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September (6), 2010

O's SATURDAY INTERNET ADDRESS

PoliticsNY.Net: 59th SENATE DISTRICT DEBATE

Jim Domagalski made the following statement after the 59th NYS Senate District Republican debate this evening:

“Thursday night voters saw clearly the distinct choice presented to them in the 59th District race. They can choose the same old tired path of typical politicians, lining their pockets at our expense and failing to cut government spending. Or they can choose an experienced, private-sector candidate with a specific, detailed reform plan. I am that candidate, and I look forward to fighting for the people's future in Albany.” ###

FORMER FALLS MAYOR TAKES PLEA

"Vince V. Anello, a sometimes controversial politician who served as Niagara Falls mayor from 2004 until 2007, took a plea deal in federal court Thursday afternoon. Anello, 64, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of making false statements in documents he filed with the pension fund of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 237.Under federal sentencing guidelines, he is likely to face a prison term in the range of 10 to 16 months, said U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny, who approved the guilty plea." ###

OUINNIPIAC POLL: LAZIO'S "SHAKY" LEAD

UPDATE: "Former Congressman Rick Lazio leads businessman Carl Paladino 47 - 35 percent among New York State Republican likely primary voters in the race for Governor, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday. But 18 percent of Republican voters remain undecided and 49 percent of those who do name a candidate say they might change their mind before the September 14 primary. POLL

Readers note this is a poll of prime GOP voters likely to vote in the primary! ...

New Yorkers continue to favor Democratic gubernatorial front runner Andrew Cuomo over either of his two would-be GOP opponents, but wish he would be a little more forthcoming about his plans to right the listing ship of state. The AG leads either of his Republican rivals by more than two to one, topping Rick Lazio 57-25 percent Carl Paladino 60-23 percent. In a July Q poll, Cuomo vs. Lazio was 56-26 while Cuomo vs. Paladino was 55-25." NO the Q poll did not ask about the GOP primary for governor? Poll ...

In a related published report: "Carl P. Paladino said Wednesday that if he were governor, he'd take a hard line against the Seneca Nation of Indians. "I believe in the rule of law," Paladino said in response to a question from the audience at the Niagara USA Chamber breakfast in the Rapids Theater. "When government leaders make an exception on which laws they choose to enforce, they're not doing their job. If the law says the Senecas should be collecting and paying sales tax, they should be collecting and paying sales tax. The fact that the past three governors have neglected to go up and enforce the law because they're afraid of somebody standing on top of a police car or they're afraid of somebody burning some tires in the street, that's not me. Let one of them stand on top of a police car in my administration, it would be the last time they stood on top of a police car." ...

NY TIMES: Paladino Rides on Anger in G.O.P. Governor Race. Carl P. Paladino, nearly an hour and a half late, rushed into a chandeliered room in the Bronx the other day to tell Hispanic religious leaders why they should elect him governor. The scrambled eggs had turned cold, and so had the room. “Hipócrita,” one minister whispered. Another passed around newspaper articles with the words “bigot” and “anti-immigrant” underlined. “The paper says that you hate all Hispanics,” State Senator Rubén Díaz Sr. of the Bronx told Mr. Paladino. “The paper says you want to put us in jail.” See state screen ...

Sidebar UPDATE: A strip club owner trying to get his liquor license back after the joint was busted as a hooker haven has hired an unlikely ally: Conservative gubernatorial hopeful Ralph Lorigo. The little-known lawyer, whose website extols his "real conservative leadership," began representing the owner of Rick's Tally-Ho this year, the Daily News has learned. Full story ...

Erie County Conservative Party Chairman Ralph Lorigo garnered over 25% of the vote at the convention & declared war on NYS Chairman Mike Long & his candidate Tom Lazio. The silence with respect to Lorigo's candidacy is deafening! Lorigo's entry into the race has proven to be nothing more than a 'sortie' rather than the hard fought campaign that was promised; but we do have 10 days left before primary day. ###

DOWNSIZING THE ERIE COUNTY LEGISLATURE!

Keeping in mind that voters will vote on downsizing the County Legislature from 15 to 11 seats in November we thought this would be a good time to weigh in with a redistricting plan; we have no doubt the referendum will pass.

Under state election law the 11 districts must have numerical equivalency; meaning Erie County has a population of circa 950,000 so each district will represent 85-90,000 plus or minus County residents.

It would be illegal to gerrymander districts based on purely political considerations; i.e., favoring either republicans or democrats. However considering the overlay of democrats over republicans certain districts like the City of Buffalo will obviously have more democrats than republicans.

Our plan would combine districts

1 & 2 South Buffalo, Cheektowaga & Lackawanna.

8 & 9 Depew, Cheektowaga & West Seneca.

10 & 11 Kenmore & the Tonawandas.

14 & 15 Amherst & Tonawanda some of Cheektowaga.

The three Buffalo Districts MUST remain in tact in order to retain fairness in minority representation; remembering that the City represents circa one third of the County's population. You want to push the 6th East & North. The 3rd & 7th North & South to include the entire city. Not difficult because the City's population is circa 270,000; that translates into 90,000 residents per district. Again giving minorities & the City appropriate representation, 2 or 3 out of the eleven, would avoid a great deal of litigation over the numbers.

This brings the County Legislature to 11 seats, obviously after "parsing" (please excuse the license but it works) the districts into populations of 85-90,000 per district.

The democrats certainly have a numerical advantage; however, the advantage is based on enrollment rather than gerrymandering or other unfortunate considerations. We'll see! ###

Joe Illuzzi

Iraq: The Cakewalk War

by Patrick J. Buchanan

Six months before the invasion of Iraq, Taki Theodoracopulos, Scott McConnell and this writer launched a new magazine, The American Conservative. Goal: Convince our countrymen that invading Iraq would be imperial folly.

In the first column, in mid-September 2002, I wrote:

"If Providence does not intrude, we will soon launch an imperial war on Iraq with all the 'On-to-Berlin!' bravado with which French poilus and British Tommies marched in August 1914. But this invasion will not be the cakewalk neoconservatives predict. ...

"(For) what comes after the celebratory gunfire when wicked Saddam is dead? ...

"With our MacArthur Regency in Baghdad, Pax Americana will reach apogee. But then the tide recedes, for the one endeavor at which Islamic peoples excel is expelling imperial powers by terror and guerrilla war. They drove the Brits out of Palestine and Aden, the French out of Algeria, the Russians out of Afghanistan, the Americans out of Somalia and Beirut, the Israelis out of Lebanon. ...

"The only lesson we learn from history is that we do not learn from history."

And so it came to pass. And as 90 months of war in Iraq come to an end for America, what was won? And what was lost?

To stampede us into war, the neocons told us that Saddam was tied to al Qaeda and had a role in 9/11, that he had VX gas, botulism, mustard gas, sarin and anthrax, and was acquiring nuclear weapons. What further proof must you have, demanded Condi Rice, "a mushroom cloud over an American city"?

The truth. Saddam had no tie to al Qaeda, no role in 9/11, no chemical weapons, no biological weapons, no nuclear program.

We attacked a nation that did not attack us, did not threaten us and did not want war with us -- to strip it of weapons it did not have.

We were misled. We were deceived. We were lied to.

The cost: 4,400 dead, 35,000 wounded, $700 billion sunk.

"Much has changed since that night" we marched into Iraq, said President Obama. "A war to disarm a state became a fight against an insurgency. Terrorism and sectarian warfare threatened to tear Iraq apart. Thousands of Americans gave their lives. Tens of thousands have been wounded. Our relations abroad were strained. Our unity at home was tested."

Estimates of Iraqi war dead run from 70,000 to 100,000, which means hundreds of thousands of Iraqi widows and orphans. Christians have seen priests murdered, churches burned and half their number driven into exile. Four million Iraqis have left or lost their homes. Two million are in exile, as Baghdad has been cleansed of Sunnis. Al Qaeda was not in Iraq under Saddam. It is there now.

"Time to turn the page," said President Obama.

How does Iraq turn the page, as we retreat to secure bases and prepare to bring home the last 50,000 troops?

Terrorism has returned. Iraq's casualties are back up to where they were before the U.S. surge. Electricity is off much of the time. Six months after elections, no government exists. The Iraqi dead, wounded, widowed, orphaned, homeless and exiled are surely not better off.

What about those we leave behind? What happens to Iraqis who worked with us when we leave? How did our Vietnamese friends fare? What kind of future will Iraqis have, if civil and sectarian war return?

That our soldiers, Marines, diplomats and aid workers did their jobs bravely and honorably is understood by their countrymen -- and attested to by the fact the U.S. military is the most respected of our institutions.

But was the war worth it? Some 72 percent of Americans said in a recent CBS poll that it was not worth the price in U.S. war dead.

What does the secretary of defense think?

"It really requires a historian's perspective in terms of what happens here in the long run," says Robert Gates. "How it all weighs in the balance over time remains to be seen." A seven-year war, and our minister of defense cannot declare that it was all worth it.

But if America is not a certain winner from this war, who is?

Iran saw its great enemy Saddam removed and its Shia allies come to power in Baghdad. Osama bin Laden saw America bled by wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and perhaps Iran, as al Qaeda has spread to Yemen, Somalia and North Africa.

And as America was tied down in the Long War, China emerged as the world's No. 1 auto producer, No. 1 manufacturer, No. 1 exporter and No. 2 economy.

Meanwhile, The Washington Times reports,

"The federal government has posted signs along a major interstate highway in Arizona, more than 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, warning travelers the area is unsafe because of drug and alien smugglers, and a local sheriff says Mexican drug cartels now control some parts of the state."

What does it profit America if we save Anbar and lose Arizona?

Our Distracted Commander-in-Chief

by Charles Krauthammer

Many have charged that President Obama's decision to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan 10 months from now is hampering our war effort. But now it's official. In a stunning statement last week, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway admitted that the July 2011 date is "probably giving our enemy sustenance."

A remarkably bold charge for an active military officer. It stops just short of suggesting aiding and abetting the enemy. Yet the observation is obvious: It is surely harder to prevail in a war that hinges on the allegiance of the locals when they hear the U.S. president talk of beginning a withdrawal that will ultimately leave them to the mercies of the Taliban.

How did Obama come to this decision? "Our Afghan policy was focused as much as anything on domestic politics," an Obama adviser at the time told The New York Times' Peter Baker. "He would not risk losing the moderate to centrist Democrats in the middle of health insurance reform and he viewed that legislation as the make-or-break legislation for his administration."

If this is true, then Obama's military leadership can only be called scandalous. During the past week, 22 Americans were killed over a four-day period in Afghanistan. This is not a place about which decisions should be made in order to placate congressmen, pass health care and thereby maintain a president's political standing. This is a place about which a president should make decisions to best succeed in the military mission he himself has set out.

But Obama sees his wartime duties as a threat to his domestic agenda. These wars are a distraction, unwanted interference with his true vocation -- transforming America.

Such an impression could only have been reinforced when, given the opportunity in his Oval Office address this week to dispel the widespread perception in Afghanistan that America is leaving, Obama doubled down on his ambivalence. After giving a nod to the pace of troop reductions being conditions-based, he declared with his characteristic "but make no mistake" that "this transition will begin -- because open-ended war serves neither our interests nor the Afghan people's."

These are the words of a man who wants out. Most emphatically on Iraq, where from the beginning Obama has made clear that his objective is simply ending combat operations by an arbitrary deadline -- despite the fact that a new government has not been formed and all our hard-won success hangs in the balance -- in order to address the more paramount concern: keeping a campaign promise. Time to "turn the page" and turn America elsewhere.

At first you'd think that turning is to Afghanistan. But Obama added nothing to his previously stated Afghan policy while emphatically reiterating July 2011 as the beginning of the end, or more diplomatically, of the "transition."

Well then, at least you'd then expect some vision of his larger foreign policy. After all, this was his first Oval Office address on the subject. What is the meaning, if any, of the Iraq and Afghan wars? And what of the clouds that are forming beyond those theaters: the drone-war escalation in Pakistan, the rise of al-Qaeda in Yemen, the danger of Somalia falling to al-Shabab, and the threat of renewed civil war in Islamist Sudan as a referendum on independence for southern Christians and animists approaches?

This was the stage for Obama to explain what follows the now-abolished Global War on Terror. Where does America stand on the spreading threats to stability, decency and U.S. interests from the Horn of Africa to the Hindu Kush?

On this, not a word. Instead, Obama made a strange and clumsy segue into a pep talk on the economy. Rebuilding it, he declared, "must be our central mission as a people, and my central responsibility as president." This in a speech ostensibly about the two wars he is directing. He could not have made more clear where his priorities lie, and how much he sees foreign policy -- war policy -- as subordinate to his domestic ambitions.

Unfortunately, what for Obama is a distraction is life or death for U.S. troops now on patrol in Kandahar province. Some presidents may not like being wartime leaders. But they don't get to decide. History does. Obama needs to accept the role. It's not just the U.S. military, as Baker reports, that is "worried he is not fully invested in the cause." Our allies, too, are experiencing doubt. And our enemies are drawing sustenance.

Last week

GRAND JURY INDICTS MCCRAY - NO BAIL

AKA Riccardo "Murder Matt" McCray

UPDATE: "A grand jury has handed up murder indictments against Riccardo M. McCray in the City Grill killings. He faces one count of second-degree murder; three counts of first-degree murder; four counts of first-degree attempted murder; and one count of criminal possession of a weapon, second degree. If convicted, he faces the possibility of life in prison without parole. He was arraigned before County Court Judge Sheila DiTullio" ...

At some point today (Wednesday) the DA will announce either Grand Jury indictments in this case or Frank Sedita will proceed with a felony hearing in City Court in front of Judge Jeffrey Voelkl. ...

BAIL SET FOR ALLEGED CITY GRILL SHOOTER (?)

"Over the objections of prosecutors, a judge today set bail on City Grill shooting suspect Riccardo M. McCray at $500,000. Erie County Judge Michael F. Pietruszka set bail at the request of McCray's lawyers after prosecutor James F. Bargnesi argued that McCray "has every incentive to be a flight risk." McCray is accused of killing four people and wounding four others outside the downtown Main Street restaurant early on Aug. 14. Bargnesi, chief of the district attorney's Homicide Bureau, and prosecutor Mary Beth DePasquale told the judge a grand jury this week will consider a multi-count first-degree murder indictment. If convicted, McCray would face a mandatory life term with no chance of parole. Pietruszka set the half-million bail figure based on what he called his review of "the facts and circumstances" of the case." Published report

Setting bail in a capital murder case with four victims is a rare occurrence; we believe this calls law enforcement's case into very - very serious question. Read below  ###

EDITOR MARGARET SULLIVAN AT TRUE BETHEL

EDITOR SULLIVAN DEFENDING THE INDEFENSIBLE

THE BUFFALO NEWS IS RACIST - NO DOUBT!

