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February (9), 2010

PoliticsNY.Net: DEMOCRAT JACK O'DONNELL

Our friend, a possible candidate for Chairman of the Erie County Democratic Committee, Jack O'Donnell was at the Democratic National Committee meeting in DC this weekend.  Jack doing yeoman's work for NYS.  Jack heard speeches by President Obama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and DNC Chairman Tim Kaine during the session . Jack, being from Buffalo, probably the only one at the White House unconcerned about the snow storm outside! ###

NYS 58th SENATE DISTRICT

Sources say, "if Bill Stachowski should opt NOT to run Assemblyman & former Cheektowaga Supervisor Dennis Gabryszak would consider the race."

Gabryszak very popular in that area would put a whole new face on a primary against County Legislator Tim Kennedy.

We don't take Mike Kuzma seriously as a candidate & neither should you.

Meanwhile, the State GOP is willing to spend up to a "million dollars" to coax Assemblyman Jack Quinn into the race. ###

BREAKING NEWS FIRST

SOURCES SAY: "GOVERNOR DAVID PATERSON TO RESIGN"

UPDATE: Sources believe the the NY Times expose' deals with "several" extra marital affairs. We maintain its the AEG casino deal.

The NY Times Danny Hakim, the author of the yet unpublished expose', is writing about Paterson's role in AEG deal today. Hakim, writing that someone has to file against Paterson, before there can be an investigation by the AG.

NY TIMES: "In the meantime, numerous questions have been raised about Aqueduct Entertainment Group, from the fitness of its investors to its poor standing in some of the vetting done by the State Lottery Division to the governor’s courting of Mr. Flake’s political support.

Now comes a trickier question: who even has the standing to investigate the deal? Walter Ayres, a spokesman for the Commission on Public Integrity, the state’s ethics regulator, said the deal did “not currently appear to involve any matter under our jurisdiction.”

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo would need a referral to investigate, from either the governor or some other government entity. Barring federal involvement, that leaves the inspector general, Joseph Fisch, whose office had no comment."

Please recall that is was our complaint against Assemblyman Sam Lollipop Kid Hoyt that led the Speaker to sanction Hoyt by removing him from the Intern program. We have to wonder if the NY Times has enough to publish the kind of expose' that has the country taking? ...

The question: Is the NY Times playing Washington Post Watergate like games with the Paterson expose'? Please take note Paterson's lawyer is speaking for him on the AEG (casino) matter; this issue could be the center piece of the Times expose'. We believe the Times is actually ex-officio negotiating Paterson's future. Right now our understanding is he will announce he will NOT run for reelection. However, the calls for him to step down might be overwhelming & he could step down. This is a very fluid story stay tuned. ...



We have excellent sources ... however still unofficial. By extrapolation we know the NY Times has been working on an investigative article. If the article is as damning as everyone is making it out to be there could be negotiations going on between the Times & the Gov's office. Further, the Gov could be attempting to negotiate a deal of some kind to stay on or leave with dignity. ...

PoliticsNY.Net has learned that the NY Times Danny Hakim will break an article, possibly this weekend, that could force Governor David Paterson to resign or at the very least take him out of the race this year.

Multiple sources say, "that the Times has information on wide spread drug abuse, affair (s) & gambling." Stay tuned ###

NEW YORK STATE POLITICAL INTERNET NEWS

UPDATE: TIMES UNION: Smith: Sufficient votes to expel Monserrate. Senate President Malcolm Smith said there are sufficient votes in the chamber to expel Hiram Monserrate, a Queens Democrat who was deemed unfit to serve by a special committee. Monserrate was convicted last year of misdemeanor assault and the Senate will move to either censure or expel him this week. “I believe if an expulsion vote comes to the floor there’s more than sufficient votes that he would be expelled,” Smith said this morning. He was asked about the suggestion that some Democrats might join with Republicans to force an expulsion resolution to the chamber floor. “I don’t think it’s an open revolt,” Smith said. “We had open dialogue with our members over the weekend. They expressed their concern about the expulsion versus the censure. We’re having more dialogue today, and a vote will come up tomorrow…If it happens that way and they join together for that reason, this is a new Senate. We believe in openness and transparency, and them voting their conscience.” Full story

NY TIMES: The Privilege to Serve. Albany needs a strong ethics reform bill. The one vetoed by Gov. David Paterson had a lot of flaws, including its failure to require state legislators who also work as lawyers to publicly disclose who is paying for their professional services. See state screen

NY TIMES: Push to Force Monserrate Expulsion Vote in the Senate. A group of Senate Democrats, concerned about efforts within their party to block the removal of a senator convicted of domestic violence, say they will attempt to force a vote to expel him this week even if they cannot win the support of State Senate leaders. Full story

NY TIMES: As Gillibrand Gathers Endorsements, Ford Calls It ‘Underhanded’. Former Representative Harold E. Ford Jr. accused Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand on Sunday of using “underhanded tactics” to try to keep him off the ballot, and he urged New York City Democratic Party officials to delay an endorsement amid intense wrangling over how to handle his potential candidacy. Full story

TIMES UNION: Will he, won't he, and just what is it? Capitol remains abuzz about rumors surrounding governor. A state Capitol already prone to rumor has spent much of the past week humming in anticipation of a possible New York Times report on Gov. David Paterson -- a story that as of Sunday night had not run in the paper or appeared on its Web site. See state screen

TIMES UNION: NY Gov. Paterson meets with lawmakers over future. Gov. David Paterson met privately with key Democratic leaders about his re-election plans as questions swirl around the state capitol about a variety of unproven accusations involving the Democratic governor's personal conduct. Full story

TIMES UNION: The day of judgment nears for Monserrate Vote likely Tuesday as state Senate is expected to take up thorny issue of what to do about conviction. Amid private but intense lobbying from his members, Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson will decide how to handle the case of the Queens Democrat, who was found unfit to serve by a special committee following a conviction on a misdemeanor assault charge -- an offense the panel termed a "crime of domestic violence." Full story

