothing to improve any of their standing as legislators able to govern as illustrated in Monday’s Siena poll and add to that the electorate’s trepidation toward the big tax and spend government and the 23^rd  Congressional district race will be a very different race.

Conservatives Chime In

National powerhouse blog REDSTATE gives a pretty good endorsement to Congressional candidate Josh Lynch.

This comes less than a week after the same blog ripped Dede Scozzafava for her moderate positions and delved into her business background.  Now, you can take issue with Scozzafava's moderate policy positions - but her business background - well, that simply illustrates how difficult it is to create jobs in New York and the challenge employers face to keep people employed in a business unfriendly state.


Now back to Lynch, he has a promising future ahead of him. He is young, intelligent, articulate and principled. As said before, if he does not make the cut this time, watch for him in the future. Also, he would be a great asset on a team for the candidate for the 23rd Congressional district or possibly a candidate for the 118th Assembly district.  

Read REDSTATE here.

p.s. hat tip to RS for mentioning and linking to PIV.

23rd Congressional Race Notes

The Republicans will in fact select their candidate on Wednesday July 22nd contradicting earlier reports that they would hold off their selection process.

The Republicans will hold a vote of the 11 county committee chairs after 4 regional meetings were held to give all GOP committee members an opportunity to listen to the candidates and give their input to their county committee chairs.

The candidates are:

The weighted votes:

While the GOP has held a selection process, the Democrats continue their march forward with the back room anointing process. Two more sources say Darrel Aubertine is in and one of the sources is a close friend of Senator Aubertine.

Quote of the Day

"National Democrats will likely pressure the chairmen to pick Aubertine, whom they believe would be best able to steal the seat."

From The Hill

Poll Notes

A number of new polls are out on a variety of issues:

New York State: Siena Poll

Governor Paterson had a slight uptick in his favorables (5% points) while his unfavorables remain high at 56%, which is virtually unchanged. Only 22% of those polled thought he was performing his job as excellent or good while 77% thought his performance was fair or poor.

The New York State Senate has reached it's highest unfavorable rating with the public at 74%.

Most people want to see a coalition leadership of the New York State Senate at 52%.

Here is one for Congressional candidates to pay attention to - same sex marriages is favored by voters 49 to 44%.

The United States headed in the right direction went for 62% in May to 49% in July, which is certainly a reflection on Obama's policies

National: USA Today/Gallup poll continues to have concerning news for the Great One and those who have hitched their wagon to his star, including a Democratic Congressional candidate in the 23rd District, it is not rising any longer. 

His overall approval rating was 55%, the lowest of his young presidency. That puts Obama 10th among the 12 post-World War II presidents at this point in their tenures. When he took office, he ranked 7th.

Rasmussen Reports show a potential 2012 match up between Romney and Obama tied at 45%.

And ABC/WaPo poll shows an increasing number of people view Barry as just another tax and spend Democrat.

Deficit

Obama keeps apologizing for everything and to anyone for the past eight years. The real question becomes who will apologize for Obama and his policies?

 

Obama's approval numbers are trending downward.


Trend where available:
a. The economy

          -------- Approve --------   ------- Disapprove ------     No   
          NET   Strongly   Somewhat   NET   Somewhat   Strongly   opinion
7/18/09   52       29         23      46       10         35         3
6/21/09   56       28         28      41       13         27         3  
4/24/09   58       31         28      38       13         25         4
3/29/09   60       34         25      38       12         26         3
2/22/09   60       NA         NA      34       NA         NA         6

b. Health care

          -------- Approve --------   ------- Disapprove ------     No   
          NET   Strongly   Somewhat   NET   Somewhat   Strongly   opinion
7/18/09   49       25         24      44       11         33         7  
6/21/09   53       27         26      39       10         29         9  
4/24/09   57       NA         NA      29       NA         NA        13

c. The federal budget deficit

          -------- Approve --------   ------- Disapprove ------     No   
          NET   Strongly   Somewhat   NET   Somewhat   Strongly   opinion
7/18/09   43       19         24      49       11         38         8
6/21/09   48       22         26      48       13         35         5  
4/24/09   51       NA         NA      43       NA         NA         7
3/29/09   52       NA         NA      43       NA         NA         5

Distracted

Cheryl Lane the GOP candidate for County Clerk swept through third party endorsements without so much as a peep from opponent Democrat Gert Karris.