"It was a very tough night," Sullivan said. "People were venting very raw emotions. The most important thing for me was to listen, and I hope people felt that they were heard. That's the main thing that matters to me.

"And I also hope that we can now start a healing process where we can move this conversation forward, and I think that we've actually taken some steps to do that by agreeing to have some meetings and to do some research about what The Buffalo News prints about the African-American community.

"So I do feel hopeful that this is a beginning, although a very tough beginning, of something positive," she concluded. Full story

"Joe: I just came from the meeting @ True Bethel Church with Margaret Sullivan and her News crew. She had good representation by having minority reporters Dawn Bracely and Rod Watson there, in addition to about seven other reporters.

The family members of the victims were allowed to speak first and they were heart wrenching in their mutual disgust and dismay when they talked about how the News profiled their deceased family members. Every one of them who spoke demanded that Ms. Sullivan issue a public apology in the Buffalo News. It remains to be seen whether that happens or not.

Ms. Sullivan spoke next and I do not think her explanations went over too well with the audience.

Pastor Pridgen was reading the written comments from the people who were in attendance when I left. They had over two hundred comments to read and he stated that they were going to read all of them. I could not stay that long so I left. I can not tell you how the meeting ended but I do know that pretty close to 500 individuals were either in the room or outside in the parking lot. Take care."

Erie County Legislator Betty Jean Grant ...

Let us be clear: We have all read about muckraker Sinclair Lewis. Lewis was known for exposing unfairness & corruption in society & government.

"The muckrakers provided detailed, accurate journalistic accounts of the political and economic corruption and social hardships caused by the power of big business in a rapidly industrializing United States."

The empirical evidence that convicts the Buffalo News of malfeasance & racism is the Buffalo News for a number of reasons failed to report the plight of the Black community after the breakdown of the City's industrial base that left many Blacks unemployed & disenfranchised.

In what can only be described as "apathy", predicated on racial considerations, the Buffalo News, beginning in the late 50's, was an observer in the dismantling of the Black community. For instance the Buffalo News did not report on the tens on millions from the Great Society dollars that was squandered in the 60's & 70's by both our white & Black leaders at the time.

The Buffalo News failed to investigate & report on the political corruption in the Black community.

The most egregious the Buffalo News failed to investigate the breakdown of the Black family unit, the resulting single parent household, the infant mortality rate, the disparity between Black/white schools, esp. in the class room, the resulting failures of the criminal justice system with respect to the treatment of Blacks. ...

UPDATE: As a result of a real dislike between Editor Murray Light, political reporter George Borrelli & then Mayor Jimmy Griffin the Buffalo News squandered its investigate resources.

The vendetta lasted through the late 70s, 80s & early 90's right until Griffin left office.

Please note the time line. What is interesting here is Jimmy Griffin polarized the City along racial lines thereby setting the Black community back years for his obvious insensitivity to the  urban core & its looming issues; some called Griffin a racist.

Other than a police presence one could argue Griffin was passive when So. Buffalo residents were throwing rocks at school buses with Black children in them; this when Federal Judge John Curtin ordered Buffalo schools desegregated. A horrific indictment of both Griffin & the Buffalo News, the News more interesing in exposing public corruption by Griffin at the time.

In other words the News was so preoccupied by getting Griffin, Light & company the paper lost sight of the larger issue, the abject indifference by Griffin to the plight of the Black community. Griffin was a life long resident & to this day a hero in So. Buffalo. ...

The Buffalo News is guilty of so many journalistic failures over the last 50 years there are just to many to itemize.

Race no doubt was a consideration in what stories the Buffalo News investigated & reported on.

There is/was NO empathy at One News Plaza with the Black (minority) experience in greater Buffalo; the resulting "historic pattern" of segregation & racism that exists to this day.

Nor is there empathy for the lack of "quality of life" economies of scale between the white & Black (minority) community; if there was Sullivan & the Buffalo News would not have published the records of the City Grill victims in the fashion they did, Sunday, front page, above the fold!

Sinclair Lewis is turning over in his grave at the indifference of the Buffalo News over the last 50 years to the Black community & its plight.

The Buffalo News is guilty of gross malfeasance & racism beyond any reasonable doubt.

Postscript: I started writing letters to the Courier Express & Buffalo News in 1979 with respect to these issues; the majority published, 45-50 in the Buffalo News during the period, through the 80's & very early 90's esp. while Len Halpert was editorial page editor of the News; I have letters & hand written correspondence from him as well as copies of my letters. ...

Sullivan is apologizing for offending people, that is until the next time. We have to wonder if Publisher Stan Lipsey put Sullivan in a position where she had no other choice but to apologize? Sullivan's catharsis ...

The problem with the August 15th Sunday Buffalo News article, front page, above the fold chronicling the records of 7 of the 8 victims in the City Grill shootings is exactly that; SOP is the criminal records of victims is secondary to the story unless the past criminal record of the victim played a key role in the crime.

The Buffalo News has no way of knowing that is the case, otherwise the News would have published those facts & validated printing the article on Sunday's front page, above the fold. However, it must be written, given the fact that 7 of 8 have records it isn't difficult to extrapolate the shootings were not random.

DA Frank Sedita has said, "there is NO credible evidence that the shootings are gang related". Sedita's remarks further mitigate Sullivan's its relevant defense.

Wilhite & McNeil denied the shooter entry into the bar. We believe the shooter was under the influence, ergo chaos ensued.

In what can be only be described as a metamorphosis the Buffalo News changed the composition of this story from the commission of these murders, concurrently, raising the victims past criminal history as the focus of the story; this is why the Buffalo News is guilty of a breach of journalistic ethics once again.

Why did they do it? A desperate attempt to keep the high profile story alive; tabloid, i.e. yellow journalism, at its sleazy best depending on your point of view.

The juxtaposition to Sunday's event is the history of the Buffalo News on issues of race both corporately & in content.

Until few short years ago the Buffalo News had ONE minority in a corp./editorial position. Rod Watson. He was demoted. Harold McNeil spends most of his time writing obits which is an appropriate place for him.

As far as content is concerned we have been bringing this issue to your attention for years. The Buffalo News, usually Jim Heaney, publishes front page above the fold expos-e's about Blacks in elected leadership positions. The News does not do the same with whites who are guilty or not of the same kind of malfeasance. The norm is the Buffalo News embellishes the article, coalescing objective reporting & opinion, to give the "perception" of guilt. However, the article as a rule never goes anywhere unless Heaney, et al. hound law enforcement or the DA in an attempt to get some quotes to give some credibility to their malfeasance.

So yes! The Buffalo News empirically (guilty of the duck syndrome) is racist & is run by people who display overt racist tendencies.

The story Sunday the 15th is just another example of that behavior.

The Buffalo New is not a paper of "distinction" ... The Buffalo News is a paper in decline ethically & from a journalistic point of view. Oh! This is "My View". ###

Joe Illuzzi

Assembly Candidate Joe Golombek

Calls For Removal Of Both Karla Thomas and Shelly Sheldon...Calls Speaker "A Tyrant"

Mayor Byron Brown has terminated Human Resources Commissioner Karla Thomas

What can WNYers do to put an end to Albany outrages from perennial tax and fee hikes to the singlehanded murder of UB 20-20 by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver? To Democratic Assembly candidate Joe Golombek, the answer is simple if not necessarily easy: "Throw out the incumbents," including his opponent, Sam Hoyt.

"We wouldn't even have to throw out all of them," Golombek explains. "All you'd have to do is throw out some of them, beginning with Sam, and then I think the others would get scared and start getting the message and we'd finally start getting some reform in Albany."

As for Silver, Golombek, unlike many others, seems unafraid of challenging his 14 year hold on almost absolute legislative power, even if it means losing perks and privileges.

"If elected, I would definitely join Assemblymember Mark Schroeder, who has announced he's considering running against the Speaker, in voting against Silver, based on his complete unwilliness to do anything to reform the way Albany does business and his decision to kill UB 20-20, which is something people in the district are concerned about. I don't care about the perks or how much Sheldon Silver might retaliate against me. On the other hand, my opponent, 20 year incumbent Sam Hoyt, has been defending Silver, calling him, 'my friend from Manhattan.' I'm not surprised at his reaction. Like many others, he is simply more interested in enjoying the perks and privileges of office than he is in doing anything to improve our economy in WNY or to turn around this state."

As he prepares to knock on his 5,000 door with less than two weeks to go in the race, Golombek reports that many are disillusioned with the current Albany scene.

"As I continue to go door to door in the district every day, I find that many residents know something about the fact that the Speaker killed UB 20-20 and they are disgusted by it," says the Councilman. "They know that if we don't start voting against 20 year incumbents like Sam, UB 20-20 is going to become UB 20-30 and it will just never happen. How long are we going to tolerate having the 49th ranked state government out of 50 without getting rid of the politicians who caused this problem in the first place?"

At the same time, Golombek is demonstrating his own political independence by calling for the removal of Byron Brown ally, Karla Thomas as Human Resources Commissioner over allegations of health insurance related malfeasance on her watch, despite being thought of as a Brown ally himself.

"At first, I had only heard about the charges from a Buffalo News reporter," the Councilman says. "But, after I researched the matter and found out that the allegations are true, I decided to call for her removal immediately. If people are wasting the taxpayer's money and not doing what's right for the people, I don't care who they are, Sheldon Silver or Karla Thomas, they've got to go!"

PoliticsNY.Net:

APPELLATE JUDGE OVER RULES LOWER COURT FOR THE MOMENT

TAXING CIG$ A TAXING PROBLEM FOR GOV

UPDATE: "State tax collection on cigarette sales by New York's Indian tribes was put off indefinitely after a ruling from a state Appellate Judge Samuel Green in Rochester. Green's order reinstated a temporary restraining order that had been issued by another state judge in January 2009, according to state officials. "We are disappointed today that the Appellate Division has stayed the implementation of our statute and regulations," said Jessica Bassett, a spokeswoman in the governor's office." ...

Federal Judge Richard Arcara grants Senecas two week temporary restraining order, hearing on Thursday ...

"Seneca Nation of Indians tribal leaders voted Monday night to withhold future exclusivity payments to New York State, claiming the state has violated terms of the 2001 Gaming Compact that allowed the nation to build Class III casinos."

"We have run out of patience. We are tired of the ongoing process of the state violating more of our treaty rights, our sovereign rights and the gaming compact." ...

SUPREME COURT JUDGE SIWEK RULES AGAINST SENECAS; NYS CAN COLLECT TAXES ON NON NATIVE CIGARETTE SALES.

Supreme Court Justice Donna Siwek will rule on whether to extend the preliminary injunction precluding the State from collecting taxes on Seneca cigs sales Tuesday. Federal Judge Richard Arcara on a restraining order will rule after Switek rules.

In a related story the Senecas announce they will rally on Wednesday; no further details are available. ...

"Gov. David A. Paterson renewed his pledge Thursday to start collecting taxes on cigarettes sold by Native Americans, acknowledging that "violence and death" could result. During an interview on a New York City radio station, Paterson, said the state is moving ahead with its controversial plan to start collecting a $4.35-a-pack sales tax Wednesday on Indian cigarettes sold to non-Indian customers. "There will be quite an uprising and protest to this," Paterson said, "but I am going to maintain this policy."

Meanwhile, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Arcara has reserved decision on the Seneca Nation's request for a restraining order that would temporarily block New York state from enforcing new tax laws on the tribe's cigarette sales. ###

SAM HOYT GETS "THROW OUT THE BUM" GRADES!

HOYT HAS EXPERIENCE WITH UNDER AGE DRINKING

Update: Sam Hoyt 144th District was given one of the lowest grades in the Unshackle NY scoring of the NYS Assembly members. ...

We all are hearing & talking about the furor with respect to under age drinking in Buffalo & Erie County; the resulting aftermath. Apparently, the guy who likes to talk about my indiscretions ad nauseum, to who ever will listen, was arrested in 1983 for serving minors at Ryan's New Federal Pub, 156 South Elmwood; that would be William "Sam" Hoyt, manager of the tavern.

Also, "Super Tramp  concert marred by gate crashing, fighting & drug abuse brings arrests". 15 men in & around the AUD were arrested; one of those 70's style gang bangers is none other than that pinnacle of virtue William "Sam" Hoyt.

Hoyt continued his miscreant behavior, in 2005 he had an affair (s) with a student; we received an email from Lori Gradwell this Wednesday. Speaker Silver sanctioned Hoyt & through him out of the Intern program. ###

Joe Illuzzi



Assemblywoman Jane Corwin

Assemblywoman Earns Top Ranking from Unshackle Upstate for Pro-Jobs Record

Assemblywoman Jane Corwin (R,C,I-Clarence) earned a perfect score from the business advocacy group Unshackle Upstate for her record on job-creating and business supporting initiatives, including reducing taxes and spending. The assemblywoman's 100 percent score places her first in the Assembly for supporting pro-business and reform-minded initiatives.

"As a newcomer in Albany, my focus remains unchanged: we must reform the way our broken state government operates. By supporting job-creating initiatives and business development along with standing up against excessive spending and taxation, I have kept my pledge and I am very pleased that my efforts have been recognized by Unshackle Upstate," said the assemblywoman.

Corwin continued, "In Albany as everywhere in life, we can only control our own actions. I hope that my efforts, and those of groups like Unshackle Upstate, continue to encourage more legislators to join us in reforming Albany, cutting taxes, reducing spending and developing a sustainable economy through job creation."

Erie County Leg Dems Back Stachowski

Democratic Caucus Members endorse Senator’s Re-election Bid

Six Erie County Legislators Wednesday joined Senator Bill Stachowski on the steps of Old County Hall to announce their endorsement of NYS Senator Bill Stachowski.   Five of the six Democrats serve with Legislator Tim Kennedy on the county level.

“I offer my sincere thanks to each of these individuals who have chosen me over one of their own colleagues” Stachowski said.   “I’m sure their endorsement does not come easy, but it reflects the successes that we’ve had working together for our mutual constituents and all of Erie County.”