NY DAILY NEWS: Harlem's black elected officials, business leaders are second-guessing loyalties to Paterson. Gov. Paterson's Harlem base is crumbling. African-American elected officials and business leaders who have long been the core of the embattled governor's dwindling support are now second-guessing their loyalties.They're openly wondering if a "soft landing" can be found for Paterson prior to the fall elections. The "What to do about Dave?" topic came up at a meeting two weeks ago at Sylvia's Restaurant. See state screen

NY DAILY NEWS: Furious Democrats blast Gov. Paterson on ethics reform bill. Furious Senate Democrats all but accused the Paterson administration Sunday of lying about its supposed lack of interest in negotiating a compromise ethics reform bill. Gov. Paterson has been talking to Senate Republicans and plans to introduce his own measure Monday in hopes of heading off an override of the ethics bill he vetoed last week. State Sen. Eric Schneiderman angrily insisted the governor had "never called a meeting" with the Senate Dems to broker a compromise deal. Full story

NY POST: Queens pols stiffed Katrina victims. Group's 30G in 'relief' vanished down the drain. It's the Big Sleazy. Devastated Hurricane Katrina survivors from New Orleans were left high and dry by a charity set up to help them by state Sen. Malcolm Smith and Rep. Gregory Meeks of Queens. Only $1,392 of at least $31,000 raised to help Katrina families was paid, tax records show, and just about everybody involved with the charity -- including the two Democratic pols -- claim ignorance as to where the rest of the money went. Meeks said in a statement that "the funds were utilized to help sustain displaced evacuees," but refused to provide further detail. He said money was administered by an unidentified director and that "a committee of community representatives functioned as advisers to the fund." See state screen

NY POST: 'Paranoid' gov going ballistic. Gov. Paterson is lashing out at top aides for the growing debacle surrounding what they consider a "corrupt" Aqueduct gambling deal decision -- and suggesting that they'll soon be fired, The Post has learned. "He's become paranoid. He sits gnashing his teeth, looking around for scapegoats among the people around him," said a source frequently in contact with Paterson. "He's lecturing them, launching into tirades, and he's demoralized the entire staff in the process." Full story

NY POST: Paterson botched chance to clean up Aqueduct bidding process. Whether or not you like Gov. Paterson's decision to pick the politically connected Aqueduct Entertainment Group to run video lottery slots at Aqueduct Race Track, it's hard to defend the sleaze-soaked process that led to it. The debacle is the product of a scheme hatched by ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer -- who resigned in scandal -- and former Senate Majority leader Joseph Bruno -- who was convicted of corruption -- in early 2008. Their mutual distrust was so great, they decided that any Aqueduct deal would need unanimous approval from Albany's "three men in a room." Full story ###

JosephIlluzzi704@aol.com

DRAFT LARRY KUDLOW FOR US SENATE

FORMER NEW YORK CONSERVATIVE PARTY STATE CHAIRMAN AND CO-FOUNDER JOINS KUDLOW DRAFT

Former Queens Senator Maltese Calls Kudlow Rock Solid

Former New York Conservative Party State Chairman and co-founder Serphin Maltese today announced he will serve as co-chairman of the Draft Larry Kudlow Committee, a group working to recruit the popular CNBC commentator to run against liberal Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

"Larry Kudlow's potential candidacy represents a very real opportunity to replace Senator Schumer, so I'm excited to work with Larry's thousands of supporters," said former State Senator Maltese. "We will work with Republicans and Conservatives to back Larry Kudlow who we are certain can give Schumer a run for his money and win."

"Larry's an accomplished pro-growth economist, but he is also rock solid on core conservative values," said Senator Maltese, a longtime advocate of conservative policies and principles. "He is a leader for a strong national defense, he's a staunch defender of our Second Amendment rights and he opposes abortion on demand. These are the vital issues that concern all of us in New York State and the nation."

Senator Maltese was first elected to the New York State Senate in November of 1988 on the Republican, Conservative and Right to Life Party lines. He was reelected for ten terms, serving the 15th Senatorial District in Queens County in the City of New York. He also served as Chairman of the Queens County Republican Party for ten years and he retains the title of Honorary Chairman today.

Synonymous with the Empire State's unique conservative movement, Senator Maltese was a co-founder the New York State Conservative Party in 1962 and became its executive director in 1971. He ascended to the chairmanship in 1986. He also served as an advisor to US Senators James Buckley and Alfonse D'Amato and as New York State Chairman of Conservatives for Ronald Reagan in 1980. His is also a 25-year member of the National Board of Directors of the American Conservative Union.

Serph Maltese was an early backer and longtime friend of the late Jack Kemp, who Larry Kudlow advised on economics and monetary policy.

ABOUT DRAFT LARRY KUDLOW COMMITTEE

The Draft Larry Kudlow Committee was formed in Buffalo in January to gather support for the renowned pro-growth economist's potential run for the US Senate against New York's senior Senator Chuck Schumer. Senator Maltese joins founding co-chairmen Dr. David Tukey of Manhattan and Michael Caputo of Buffalo. The committee is registered with the Federal Election Commission but does not operate at the behest of Mr. Kudlow.

In just a few short weeks, the group is has gathered thousands of members at www.DraftKudlow.com and on Facebook at http://bit.ly/dDjSfp.

February 8, 2010

PoliticsNY.Net: ERIE COUNTY FISCAL STABILITY AUTHORITY

The Finance Committee voted Friday to become a "hard" board once again.

The members will argue the four year plan is out of balance but this is all about the Capital borrowing program.

We did an interview with Executive Director Ken Vetter a few weeks ago. Vetter believed that the ECFSA would execute another one year Bond Anticipation Note to cover last year's note & this year's Capital Budget.

Apparently, County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz didn't get the message because he had a 30 year $170M borrowing approved by the Legislature Thursday. I was actually surprised when I heard that because it did not agree with what Vetter said.

Please recall the war of words between the Executive, Comptroller, Legislature & the ECFSA over the previous two or three years with respect to this issue of who will execute the Capital Bond program. They agreed last year that the ECFSA would borrow via a BAN & the County would execute a "Mirror" Bond. Oh & yes the plan was to duplicate last's year's BAN borrowing because there still is no agreement on long term borrowing, i.e., paying interest twice on the same money.