And most Jefferson County legislators will run for re-election without opposition from the Democrats.

Sean Hennessey and company at the Jefferson County Democratic party headquarters appear to be giving up on every other race to concentrate on the big prize - the 23rd Congressional race.

Must be multi-tasking is not a requirement for the Chair of the party. 

City Council Candidates

If you are a candidate for City Council in Watertown then take a look at the poll on the right sidebar. Clearly the streets, which are deplorable, in the city are the most important issue to the voters, followed by police patrols/crime prevention, sidewalks and parks.

The sum of all of this is really just quality of life issues that mean something to the voters, they want to be proud of the City they live in. So, provide good looking streets that are pleasant to drive on (versus ones that spill your coffee every 15 seconds) along with safe neighborhoods that have quality assets like sidewalks so people can enjoy their surroundings.

City residents pay considerable taxes compared to neighboring towns and all that city residents want for their taxes are a few basic amenities to make them feel good about what they pay for!

Council Candidates - this is pretty basic, talk to the voters this year about issues that are relevant to them! 

Darrel Is In

A notable elected official from St. Lawrence County has said that Senator Darrel Aubertine told him that he is in the race for the 23rd Congressional district seat.

This may not come as a surprise to many who are anticipating his announcement, but this confirmation comes directly from Senator Aubertine this morning while he was in St. Lawrence County.

There has been no mention for weeks about any alternate candidate for the Democratic Party other than speculation about, as well as, field clearing for an Aubertine candidacy. Any selection process the Democrats claim to have is nothing but a fallacy

A push poll was reported in Oswego County with callers receiving an upbeat message about Aubertine and derogatory messages about GOP potentials. This is a clear signal that the Democratic Party is gearing up for a nasty campaign by testing what opponent's negatives will spark a rise with the voters, which in turn sets the stage for their attack.

On the GOP side, the decision for the candidate is tight between Doheny and Scozzafava with a last minute surge by sleeper candidate Paul Maroun. Jefferson County has become the clear battleground for the nomination of the GOP candidate.

This Is a Shame

Here is a more extensive list of pork getters with our Senator near the very bottom of the list, getting less than outlaw Parker and two timer Espada.

Note special designation for Black and Latin members, who combined get more than NNY. So much for reform, this is the Democrats style of reform, screw NNY!