The six Legislators, Lynn Marinelli, Betty Jean Grant, Dan Kozub, Tom Loughran, and Tom Mazur all mentioned Stachowski’s determination and ability to get things done in Albany as reasons why they back his candidacy. Legislator Marinelli explained that her backing was based on the fact that “Senator Stachowski has the ability, the seniority, and the drive to get legislation approved in Albany that benefits all of the people of Erie County. He has helped us in county government with issues such as our bond sale for example. Marinelli went on to say that “Bill is the ‘go to’ guy for the unglamorous, grind it out functions that come with running a municipal government. He knows the players, the decision makers, and the people that can make things better for my constituents and all Erie County residents.

Betty Jean Grant who represents the 7^th Legislative District, said that she is supporting Senator William Stachowski for re-election because she knows “the value of longevity and seniority as it relates to serving in the New York State Senate.”   The Legislator explained that “Due to his many years of representing the constituents of the 58^th Senatorial district, Senator Stachowski has been able to distribute millions of dollars to the Western New York community. From funding initiatives such as $60,000 for Hispanics United to purchase vans for senior citizens, to $200,000 for Gateway-Longview Human Services for capital improvements; to $200,000 to the city of Buffalo to purchase maintenance equipment for the city’s parks, as well as monies to fund Legal Services for the Elderly and Disabled; Senator Bill Stachowski has used his longevity in the Senate to lobby his Senate colleagues to allocate scarce financial resources to the Western New York region.”

Lackawanna’s representative in the Legislature, Dan Kozub, noted that “Senator Stachowski flies under the radar when it comes to delivering for our area.   But when you look at his past record, and past service to our community, you’ll see that he’s reliable, dependable, and willing to get his hands dirty.   He’s delivered for my constituents, and I know he has access to resources that no freshman will ever see.”

Legislator Tom Mazur, who shares the Cheektowaga area with Stachowski said that “As a County legislator, I am only as good as my network.   Over the years my office has had a tremendous working relationship with Senator Stachowski.   Collectively we are able to get things done for our community.   Bill knows government well, and he epitomizes public service.   He’s a no nonsense, no ‘fluff’ Senator, and he gets the job done.”

These endorsements represent support from every corner of the 58^th district and come in addition to many endorsements from local labor organizations, and community leaders.

Obama Is Not A Muslim

by Ann Coulter

The nonsense about President Obama being a Muslim has got to stop. I rise to defend him from this absurd accusation by pointing out that he is obviously an atheist.

Leave aside Obama's fanatical opposition to allowing Illinois hospitals to save the lives of babies with God-given souls inadvertently born alive during abortions. Also leave aside the fact that neither of his parents were Christians. And leave aside his current crop of "spiritual advisers," which is a collection of Mother Earth worshippers, polytheists and other nonbelievers.

Now rest from all that "leaving aside."

The only evidence for Obama's Christianity is that he faithfully attended the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ for 20 years.

Yes, the guy bellowing "God damn America!" is the one vouching for Obama's Christianity. That's like saying you got sober with the help of your A.A. sponsor Lindsay Lohan.

It is a fact that any non-retarded person (thank you, Rahm Emanuel!) sitting in the Rev. Wright's church for 20 minutes, much less 20 years, does not believe in God. Even stepping inside Wright's church for a moment to get out of the rain is borderline racist.

Going to Trinity United Church of Christ is even stronger evidence of nonbelief than Bill Clinton returning from Sunday services to receive oral sex from Monica Lewinsky. This isn't mere sin -- everybody sins (though some with more frequency and less remorse than others).

Attending Wright's church is the conscious, calculated decision to immerse yourself in hate-filled demagoguery and call it "Christianity."

But according to North Korean TV's Chris Matthews, it is a provable, scientific fact that Obama is a Christian because he says so. "Everybody watching right now," Matthews said to his several viewers last week, "gets credit for being of the religion you say you are. ... We accept that in America. It's called freedom of religion and respect for religion."

That would make professions of religious belief, unlike all other self-professions, unchallengeable. Liberals say conservatives don't believe in civil rights. I say liberals are godless traitors. Why is one statement debatable and the other not?

Doesn't anyone question the Christianity of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker? How about the Satanists claiming to be Christians who stand outside soldiers' funerals with signs that say "God Hates Fags"?

And, for the record, the allegedly inviolate assertion of one's own religious belief wasn't so inviolate when it came to Ronald Reagan.

Tip O'Neill used to question President Reagan's Christianity all the time, taunting the president for not attending church regularly. Matthews might remember that: He was working for O'Neill at the time.

In fact, parading to church in front of the TV cameras carrying a 10-pound Bible -- like a certain serial adulterer, impeached president I could name -- is strongly discouraged by the creator of the universe. ("Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 6.1)

Some conservatives have cited Obama's near complete refusal to go to church to suggest he's not the "devout Christian" who "prays every day" as the White House claims.

But that's not your proof, Christians. To the contrary, it's Obama's church attendance -- back in Chicago -- that proves he's an atheist.

This was inadvertently admitted by Obama's leading butt-boy, Richard Wolffe, on North Korean TV Monday night. Wolffe acknowledged that Wright's liberation theology was not Christianity, but then forcefully distinguished Obama from the Rev. Wright –- i.e., Obama's sole character witness for his alleged Christianity.

Of Glenn Beck's denunciation of liberation theology as a false religion, Wolffe said: "Is he debating Jeremiah Wright or Barack Obama? They're two different people. If he wants to debate liberation theology with Wright, he's got something to talk about. But liberation theology hasn't been anything espoused by this president."

But it was espoused in the only church Obama ever attended regularly -- for 20 years, no less -- was married in and had his daughters baptized in. The title of Obama's autobiography came from the title of one of Wright's sermons and snippets from Wright's sermons have appeared in Obama's work.

So the sole evidence of Obama's supposed Christianity is his longtime pastor, who everyone admits is a racist nut.

No sentient human is required to take Obama's profession of Christianity any more seriously than if it were coming from a 1980s blow-dried, money-grubbing televangelist with a mistress on the side.

All liberals are atheists. Only the ones who have to stand for election even bother pretending to believe in God.

Not being acquainted with any actual Christians, they aren't particularly good bluffers. That's why Democrats babble incoherently whenever the subject of religion comes up. Liberals acting devout always looks like the love scenes between Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis in "Top Gun": awkward and unconvincing.

Former divinity student Al Gore famously botched a biblical verse, switching God's instruction that we put heaven before earthly things ("For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also," Matthew 6:21) by saying we should make the Earth our treasure. (In the druidical religion of liberalism, not separating your recyclables is a sin, but abortion is just a medical procedure.)

Howard Dean told a reporter his favorite book of the New Testament was Job.

It took the Democrats' born-again Christian Jimmy Carter three decades to announce, in 2005, that he didn't think Jesus would approve of abortion ("unless the mother's life or health was in danger or perhaps the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest," etc. etc.).

There's only one true Christian liberal in the country and that's Mike Huckabee

PoliticsNY.Net: BREAKING NEWS

GRAND JURY INDICTS MCCRAY - NO BAIL

GANG RELATED?

FOUR SHOT DEAD BUFFALO, NY

UPDATE: "A grand jury has handed up murder indictments against Riccardo M. McCray in the City Grill killings. He faces one count of second-degree murder; three counts of first-degree murder; four counts of first-degree attempted murder; and one count of criminal possession of a weapon, second degree. If convicted, he faces the possibility of life in prison without parole. He will be arraigned before Judge Sheila DiTullio at 10:30 a.m." ...

At some point today (Wednesday) the DA will announce either Grand Jury indictments in this case or Frank Sedita will proceed with a felony hearing in City Court in front of Judge Jeffrey Voelkl. ...

BAIL SET FOR ALLEGED CITY GRILL SHOOTER (?)

"Over the objections of prosecutors, a judge today set bail on City Grill shooting suspect Riccardo M. McCray at $500,000. Erie County Judge Michael F. Pietruszka set bail at the request of McCray's lawyers after prosecutor James F. Bargnesi argued that McCray "has every incentive to be a flight risk." McCray is accused of killing four people and wounding four others outside the downtown Main Street restaurant early on Aug. 14. Bargnesi, chief of the district attorney's Homicide Bureau, and prosecutor Mary Beth DePasquale told the judge a grand jury this week will consider a multi-count first-degree murder indictment. If convicted, McCray would face a mandatory life term with no chance of parole. Pietruszka set the half-million bail figure based on what he called his review of "the facts and circumstances" of the case." Published report

Setting bail in a capital murder case with four victims is a rare occurrence; we believe this calls law enforcement's case into very - very serious question. ...

RETALIATION POSSIBLE MOTIVE?

"On Thursday, August 12, 2010, a man was shot outside a Walden Avenue deli.

Two of the shooting victims friends were inside the store, including Willie McCaa. Kenyatta Cobb, a WNY Law Enforcement Chaplain saw McCaa at the hospital when the victim arrived. "He said to me I was in the store I came out and I saw the other boy putting him in the car and I followed them up. He handed him to me and I took him in."

What happened from there is a pattern of violence with many question marks. The man with McCaa was shot and killed as he left ECMC.

The following night, McCaa was murdered outside City Grill in downtown Buffalo.

"There's a pattern, there's a pattern, I can't say what the pattern is because i'm not in homicide (department), but anyone with a little bit of sense can see there's a pattern," said Cobb.

Cobb said McCaa knew that getting involved with a shooting and transporting the victim to the hospital would put his life in jeopardy.

Buffalo Police are investigating a possible link in the shootings." Claudine Ewing Channel #2

Sources say the DA has an eyewitness & there will be a lineup sometime today. ...

"The DA can get a Grand Jury to indict a ham sandwich." We believe that is a quote from high profile Buffalo criminal attorney Joel Daniels.

WE do not expect a felony hearing Wednesday September 1st. The DA does not want to present his case prematurely at a hearing. We expect the sitting Grand Jury to indict Riccardo McCray with lighting speed. We also anticipate the charges to be first degree murder, with a number of attempted murder charges attached, etc.

The 23 year old high school drop out & football player says he'll take a lie detector test; he claims he never fired a gun in his life other than Lasertron & paint ball or whatever you call it. He is a member of the East Ferry Gang, shooting a gun probably is part of the initiation, if not much worse. Now his gang could have spread the word you testify you die, who knows at this point.

However, something is wrong here; we are just a little nervous for unexplained reasons. We'll see. ...

SUSPECT ARRAIGNED NO BAIL

"A 23-year-old man has plead not guilty to murder charges in a shooting outside a downtown Buffalo bar that killed four people.

Riccardo McCray of Buffalo appeared in city court Thursday morning, where the plea was entered on his behalf. No bail was set.

McCray walked into court with shackles around his feet, and dressed in plaid shorts and a red shirt.

McCray is scheduled to appear back in court on September 1st. Television cameras were not allowed in the court.

Buffalo Police arrested and charged McCray on Wednesday. He has been charged with four counts of second degree murder." ...

SOURCES BELIEVE THEY HAVE THEIR MAN ... LAW ENFORCEMENT SOURCES SAY "THIS SCUM BAG IS THE SHOOTER!"

Wilhite & McNeil met the shooter at the door of City Grill; they told him it was a private party & he would not be allowed entry. The bar opted to close at that point. The shooter, like a bushwhacker of sorts, waited across the street & when Wilhite & McNeil walked out the door he shot them both. Mackin began fighting with the shooter & was shot execution style. McCaa, who was a friend of the shooter, was collateral damage.

The shooter, according to this published report, was arrested recently on weapon & drug charges. A reward is being considered an announcement should be made on that score Friday. Presently the community is burying its dead, Mackin Thursday, Wilhite & McNeil Friday & McCaa Saturday.

Claudine Ewing WGRZ #2 news aired this account about 10 days ago. We believe this is an accurate account of what happened. Add to this reports that McCray was member of the "East Ferry Gang" & a rival gang " Schuele Street Gang" were at the City Grill as well; the result the murders of four people.

McCray allegedly said to Wilhite & McNeil, "I told you I was going to get you bitches."

There are reports that Mackin was a target, we don't believe that is the case; other than to say Mackin probably involved himself into the event at the City Grill & was shot execution style as a result. ...

"A man wanted for questioning in the mass shootings outside the City Grill earlier this month has been charged with four murder counts after turning himself in to authorities at WIVB-TV studios in Buffalo this afternoon.

Police said Riccardo McCray surrendered to authorities at Channel 4 studios on Elmwood Avenue after arriving around 2 p.m. with community activist Darnell Jackson, a minister and a lawyer. He was taken into custody around 2:25 p.m.

"He has been charged with four counts of murder in the second degree," Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III said this evening. "The matter will go to a grand jury, and I would anticipate that the grand jury would consider more charges and more serious charges." ...

"Darnell Jackson says McCray told him he did not commit the shootings. "He said he was innocent. He wasn't worried about anyone on the street doing anything to him because he didn't do anything. He was worried about the cops doing something to him."

"I got low when shots rang out, that's all I know," McCray told WIVB News. "Why are the police going toward me? That's what I want to know."

McCray's attorney is Buffalo attorney Terrence McKelvey. He was NOT at WIVB news when McCray surrendered; he caught up with him at Police Headquarters. ...

(WIVB) - Person of interest Riccadro McCray came to Channel 4, Darnell Jackson brought him to Senior Correspondent Rich Newberg.

He voluntarily surrendered to Buffalo Police. There was no major violence or any major incident, he calmly went into custody.

"It was developed in the very recent past that Riccardo McCray was a key person in our investigation into the events of the City Grill shootings that left eight people being shot, four fatally, " said Buffalo Chief of Detectives Dennis Richards.

"Our homicide guys worked tirelessly on this investigation ever since the early-morning hours of last Saturday. We've worked with every local, state and federal agency in trying to develop information. There were all types of information and his possible where abouts, as you can imagine. The media was looking for us to come up with a name earlier but as you can well imagine we cannot conduct investigations in a fish bowl and we had to get our ducks in a row before we could identify him as a very key person in this investigation," said Richards.

McCray came to News 4 with Darnell Jackson and Bishop Perry Davis and they wanted him to have a lawyer present, but he was taken immediately into custody. ...

A person of interest in the mass shooting at City Grill, Riccardo McCray, has surrendered to authorities at Channel 4 studios, in Buffalo. Apparently negotiations with Senior reporter Rich Newburg have been ongoing for a few days.

Around 2:25 p.m. Wednesday, McCray was taken into custody.

McCray came to News 4 with a community activist Darnell Jackson, around 2 p.m.

News 4 immediately contacted Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita and Buffalo Police.

The mass shooting outside of City Grill claimed four lives, on Main Street. Four others were injured. ...

UPDATES: "Homicide is the leading cause of death for young black men, with the murderous wounds in most cases inflicted by other young black men."