This all fast forwards us to next Friday when the full Board will vote to go "hard" again; with I am positive a resumption of the wars of words between all layers of county government that the taxpayers experienced in 07 - 08 & part of 09.

The exciting thing for me is will Poloncarz sell the Capital Bonds before the full ECFSA board has a chance to vote; wouldn't that be a hoot! ###

JosephIlluzzi704@aol.com

President Obama and Common Sense

by Bill O'Reilly

A few months ago, I wrote an article for Parade magazine about what President Obama could teach America's kids. Basically, the piece told children that despite having no father present and a rather loopy mom, the president was able to prosper and achieve the most powerful position in the world. If young Barry Obama could overcome his chaotic upbringing (which included a stint in Indonesia), most American kids in difficult circumstances can do the same.

There is no question that Obama is a brilliant man. After graduating from Harvard Law, he worked his way up the political ladder quickly, using Chicago's South Side as a launching pad. That's tough turf, so Obama had to combine book smarts with guile, which he did.

And so it is simply stunning to see how poorly Obama is faring in the common sense zone as president. The best example of his failure to anticipate trouble is how he's handling Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

I remember sitting there with some friends in New York City last November when Attorney General Eric Holder announced that old Khalid would be leaving Guantanamo Bay and heading for the Big Apple to be tried by civilians instead of by a military tribunal. We looked at one another incredulously. Is Obama joking? Doesn't he know how raw emotions still are in the city? And then the expense estimates began rolling in -- it would take hundreds of millions of dollars to try Mohammed and four other al-Qaida thugs.

Then I was reminded that Congress had passed a law specifically allowing captured overseas terrorists to be judged by the military. Since a military trial would cost about $39.95 a day (participants are already on the federal payroll), why on earth would anyone OK an incredibly expensive dog and pony show for these murderers?

Remember, Mohammed already admitted to planning 9/11 and gave up his confederates in the effort, most of whom, upon capture, confirmed that he was Mr. Big. Also, Mohammed says he personally slit the throat of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. He has admitted doing this. So why are we wasting time?

Holder says it's because we want the world to see the U.S. justice system on display. Again, why? The people who hate us are not going to change their minds because a jury condemns the terrorists to death instead of military officers. Do Holder and the president not get that?

Polls show that most Americans realize the Mohammed decision is stupid. Now big-time Democrats like Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer have publicly told the president to wise up. And he has. Last Friday, the White House announced it was looking at other venues. Swell.

But why was this deal allowed to get out of control? That is very troubling. If Obama is so smart, why did he not realize the absurdity of the situation?

At this point, I simply don't know.

February 7, 2010

O's Saturday Internet Address

PoliticsNY.Net: NYS SENATOR HIRAM MONSERATTE

UPDATE: Senate Democrats are denying reports circulated by GOP rivals Friday morning that chamber boss John Sampson had decided to nix a highly anticipated vote to expel Hiram Monserrate. A Senate Republican told The Post that the Democratic conference leader had settled on the slap-on-the-wrist punishment of "sanctions" for the convicted Queens lawmaker. That's the lesser of two penalties recommended last month by a special Senate committee appointed to weigh Monserrate's fate. See state screen ...

Senate Will Decide Monserrate's Fate Next Week. Senate Democrats have pledged to take action to punish State Senator Hiram Monserrate, convicted of a misdemeanor in a domestic violence incident, before the winter break. A Senate committee earlier this year voted to take two possible actions against Senator Hiram Monserrate, who was convicted of misdemeanor assault, involving his then- girlfriend. The committee recommended that Monserrate be either expelled from the Senate, or censured. Full story ###

ERIE COUNTY LEGISLATURE

The Legislature moved the 1% temporary (20 years) sales tax along.

I surmise they passed the Capital budget of $170M or so; over $100M to pay off the BAN the Control Board executed last year, $40M for the Capital program this year, the rest for sewers that kind of thing. $3M was deleted for a new County lock up. The dems say they didn't have enough info to move the project along. After a threat by the gang of six dems to hold up the entire Capital program Miller Williams, Kennedy & Bove joined their follow partisans & deleted the $3M. We are sure if need be the County Executive will find an alternative way to move the project along.

Comptroller Poloncarz reminded me that the Control Board's approval for his office to execute the long bond was not necessary because they are not in a "hard" status.

When I left they were on a ten minute recess this after starting the session late.

The recess had lasted an hour by the time I left.

I have seen about half a dozen Chairs come & go but the current Chair needs to come prepared, number one. Number two: Convene the session on time with at least the appearance of decorum. No doubt some members on the Dem side were smirking at Miller Williams indecisiveness & that is sad. BUT its up to Miller Williams to come prepared & control the session.

I have never seen so many staff members.

I could be mistaken but staff made up most of the individuals in attendance.

Hopefully, this will all straighten itself out by the next session. ###

GOV'S ROSE GARDEN STRATEGY

Gov. David Paterson launched into attack mode on WOR’s The John Gambling Show this morning, saying likely rival Andrew Cuomo is too “afraid” to come out of the rose garden and say how he would deal with the state’s problems.

“Is this the openness and transparency?” Paterson told Gambling. “Is this the good government? Is this the progressive kind of leadership that we’ve been waiting for? Someone who is so afraid of any kind of controversy that they’re going to wait to the last minute, jump in, win the primary, win the general election and then the public will only find out what they think a year from now.”

Paterson, who referred to himself as battle-tested, said Cuomo does not want to sacrifice his high approval ratings by stating how he would deal with the state budget, the MTA, and other tough issues now being confronted.

“At this point, he has said nothing and that is the rose garden strategy,” Paterson said.

“The minute he steps in the water, the media will ask him the same questions that they ask me. He will have to answer and then all of those who thought he was going to support their opinion - which is 100 percent of the people - are going to find out that there’s now way that he can avoid winding up in the same circumstances that I’m in because were in a bad recession.” NY Daily News ###

JosephIlluzzi704@aol.com

Advocacy Ads During the Super Bowl?