Grand Total

$84,953,600.00

Majority Total		$76,700,000.00
Minority Total		$8,253,600.00
Majority	Smith	$5,475,000.00
Majority	Klein	$5,000,000.00
Majority	Valesky	$4,500,000.00
Majority	Krueger	$4,000,000.00
Majority	Kruger	$4,000,000.00
Majority	Stachowski	$4,000,000.00
Majority	Sampson	$3,040,000.00
Majority	Breslin	$3,000,000.00
Majority	Duane	$3,000,000.00
Majority	Montgomery	$3,000,000.00
Majority	Oppenheimer	$3,000,000.00
Majority	Schneiderman	$3,000,000.00
Majority	Onorato	$2,974,500.00
Majority	Espada	$2,050,000.00
Majority	Diaz	$2,000,000.00
Majority	Dilan	$2,000,000.00
Majority	Hassell-Thompson	$2,000,000.00
Majority	Parker	$2,000,000.00
Majority	Stavisky	$2,000,000.00
Majority	Thompson	$1,200,000.00
Majority	Savino	$1,100,000.00
Majority	Adams	$1,050,000.00
Majority	Aubertine	$1,000,000.00
Majority	Conference Black Senators	$1,000,000.00
Majority	Delegation Latin Senators	$1,000,000.00
Majority	Huntley	$1,000,000.00
Majority	Johnson, C.	$1,000,000.00
Majority	Perkins	$1,000,000.00
Majority	Serrano	$1,000,000.00
Majority	Stewart-Cousins	$1,000,000.00
Majority	Upstate Senate Delegation	$1,000,000.00
Majority	Suburban Delegation	$875,000.00
Majority	Monserrate	$650,000.00
Majority	Foley	$539,500.00
Majority	Squadron	$521,000.00
Minority	Padavan	$510,000.00
Majority	Addabbo	$500,000.00
Minority	Griffo	$410,000.00
Minority	Hannon	$400,000.00
Minority	Robach	$400,000.00
Minority	Morahan	$300,000.00
Minority	Nozzolio	$300,000.00
Minority	Saland	$250,600.00
Majority	Bronx Delegation	$250,000.00
Majority	Brooklyn Delegation	$250,000.00
Majority	Manhattan Delegation	$250,000.00
Majority	Queens Delegation	$250,000.00
Minority	Alesi	$250,000.00
Minority	Bonacic	$250,000.00
Minority	DeFrancisco	$250,000.00
Minority	Farley	$250,000.00
Minority	Flanagan	$250,000.00
Minority	Fuschillo	$250,000.00
Minority	Golden	$250,000.00
Minority	Lanza	$250,000.00
Minority	Larkin	$250,000.00
Minority	LaValle	$250,000.00
Minority	Leibell	$250,000.00
Minority	Libous	$250,000.00
Minority	Marcellino	$250,000.00
Minority	Maziarz	$250,000.00
Minority	McDonald	$250,000.00
Minority	Ranzenhofer	$250,000.00
Minority	Seward	$250,000.00
Minority	Skelos	$250,000.00
Minority	Volker	$250,000.00
Minority	Winner	$250,000.00
Minority	Young	$250,000.00
Minority	Johnson, O	$240,000.00
Majority	Smith	$225,000.00
Minority	Little	$183,000.00
Minority	Johnson, O.	$10,000.00

Where's The Beef? (UPDATED)

(Update) Senator's Aubertine friend and leader gets $2 million

Apparently is does not pay to be in the majority of the New York State if you are from Northern New York in a out of balance New York City dominated New York State Senate.

Here are the top pork getters for this year.


Between the top two they are splitting up $10.5 million of your money!

- Malcolm Smith $5,475,000.00  (Queens)
- Jeff Klein $5,000,000.00  (Bronx)
- Dave Valesky $4,500,000.00
- Liz Krueger $4,000,000.00
- Carl Kruger $4,000,000.00
- Bill Stachowski $4,000,000.00
- John Sampson $3,040,000.00
- Neil Breslin $3,000,000.00
- Tom Duane $3,000,000.00
- Velmanette Montgomery $3,000,000.00
- Suzi Oppenheimer $3,000,000.00
- Eric Schneiderman $3,000,000.00
- George Onorato $2,974,500.00

Instead of where's the beef, maybe the question is - where's Senator Aubertine?

To The Woodshed

The Mayor takes Drew and Senator Aubertine to the woodshed with a good scolding for putting a political press release out from the Senator's government office versus a campaign office.

The press release featured on Newzjunky was out of bounds, see it here.

Read the Mayor's scolding here. 

Not The Last Time

This may be the first time you have come across this name and face, but it is a safe bet it is not the last time. Waddington native Josh Lynch.

 

 

Morning After

The GOP candidates gathered last night in Gouverneur, all 9 of them, for their presentations to committee members asking for their support.

The presentations ranged from painful to extremely colorful. The painful presenter will not be identified, anyone who was there knew the candidate who was not smart enough to quit talking after being signaled 3 times his time was up.

