Clinton on Obama

This is a take from the past primary season, GOP is sure to resurrect the corpse of the Clinton campaign and her attacks on Obama, and say, don't blame us, look at your own.

What Does Hillary Want?

If you watched her speech last night,that was a question she asked herself.

Here is the real answer that she did not mention; MONEY!

There is no mention of Hillary conceding the race, that is because she has more work to do before going away. She can negotiate all the way to the convention, because she can, and the DNC does not want to go into the convention with Hillary having her guns blazing.

Hillary wants her debts, estimated anywhere from 20 to 40 million dollars, paid off!

Here are her targets for debt relief and their money on hand;
Obama Campaign $37 million
DNC $4.4 million
Democratic Senate Campaign Committee $37.9 million
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee $45.3 million

Marijuana Policy Project

MPP has launched TV ads in some New York markets supporting the legalization of marijuana.

This is a short You Tube on MPP, it is worth your time to watch it. This will most likely end up being another topic for the Senate and Assembly candidates this fall.

Paterson For Governor 2010

Governor Paterson makes no bones about his intentions. The second string Governor has a vision for the future and it includes himself running for Governor.

Paterson for Governor, Inc

The new Guv has hired Cindy Darrison, who was Spitzer's chief fundraiser and put Spitzer former treasurer, Jerry Barbanel, in as his treasurer.

Sounds like Paterson is locked, loaded, and ready to run!

He will not have to worry about the Republican's if he keeps up his adulation of Bruno, they will only put up a perfunctory candidate, but the Democrats might come after him with, "always handy" Andy Cuomo.

Candidate Dan Francis Is Lost

Dan Francis, Democrat candidate for the 23rd Congressional District is wayward. In a post on DD he said;

I wonder if Mr. Oot went to Gloversville (Fulton County) to meet with the 180 or so workers losing their jobs since Callaway golf is shutting down operations due to the high cost of doing business there?

It is worth pointing out to Dan Francis that the part of Fulton County and the Callaway golf facility are not located in the 23rd Congressional District, that would be the 21st District Democrat Congressman McNulty.

Governor Endorses Tax Cap, The Battle Begins

Governor Paterson has given a thumbs up to the tax cap proposed by the special commission headed by Tom Suozzi.

The Governor's support of this proposal will set the stage for the first confrontation between him and the legislative body, namely Sheldon Silver and his Assembly who take the side of the unions and not the property taxpayers of New York State.

This is why Silver supports the union and not the property taxpayers of this state.

For voters outside New York City, property taxes have been a burning concern for years, promoting increased calls for the state to take more extreme measures to curb the growth.

"Any action that we take must guarantee that schoolchildren across the state will have the resources necessary to get a quality education," Mr. Silver said in a statement yesterday.

That's the position taken by the state's largest teachers union, a major force in Albany, which has vowed to pressure lawmakers not to approve a cap.

The Senate's position is to wait for the Assembly and the Comptroller's position is simply saying New York State cannot afford to make up any differences in funding.

This is the most pro-taxpayer report that Albany has seen in some time," a special adviser to the commission, Robert Ward, who is a researcher at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, said.

This piece of the article provides more insight into the circuit breaker piece.

The commission is also recommending that the state channel $2 billion that it now spends on a program that provides exemptions and rebates to homeowners toward a "circuit breaker" that would give grants to homeowners when their taxes consume a certain percentage of their income.

If that is the case, then what are the legislative leaders worried about, support the taxpayers and pass the legislation that will be proposed by the Governor. This will be interesting to hear how Addie Jenne Russell decides here, the choice is clear - property taxpayers or Assembly Speaker Silver and the unions. Union endorsements are key for her victory, without them she cannot win the race.

For the full text of the article click here

Fine Example Of Assembly Leadership

Another post looked at the leadership or lack there of in the Senate Minority conference, and now this is what the public can expect from the Assembly Leadership.

Everyone will probably recall the loud mouth Ron Canestrari issuing a press release in Northern New York about a month ago about a potential GOP Assembly candidate. Well, here is another brilliant comment in the Albany Times Union by the tip toeing Assemblyman.

Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari, D-Cohoes, last month quipped that the session "started with a bang," but added, "Let's end with a whimper and get out of town."

First, Democrat Assemblyman Canestrari is a whimper himself, secondly, his comment of let's end and get out of town, is a fine example of public leadership.