Public Okays Tebow Pro Life Ad

Marist Poll

Although more than three-quarters of Americans who plan to tune in this Sunday — 78% — say they watch the Super Bowl for the game, a notable proportion — 22% — say the commercials are the main attraction.

As usual, this year’s Super Bowl ads are generating a lot of attention, but the introduction of advocacy ads is adding a new layer to the discussion. Networks have, previously, been hesitant to include issue-related commercials during Super Bowl coverage. And, nearly one-half of Americans — 49% — agree with that precedent, saying it is inappropriate for such ads to be allowed during the game. 44%, on the other hand, believe they are appropriate.

Although 49% of Americans oppose the inclusion of advocacy ads during the Super Bowl, 60% think CBS has made the right move to allow a pro-life ad sponsored by the group Focus on the Family, featuring Heisman Trophy winner and Florida Gators Quarterback Tim Tebow and his mother. 30%, though, think it should not air, and 10% are unsure.

Overall, how should CBS make the decision about whether to air responsibly-produced advocacy ads? If it were up to the American people, 34% report the network should pick and choose the issue-related commercials to be included while 25% believe all advocacy ads should be allowed on a first-come basis. 36% don’t think they should be aired at all.

Will Obama Play the War Card?

by Pat Buchanan

Republicans already counting the seats they will pick up this fall should keep in mind Obama has a big card yet to play.

Should the president declare he has gone the last mile for a negotiated end to Iran's nuclear program and impose the "crippling" sanctions he promised in 2008, America would be on an escalator to confrontation that could lead straight to war.

And should war come, that would be the end of GOP dreams of adding three-dozen seats in the House and half a dozen in the Senate.

Harry Reid is surely aware a U.S. clash with Iran, with him at the president's side, could assure his re-election. Last week, Reid whistled through the Senate, by voice vote, a bill to put us on that escalator.

Senate bill 2799 would punish any company exporting gasoline to Iran. Though swimming in oil, Iran has a limited refining capacity and must import 40 percent of the gas to operate its cars and trucks and heat its homes.

And cutting off a country's oil or gas is a proven path to war.

In 1941, the United States froze Japan's assets, denying her the funds to pay for the U.S. oil on which she relied, forcing Tokyo either to retreat from her empire or seize the only oil in reach, in the Dutch East Indies.

The only force able to interfere with a Japanese drive into the East Indies? The U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor.

Egypt's Gamel Abdel Nasser in 1967 threatened to close the Straits of Tiran between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba to ships going to the Israeli port of Elath. That would have cut off 95 percent of Israel's oil.

Israel response: a pre-emptive war that destroyed Egypt's air force and put Israeli troops at Sharm el-Sheikh on the Straits of Tiran.

Were Reid and colleagues seeking to strengthen Obama's negotiating hand?

The opposite is true. The Senate is trying to force Obama's hand, box him in, restrict his freedom of action, by making him impose sanctions that would cut off the negotiating track and put us on a track to war -- a war to deny Iran weapons that the U.S. Intelligence community said in December 2007 Iran gave up trying to acquire in 2003.

Sound familiar?

Republican leader Mitch McConnell has made clear the Senate is seizing control of the Iran portfolio. "If the Obama administration will not take action against this regime, then Congress must."

U.S. interests would seem to dictate supporting those elements in Iran who wish to be rid of the regime and re-engage the West. But if that is our goal, the Senate bill, and a House version that passed 412 to 12, seem almost diabolically perverse.

For a cutoff in gas would hammer Iran's middle class. The Revolutionary Guard and Basij militia on their motorbikes would get all they need. Thus the leaders of the Green Movement who have stood up to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollah oppose sanctions that inflict suffering on their own people.

Cutting off gas to Iran would cause many deaths. And the families of the sick, the old, the weak, the women and the children who die are unlikely to feel gratitude toward those who killed them.

And despite the hysteria about Iran's imminent testing of a bomb, the U.S. intelligence community still has not changed its finding that Tehran is not seeking a bomb.

The low-enriched uranium at Natanz, enough for one test, has neither been moved nor enriched to weapons grade. Ahmadinejad this week offered to take the West's deal and trade it for fuel for its reactor. Iran's known nuclear facilities are under U.N. watch. The number of centrifuges operating at Natanz has fallen below 4,000. There is speculation they are breaking down or have been sabotaged.

And if Iran is hell-bent on a bomb, why has Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair not revised the 2007 finding and given us the hard evidence?

U.S. anti-missile ships are moving into the Gulf. Anti-missile batteries are being deployed on the Arab shore. Yet, Gen. David Petraeus warned yesterday that a strike on Iran could stir nationalist sentiment behind the regime.

Nevertheless, the war drums have again begun to beat.

Richard Pipes in a National Review Online piece featured by the Jerusalem Post -- "How to Save the Obama Presidency: Bomb Iran" -- urges Obama to make a "dramatic gesture to change the public perception of him as a lightweight, bumbling ideologue" by ordering the U.S. military to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.

Citing six polls, Pipes says Americans support an attack today and will "presumably rally around the flag" when the bombs fall.

Will Obama cynically yield to temptation, play the war card and make "conservatives swoon," in Pipes' phrase, to save himself and his party? We shall see.

The Great Peasant Revolt of 2010

by Charles Krauthammer

WASHINGTON -- "I am not an ideologue," protested President Obama at a gathering with Republican House members last week. Perhaps, but he does have a tenacious commitment to a set of political convictions.

Compare his 2010 State of the Union to his first address to Congress a year earlier. The consistency is remarkable. In 2009, after passing a $787 billion (now $862 billion) stimulus package, the largest spending bill in galactic history, he unveiled a manifesto for fundamentally restructuring the commanding heights of American society -- health care, education and energy.

A year later, after stunning Democratic setbacks in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts, Obama gave a stay-the-course State of the Union address (a) pledging not to walk away from health care reform, (b) seeking to turn college education increasingly into a federal entitlement, and (c) asking again for cap-and-trade energy legislation. Plus, of course, another stimulus package, this time renamed a "jobs bill."