The colorful, without a doubt went to Bart Bonner. He is a man who shoots straight and if you did not know where Bart stood before you certainly did after listening to him last night. He had everyone's attention!

The surprise presentations were made by Paul Maroun and Josh Lynch. They both had a good handle on principles and issues and were crowd pleasers. Although, geographically Maroun is out of the picture for the race, but thanks for stopping Paul.

Lynch, from Waddington, is a contender, but as a 20 something perhaps a little to early for the young lad to be a serious contender for this seat. He has a future, so look out for him to be around and he has excellent ideas.

The A team of Doheny and Scozzafava showed up and did little to move the needle. The consensus is Dede was aggressive while Matt played to his business background but caught some off guard with his position on the hot button pro-life versus pro-choice issue.

The ball remains in the air on this one!

Everyone draws the same conclusion the GOP is better off holding this type of process versus the Democrat's method of a smoked filled backroom annointing of their candidate.  

It's Nice To Be #1 (At Something)

Yes, New Yorkers can hold their heads high, your government is #1.

At being dysfunctional!

Read
No. 1: New York 

Leadership Problems: 10
First, Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) acknowledged visiting high-end prostitutes and resigned. Then Spitzer's successor, David Paterson (D), acknowledged just days after being installed that he had used drugs and had extramarital affairs. And then, Paterson was widely accused of mishandling the selection of a successor to Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate seat.

Ah, those were the good old days. For the Empire State, it's only gotten worse.

Criminality: 8
Both figures at the center of the switch in party control are dogged by legal concerns.

According to media reports, Sen. Hiram Monserrate of Queens has been indicted on felony charges of stabbing his girlfriend with a broken glass. (After initially voting with the GOP to switch control, Monserrate later decided to return to the Democratic fold.)

And Espada has been fined in the tens of thousands of dollars for failing to disclose political contributions. In addition, a nonprofit he ran, Soundview HealthCare Network, is reportedly being investigated by the state attorney general.

TOTAL DYSFUNCTIONALITY: 9.25

Your Money At Work

This will make you warm and fuzzy about the Feds and State handling of the stimulus money. The taxpayers are being hijacked by the Democratic party, one can only hope the electorate rises against this soon.

Espada & Aubertine

In an interview with North Country Public radio Senator Aubertine suggest "certainly there's a lot of difficulty there. I certainly don't want to be associated with anyone who has the potential to be indicted for anything."

Is this just a split personality that he is trying to live by supporting Espada in Albany and distancing himself from him in his district, because with a slim 32-30 majority he has the single power of stepping away and leveraging his principles (again your word).


Or perhaps is he forecasting his reason to leave for a Congressional Campaign?

Listen Here

Curtain Call For June

June’s ouster completes Albany’s downstate dominance.

Which of these recent quotes can be attributed to June O’Neill, the soon-to-depart head of NY’s bruised and rudderless Democratic Party?

a. “Any speculation about changes in the party leadership is just that (speculation.)”
b. "The governor…assured me that I have his full support and confidence."
c. “I have been in close contact with Governor Paterson for the past several months about my desire to cut back on the travel and time required to continue as State Chair.”
d. All of the above.

The correct answer is, of course, (d).

For weeks, O’Neill, the last standing remnant of the Eliot Spitzer era, has been insisting she’s staying put as state chair, even as nearly everyone around her fell.

The climax was an embarrassing story in the Daily News, where O’Neill was forced to admit that she knew nothing of a move by Paterson to push her aside. That’s quote “b.”

One May 29, O’Neill’s spokesman denied there was a change afoot (quote “a”)

Today, Paterson announced that his fourth choice for the post (the first three turned him down), Long Island Democrat Chair Jay Jacobs, will step into O’Neill’s shoes.

That pretty much completes the downstate domination of state politics and governance under Democrat control.

Paterson, of course, is from Manhattan, as is his choice for “lieutenant governor,” Richard Ravitch.

The Senate is controlled by Malcolm Smith (Queens) and John Sampson (Brooklyn).