"Black Boys Too Long Ignored": A tragic crisis of enormous magnitude is facing black boys and men in America. Parental neglect, racial discrimination and an orgy of self-destructive behavior have left an extraordinary portion of the black male population in an ever-deepening pit of social and economic degradation. The Schott Foundation for Public Education tells us in a new report that the on-time high school graduation rate for black males in 2008 was an abysmal 47 percent, and even worse in several major urban areas — for example, 28 percent in New York City." Full story  ...

A 20, 000 reward has been offered for the arrest & conviction of City Grill shooter or shooters. ...

Published report "One of three people wanted for questioning in connection with the City Grill shootings was arrested Thursday night on charges unrelated to last weekend's attack that left four dead and four wounded, law enforcement officials said. Steven A. Talley, 25, of Englewood Avenue has been charged with burglary and unlawful imprisonment, both in the second degree. Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita said the charges have nothing to do with the ongoing investigation of Saturday morning's mass shootings. "I'm not going to comment on whether he was a witness, whether he was a suspect or anything else about his status," Sedita said.Law enforcement officials did confirm that they believe Talley was at the shooting scene. Police records offered a gripping account of the arrest." ...

I was a bartender at Casey's on Hertel during the 60's, later a bouncer in the early 70's. Casey's moved over to Elmwood & Bidwell in the early - mid 70s; I did not work there. The bars closed at 2:00. What many people did right through the 80's was go to after hours joints most of which were on the East side, patronized by the who's who, sports, politics, et al. Guess what - the other half of the crowd were criminals & most carried guns. The joint at Jefferson & Utica closed down in the mid 80's because someone was shot dead & others were wounded. Closing bars earlier will have some positive result but it will be negligible. ...

Published report: Wilhite & McNeil met the shooter at the door of City Grill; they told him it was a private party & he would not be allowed entry. The bar opted to close at that point. The shooter, like a bushwhacker of sorts, waited across the street & when Wilhite & McNeil walked out the door he shot them both. Mackin began fighting with the shooter & was shot execution style. McCaa, who was a friend of the shooter, was collateral damage. The shooter, according to this published report, was arrested recently on drug charges. A reward is being considered an announcement should be made on that score Friday. Presently the community is burying its dead, Mackin Thursday, Wilhite & McNeil Friday & McCaa Saturday. stay tuned...

Channel #2 is reporting that the primary suspect MAY have fled to the Carolinas...

"No charges have been filed thus far, but Buffalo Police are definitely making some progress. Sedita did not rule out the possibility of charges being filed in the murder case sometime today. I just can't speculate on whether that will happen," he said. "My chief of homicide prosecutions, [James F.] Bargnesi, is going to Buffalo Police Headquarters today...We'll see where we go from there."

Also, a number of those shot including Tiffany Wilhite have been shot at before. In the case of one of those who died a number of his relatives were involved in the same kind of mayhem; it looks like these shooting may not have been random. ...

Swap team surrounds housing project at Ferry & Grider; has since left the scene. The News is quoting Pastor Darius Pridgen who says a suspect has been taken into custody. ...

"There were definitely a number of gang-associated people in the restaurant when this happened. It was a fight between some of these people that led to all the shooting. And lately, we have had a lot of gang-related shootings. A lot of the things that have happened lately are related to shootings or killings that happened months ago."

Police have been searching the city for one suspect -- a young man reportedly affiliated with a gang -- since at least Sunday afternoon, according to the Rev. Darius G. Pridgen, pastor of True Bethel Baptist Church. Published report ...

The police are searching for a suspect & have been for 24 hours. Rev. Darius Pridgen is urging the suspect to turn himself in. In the past at least one maybe two suspects have surrendered to Pridgen. ...

Our understanding via published reports is the shootings may have been gang related. One rival gang was invited to the party at the City Grill the other not; the violence ensued as a result. Very fluid story! ...

"Joe: On Tuesday, August 17th, 6-8 p.m., there will an emergency meeting to address the recent escalation in murders, shootings and overall crime in the African American community. The community center is located @ 877 East Delavan Ave. @ Moselle St. The families who have lost loved ones as well as the elected officials, law enforcement, community leaders and the clergy have been invited to work together to find peace and lasting solutions for our communities and our city. This is also a personal loss for our family as Tiffany was an employee in our deli store around 14 years ago. Her mom is also a close family friend. May they all rest in peace." Erie County Legislator Betty Jean Grant. ...

Antoine Thompson, a friend of the family, "my prayers are with the families that lost loves ones last night. We must continue our struggle as a community to stop the violence. Peace and Love!' ...

Case Dismmissed: Police arrested the wrong man.

(Apparently the report a 5th vicitm had died was incorrect as well?)

"A parolee released from prison just two and a half weeks ago was arrested Saturday in connection with the worst carnage the City of Buffalo has experienced in at least three decades.

But before the day ended, law enforcement officials said they think they got the wrong man.

"We are having serious second thoughts," said Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III. "I have serious reservations about whether we have the right guy here."

Sedita said he planned this morning to move in City Court to dismiss charges against Keith D. Johnson, 25, of Buffalo, who was accused of murdering four people outside a downtown bar. Among those killed was a man who invited friends to the City Grill as part of his wedding anniversary celebration. The shooting also wounded four others, one critically." Published report

...

Police have made an arrest, Keith Johnson, who lives on Minnesota Ave. in North Buffalo. ...

8 SHOT 4 DEAD IN DOWNTOWN BUFFALO SHOOTINGS

Killed: Danyell Mackin, 30, a former Buffalo man who had been living in Texas, Tiffany Wilhite's cousin. Willie McCaa III, 26, of Buffalo. Tiffany Wilhite, 32; of Buffalo. Shawn-Tia McNeil, 27, of Buffalo.

Wounded: Demario Vass, 30, who was in critical condition with a gunshot wound to his head. James Robbs Jr., 27, who was treated and released. Shamar Davis, 30, who is hospitalized in stable condition. Tillman Ward, 27, who was shot in the elbow and is listed in good condition. ...

We have identified another victim, the groom, Daniel Mackin, 30.

The couple was celebrating their 1st anniversary in Buffalo with family & friends.

Mackin's wife was not injured. He is Tiffany Wilhite's cousin.

The wedding was a year ago by the the way. ...

We have identified Tia McNeil 25 of Buffalo as a victim. ...

Tiffany Wilhite (photo) a victim of last night's shootings is from Buffalo & went to Seneca Vocation; we have a RIP from her friend Nicole Smith, et al.  ...

WKBW Channel #7 John Borsa is reporting that "8" people, men & women, have been shot in downtown Buffalo 4 are dead.

"Eight people were shot, four fatally, after a fight at a downtown Buffalo restaurant spilled into the street where multiple shots were fired, police said.

At least 50 emergency vehicles responded to the scene, including dozens of Buffalo police officers and Transit Police." Full story ...

ILLUZZI: Gangs & the gang mentality (freelancers), with all the bells & whistles, has become a sub culture within our urban community & like communities around the country.

We have reached the point where gangs, the gang mentality, has become an accepted, albeit dreaded in many quarters, part of every day life in the inner city.

The roots of the problem in Buffalo & WNY are two fold racism & the political climate, the inverse relationship between the former & the latter. The vines & branches the drop out rate, children being born out of wedlock, infant mortality, drugs, of course the irrational violence, etc.; all rights of passage in our sub culture.

How do we solve the problem: We start by bringing God back into our homes & classrooms, taking the guns off the streets legal & otherwise, do something about the graduation rate, build more prisons, etc.

We have LOST a generation maybe two that are not coming back into the mainstream no matter what we do. These young men & women are simply lost & there is NO bringing them back; very sad to write believe me.

Finally, do not think for one minute this behavior has not reached the suburbs with all the bells & whistles it certainly has . Incidents like finding weapons in schools, student upon student & teacher violence, street violence, etc. is kept very - very quiet & definitely kept out of the press. Not all, however, think about the number of potential problems that surfaced over the years where local authorities intervened to prevent a real tragedy. Also, not quite the same behavior close enough, have we forgotten Columbine, etc., that's rhetorical.

Oh & by the way I grew up in the inner city. ###

QUINNIPIAC POLL: THE MOSQUE

Poll

The controversy surrounding a proposed mosque near Ground Zero leaves New York State voters with conflicting opinions about religious freedom and the sensitivities of the families of 9/11 victims, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

By a 54 - 40 percent majority, voters agree "that because of American freedom of religion, Muslims have the right to build the mosque near Ground Zero," the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. Another 7 percent are undecided.

But these same voters agree 53 - 39 percent, with 8 percent undecided, "that because of the sensitivities of 9/11 relatives, Muslims should not be allowed to build the mosque near Ground Zero."

And by a 71 - 21 percent majority, voters agree "that because of the opposition of Ground Zero relatives, the Muslim group should voluntarily build the mosque somewhere else."

Joe Illuzzi

Western New York Businesses

Governor Signs bill authorizing NYPA profits for local economic development fund

Governor David Paterson today approved legislation introduced by State Senator Bill Stachowski (#S.5783A) and Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak (#A.8712A) that would create a Western New York economic development fund using proceeds from the sale of unallocated expansion power (EP) and replacement power (RP) from the New York Power Authority (NYPA).

“The creation of this fund is another key strategy to assisting businesses in Western New York” said Senator Stachowski.   “We can now tap into proceeds from the sale of currently unused power to spur economic development, create jobs, and encourage capital investment within our region.   This money is rightfully ours, and I applaud the Governor for adopting this new law which will bring millions of dollars to our area for the sole purpose of creating jobs and attracting new businesses.”

In Western New York, 695 megawatts of hydropower, commonly known as Replacement and Expansion power, has been designated for use within 30 miles of the Niagara Power Project.   When this power isn’t being utilized for various reasons, it can be sold by NYPA in the open market.   Previously, the profits from the sale of that power remained with the Power Authority.

The new law will direct NYPA to designate the proceeds from future sales to the Western New York economic development fund to benefit businesses within that 30-mile boundary.

“Creating jobs, maintaining jobs and making Western New York an appealing place for businesses – that is what this fund has the potential to do, “Assemblyman Gabryszak said.   “With the help from the Buffalo Niagara Partnership we were able to create a bill that would go a long way in making our area a leader of industry.”

Andrew Rudnick, the CEO of the Partnership said that “Governor Paterson’s approval of this legislation may be the best economic development “news” the Buffalo Niagara region will see out of Albany this year.   The Partnership has long advocated for keeping hydropower proceeds within a 30 mile radius of Niagara Falls.”   He added that “the significant fund created by this new law would create a real, tangible difference in our community – whether to bring new employers and their jobs to our region, or to clean up abandoned sites, build infrastructure needed to make sites more attractive for investment, or to adapt existing structures for new uses – all of which can spur more job creation and investment in our region.”

Stachowski estimated that the Power Authority made nearly $160 million in a three year period from the sale of the unused power.   “This is money that we can use in Buffalo, Niagara Falls and other localities to entice businesses to come here, or to convince some high level managers to stay here.

“The Governor seized a golden opportunity here to improve economic development in Western New York,” Gabryszak said. “We commend him for helping to make our area an irreplaceable part of our statewide economy.

ASSEMBLYMAN MARK SCHROEDER
Silver is to blame for Simpson’s retirement

Buffalo Assemblyman considering a run for Speaker

According to Assemblyman Mark Schroeder, the impending retirement of University of Buffalo President John Simpson, and the state’s failure to approve UB2020, can be blamed on one person – Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

“Speaker Silver did everything in his power to kill UB2020, and along with it, any chance to resurrect our economy,” said Schroeder. “I am sick of my constituents being treated as second-class citizens.”

The UB2020 expansion plan would mean thousands of new jobs, $5 billion of investment in Buffalo, as well as a strategy to help the rust-belt city recover from decades of economic decline by building a new economy based on education, innovation and technology.

“I thank John Simpson for his valiant efforts to make UB a world class university, invest in downtown Buffalo, and help give our struggling city a chance at a brighter future,” said Schroeder. “I don’t blame him for being frustrated – I have been frustrated with the Speaker since the first day I arrived in Albany.”

Schroeder said that the real reason Silver opposes the plan is because it would take away power from the long-time speaker.

“The speaker wants to be the one to set tuition prices,” said Schroeder. “That is so he can raise it whenever he wants to a close a budget gap. He doesn’t want the proceeds from tuition increases to help the schools – he wants to decide how to spend the extra revenue.”

Back in April, Schroeder publicly slammed Silver for “killing” UB2020, and vowed not to support the Manhattan Assemblyman for speaker next year if the plan was not approved. Now, Schroeder said, simply not voting for the speaker, like he did in 2005, may not be enough.

“Maybe it is time someone challenged the speaker for his gavel,” said Schroeder. “Since no one else seems to be stepping forward, perhaps it is time I considered a run for speaker.”

“Right now, it is obvious Upstate has no voice in state government,” he continued. “We are treated as a colony of New York City, with no say in how we are governed and no power to save our cities. If there is any hope for the millions of us who live north of New York City, we need a change in leadership, and we need it now.”

Schroeder admits that his odds of becoming Speaker are a long-shot, primarily because the overwhelming majority of Assembly Democrats hail from downstate. The real objective, he said, is to draw attention to the disenfranchised citizens living in Upstate New York.

“This is not about me becoming speaker – this is about standing up for the millions of people that currently have no voice in the Capitol.”

CHEMUNG COUNTY CHAIRMAN MIKE KRUSEN

ENDORSES CARL PALADINO

Chemung County Committee Republican Chairman Michael Krusen endorsed Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino for Governor of New York. Chairman Krusen joins a growing trend of seven Republican County chairmen endorsing Carl Paladino as the candidate who best represents the interests and values of their constituents.

"I enthusiastically endorse Carl Paladino for Governor of the State of New York," said Michael Krusen Chemung County Republican Chairman. "As a businessman and attorney, Carl knows how to make New York's government work for the people again. Carl has the passion, knowledge and ability to make the tough decisions that so desperately need to be made in New York."

"Chemung County Republicans need to vote for Carl Paladino on September 14th," said Krusen.

"I am thankful to receive the endorsement of the Chemung County Republican Chairman Michael Krusen," said Paladino. "This election is about changing the way Albany works and I will lower taxes, cut spending and reform the status quo. As Governor I will do what it takes to bring New York back as the Empire State," Paladino said.

Krusen joins a growing list of Republican County Committee Chairs endorsing Carl Paladino, including Richard Siebert of Genesee County, Ed Morgan of Orleans County, Cherl Heary of Cayuga County, Michael Norris of Niagara County and Nick Langworthy of Erie County. More County GOP leaders are contacting the Paladino campaign every day and announcements are imminent of other endorsements.