This being a democracy, don't the Democrats see that clinging to this agenda will march them over a cliff? Don't they understand Massachusetts?

Well, they understand it through a prism of two cherished axioms: (1) The people are stupid and (2) Republicans are bad. Result? The dim, led by the malicious, vote incorrectly.

Liberal expressions of disdain for the intelligence and emotional maturity of the electorate have been, post-Massachusetts, remarkably unguarded. New York Times columnist Charles Blow chided Obama for not understanding the necessity of speaking "in the plain words of plain folks," because the people are "suspicious of complexity." Counseled Blow: "The next time he gives a speech, someone should tap him on the ankle and say, 'Mr. President, we're down here.'"

A Time magazine blogger was even more blunt about the ankle-dwelling mob, explaining that we are "a nation of dodos" that is "too dumb to thrive."

Obama joined the parade in the State of the Union address when, with supercilious modesty, he chided himself "for not explaining it (health care) more clearly to the American people." The subject, he noted, was "complex." The subject, it might also be noted, was one to which the master of complexity had devoted 29 speeches. Perhaps he did not speak slowly enough.

Then there are the emotional deficiencies of the masses. Nearly every Democratic apologist lamented the people's anger and anxiety, a free-floating agitation that prevented them from appreciating the beneficence of the social agenda the Democrats are so determined to foist upon them.

That brings us to Part 2 of the liberal conceit: Liberals act in the public interest, while conservatives think only of power, elections, self-aggrandizement and self-interest.

It is an old liberal theme that conservative ideas, being red in tooth and claw, cannot possibly emerge from any notion of the public good. A 2002 New York Times obituary for philosopher Robert Nozick explained that the strongly libertarian implications of Nozick's masterwork, "Anarchy, State, and Utopia," "proved comforting to the right, which was grateful for what it embraced as philosophical justification." The right, you see, is grateful when a bright intellectual can graft some philosophical rationalization onto its thoroughly base and self-regarding politics.

This belief in the moral hollowness of conservatism animates the current liberal mantra that Republican opposition to Obama's social democratic agenda -- which couldn't get through even a Democratic Congress and powered major Democratic losses in New Jersey, Virginia and Massachusetts -- is nothing but blind and cynical obstructionism.

By contrast, Democratic opposition to George W. Bush -- from Iraq to Social Security reform -- constituted (BEG ITAL)dissent(END ITAL). And dissent, we were told at the time, including by candidate Obama, is "one of the truest expressions of patriotism."

No more. Today, dissent from the governing orthodoxy is nihilistic malice. "They made a decision," explained David Axelrod, "they were going to sit it out and hope that we failed, that the country failed" -- a perfect expression of liberals' conviction that their aspirations are necessarily the country's, that their idea of the public good is the public's, that their failure is therefore the nation's.

Then comes Massachusetts, an election Obama himself helped nationalize, to shatter this most self-congratulatory of illusions.

For liberals, the observation that "the peasants are revolting" is a pun. For conservatives, it is cause for uncharacteristic optimism. No matter how far the ideological pendulum swings in the short term, in the end the bedrock common sense of the American people will prevail.

The ankle-dwelling populace pushes back. It re-centers. It renormalizes. Even in Massachusetts.

Councilman Joe Golombek Sounds Like a Candidate

Golombek, from a published report, talking about running against Hoyt.

A number of people have come to me to encourage me to run," he reported. "I'm definitely considering the idea. I'm talking with members of my family about it and I will have an annoucement eventually. When will I announce my decision?...Well, it could be next week or it could be in June. I've got some time before I have to decide, but it could be fairly soon."

If Councilman Golombek does run, he will campaign on a pledge to shake things up in Albany.

"Albany is doing a terrible job," he charges. "Just about anyone who works in Albany is probably not doing a good job and the longer they have been there, the worst they are. I understand that incumbents can raise a lot of money by catering to special interests. I will not kowtow or pander to special interests in order to raise money. If Tom Golisano came to me and told me that he would give me a lot of money if I would support making major reforms in the way Albany does business, I would say yes because I would do that anyway...

"If someone told me they would give me money if I would say that I would vote against Shelley Silver's re-election as Speaker, then I would say yes, because I definitely plan to vote against Silver if I'm elected to the Assembly. But, if someone told me they would support me if I came out against charter schools, then I'd have to say no, because I've never been strongly opposed to charter schools, especially since we have a wonderful one in my district...I will not pander to special interests in order to raise money for any campaign."

Having lost by only about 750 in his 2004 primary challenge to Hoyt, many observers believe Golombek would be a strong candidate should he decide to run.

"Even if I couldn't raise a large amount of money, it's possible that a strong street campaign and the strong anti-Albany mood of the voting public would be enough to overcome the financial advantage my opponent would have," Councilman Golombek concludes. "At least I'd be fighting for reforms in which I really believe."

Last week

PoliticsNY.Net:THEY'RE ALL FLYING OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST

Carl Paladino for governor!!! DUH!!!

UPDATE: "I've met Carl Paladino once. He is someone who has a lot of money, and part of that is that he's always sought subsidies from government. There are a number of people who rely on government for tenants or who rely on government for subsidies and then say government should not spend money on anything else." Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

Paladino says he is not a subsidy developer. That depends on who you ask & what you call a subsidy. Paladino is starting to talk like a politician already. ...

First: You have a talk show host, WBEN 930 Tom Bauerle, in his forties with two kids who admits on AIR that he watches porn. Entercom still has him on the air. Bauerle pimping Paladino's candidacy for governor.

Second: You have a, hopefully, former drunk with issues in Russ Thompson fronting for Carl Paladino. Thompson using his Tea Party, etc. exposure to make Palaldino's case.

Third: What makes this all so ludicrous & which makes these mixed nuts nothing but hypocrites is Paladino derives a great deal of his income at taxpayers expense. The man has made an art out of garnering NYS leases, tax breaks, etc. The man has "used the system" for decades to enrich himself.

Now he is doing his maya copa's by attacking our elected officials ad nauseam.