The Assembly is run by Shelly Silver (Manhattan).

The Comptroller is from Nassau County; Queens-born Andrew Cuomo is the Attorney General.

US Sen. Chuck Schumer is a Brooklyn boy, and accidental Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has changed her stripes to more closely resemble the Upper East Side liberal crowd she favors.

Congressional Campaign Mailbox

Prep your mailboxes! Campaign material arrived from both GOP candidates this week which included a nice letter from Dede Scozzafava with background and bio information and a six panel, four color tri-fold brochure with his background information, a message and map of the four regional meetings.

I guess Doheny being the lesser known of the two front runners had to make a bit more impact with a mailer including a splashy picture.

But regardless of who gets style points for their mailers, both are worthy and well accomplished people which will be interesting to hear from them this Tuesday in Gouverneur before any decision of support.

 

  

 

The New Democratic Uniform

Every Democrat should have one these tee shirts, it was posted on Jefferson Democrat, but that was before every Democrat bowed at the altar of Pedro Espada. I think Jefferson Democrat has both feet in their mouth now.

A campaign should be started to buy every Democratic Senator in the New York State Senate a tee-shirt.

Hey, I am just posting what the Democrats have previously posted, so attack them if you don't like it. 

Message From Senator Darrel Aubertine

June 18th message from Senator Darrel Aubertine.

“We cannot continue to delay the people’s business. The time to act is now but the Senate Republican Leadership continues to insist on Pedro Espada’s leadership, which is unacceptable. He is a member of the Senate, but not suitable in our eyes to be one step away from presiding over this state as governor," Aubertine said in a statement.

“The New York State Senate needs leadership, not a boss. Now is the time for my colleagues in the Republican Conference to step up and say ‘no’ to continued efforts to put a man in charge of the Senate who is under investigation. This is not in the best interest of the people of the state of New York.

“I am calling on my colleagues in the Senate Republican Conference, especially the Upstate members, to join us and work around the misguided leadership of Pedro Espada to move legislation critical to the needs of the people we represent. We must put people ahead of politics. Pedro Espada’s personal power should not be more important than the needs of the people we represent.

“I believe that many members of the Senate Republican Conference are more principled than the few who put Pedro Espada’s individual authority over the people we represent. Together, we can move forward with a power sharing agreement that does not allow a handful of bosses led by Pedro Espada 
to put their own agenda over what is best for our state and the people we represent.”

The statement from Darrel Aubertine speaks for itself and speaks to his own lack of principle (his words not mine) now that he has turned this issue around and supports Pedro Espada who he vilified as "misguided leadership" and "not suitable." 

Read the story here Newswatch 50

Not Impressed

The Ogdensburg Journal is not too impressed with our Democratic representation from Addie Jenne Russell and Darrel Aubertine.

Shake Down

Now that Albany has finally established their profession, they are just simply haggling over the price.

The whole situation with both parties is disgraceful. Where is New York after five weeks of this horse crap, no where. Five weeks of a government shut down, because two Democrats were selling themselves on a street corner to the highest bidder and the Republicans took the squeeze on their first ride and now the Democrats are determined to do business with them, just as bad, maybe worse - after five weeks of calling Espada everything but a... the Democrats are going to vote him the Majority Leader.

This is about Golisano as well, his right hand man Steve Pigeon landed a cushy job with Espada as the most recent deal was cut to bring him back to the Democrats, which only proves they would have sold the capital building as well if they had to to get a deal done.

The Republican's should learn one lesson unlike the Democrats they need to keep their mouth shut about Espada, the Democrats have already told people he was a "criminal" and an "extortionist," or the public can read this excerpt from Daily News.

This sleazy pol, who doesn't even deign to keep a district office, now holds one of the most powerful posts in Albany.

He has even taken to bragging he is the highest-ranking Hispanic official in state history.