Carl Paladino, a successful Western New York real estate developer and attorney, declared his candidacy for Governor of New York in April. He and Tom Ognibene, a candidate for Lieutenant Governor, have petitioned their way into the Republican Primary and canvassed to create a Tea Party-inspired line: the Taxpayers Party. For more information on where Carl Paladino stands on the issues, please visit http://www.paladinoforthepeople.com.

Senator Mike Ranzenhofer

Retirement of UB President Simpson

"Citing both a disenchantment with Albany and a desire to spend more time with family, John B. Simpson announced Monday that he plans to retire as University at Buffalo president effective Jan. 15."

“President John B. Simpson’s vision and leadership has made a positive contribution to the students and faculty at the University at Buffalo, as well as our entire Western New York community.

The most recent product of his vision and leadership, UB 2020, has aimed to modernize and expand the University at Buffalo, while creating jobs and providing research for institutions and businesses in our community. I can only imagine that if UB’s 2020 plan had passed the State Legislature, John would have been more than willing to forgo his retirement and continue contributing to our community.

I, and so many others in our community, commend President Simpson for his hard work and dedication over the past seven years and wish John and Katherine only the best in their future endeavors. President Simpson will be sorely missed at the University at Buffalo.”

Erie County Executive Chris Collins

“With the retirement of John Simpson, The University at Buffalo, and all of Western New York, is losing a great leader. It is not surprising to learn of President Simpson’s decision given Albany’s failure to provide UB the tools it needed to achieve UB 2020. President Simpson’s plan to turn UB into a first class research university would have created the economic opportunity, in both the short and long term, that Erie County and all of Western New York so desperately needs. President Simpson’s departure is yet another causality of the failed leadership in our state’s capital and Albany’s continued ambivalence and, at times, contempt for Western New York. I wish President Simpson all the best as he returns to the West Coast.”
Illuzzi: Well said Mike & Chris. What a loss to our community!

Joe Golombek’s Plan To Reform Albany

Loss of pay for legislators every day the budget is late

It is outrageous that members of the New York State Legislature are paid $79,500 per year even when they cannot pass a budget on time. 19 out of the last 20 budgets have been passed late, including this year’s budget which was passed 125 days late.

In any other job except in Albany if you cannot complete your job on time you do not get paid. Joe Golombek will support legislation that will cause legislators to lose their pay every day that the state budget is late. If this reform was in place this year, legislators would have had their pay reduced by $26,601.92 (87 working days x $305.76 per day). Legislators did not communicate with the Governor for weeks at a time regarding the budget, facing a loss of pay would have forced legislators to focus on approving a budget.

Sam Hoyt missed an important meeting in Albany that took place between legislators and the Governor to discuss the budget, because he was attending a $1,000 a plate political fundraiser in New York City. Sadly we need to hit legislators in their paychecks to force them to concentrate on their jobs and not politics.

Elimination of Legislative Stipends

While it is shocking that members of the legislature are paid $79,500 per year even when they cannot complete the task of passing a budget, it gets even worse, because on top of that high salary legislators also receive stipends. Stipends are doled out by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver of New York City as a reward for legislators who support what Speaker Silver wants. In exchange for voting with Silver 98% of the time Hoyt receives a stipend of $14,500, for a total salary of $94,000.

To reform Albany stipends need to be eliminated as the lure of additional compensation controlled by Speaker Silver eliminates the ability of legislators to be independent. If you do not stay in the good graces of the Speaker you will lose your stipend.

Recall of Legislators

26 states allow the public the ability to recall state elected officials. New York
State does not currently allow state elected officials to be recalled. The recall process typically works by allowing the public to file a certain number of required petition signatures requesting a recall election to be held.

After the filing of a sufficient number of petition signatures an election is held to determine whether the elected official should be recalled. Several years ago the State of California recalled their elected Governor due to public outrage over his decisions.

Golombek believes that having a recall provision will keep legislators focused on representing the public and not special interests.

Term Limits For Legislators

15 states have term limits for state legislators, New York is not one of those states. More state elected officials leave office due to scandal or retirement than by losing an election. The perks and power of incumbency (government paid for mailings, special interest campaign contributions), allow most elected officials to remain in office for life. The same faces comfortable with a system that protects them results in the continuation of the status quo in New York. We need major changes in how New York government functions and the only way to bring about change is a continuous turn-over of fresh faces and new ideas.

Golombek has sponsored term limit legislation in the Buffalo Common Council and will sponsor the same legislation in Albany.

The Mosque Controversy

by Thomas Sowell

The proposed mosque near where the World Trade Center was attacked and destroyed, along with thousands of American lives, would be a 15-story middle finger to America.

It takes a high IQ to evade the obvious, so it is not surprising that the intelligentsia are out in force, decrying those who criticize this calculated insult.

What may surprise some people is that the American taxpayer is currently financing a trip to the Middle East by the imam who is pushing this project, so that he can raise the money to build it.

The State Department is subsidizing his travel.

The big talking point is that this is an issue about "religious freedom" and that Muslims have a "right" to build a mosque where they choose. But those who oppose this project are not claiming that there is no legal right to build a mosque near the site of the World Trade Center.

If anybody did, it would be a matter for the courts to decide -- and they would undoubtedly say that it is not illegal to build a mosque near the site of the World Trade Center attack.

The intelligentsia and others who are wrapping themselves in the Constitution are fighting a phony war against a straw man. Why create a false issue, except to evade the real issue?

Our betters are telling us that we need to be more "tolerant" and more "sensitive" to the feelings of Muslims. But if we are supposed to be sensitive to Muslims, why are Muslims not supposed to be sensitive to the feelings of millions of Americans, for whom 9/11 was the biggest national trauma since Pearl Harbor?

It would not be illegal for Japanese Americans to build a massive shinto shrine next to Pearl Harbor. But, in all these years, they have never sought to do it.

When Catholic authorities in Poland were planning to build an institution for nuns, years ago, and someone pointed out that it would be near the site of a concentration camp that carried out genocide, the Pope intervened to stop it.

He didn't say that the Catholic Church had a legal right to build there, as it undoubtedly did. Instead, he respected the painful feelings of other people. And he certainly did not denounce those who called attention to the concentration camp.

There is no question that Muslims have a right to build a mosque where they chose to. The real question is why they chose that particular location, in a country that covers more than 3 million square miles.

If we all did everything that we have a legal right to do, we could not even survive as individuals, much less as a society. So the question is whether those who are planning a Ground Zero mosque want to be part of American society or just to see how much they can get away with in American society?

Can anyone in his right mind believe that this was intended to show solidarity with Americans, rather than solidarity with those who attacked America? Does anyone imagine that the Middle East nations, including Iran, from whom financial contributions will be solicited, want to promote reconciliation between Americans and Muslims?

That the President of the United States has joined the chorus of those calling the Ground Zero mosque a religious freedom issue tells us a lot about the moral dry rot that is undermining this country from within.

In this, as in other things, Barack Obama is not so much the cause of our decline but the culmination of it. He had many predecessors and many contemporaries who represent the same mindset and the same malaise.

There are people for whom moral preening has become a way of life. They are out in force denouncing critics of the Ground Zero mosque.

There are others for whom a citizen of the world affectation puts them one-up on those of us who are grateful to be Americans, and to enjoy a freedom that is all too rare in other countries around the world, even at this late date in human history. They think the United States is somehow on trial, and needs to prove itself to others by bending over backwards. But bending over backwards does not win friends. It loses respect, including self-respect.

PoliticsNY.Net: MONDAY'S NYS INTERNET NEWS

NY TIMES: Mr Beck Goes To Washington. Just as Michael Moore, amid Democratic disarray, became the unlikely face of liberal opposition to George W. Bush, the mercurial, weepy, demagogic Beck has spent the last 18 months filling the void left by the institutional collapse of the Republican Party. And just as Moore’s influence diminished as the Democrats came roaring back, it seemed plausible that Beck would matter less and less as the midterms and then the 2012 election re-empowered actual Republican politicians.

NY TIMES: Powell vs. Rangel: Testy Remake After 40 Years. About 30 years ago, Representative Charles B. Rangel invited a 19-year-old summer intern named Adam Clayton Powell IV into his office at the United States Capitol for an emotional conversation: He had run a bruising primary campaign in 1970 to unseat Mr. Powell’s father, he acknowledged, ending the career of a celebrated Harlem politician.

NY TIMES: Imam Says Politics Has Stoked Controversy Over Center. The imam behind the proposed Islamic center near ground zero, Feisal Abdul Rauf, told a Middle Eastern newspaper that he believed election-year politics had stoked the debate over the project and blamed a “tiny, vociferous minority” for leading the opposition, in his most expansive comments yet on the controversy. Full story

TIMES UNION: Another strike for Mr Paterson. Once again, all eyes in New York turn to Albany County District Attorney David Soares, who again needs to be more than just another DA. He needs to represent all the people of New York and decide whether to prosecute a governor who has problems with ethics and the truth. Whether Mr. Paterson's untrue statements under oath qualify him for a charge of perjury is a judgment call Mr. Soares will have to make, and, if he decides it does, for a judge and jury to settle. But a report by former Chief Judge Judith Kaye shows that, at the very least, the governor did not tell the truth under oath.

TIMES UNION: Tickets case tests SoaresFor the second time in as many months we're debating whether our governor broke the law. Such is the level of public discourse these days. This time it's about Yankees World Series tickets. Last time it was about whether David Paterson may have inappropriately intervened in a possibly violent domestic dispute. Seemingly separate events, different issues, involving the governor. Although they do have as a common thread David Johnson, Paterson's former top aide and close friend. Johnson was a principal in the domestic dispute. He also made most of the arrangements for the Yankee tickets. Full story

NY DAILY NEWS: Cuomo still hasn't endorsed a candidate for attorney general, and he may not. There's still time to win Andrew Cuomo\'s heart. Cuomo has yet to endorse a favorite to replace him as New York's top legal eagle with just two weeks to go until the Sept. 14 five-way Democratic primary for attorney general. "He really hasn't decided yet if he's going to endorse, and if so, for whom," said a source familiar with Cuomo's thinking. "He wants to see how the campaigns go from here on out. They're just now starting to get serious.

NY DAILY NEWS: Daily News Endorses Cuomo. Full story

NY POST: Dems find trouble in $tore. State Senate Democrats have bowed to pressure from furious labor leaders and returned a controversial $15,000 campaign contribution they received from Walmart, The Post has learned. The action came just days after last week's disclosure in The Post that the Democrats had accepted the cash from the union-resisting Arkansas-based retail chain, which is believed to be interested in putting its first city store in Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson's Brooklyn district. Sampson controls the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee. "I can confirm that the money was returned. That's as far as I'm going to go on it," said Democratic spokesman Eric Blankenbaker.

NY POST: Andy's foiler alert. Fear of a lefty 'AG'.Key sup porters of Andrew Cuomo's campaign for governor fear the election of left-of-center state Sen. Eric Schneiderman as attorney general would derail Cuomo's efforts to battle public corruption and the special interests that have brought the state to the brink of bankruptcy. "Schneiderman is backed by all the big unions, including the teachers, by all the big spenders, including the hospital and public-employee unions, and by all the liberals who are horrified at Cuomo's economic platform, which is aimed at improving the business climate, cutting taxes and bringing state spending into line with state revenues," said a well-known Cuomo supporter. Full story

DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE: Five Democrats vie for state attorney general. The crowded field for the Democratic nomination for attorney general brings varied experiences and the trading of plenty of barbs. Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice has been knocked for failing to vote for nearly 20 years. Full story

POST STANDARD: What's going on: Afghanistan violence kills 7 U.S. troops. Seven U.S. troops have died in weekend attacks in Afghanistan's embattled southern and eastern regions, while officials found the bodies Sunday of five kidnapped campaign aides working for a female candidate in the western province of Herat. Full story ###

Joe Illuzzi

Kane’s Cup visit proves who the real heroes are

By Mike Hughes

                         Patrick Kane brought Stanley Cup to Buffalo.

Hockey’s most coveted trophy came to town recently.

Thanks to hometown boy Patrick Kane, it was 48 hours of hoopla, flashing cameras, autograph seekers and gawking fans.

For the non-sports fan, it’s hard to understand the aura of the Stanley Cup. In fact, even if you like sports but are not a hockey fan, it’s hard to comprehend.

Hockey enthusiasts? Well, we understand. We know how much blood, sweat and tears it takes to win it all. We realize how difficult it is for National Hockey League players to win 16 games between mid-April and June.

All for the opportunity to lift Lord Stanley’s Cup.

South Buffalo’s Patrick Kane made hockey history back in June with his Game Six overtime goal against the Philadelphia Flyers. His marker clinched the Cup for his Chicago Blackhawks, throwing

his old neighborhood here and the Windy City there, into frenzy. Millions of hockey fans across North America labeled him a “hero.”

After winning Rookie of the Year honors as well as a Silver Medal in the Olympics in just 24 months, the success seemed hard to top. However, the overtime winner put him into another category — sports hero.

But Kane’s turn with the Cup proves that, not only is he growing up and moving on from his younger days, but he understands who real heroes are.

You see, each player on the winning team gets a day or two to share the hardware with his family and friends. Each does something radically different with it.

The Stanley Cup has been all over the world, from the Eiffel Tower in Paris, to the prairies of Western Canada, to the bottom of an in-ground pool in Pittsburgh and, most recently, to the Hurricane Deck in Niagara Falls.

Consider who Kane shared the Cup with. Ironworkers on Kaleida Health’s new heart and vascular institute project. Kids at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Buffalo Police and Fire personnel. Adolescent boys and girls fighting cancer. Blue-collar guys climbing 10 stories in the air to lay foundations of steel. The hundreds of men and women who serve as Buffalo’s finest. All everyday heroes.

They weren’t alone. Along the way, the Kane caravan made impromptu stops at not for profits, local businesses, even at street corners and red lights. A few thousand people got up close and personal with the coveted trophy. Teachers, nurses, construction workers, pizzeria owners, you name it. All snapping pictures, smiling widely like kids on Christmas morning.

These are the individuals who make up the fabric of our community. They build our neighborhoods, teach our kids and keep us safe and protected. To think they all had that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to touch the Stanley Cup is pretty inspiring.

Yes, the Cup has been in Buffalo before. Former Sabres players and coaches have won championships in other cities and brought the big trophy home to Western New York. This was different. Seeing who Kane and his family shared their success with is a much better story. Their Cup visit was about pride for our community, being humble and understanding how big of an impact you can have on everyday people.