Looney Tunes ###

CUOMO vs PATERSON

Race not an issue according to Quinnipiac Poll

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's possible challenge of Gov. David Paterson in a Democratic primary will not be racially divisive, voters say 80 - 14 percent in a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Black voters say 73 - 22 percent that a Cuomo challenge won't be racially divisive.

Cuomo leads Paterson 55 - 23 percent among Democrats, compared to 60 - 23 percent in a December 15 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. Cuomo leads Paterson 66 - 15 percent among white Democrats, while Paterson leads 42 - 34 percent among black Democrats. But all blacks give Cuomo better scores on approval and favorability. ###

SENATOR ANTOINE THOMPSON

"Sens. Liz Krueger, Malcolm Smith and Antoine Thompson will serve as DSCC co-chairs, heading up candidate recruitment and management, campaign management and incumbent protection and communications and message development, respectively.

"Under the leadership of Senator Klein along with Senators Krueger, Smith and Thompson, I am confident that Democrats will grow the majority in 2010 because New Yorkers understand that Democrats are committed to creating good jobs and reforming our broken property tax system," Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson said in a press release.

The DSCC reported having about $2 million on cash in its general and housekeeping accounts and almost no debt on Jan. 15. That leaves the Democrats in a far stronger financial position than their Republican counterparts.

The Republicans have already targeted six Democratic incumbents - Valesky, Aubtertine, Stachowski, Stewart-Cousins, Foley and Johnson - and are planning to try to field candidates in other districts, too.

The Democrats have not yet settled on their top tier races, but plan to "go on the offense in more places than we ever had," DSCC Executive Director Josh Cherwin told me yesterday." NY Daily News ###

SCONIERS APPOINTED TO APPELLATE COURT

Governor David A. Paterson Tuesday announced the appointment of Justice Rose H. Sconiers to the Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department.
"I am proud to nominate such an accomplished and respected jurist to the Appellate Division," Governor Paterson said. "Justice Sconiers' experience and dedication on the bench will be a tremendous addition to the Appellate Division." ###

ASSEMBLYMAN SAM HOYT

The Lollipop Kid is losing his flavor among his constituents!

The latest poll numbers, according to sources, do not bode well for Hoyt & his possible run for reelection. Hoyt's favorable rating for the first time in his many - many years in office, an office he inherited from his father, is at its lowest percentile since he took office.

In a one on one against Buffalo Common Councilman Joe Golombek the race, even with Golombek unannounced, is very close. We expect Golombek to make an announcement with respect to his intentions soon. ###

JosephIlluzzi704@aol.com

Matthews and Olbermann

Now Openly Fighting Over Obama

by Ann Coulter

In a "Special Report" on the president's question-and-answer session with Republicans last Friday, MSNBC's jock-sniffers Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow produced a museum-quality show:

MATTHEWS: Everybody agrees he could handle everything today. ...

OLBERMANN: It almost felt like watching the stories of John L. Sullivan, the 19th-century boxer, who would volunteer to fight anybody and everybody in the house and knock them all out

MADDOW (imagining Obama thinking): You've brought a pet issue here, congressman, who is the ranking member of the Budget Committee, let me tell you 400,000 things about it, and invite you to continue the discussion with me later. ...

MATTHEWS: (T)oday showed me that we do produce probably the best candidate and best president we can in this system you can imagine in the world. ...

OLBERMANN: They had 140 players on the field and the other team had one guy and they lost to him. ...

MATTHEWS: You were so unbelievably hot, Mr. President! You blew away the other team!

OBAMA: Beat it.

MATTHEWS: OK, I'll go stand in my locker now.

Unlike the jock-sniffers, normal people watching the president's tete-a-tete with the Republicans only wondered why Obama always responds to imaginary arguments no one made, rather than the questions actually being asked.

That is Obama's signature move: Invent "people" who are "saying" ridiculous things and then encourage the audience to laugh at these made-up buffoons.

Since Obama's reformulations of Republican arguments are always absurd, no further response from him is necessary -- and none is ever forthcoming.

Thus, for example, Obama's description of Republican criticism of his plan to nationalize health care was that "this thing was some Bolshevik plot."

No. No one said it was a "plot," Bolshevik or otherwise.

Republicans' objection to national health care could be more accurately portrayed as follows: Obama's plan to nationalize health care was a terrible idea because it would turn over one-sixth of the American economy to Washington bureaucrats, who would run the system as competently as the federal government runs everything else, from airport security to the post office to FEMA.

How about responding to that argument? (And as long as Obama brought it up, can he explain which part of national health care the Bolsheviks would have objected to most strongly?)

This isn't how adults conduct serious political debates; it's how children argue with their parents. Don't have a cow! Liberals hide conservative arguments from the public like teenagers hide contraband from mother under the bed.

Repeatedly positing imaginary attacks by Republicans accusing him of a "plot," Obama said that "the way these issues are being presented by the Republicans is that this is some wild-eyed plot to impose huge government in every aspect of our lives."

Again, not a "plot" and certainly not "wild-eyed." The only person accusing anyone of "plotting" here is Obama accusing the GOP of plotting against him. I guess they don't teach irony at Harvard Law School.

If Obama is going to keep imagining others accusing him of "plots," could he provide just one example?

Republicans also did not accuse Obama of trying to "impose huge government in every aspect of our lives." Just the part of it that determines how long we get to live.

Continuing his fantasy battle with imaginary opponents, Obama said, "What you've been telling your constituents is, this guy is doing all kinds of crazy stuff that's going to destroy America."

I gather Obama is incapable of responding to his opponents' actual argument, which is that he is proposing all sorts of things that would be very bad for America.

Since he pleads innocence only on the claim that he is doing "crazy stuff that's going to destroy America" -- an argument no one made -- apparently he's guilty as charged on the claim that he's merely doing very bad things to America.

Adopting the pose of limpid nonpartisanship, Obama repeatedly accused Republicans of horrible things using his peculiar straw-man technique.

He told Republicans he was "absolutely committed" to working with them, "but it can't just be political assertions that aren't substantiated."

Can Obama please name a single "unsubstantiated" political assertion by a Republican before wasting everyone's time by instructing Republicans to stop making them?