This should astound and embarrass every New Yorker.
Read more: NY Daily News

It is not up to the Republican's to hold the Democrats conference together, therefore, in somewhat of their defense the two Democrats who defected to the Republicans were dealt with at the time, but hard lessons neeed to be learned, if anyone defects again think the process through better before shutting down government for five weeks.

Skelos has to go as leader of the Republican conference, plain and simple! He is responsible for either letting this happen or for cutting the deal which was so poorly and loosely thought out.

And the moral caucus on the other side of the aisle that Darrel Aubertine, Dave Valesky and Craig Johnson so proudly claim to be founders of, what are your plans? You voted for Espada as majority leader, so, shed the crap about some moral caucus and tell everyone you are no different than any one else in Albany- for sale!

There is no way to put a polish on a sneaker, Albany and this fiasco just proves that point.

Can't Wait

Just can't wait to hear the Democrats spin on this one.

The Democrats, who have absolutely vilified Senator Espada for a month now, have a handshake deal to make him Senate majority leader.

This event comes after Governor Paterson unconstitutionally hired hit-man Richard Ravitch, who was appointed to Lt. Governor to tip the scales. Even the states top attorney Andrew Cuomo declined to defend Paterson's move.

Now you know why Albany is described as a cesspool of political dysfunction.

Here are a couple of interesting things to watch for; will the Democrats hold a leadership, which essentially would prove the Republican's vote was valid and will the Democrats continue with their "power sharing" ideas? Or is "equal" just something you put in your coffee!

Oh Look Here - A Must Read!

And this is even written by a Democrat.
Cross post from NexGenDems:

The Dog Ate My Bill Copy 

"Aubertine decides he's going to sue the Assembly for its refusal to hand up to the governor the Power for Jobs bill that recently "passed" the Senate by virtue of something akin to an Elvis sighting.

The same MO holds true for the Power for Jobs legislation that Aubertine is suing on.  That this law was to expire isn't not a late-minute revelation--at least for anybody bothering to read the enabling legislation."

(Memo to Bob Gorman - the is a member of his own party - tough to score partisan points here by manipulating the news - wink - wink)

And read here: Auburn Pub

This is no way to run a government, and Aubertine knows it.

We would have liked to believe that Aubertine was above this kind of foolishness.

He could have chosen to separate himself from the child-like conduct of some of his colleagues and worked toward a real solution to this stalemate.

We hate to say we told you so, but we did!

Hold On

Taxpayers will want to hold on tight the ride for local governments is about to get wild!

The NY Times is reporting on an analysis by the NYS Comptroller's office that shows pension cost will triple - that is 3x - triple with a T, in the next few years.  

“It’s alarming, eye-popping and unthinkable,” said Stephen J. Acquario, executive director of the New York State Association of Counties. “To manage that liability in the face of this deep decline in government revenues is going to be a challenge,” he said. “Where is this money going to come from?”

Pension contribution rates are predicted to increase from 7.4 to 30.3 percent of payroll cost. Brace for impact!

“It is staggering,” said Peter Baynes, executive director of the New York Conference of Mayors. “The only way they’re going to deal with it is through property taxes and reductions in the work force.”

The impact will be even greater for a city like Watertown due to a large percentage of staff being uniformed fire and police where pension cost are considerably higher.

And on the state level, well, there was unprecedented tax increases last year coupled with a huge increase in spending, they will have an even deeper hole. They will need to fill the fiscal bridge to nowhere gap left by the stimulus spending binge!

Read more: The pension bomb goes boom

Time Will Tell

Can the Democrats on the national level do a better job at managing their power and total control of government better than the Democrats did on the state level?

Only time will tell, they are in total control now.

Senator "Show Me The Money" Adams

Senator Adams has a habit of having a lot of "You Tube" moments, watch his "I need a raise, show me the money" moment.  Needless to say Adams will not grant an interview to Fred Dicker of the New York Post.

He terms the act of the June 8th coup as an act of thuggery, when it is more appropriately called inept Democratic leadership that let it happen.  