We all know that Buffalo longs for a championship. Wide right, no goal, the saga goes on and on. The way I see it, until we see that ticker-tape parade down Delaware Avenue with one of our own sports teams, the story of South Buffalo’s own raising the Stanley Cup here with thousands of our hometown heroes will more than do.

SENATOR ANTOINE M. THOMPSON

SWEEPS ENDORSEMENTS IN RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN (INCLUDING POLITICSNY.NET)

Overwhelming support has poured in for Senator Antoine M. Thompson (Parts of Erie and Niagara counties) in his senate re-election campaign. Local and statewide organizations have cast an early vote for senator in the 60^th district, and strong momentum has been built around Senator Thompson’s issues-driven campaign as Primary Day nears.

Senator Thompson has garnered nearly 30 endorsements from organizations spanning from county democratic and working families parties, unions, trade associations and advocacy groups. After a rigorous questionnaire and interview process, supporters have made Senator Thompson their choice to continue the work he started as a progressive leader getting results for New Yorkers.

To date, Senator Thompson has won the endorsements of: Erie County Democratic Committee, CSEA, Niagara County Democratic Committee, Working Families Party, United Auto Workers, Hispanic Alliance, Nosotros, United Food & Commercial Workers Local One, AFSCME Council 35, AFSCME Local 650, Marriage Equality New York, Stonewall Democrats, League of Conservation Voters, Boilermakers Local 7, New York State United Teachers, Freelancers Union, Sierra Club, Empire State Pride Agenda, Communications Workers of America, Teamsters Joint Council No. 46, Public Employees Federation, New York State Nurses Association, Buffalo Teachers Federation, Bridge & Tunnel Benevolent Association, Planned Parenthood, Grassroots Inc. and Citizen Action.

Senator Thompson said, “The energy surrounding my campaign is absolutely motivating. Knowing that I have the support of so many key groups is a major victory for me. They understand, all too well, my goal of enhancing the quality of life for New Yorkers by having a positive effect on youth, seniors, education, environment and jobs. The best way that I can thank them is by continuing to work hard in the Senate and create new initiatives that will serve the interests of my district.”

Scaring White People

by Bill O'Reilly

With polls showing that about 70 percent of Americans believe building an Islamic cultural center containing a mosque just two blocks away from Ground Zero is inappropriate, the far left is once again on the run. Failing with the bogus "freedom of religion" argument, the crew that is offended by the manger scene at Christmas is now saying the mosque controversy is another attempt to "scare white people." Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson has put forth that loopy argument from his second home: MSNBC.

You may remember that the radical left designated the Shirley Sherrod story, the ACORN scandal, the New Black Panther Party-voting booth-Justice Department situation and the resignation of White House "green jobs" czar Van Jones as attempts to scare white Americans. I don't know about you, but I'm white and those stories did not frighten me. I hope I'm not out of the white loop.

But here's a key question: Why are Howard Dean and Sen. Harry Reid trying to scare white people? Those committed liberals both believe the mosque should be built somewhere else. Why are these guys trying to frighten Caucasians, and what can we do to stop them? It is simply unfair to have the Senate majority leader and the former governor of Vermont running around trying to instill fear into white guys and gals. This must stop.

What is somewhat scary is that the far-left media continue to peddle this stuff even in the face of economic disaster. CNN and MSNBC are in deep ratings trouble. Newsweek magazine recently sold for one dollar, and Time is having a tough go of it, as well. Air America is bankrupt. The New York Times and The Washington Post are not nearly as successful or influential as they used to be. Not all of those concerns are far left, but they do have an ideological kinship with the loons. It's just a matter of degree.

Meanwhile, the anti-liberal Fox News Channel and The Wall Street Journal, whose editorial page is conservative, are both doing very well. (Full disclosure: I work for Fox News, whose parent company, News Corporation, also owns The Wall Street Journal.)

It is because of situations like the Ground Zero mosque that the far left has lost credibility, as well as viability. Americans are not stupid. They understand that New York City has more than 100 mosques. One more located near the site where fanatical Muslims murdered thousands of innocent people is certainly not necessary -- especially considering the building would offend thousands of people who lost loved ones on 9/11. Why would anyone want to offend them? Paging President Obama.

PoliticsNY.Net: BACK TO GOD RALLY

In what resembled more a revival than a political rally, conservative talk show host Glenn Beck urged the large crowds at his "Restoring Honor" event Saturday to "turn back to God" and return America to the values on which it was founded. "Something beyond imagination is happening," he told participants who packed the National Mall in Washington. "America today begins to turn back to God. For too long, this country has wandered in darkness." See national screen ###

LAZIO LIKENS PALADINO TO A "SHOCK JOCK"

     Not really!

"Lazio: Rival is 'shock jock'. Former Congressman Rick Lazio likened his rival for the GOP gubernatorial nomination to a "shock jock" who lacks the temperament and varied experience to be governor. "I'm not a shock jock," Lazio said, citing his experience as a vice president at J.P. Morgan and as a member of Congress. "I understand there's a lot of moving pieces (to government)."

Paladino aide Michael Caputo took issue with Lazio's "shock jock" remark, saying Lazio "is one jock who's going to be extremely shocked on September 14th." "He is right," Caputo said. "He is from a long line of career politicians who have ruined this state, and the voters of New York are not willing to settle for just more of the same." See state screen ###

FORMER JUDGE KAYE BEANBALLS PATERSON

GOV FACES CRIMINAL CHARGES

UPDATE: With Paterson, the Simple Facts Can Get Complicated. A thoroughly honest politician has pretty much always been considered an undiscovered species. But for Gov. David A. Paterson, the distinction between the truth and an untruth can get unusually murky. See state screen ...

"Gov. Paterson provided 'inaccurate and misleading' testimony regarding free Yankees tickets, refers matter to DA. "In addition, [Paterson] testified [before the state Public Integrity Commission] that, while at home prior to the game, he personally wrote and signed an $850 check to pay for the two tickets used by his son and his son’s friend, leaving only the payee section blank; that he brought this partially completed check to the game to pay for the tickets ... that he would forward the - Gov. Paterson provided testimony that was "inaccurate and misleading" when asked about whether he violated state law by accepting free World Series tickets -- something that could lead to possible criminal charges, according to a bombshell report released this afternoon. The report, put together by former Judge Judith Kaye in her role as independent counsel to State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, found that Paterson testified that before the game, he intended "that all tickets for the individuals in his party other than his own would be paid for." ###

FORMER WNY CONGRESSMAN TOM REYNOLDS

Reynolds talking about NYS GOP Chairman Ed Cox

Tom Reynolds, a former congressman who is a power broker in New York and national GOP politics, said Wednesday that the state party "appears to be in a weakened state.''

Mr. Reynolds said that "while there's good intentions, there does not seem to be decisive direction to have the resources necessary to get the message out. I don't see resources coming from Washington or anywhere else that can shore up what the Republicans seem to be lacking.'' Full story ###

NYS SENATE 58 & 59th DISTRICTS

Update: Sources within the Kennedy camp say Tim is ahead by 18%. ...

The lastest: In the 58th Stachowski (D) is showing better in the polls against Tim Kennedy, some reports have him in the single digits. We opine, if true & if Mike Kuzma & Tom Casey weren't in the race this race could be a toss up. IF true how can this happen you ask? The NYS Senate election committee is pouring large sums into the race. Majority Leader John Sampson favors incumbent Stachowski.

In the 59th Gallivan, according to sources, still has a wide lead. However, Domagalski forces have sent out at least seven mailings, etc. Sources continue, "Jim is moving in the polls." Dave DiPietro is showing well in the polling.

The 144th Assembly race is on everyone's radar. We are hearing that Golombek (D) is ahead by 10-15%. On the other hand Hoyt forces are quoted as saying the race is within the margin of error.

In the 146th Assembly race County Legislator Dan Kozub (D) should win the primary. I can't remember who he is running against not important.

SIDEBAR: The mainstream NY press in being very fickle with respect to the Palaldino/Lazio primary. One day they're showing Paladino or Lazio the love, the next they're excoriating one or the other just like a very unhappy spouse in a divorce case, esp. the Times Union & the Daily News. ###


Joe Illuzzi

FORMER NEWSMAN TONY FARINA

RECALLS SURRENDER OF 20 YEARS AGO

By Tony Farina



My how time flies, as they say. The surrender of Riccardo McCray in the City Grill shootings brings back memories of a sensational murder case of more than 20 years ago that I covered while I was the investigative reporter at Ch. 7.

In the current case, McCray went to Ch. 4 studios to surrender accompanied by community activist Darnell Jackson (an old friend from the streets). McCray apparently was fearful he might be hit on the street, either by friends of his alleged victims or by cops eager to bring him in. So he surrendered.

In April of 1990, I arrived at my Ch. 7 offices to news reports of the discovery of a body encased in cement in a North Tonawanda home and police were searching for a suspect, Paul Garland, who had been identified by his girl friend, Elaine LaDolce, as the killer. It was a big story at the time and as I prepared to get into it, a phone call came in and the caller wanted to talk to me.

The staff said the caller claimed to be the murder suspect and he would only talk to me. I took the call, arranged to meet Garland and his son (an alleged accomplice) in a Franklin Street alley, and went to the meeting along with photographer Arnie Posner, who stayed in our van while I met with the two suspects alone in the alley.

Garland proclaimed his innocence, said Elaine was the real killer, but was fearful he might be shot by police who were on his trail and wanted to get his story out.

In brief, I negotiated a deal with Garland and his son that hinged on their surrendering after they had told me their version of the death of Chester Stawiasz in the North Tonawanda home.

They eventually got into our van and we went to a local park to interview them. After the interviews, I shocked the staff at Ch. 7 by bringing the two murder suspects to the station and putting them in the conference room (away from the staff) while I made the surrender arrangements.

I called my close friend, veteran attorney Adrian Weissfeld, to come over and complete the surrender to NT cops, which he did. The cops came down to the station in several marked cars and we filmed the whole thing.

It was quite a story, and we headlined our newscast with all the details as Garland was led off to face the charges. Eventually, charges were dropped against Garland and Elaine LaDolce was charged with the beating death of the 36-year-old Stawiasz.

To make a long story short, after three trials and a new attorney, Paul Cambria, Elaine was eventually acquitted after serving more than two years in jail on her original conviction. So at the end of the day, Stawiasz murder remained unsolved despite all the sensationalism of his gruesome death in the cellar.

Several people called me in the last several hours to remind of the similarities with the surrender angle in the current case with what happened so many years ago when I was covering the news. It jogged my memory and Joe Illuzzi asked me to put it down, so I've taken a moment to try and recall events of so many years ago.

I had a great time as an investigative reporter for so many years, with the late Courier-Express and with Ch.'s 2 and 7, but certainly the surrender story was one of the highlights.

Sometimes I miss those days, but I'm still around, working as president of One Niagara, LLC, a tourist business on Rainbow Blvd. in Niagara Falls, right next to the Rainbow Bridge.  It's fun because I get to work with a lot of great people and interact with the public, which I still enjoy. But truth be told, nothing will ever rival the excitement of my days working the news. After all, I did it for a very, very long time and I'm still humbled that so many people remember.

"Moral Hazard" in Politics

by Thomas Sowell

One of the things that makes it tough to figure out how much has to be charged for insurance is that people behave differently when they are insured from the way they behave when they are not insured.

In other words, if one person out of 10,000 has his car set on fire, and it costs an average of $10,000 to restore the car to its previous condition, then it might seem as if charging one dollar to all 10,000 people would be enough to cover the cost of paying $10,000 to the one person whose car that will need to be repaired. But the joker in this deal is that people whose cars are insured may not be as cautious as other people are about what kinds of neighborhoods they park their car in.

The same principle applies to government policies. When taxpayer-subsidized government insurance policies protect people against flood damage, more people are willing to live in places where there are greater dangers of flooding. Often these are luxury beach front homes with great views of the ocean. So what if they suffer flood damage once every decade or so, if Uncle Sam is picking up the tab for restoring everything?

Television reporter John Stossel has told how he got government insurance "dirt cheap" to insure a home only a hundred feet from the ocean. Eventually, the ocean moved in and did a lot of damage, but the taxpayer-subsidized insurance covered the costs of fixing it. Four years later, the ocean came in again, and this time it took out the whole house. But the taxpayer-subsidized government insurance paid to replace the whole house.

This was not a unique experience. More than 25,000 properties have received government flood insurance payments more than four times. Over a period of 28 years, more than 4,000 properties received government insurance payments exceeding the total value of the property. If you are located in a dangerous place, repeated damage can easily add up to more than the property is worth, especially if the property is damaged and then later wiped out completely, as John Stossel's ocean-front home was.

Although "moral hazard" is an insurance term, it applies to other government policies besides insurance. International studies show that people in countries with more generous and long-lasting unemployment compensation spend less time looking for jobs. In the United States, where unemployment compensation is less generous than in Western Europe, unemployed Americans spend more hours looking for work than do unemployed Europeans in countries with more generous unemployment compensation.

People change their behavior in other ways when the government pays with the taxpayers' money. After welfare became more readily available in the 1960s, unwed motherhood skyrocketed. The country is still paying the price for that-- of which the money is the least of it. Children raised by single mothers on welfare have far higher rates of crime, welfare and other social pathology.

San Francisco has been one of the most generous cities in the country when it comes to subsidizing the homeless. Should we be surprised that homelessness is a big problem in San Francisco?

Most people are not born homeless. They usually become homeless because of their own behavior, and the friends and family they alienate to the point that those who know them will not help them. People with mental problems may not be able to help their behavior, but the rest of them can.

We hear a lot of talk about "safety nets" from big-government liberals, who act as if there is a certain pre-destined amount of harm that people will suffer, so that it is just a question of the government helping those who are harmed. But we hear very little about "moral hazard" from big-government liberals. We all need safety nets. That is why we "save for a rainy day," instead of living it up to the limit of our income and beyond.

We also hear a lot of talk about "the uninsured," for whose benefit we are to drastically change the whole medical-care system. But income data show that many of those uninsured people have incomes from which they could easily afford insurance. But they can live it up instead, because the government has mandated that hospital emergency rooms treat everyone.

All of this is a large hazard to taxpayers. And it is not very moral.

The Last Refuge of the Liberal

by Charles Krauthammer

Liberalism under siege is an ugly sight indeed. Just yesterday it was all hope and change and returning power to the people. But the people have proved so disappointing. Their recalcitrance has, in only 19 months, turned the predicted 40-year liberal ascendancy (James Carville) into a full retreat. Ah, the people, the little people, the small-town people, the "bitter" people, as Barack Obama in an unguarded moment once memorably called them, clinging "to guns or religion or" -- this part is less remembered -- "antipathy toward people who aren't like them."