The public it seems should not expect too much work from New York State government for their money. Canestrari is the poster child for dysfunction in the Assembly.

Too Hot For Candidates To Touch!

New York State Commission on Property Tax Relief is released, just in time for the election season.

The summary of recommendations is found on page 81 of the above link.

• They include: a property tax cap of 120% of CPI or 4% percent increase, whichever is lower.
• Restructure the STAR program to include a new "circuit breaker" to target individual tax relief.
  
• Changing State Law and Mandate Relief which will target better accounting of fiscal impacts.
  
• Adopt recommendation of the NYS Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness. This recommendation addresses regional services and possible consolidation as well as personnel cost, construction and procurement.
  

This report is sure to be a hot topic for the upcoming elections and it will be a difficult issue for the candidates to balance between the unions lack of support for the report and the public's desire for lower or more control of their property taxes.

Democratic Senator & Leader's Shady Actions

Democratic Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins and the Senate Minority Leader are taking some heat for a recent press conference and possibly falsely reporting an incident of the Senator's office coming under gun fire.

Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith held a press conference in response to the supposed attacks, that may have never happened.

Gimmicks such as this by Smith discredits his leadership ability and that of the entire Democratic conference of Senators.

Room Eight, New York Politics blog
Below are snippets from the posting, click above for the full posting.

While it seemed that the facts changed on an hourly basis, there were reports that the Senator’s office had been ransacked and that bullets were fired into the office during daytime hours, evoking the image of staffers ducking under their desks for cover.

Inferences were made that there may be a connection between these alleged attacks and ‘anti-abortion’ demonstrators who held rallies outside Stewart-Cousins’ office in protest of the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act (RHAPP).

Did Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins’ office knowingly file false police reports in retaliation against RHAPP opponents and an attempt to suppress the lawful exercise of their freedom of speech?

Did Democratic NYS Senators hold a press conference as a ruse with the intent of justifying legislation to stop lawful opposition to bills they introduce and support?

Were these bogus reports the brainchild of Malcolm Smith in a deliberate attempt to mislead the public, divert attention from RHAPP opposition and placate those that both financially benefit from RHAPP and have supported many democratic campaigns, including his own?

Jail Break?

Jefferson County Sheriff's Department issued a report a few weeks ago on the capacity (not overcapacity) for the first four months of 2008.

Last year, an election year for the County Legislature, the Democrats were howling to spend taxpayer's money on a new jail. Sheriff John Burns said at one point, and it was often repeated by WWNY TV, that the county was spending $5000.00 a day out boarding inmates, a figure that has yet to be substantiated. The out boarding of inmates has its ebb and flows, that is proven by history and little doubt it will continue, the question remains before spending millions of taxpayer’s money; will out boarding sustain itself for any length of time that necessitates construction of a new jail.

The County, under constant request and pressure from the Sheriff, swung into action to hire a consultant and explore expanding a new facility. An expanded facility will cost the taxpayers millions of dollars in order to build a facility that is only allowed to be used up to 80% of its capacity. The state requires a secured jail with trained correctional officers to be built with 20% excess capacity for safety reasons, instead of perhaps possibly increasing staff and use all the jail for its intended purpose.

This year thus far according to the report, the county has out boarded 32 inmates for the year at a total cost of $4110.00 for the first 121 days of 2008. But, the other part of the report shows the county actually in boarded 469 inmates so far this year and generated $33,210 in revenue for the year at this point for a net gain to the county $29,100. This could change without a moments notice, but data produced by the county so far has yet to show any sustained period of out boarding.

In a report from the Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness, it offered a proposal that would allow flexibility for counties to share jail facilities and manage jail populations. The State imposes separation requirements for managing jail population, adults versus youth, male and female and by their nature they limit capacity of facilities. This proposal would be a welcomed improvement to maximizing use of these facilities.

A similar coordination of facilities was suggested last fall by Jefferson County Legislator Mike Docteur. The idea was discussed with St. Lawrence County officials, but with the lack of support from St. Lawrence County Legislator Sallie Brothers and Jefferson County Sheriff John Burns the idea died on the vine.

If out boarding is required, then Lewis, Jefferson and St. Lawrence Counties should come together with a plan to maximize the use of their facilities and save taxpayer’s money.