I can name a few from Obama!

How about the whopper he told about national health care not covering illegal aliens? Or the one about it not covering abortions?

Weeks after Obama made those unsubstantiated political assertions before a joint session of Congress, Democrats were in death-match battles with Republicans (and some moderate Democrats) who tried to exclude coverage for illegals and abortion from the very bills Obama said never contained such coverage in the first place.

How about Obama's claim in his State of the Union address last week that a recent Supreme Court ruling would allow "foreign corporations to spend without limit in our elections"?

In the case Obama mentioned, the court overruled section 441a of the campaign-finance law, which had banned all corporate spending on elections. The case did not concern, nor did the court address, section 441e, which prohibits foreign corporations from making any "contribution or donation of money or other thing of value ... in connection with a Federal, State or local election."

History will record that these remarks from his State of the Union address were the only case legendary barrister Barack Obama ever argued before the Supreme Court. And he lost.

Even when presented with a short, straightforward, simply stated question by Rep. Mike Pence, Obama couldn't help but to formulate a different question.

Pence asked: "Mr. President, will you consider supporting across-the-board tax relief, as President Kennedy did?"

The question Obama wanted Pence to ask was: Mr. President, will you join Republicans in cutting taxes of billionaires?

Luckily, Obama's reformulation gave him an opening for a killer answer: "What you may consider across-the-board tax cuts could be, for example, greater tax cuts for people who are making a billion dollars. I may not agree to a tax cut for Warren Buffett."

Republicans should take that answer and run like a thief in the night! OK, let's cut taxes on everyone except billionaires. I'd even support a specific tax expressly on Warren Buffett. Now, son, how much will you give us for these magic beans?

If only Republicans could maneuver Obama into answering a question on abortion, we could probably get him to agree to ban all abortions -- except in the case of teenage girls who have been raped by their fathers. (This is how I assume Obama would rephrase the question.)

No conservative argues like this. To the contrary, we're morose that Nexis archives are not more complete, so we can't quote liberals directly more often.

PoliticsNY.Net: SCHUMER'S POLL NUMBERS PLUMMET

UPDATE: "U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer deserves to be reelected this year, voters say 54 - 33 percent. Voters approve 58 - 30 percent of the job he is doing, down from 62 - 27 percent in December." Quinnipiac Poll quite a difference from Marist; someone has it wrong? ...

Senator Chuck Schumer’s once rock solid approval rating has taken a slide. For the first time in nearly nine years, Schumer’s approval rating has fallen below 50%. According to the latest Marist Poll in New York, 47% of registered voters statewide report Schumer is doing either an excellent or good job in office. 31% rate the job he is doing as fair, and 17% view him as performing poorly. This is Schumer’s lowest job approval rating since April 2001 when 49% of voters approved of the job he was doing.

Illuzzi: Funny! Marist Polling Director Dr. Lee M. Miringoff says Schumer should be heartened becasue his lead over Larry Kudlow is 67-25%. We believe 25% in February is significant for a man who hasn't even announced running against an entrenched incumbent in a DARK BLUE state like Schumer. ###

MEANWHILE PATAKI LEADS GILLIBRAND

UPDATE: U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand leads possible challenger Harold Ford 36 - 18 percent in a Democratic primary, with 40 percent undecided. Sen. Gillibrand tops Republican challenger Bruce Blakeman 44 - 27 percent while Ford beats Blakeman 35 - 26 percent. New York State voters approve 42 - 28 percent of the job Gillibrand is doing, her highest score in her first year as Senator. She gets a 33 - 22 percent favorability, with 44 percent who haven't heard enough about her to form an opinion. Quinnipiac Poll ...

Is Senator Kirsten Gillibrand likely to be the Democrats’ choice to face the Republican challenger in November? When the sitting senator is matched up against former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr. and labor activist Jonathan Tasini in a hypothetical contest for the Democratic nomination, 44% of Democrats say they support Gillibrand, 27% report they are behind Ford, and 4% state they are backing Tasini. However, a significant 25% of Democratic voters are unsure. This is relatively unchanged from a similar Marist Poll conducted two weeks ago when Gillibrand received the support of 43% of Democrats and Ford garnered 24%. ###

JosephIlluzzi704@aol.com

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer released the following statement regarding the National Transportation Safety Board’s release of their report into the probable causes of the crash of Colgan Air flight 3407:

It’s heart wrenching to think that people who lost loved ones were at this hearing today and learned that it was a collection of avoidable human errors that caused the crash of flight 3407. The FAA cannot bring back the 50 people who lost their lives, but they can work with us to enact legislation that will ensure that tragedies like this don’t happen again. This must be a call to arms to get moving on the FAA reauthorization bill and include our provision to make 1500 hours of flight time mandatory for pilots and copilots.

Assemblyman Jack Quinn

Applauds Paterson’s Veto; Pushes for Full Disclosure, Independent Oversight and Term-Limits

Assemblyman Jack Quinn (R,C,I-Hamburg) applauded Governor Paterson for vetoing the ethics reform legislation hastily adopted by the Legislature just over two weeks ago.   Quinn, who described the bill as election-year “window dressing” because of its failure to address long-term structural reforms and who called on the Governor to use his veto power, was one of only three legislators to vote “no” on the bill. In light of today’s developments, Quinn renewed his push for real reform through the creation of an independent, non-political oversight committee, and full disclosure of outside financial interests. To demonstrate his commitment to reform, Quinn even disclosed a list of every member-item he has given out since he was elected to the Assembly in 2004 and urged his fellow legislators to do the same.

   “The Governor used the power of his office to challenge the state Legislature to adopt real ethics reform, and the Legislature failed,” said Quinn. “This so-called ethics bill, adopted behind closed doors and lacking any real structural reforms, was a perfect example of why Albany has lost the trust of so many people. It’s time to start from scratch, and get a bill to the governor that has real teeth; a bill that actually makes a difference in the way Albany operates.”

Quinn said that any new ethics bill must require full disclosure from each elected official of all private business interests. In addition, the Legislative Ethics Commission, which is appointed by the Legislature, would be replaced by a new independent, non-political regulatory commission to review relationships and interests, investigate conflicts, and when necessary, enforce penalties on individuals found to have broken ethics laws.