That's a polite way of saying: clinging to bigotry. And promiscuous charges of bigotry are precisely how our current rulers and their vast media auxiliary react to an obstreperous citizenry that insists on incorrect thinking.

-- Resistance to the vast expansion of government power, intrusiveness and debt, as represented by the tea party movement? Why, racist resentment toward a black president.

-- Disgust and alarm with the federal government's unwillingness to curb illegal immigration, as crystallized in the Arizona law? Nativism.

-- Opposition to the most radical redefinition of marriage in human history, as expressed in Proposition 8 in California? Homophobia.

-- Opposition to a 15-story Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero? Islamophobia.

Now we know why the country has become "ungovernable," last year's excuse for the Democrats' failure of governance: Who can possibly govern a nation of racist, nativist, homophobic Islamophobes?

Note what connects these issues. In every one, liberals have lost the argument in the court of public opinion. Majorities -- often lopsided majorities -- oppose President Obama's social-democratic agenda (e.g., the stimulus, Obamacare), support the Arizona law, oppose gay marriage and reject a Ground Zero mosque.

What's a liberal to do? Pull out the bigotry charge, the trump that pre-empts debate and gives no credit to the seriousness and substance of the contrary argument. The most venerable of these trumps is, of course, the race card. When the tea party arose, a spontaneous, leaderless and perfectly natural (and traditionally American) reaction to the vast expansion of government intrinsic to the president's proudly proclaimed transformational agenda, the liberal commentariat cast it as a mob of angry white yahoos disguising their antipathy to a black president by cleverly speaking in economic terms.

Then came Arizona and SB 1070. It seems impossible for the left to believe that people of good will could hold that: (a) illegal immigration should be illegal, (b) the federal government should not hold border enforcement hostage to comprehensive reform, i.e., amnesty, (c) every country has the right to determine the composition of its immigrant population.

As for Proposition 8, is it so hard to see why people might believe that a single judge overturning the will of 7 million voters is an affront to democracy? And that seeing merit in retaining the structure of the most ancient and fundamental of all social institutions is something other than an alleged hatred of gays -- particularly since the opposite-gender requirement has characterized virtually every society in all the millennia until just a few years ago?

And now the Ground Zero mosque. The intelligentsia is near unanimous that the only possible grounds for opposition is bigotry toward Muslims. This smug attribution of bigotry to two-thirds of the population hinges on the insistence on a complete lack of connection between Islam and radical Islam, a proposition that dovetails perfectly with the Obama administration's pretense that we are at war with nothing more than "violent extremists" of inscrutable motive and indiscernible belief. Those who reject this as both ridiculous and politically correct (an admitted redundancy) are declared Islamophobes, the ad hominem du jour.

It is a measure of the corruption of liberal thought and the collapse of its self-confidence that, finding itself so widely repudiated, it resorts reflexively to the cheapest race-baiting (in a colorful variety of forms). Indeed, how can one reason with a nation of pitchfork-wielding mobs brimming with "antipathy toward people who aren't like them" -- blacks, Hispanics, gays and Muslims -- a nation that is, as Michelle Obama once put it succinctly, "just downright mean"?

The Democrats are going to get beaten badly in November. Not just because the economy is ailing. And not just because Obama overread his mandate in governing too far left. But because a comeuppance is due the arrogant elites whose undisguised contempt for the great unwashed prevents them from conceding a modicum of serious thought to those who dare oppose them.

AMEND OR NULLIFY THE 2nd AMENDMENT

"When will we lay down the american dream for the Kingdom of God"

Pastor Jerry Gilles The Chapel at Crosspoint

Illuzzi: Let me preface: I believe the Obama Administration is indeed eroding our individual & state's rights. Things like putting 17,000 more IRSS agents on our streets, pun intended, shutting down the Internet, etc. are very worrisome propositions.

Definition of terms: Patriotism: Love for or devotion to one's country.

Nationalism:  A sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups.

An interesting dichotomy or bifurcation of what is indeed the proper approach to the proposition "love of country".

I am tipping my hand here because a brother Conservative Budd Schroeder & I will debate the question, "Should the 2nd Amendment be repealed?", the "Right to Bear Arms", on October 7th. I believe. I'm told the debate in front a a group of judges, lawyers & law enforcement will be open to the public for the first time.

I consider myself a patriot. I consider Schroeder, et al. both; albeit more nationalist than patriot.

No doubt that the anti gun control crowd will argue with superfluous fervency that the individual has a right to own a gun for self defense; this kind of thing.

I believe, this Nation was founded on Christian principles, God's law, "thou shalt not kill", i.e. the right to life; this Commandment takes precedent over the nationalists constitutional declaration of "the right to bear arms".

The Supreme Court a couple of weeks ago upheld 2nd amendment rights in a rather specious decision written by Justice Clarence Thomas 5-4.

Our proposition is quite simple: Given the millions of deaths, including children, by legal & illegal gun ownership the 2nd amendment should be nullified or amended restricting the right to law enforcement & the military.

The precious "right to life" far out weighs the Nationalists view of the right to bear arms. ...

"A 9-year-old boy fatally shot his 2-year-old brother while playing with a gun in Los Angeles, authorities said late Saturday. The boy found the gun in his house, said Sgt. Tim Walters of the Los Angeles Police Department. While playing with it, he accidentally shot the toddler in the head, Walters said. No charges will be filed, according to Walters."

How many of these stories have we read like this one; even in our own community. Is one child's life worth owning that gun? "NO"! Yet, we have lost hundreds if not thousands of children over time in similar circumstances. That school teacher from Albany would be alive today if that gentleman did not have a gun in his home, what is his life worth. ...

"A few months ago, the Supreme Court undermined Chicago’s ban on handguns by applying the Second Amendment to the states, ruling that people have a right to protect their homes with a gun. Four days after that, Chicago passed another handgun restriction that edged right up to the line drawn by the court. And on Tuesday, a group of gun dealers and enthusiasts sued the city again to overturn the new law.

Bullets are flying on city streets, but the vital work of limiting gun use has become a cat-and-mouse game. Beleaguered citizens deserve better from both sides.

We strongly disagreed with the reasoning that led the court to find an individual right to bear arms in the Second Amendment, ending handgun bans in Washington, D.C., in 2008 and everywhere else last month. Nonetheless, the law of the land is now that people have a constitutional right to a gun in their home for self-defense." Full story ###

PRO LIFE vs PRO GUN

I am a registered conservative who believes in the value of life from conception & traditional family.

I have a very serious disconnect with my fellow conservatives who espouse a pro life position & have a very liberal approach to gun ownership.

Just like an abortionist's scalpel - guns kill period, esp. hand guns.

Five or more human beings have been murdered in the last ten days on the streets of Buffalo alone.

Millions of lives lost since the turn of the century as a result of our nation & state's liberal approach to gun ownership.

If one values life - it is incumbent that one make a decision with respect to what is more important life or owning a gun.

Please do not make the 2nd amendment argument that was another time, surely we have advanced beyond that mentality. & Yes law enforcement & the military should carry guns. & YES I am opposed to the death penalty.

If we are enlightened to the extent we support life from conception, mandate motorcycle helmets, seat belts, ban smoking, etc. in order to save lives, how can we collectively support private gun ownership en masse; this is a glorified oxymoron.

We support making owning a gun period a felony, i.e. take every gun out of the hands of every American & illegal, end of story. ###

CHICAGO'S NEW GUN ORDINANCE

"The Chicago, Illinois, City Council in a 45-0 vote approved a new gun ordinance Friday, four days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the city's 28-year-old strict ban on handgun ownership was unconstitutional. Among other details, the ordinance allows only one operable firearm per household, meaning all other guns would need to have gun locks or be in locked cases. It also requires owners to have a state firearms permit, to register weapons with Chicago police and to take four hours of classroom training and one hour of firing range training. The plan also bans assault weapons and gun shops in the city.

PoliticsNY.Net: Sources say that once Interim Police Commissioner Dan Derenda is confirmed the administration will assign him the task of reviewing gun control initiatives of cities around country, esp. Chicago. The plan, according to sources, is to take more guns off of our streets. ###

Joe Illuzzi

Moral Myopia at Ground Zero

by Charles Krauthammer

It's hard to be an Obama sycophant these days. Your hero delivers a Ramadan speech roundly supporting the building of a mosque and Islamic center at Ground Zero in New York. Your heart swells and you're moved to declare this President Obama's finest hour, his act of greatest courage.

Alas, the next day, at a remove of 800 miles, Obama explains that he was only talking about the legality of the thing and not the wisdom -- upon which he does not make, and will not make, any judgment.

You're left looking like a fool because now Obama has said exactly nothing: No one disputes the right to build; the whole debate is about the propriety, the decency of doing so.

It takes no courage whatsoever to bask in the applause of a Muslim audience as you promise to stand stoutly for their right to build a mosque, giving the unmistakable impression that you endorse the idea. What takes courage is to then respectfully ask that audience to reflect upon the wisdom of the project, and to consider whether the imam's alleged goal of interfaith understanding might not be better achieved by accepting the New York governor's offer to help find another site.

Where the president flagged, however, the liberal intelligentsia stepped in with gusto, penning dozens of pro-mosque articles characterized by a frenzied unanimity, little resort to argument and a singular difficulty dealing with analogies.

The Atlantic's Michael Kinsley was typical in arguing that the only possible grounds for opposing the Ground Zero mosque are bigotry or demagoguery. Well then, what about Pope John Paul II's ordering the closing of the Carmelite convent at Auschwitz? Surely there can be no one more innocent of that crime than those devout nuns.

How does Kinsley explain this remarkable demonstration of sensitivity, this order to pray -- but not there? He doesn't even feign analysis. He simply asserts that the decision is something "I confess that I never did understand."

That's his Q.E.D.? Is he stumped or is he inviting us to choose between his moral authority and that of one of the towering moral figures of the 20th century?

At least Richard Cohen of The Washington Post tries to grapple with the issue of sanctity and sensitivity. The results, however, are not pretty. He concedes that putting up a Japanese cultural center at Pearl Harbor would be offensive, but then dismisses the analogy to Ground Zero because 9/11 was merely "a rogue act, committed by 20 or so crazed samurai."

Obtuseness of this magnitude can only be deliberate. These weren't crazies. They were methodical, focused, steel-nerved operatives.

Nor were they freelance rogues. They were the leading, and most successful, edge of a worldwide movement of radical Islamists with cells in every continent, with worldwide financial and theological support, with a massive media and propaganda arm, and with an archipelago of local sympathizers, as in northwestern Pakistan, who protect and guard them.

Why is America fighting Predator wars in Pakistan and Yemen, surveilling thousands of conversations and financial transactions every day, and engaged in military operations against radical Muslims everywhere from the Philippines to Somalia -- because of 19 crazies, all of whom died nine years ago?

Radical Islam is not, by any means, a majority of Islam. But with its financiers, clerics, propagandists, trainers, leaders, operatives and sympathizers -- -- according to a conservative estimate, it commands the allegiance of 7 percent of Muslims, i.e., over 80 million souls -- it is a very powerful strain within Islam. It has changed the course of nations and affected the lives of millions. It is the reason every airport in the West is an armed camp and every land is on constant alert.

Ground Zero is the site of the most lethal attack of that worldwide movement, which consists entirely of Muslims, acts in the name of Islam and is deeply embedded within the Islamic world. These are regrettable facts, but facts they are. And that is why putting up a monument to Islam in this place is not just insensitive but provocative.

Just as the people of Japan today would not think of planting their flag at Pearl Harbor, despite the fact that no Japanese under the age of 85 has any possible responsibility for that infamy, representatives of contemporary Islam -- the overwhelming majority of whose adherents are equally innocent of the infamy committed on 9/11 in their name -- should exercise comparable respect for what even Obama calls hallowed ground.

PoliticsNY.Net: PALADINO CLOSING IN ON LAZIO

Poll

UPDATE: 63% of those polled by Siena are opposed to a Mosque being built near ground zero.

Meanwhile: "Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino, a Republican candidate for Governor of New York, criticized New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor David Paterson for "bending over backwards" for a foreign-financed mosque at Ground Zero while impeding the reconstruction of an historic Greek Orthodox Catholic Church destroyed by radical Islamists who attacked American on September 11th.

"When the foreign government-financed mosque needed zoning and other permits for construction on the site of a building damaged on 9-11, New York City bent over backwards in the name of religious liberty," Paladino said. "Why can't Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Paterson give St. Nicholas Church the same courtesy?" ...

Paladino has closed the gap against Lazio to 13 points among Republicans, according to a Siena College poll of registered New York voters released Wednesday. Cuomo maintains wide lead.

Mr Greenberg with Siena emails, in response to our inquiry, that this poll is NOT made up of prime GOP voters likely to vote in the September GOP primary; that poll will be out in a few weeks.

SIDEBAR: We believe the Conservative & or GOP match up would be very different with Paladino on the "Taxpayers" line, meaning if the poll differentiated "Taxpayer" line from "Independent"! ###

MEET THE STATE CHAIRMEN

A PoliticsNY.Net Exclusive

NYS Democratic Chairman Jay Jacobs

JACOBS TAKES OVER DEMOCRATIC REINS SAYS BUFFALO VISIT SUCCESS

by Staff

What will Gov. Paterson do and when will he do it?   Does he really intend to stick it out and run for re-election even though his poll numbers seem below the point of resuscitation? And what about Andrew Cuomo, the extremely popular Democratic attorney general who seems ready, willing, and able to lead Democrats in next year’s elections?

Those questions and many others are among the challenges facing the state’s new Democratic chairman, Nassau County’s Jay Jacobs who took over the party’s reins in Buffalo during a two-day conference that featured Paterson, Cuomo, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, and Democrats from across the state hoping for party unity in next year’s looming elections.

“It went really very good in Buffalo,” said Jacobs during an exclusive interview with www.PoliticsNY.net. “I talked to a lot of people and I think we’ve set ourselves on a good course.”

Asked about the biggest challenge the party faces, Gov. Paterson’s sinking popularity in the face of the state’s growing budget deficit and his insistence on running for re-election, Jacobs said it’s too early to panic.

“I think we have a good deal more time than everybody thinks,” said Jacobs. “We’re not through the 2009 elections yet, so the governor has some time to make his case to the public and he’s going to do that. The poll numbers today may not be the poll numbers of tomorrow,” adding “Gov. Paterson is running and I support him.”