Musings

Page 1. 
The New York State Senate Democrats who have villified Senator Pedro Espada are considering taking him back.

“Would he be welcome to return to the Democratic conference and conference with us? Yes,” said Sen. Diane Savino, D-Staten Island.

And this

Monserrate started waving around his cell phone, announcing to the conference that he had a text message from Savino asking him to negotiate a return to the conference by Espada as majority leader with her ally, Sen. Jeff Klein, as president pro tem.

Ok boys and girls you better think seriously about this. You may lose your polished halo and have to come off your moral high ground position because by your accounts this man is the Anti-Christ. Not that the Senate Democrats is the shining city of angels with two of it's members charged felony crimes.

Page 2. 
Senator Aubertine sues the Assembly to pass bills that the Assembly even recognizes as bogus, because a Republican Senator grazed the chamber while the Democrats were inside.

So, what is Assemblywoman Addie Jenne Russell's take on being sued by Senator Aubertine?

Does Senator Aubertine really want to end this stalemate or just appear like he does? This move is seen a life preserver for a Congressional race because every Senator is getting tagged with sagging poll numbers.

Why does he just walk in and vote on non-controversial bills?

Where is someone like Senator Valesky, why did he not sue also?

Page 3.
The mayor blogs that Darrel is only carrying the water for this mess. Hmmm, would it not be a preference to be considered something other than a water boy for the New York City leadership?

Page 4.
The GOP ought to get their act together rather quickly, the honeymoon for the Great One is over. A Rasmussen tracking poll reports Obama's numbers have hit the lowest level yet with 33% say they strongly approve and 36% strongly disapprove of the way he is performing.

Page 5.
Assemblyman Will Barclay has stepped out of the race for the 23rd Congressional race which leaves only two heavy hitters in the race - Dede Scozzafava and Matt Doheny. The open process of selecting the candidate begins tonight.

Another Senator, Another Promise Of Jobs

New Yorker's fell for Hillary Clinton's promise to create 200,000 jobs like a rock falling off a cliff.

LoHud reports today New York has lost 160,000 manufacturing jobs since 2001.

But wait! Another Democratic US Senator to the rescue.

More than 160,000 New Yorkers have lost manufacturing jobs since 2001.
Tomorrow U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, will release a report detailing those job losses by region and explaining how she plans to create new well paid jobs.
Stay tuned …

Here is a newsflash for Gillibrand - government does not create jobs, unless they are taxpayer funded jobs. This is precisely the problem with politicians like Gillibrand, pandering to people to make them think they create jobs. Maybe in their own mind they think government creates jobs, while in fact government needs to learn what it has to do to create an environment for private sector to create the jobs.

Until politicians like Gillibrand understand that very basic concept New York will continue to be buried under a heavy tax burden, heavy energy cost, heavy regulatory environment and non-business friendly government policies that is not conducive to creating jobs and another 160,000 or more jobs will continue to move out of New York to other more business friendly states.   

Duh'

If you did not see Colin Powell on CNN's State of the Union show yesterday, it was excellent. He is a very well thought out person and excellent to listen to, contrary to what the hard right wingers like Limbaugh say about him, he is a great leader.

Powell who speaks to President from time to time and suggests striving for a government that works, one that finds solutions when other entities cannot, but he cautions the President that Obama is taking on too much and that we can't pay for it all.

"I think one of the cautions that has to be given to the president - and I've talked to some of his people about this - is that you can't have so many things on the table that you can't absorb it all. And we can't pay for it all," Powell said.

"And I never would have believed that we would have budgets that are running into the multi-trillions of dollars, and we are amassing a huge, huge national debt that, if we don't pay for in our lifetime, our kids and grandkids and great grandchildren will have to pay for it."

Powell has reason to be concerned this is Obama's deficit now and it will make W's spending spree pale in comparison. It will take years to recover from the Great One's spending.