That position seems to fly in the face of the conventional political wisdom---and apparently President Obama’s wishes---to let Andrew Cuomo top next year’s ticket to avoid a Democratic statewide meltdown with a weak Paterson leading the way. But Jacobs insists Paterson has the opportunity and time to resurrect himself and says his job is to build an organization and a strong party to take on the Republicans in 2010.

As for Cuomo, Jacobs says the attorney general’s high standing in the polls in well deserved. “He’s done a great job,” says Jacobs, “and I supported him in 2002 [during Cuomo’s battle with Carl McCall], and I was one of the few county chairman who did and he’s certainly someone I’ve always considered a good friend. I haven’t heard anything but that he’s running for re-election as attorney general, but what happens in the months ahead, I don’t know,” emphasizing again his support for Paterson.

On the battle for control of the State Senate, long a Republican stronghold but currently narrowly controlled by not-always-united Democrats, Jacobs says “you don’t look at it [the Senate] in the aggregate, but in the target races where the parties are vulnerable. You have to be very strategic, raise the revenues, in order to fund strong races. I have been telling the [party] leadership that we had a procedural fight (a reference to the coup) in June, and now we have to demonstrate to the people that we have been fighting for them on the important issues, and we need substantive results to show that we should elect a Democrat. And I am going to try and help our leaders do that.”

One Senate seat that many Democrats fear might be vulnerable next year is Bill Stachowski’s in the 58^th District, and Jacobs said “we know that was a tight race last time and we will have to keep a careful eye on that. We must weigh the threat and obligations of our party to protect our incumbents,” saying he will be doing that as the travels the state to ready the party for next year’s political battles.

Even though Democrats enjoy a roughly 5 to 3 voter enrollment edge in the state over Republicans, Jacobs cautions that “New York voters are smart, and while they have affiliation, we can’t rest easy on that. Of course I would rather be us than them, but we can’t leave any stone unturned.”

Jacobs said he’s optimistic that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who took over Sen. Clinton’s seat when she joined by Obama cabinet, will fare well with voters next year despite her rather poor standing in the polls. “President Clinton said last week that a poll is just a snapshot of a horse race that isn’t finished,” said Jacobs, “and the campaign hasn’t even begun. Not many voters know her but after she spends millions letting people know what she has done, her name recognition and positive polls numbers will go up dramatically.”

Right now, according to Jacobs, voters only know Gillibrand through the short snippets in newspaper stories and that will all change after she gets her message out. “I don’t worry about the early poll numbers,” said the new chairman. “I respect them [the poll numbers] but don’t overly appreciate them.”

Jacobs, who has been the Nassaut County Democratic chairman since 2001, says he met and talked to Mayor Byron Brown during his Buffalo visit “and I was extremely impressed by him. Very talented, tremendous potential, certainly someone who is likely to go places. One place where Brown has been mentioned as likely to go is on the ticket with Andrew Cuomo next year, providing Cuomo is the candidate at the top.

As for the two leading Republican names that have been bandied about for governor and senator, Jacobs says he doesn’t think either former Mayor Rudy Giuliani or former Gov. George Pataki will risk their political legacies on races they might lose. “I have a sense that Rudy will take a long look and decide it’s not a race and I think Gov. Pataki will do the same. They are both making a ton of money in the private sector and a loss would be catastrophic to their legacies and wouldn’t make sense.”

The only announced Republican candidate for governor so far is former four-term Congressman Rick Lazio who has been warmly received by Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long.

Jacobs has enjoyed great success as chairman in Nassau County where Democrats, under his watch, have re-elected a Democratic majority in the legislature in 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007, and elected a Democratic county executive, comptroller, assessor, and district attorney.

He takes over as state chairman from June O’Neill.

A PoliticsNY.Net Exclusive
NYS Republican Chairman Ed Cox

COX SAYS ALL IS WELL WITH NIAGARA COUNTY CHAIRMAN HENRY WOJTASZEK

by Staff

Ed Cox, the soon-to-be Republican state chairman, stopped in Buffalo on Wednesday, the same day former Long Island Rep. Rick Lazio was in town to pitch his candidacy to be the GOP candidate for governor next year against most likely Atty. Gen. Andrew Cuomo.

Cox, a lawyer and the son-in-law of former President Richard Nixon, met with Erie County Republican Chairman Jim Domagalski and other party faithful, including his defeated rival to lead the party, Niagara County Chairman Henry Wojtaszek who had enjoyed the support of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, himself a possible gubernatorial candidate.

But Cox tells www.PoliticsNY.net that all is well with Wojtaszek, saying “I have Henry’s full support and he is being very helpful.” And Cox also had high praise for Giuliani, who had stumped hard to win the chairmanship for Wojtaszek, fueling talk that Giuliani wanted his own chairman for an expected gubernatorial run.

It was not the first time Cox had squared off against Giuliani.   As chairman of John McCain’s presidential campaign in New York State, Cox butted heads with the former mayor who harbored his own presidential ambitions. But on Wednesday, Cox was conciliatory.

“Mayor Giuliani would have made a great president,” Cox said in a telephone interview. “But given the international situation, I felt McCain would be a little better. And secondly, I think the mayor is a wonderful asset for New York State and the Republican Party, so I wouldn’t let anyone attack him during that [presidential] campaign, including the fire fighters in New York.”

Cox added that he believes Giuliani “would be a great candidate and would make a great governor,” adding he didn’t think Giuliani’s support for Wojtaszek “means that he was against me.”

As for the enthusiasm of some GOP faithful to Lazio’s candidacy, Cox said: “Well, when you are the only candidate out there, people get very enthusiastic. He has a lot of attractive features. He was a major J P Morgan Chase executive and that bank survived and did well during the economic recession. He [Lazio] has a certain charisma, supports a unicameral (single body) legislature. There’s a lot there. But we’re going to see a full field of candidates going forward.”

Cox is expected to win election as state chairman next Tuesday at the GOP organizing convention in Albany when he will formally take over the party’s leadership from Joe Mondello. While he would appear to face an uphill fight in rebuilding the party, Cox appears ready and willing to take on the challenge.

“I’m very excited, the opportunities to do good things for people are just tremendous,” said Cox who had the clear backing of the majority of party leaders across the state, perhaps best exemplified by GOP Chairman Jay Dutcher of Ontario County who said the following about Cox: “…Ed Cox stands out as the candidate with the ability to rejuvenate the party, raise the funds, recruit the candidates and provide the support and leadership the Republican candidates across the state deserve.”

So Cox will take over the helm of a party badly in need of rejuvenation, with a battle for control of the State Senate looming as well as the positions of governor and senator. And Cox was especially energized about taking on Sen. Kirsten Gilibrand who was appointed to fill out Hillary Clinton’s term.

“She is very vulnerable,” said Cox in describing Gilibrand as a “political chameleon without moral scruples or principles. She was a hard-core conservative [as a congresswoman] who voted for funding Acorn. Even [Sen.] Schumer voted against funding Acorn,” an organization he said washes taxpayer funds for political purposes.

“She supported [Acorn] because she’s concerned about the far left, especially in the New York primary process. I think taxpayers will be looking for principled candidates who will fight for the forgotten taxpayers of New York State.”

Cox said that’s what the party will be looking for, candidates who are dedicated to taking care of the forgotten state taxpayers who are paying more for less, feel that their jobs are being threatened, and witnesses their children leaving the state for better opportunities elsewhere. Cox included former Gov. George Pataki as one of those principled candidates who will be in the mix. The former governor and former Mayor Giuliani have both been mentioned as possible Senate candidates against Gilibrand.

So come Tuesday, the leadership of the State GOP will be in the hands of Cox, a prominent Manhattan lawyer who in 2008 was named in Super Lawyers in the area of Securities & Corporate Finance and his firm, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLL was ranked number one in New York city and number three in the U. S. on the American Lawyer’s list of elite law firms.

Cox is perhaps best known as the husband of Tricia Nixon, daughter of the late President Nixon.



A PoliticsNY.Net Exclusive

NYS Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long

LONG HOPES GOP ENDS FIGHT SOON, BOOSTS POSSIBLE LAZIO CANDIDACY

by staff

State Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long says he hopes New York Republicans settle their leadership fight soon so that the focus will be on the full slate of offices up next year, including governor, comptroller, attorney general, and two U. S. Senate seats. There’s also the matter of the State Senate, controlled for so many years by Republicans but now in the tenuous grip of Democrats.

“It’s their fight, not mine,” said Long, the state’s longest tenured chairman (20 years) in declining to comment directly on the GOP chairmanship battle between Niagara County’s Henry Wojtaszek and Nixon son-in-law Ed Cox. But Long added it was his hope that Republicans will settle the matter quickly and move on to developing a strong slate of candidates for next year’s important elections with the state mired deep fiscal troubles.

Long, who jokingly refers to himself as the longest running play in town, told www.PoliticsNY.net that so far, the only Republican who has approached him about the top state office next year is former four-term Congressman Rick Lazio who lost to Hillary Clinton during the 2000 Senate campaign, largely because he got too close to her during a debate in Buffalo, seen as an intimidating move by many women voters.

“We have not committed to support anyone yet,” said Long, adding that the only potential candidate who has approached so far is Lazio who has made a number of appearances before Conservative Party organizations giving every indication, according to Long, that he intends to run.

“I think he [Lazio] is a bright, articulate guy who if he has the support and money could be a serious contender,” said the chairman. “He’s always had the Conservative Party endorsement and he ran statewide in 2000, so he certainly knows the state and he is willing to make the personal sacrifices. At some point he will leave his job, a fairly high-salaried position (Wall Street executive) and campaign for governor.”

Long said Lazio shows a willingness to take on the state’s deep troubles and states there is a need for change. “We have to defend the taxpayers,” said Long. “People are losing their jobs, taxes and spending are out of control. I think he understands that and feels New York is worth fighting for. He also bring some vision for the future,” adding there is a need to stop people from voting with their feet and leaving the state.

“I like what he’s saying,” said Long, adding no other person has approached him or talked about being given consideration for a gubernatorial run.

As for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is backing Wojtaszek for chairman, Long said he didn’t believe the 9/11 hero was planning a run.

“I heard he was saying he would decide in 30 to 60 days,” said Long. “I would think if he was serious, he would be moving around. I don’t believe he’s considering a run for governor. A lot of people are trying to encourage him, but it doesn’t appear he’s going that way.”

On the matter of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is seen by many as the strongest potential Democratic candidate next year given Gov. Paterson’s dismal poll numbers, Long said that while Cuomo did speak at a major Conservative Party event last February, he doesn’t expect that Cuomo would be looking for the endorsement of the party.

The Conservative leader said he did receive a visit from Assemblyman Jack Quinn at party headquarters in New York recently who, according to Long, said he wanted to work more closely with the party going forward. Long said Quinn (R-146^th District) “is possibly looking to run for higher office,” but that he made no commitment to Quinn who has been mentioned as a possible challenger to Democratic State Sen. William Stachowski next year. The other possibility should Senator Dale Volker retire is Quinn will move into that district & contest for Volker's seat. However, many political observers believe that would be a crtical error in judgement on Quinn's part for reasons that will surface in the near future.

“Right now, I’m involved in the 23^rd District congressional race,” said Long, “We’re going to support a conservative Republican when the seat becomes vacant later this year, with a special election possible in November. Maybe we can pull off a mini-Jim Buckley race and win a three-way contest.” Long said the Conservative Party will support Doug Hoffman in the 23^rd which covers mainly the north country, including Watertown.

As for the current state of the Conservative Party in New York, Long said the policies of Gov. Paterson in Albany and of President Obama in Washington are giving life to conservative policies.

“We [the party] have had our ups and downs, but I think with what’s happening in New York and Washington with Paterson and Obama we’re seeing a spike in support of conservative policies and a growth of the party,” said the long-time leader.

A PoliticsNY.Net Exclusive

NYS INDEPENDENCE PARTY CHAIRMAN FRANK MACKAY

IP SETS GOAL OF 500,000 VOTERS

by Staff

The state Independence Party, the third line on the election ballot, is not focusing on next year’s gubernatorial election, at least not yet.

That’s the word from Chairman Frank MacKay (Suffolk County) who tells www.PoliticsNY.net that the focus right now is on party building. MacKay was doing just that while chatting on the phone from his car while traveling in Columbia County after a stop in Albany County, as the party seeks to expand its registered membership from the roughly 412,000 voters it has right now.

“That’s the largest third party in the history of the U. S.,” says MacKay, “and we’re on the path toward 500,000, and that’s certainly a goal of ours and it is within reach. When it does [reach 500,000], then we’ll celebrate.”

In this space recently (scroll down) , state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long signaled the party was warm to the expected gubernatorial run of former Rep. Rick Lazio, who is expected to get into the race shortly. Meanwhile, President Obama is sending signals to New York Gov. David Paterson that he should not seek election next year, obviously recognizing Paterson’s dismal poll numbers and the fear that Paterson at the top of the ticket could hurt Democratic candidates in numerous key races. Obama appears to favor Andrew Cuomo, as the attorney general enjoys very high standing among voters.

“It’s early on the governor’s race,” says MacKay. “We don’t endorse until we know who is in the game. We’ll make our decision after we find out who is running and who is being endorsed. Paterson is a friend, as is Andrew and Rudy Giuliani. Also, Rick Lazio. All types of people. But we always go last.”

Make no mistake about Chairman MacKay’s allegiance to billionaire Sabres owner Tom Golisano and his top political adviser, Steve Pigeon, both of whom will most certainly have a lot to say about the party’s candidate for governor next year.

“Tom Golisano is the founder of our party, and without him we wouldn’t be here,” says MacKay. “Our respect is never ending. Steve and Tom are very close, and certainly Steve is an ally and a friend,” adding Pigeon’s voice will have a great deal of influence with party leaders.

It is clear that MacKay is also hoping for harmony in Erie County, a place that he refers to as “Beirut on the Lake” because of the many party squabbles over the year. MacKay also had kind words for former Chairman Tony Orsini, still a state party vice chairman who seems to have retired to his Springville home following his tumultuous run as the local party’s top guy. “We like Tony and we respect him,” says MacKay, but he clearly notes the chairman is now Sandy Rosenswie and he’s obviously hoping that Erie County will no longer set the bar in the state for rough and tumble politics and will enjoy a period of relative tranquility.

But MacKay says his focus right now continues to be party building and he’s urging everyone to test the waters, with more and more candidates coming over, being independent rather than being Democrat or Republican. And he’s also pushing hard to bring party unity to the fore, saying “yesterday’s enemies can become our friends today.”

MacKay, who has led the Independence Party at the state level since early 2000, usually makes three or four trips a year to Erie County, and while he couldn’t say for sure when he will make his next visit, he said it would certainly be in the near future.

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