“Private interests, whether knowingly or not, impact every legislator’s decision-making and voting habits.” said Quinn. “Full disclosure of all outside income will help shed light on possible conflicts of interest and perhaps, act as a deterrent to questionable practices and relationships. But, stronger disclosure laws won’t help combat corruption, unless we replace our current oversight committee – stocked with appointees of the legislature’s leadership – with an independent, non-political body. The public must be able to trust that our oversight committee is upholding the law, and right now, that’s not the case.”

*Attached to this press release is a list of every member-item request that Jack Quinn has made since his election to the Assembly in 2004. Full disclosure of member-items, according to Quinn, would deter the blatant waste of tax dollars for political gain, and he urges his colleagues to follow his lead.

Medicaid Fraud Costs Billions Annually

Ranzenhofer joins Task Force to eliminate fraud, restore accountability

State Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer has joined the Senate Medicaid Fraud Task Force Tuesday. The U.S. Government Accountability office estimates New York’s Medicaid Fraud to be near $5 billion in 2010.

“Medicaid fraud costs billions of dollars every year. We must investigate ways to eliminate fraud and recover taxpayer dollars to finally restore accountability to New York’s Medicaid program,” said Senator Ranzenhofer. “I am eager to begin working with county leaders and district attorneys who are on the front lines of fighting fraud.”

The task force will hold hearings this month across the State and issue recommendations prior to the April 1^st budget deadline. The creation of the task force is in response to the many documented cases and reports of Medicaid fraud.

The State Comptroller uncovered $92 million in Medicaid overpayments and billing errors last year. After the Department of Health agreed with the report, it only attempted to recover $2.4 million in overpayments.

The New York Post reported nearly 30,000 New York City residents were improperly enrolled in Medicaid. Additionally, only 207 cases were investigated, even though 13,000 should have been reviewed for violations of Medicaid laws.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ranked New York 26^th nationally for Medicaid fraud recovery, based on fraud dollars recovered per Federal Medicaid dollar spent. The Government Accountability Office faulted New York for “not having a comprehensive fraud prevention framework to prevent fraud and abuse of controlled substances paid for by Medicaid.”

Senator Ranzenhofer has been serving in the State Senate since 2009. He represents the 61^st District which includes part of the city of Tonawanda, the Towns of Amherst, Clarence, Newstead and Tonawanda in Erie County and all of Genesee County.

ASSEMBLYMAN JIM HAYES

SAYS PROPOSED STATE BUDGET DRIVES UP COST OF LIVING FOR NEW YORKERS

State Assemblyman Jim Hayes (R,C-Amherst) said Tuesday that the average New York family of four would be hit with $1800 in new and increased taxes and fees while failing to provide any meaningful help for out-of-work New Yorkers, according to a new economic analysis* of the proposed $134 billion 2010/11 state budget now being considered in Albany.

"This budget would measurably deepen the very real economic challenges Western New York families face in their daily lives," Hayes said.

The new information is contained in a report prepared by the minority staffof the Assembly Ways and Means Committee that details the impact $1 billion in new and increased taxes would have on families.

Assemblyman Hayes said, "The state is in fiscal crisis caused by years of over-spending, over-borrowing and over-taxing. New York families and businesses cannot afford one more dime in new taxes or fees. Instead, the proposed state budget again picks the pockets of New York families, in the amount of $1,800 for a family of four. And, as if there was nothing wrong with this, some liberal legislators and special interest lobbyists want more spending, more borrowing and more taxes that New York simply cannot afford."

Hayes continued, "Despite what have been billed as "painful cuts," this budget continues the state's addiction to high spending and high taxes with little recognition of today's fiscal reality."

"New York State needs real fiscal reform that offers families and businesses relief from the crushing tax burden that is sending people and jobs fleeing from Upstate New York."

Hayes is the Ranking Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, which continues hearings on the budget proposal through next week. The hearings are televised locally on cable channel 127.

PoliticsNY.Net: OH HAPPY DAY!

The Buffalo News James "Osama" Heaney must be overjoyed to have two more Black officlal's reputations he can attempt to destroy. The problem is Heaney's intentions & the Grand Wizard Editor Margart Sullivan's are transparent. Sullivan positioned  the article as the lead on Monday's front page. Just ask yourself are paid liens by anyone including elected offcials worthy of the front page. We believe not! ###

NEW YORK STATE POLITICAL INTERNET NEWS

UPDATES: NY TIMES: Teachers’ Union and N.A.A.C.P. Sue to Stop School ClosingsThe city’s teachers’ union and the N.A.A.C.P. filed a lawsuit on Monday to block the closing of 19 schools for poor performance, charging that the city “studiously ignored” provisions of state law as it moved forward in its process to shutter the schools.The suit charges that the city did not conduct the required analysis of how the closings would affect the more than 13,000 students who attend the schools, particularly special education and other high-needs populations, and that it failed to analyze how the closings would affect the other, often overcrowded schools nearby.

TIMES UNION: Staying Payin in Albany.If you live in the Albany area, chances are you've bumped into Assemblywoman Earlene Hooper The Nassau County Democrat works out of her Legislative Office Building suite more often than in her Hempstead district, according to reimbursement reports that show she was paid $41,680 in 2009 in travel costs. That includes per-diem payments for the 249 days she spent in Albany. The money is on top of her base legislative pay of $79,500, plus $25,000 for being deputy speaker. Her travel total was twice that of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. The Manhattan Democratic leader, who tends to fly commercially to Albany, received $21,393, but he was not in the Capitol nearly as many weekends and nonsession days as Hooper and others on the list of top Assembly recipients: William Scarborough, D-Queens, $38,409; William Boyland Jr., D-Brooklyn, $37,628; Dennis J. Gabryszak, D-Cheektowaga, $35,587; and Felix Ortiz, D-Brooklyn, $31,474.

TIMES UNION: Lazio calls out Cuomo in NY governor's race. Republican Rick Lazio told state Conservative Party leaders Monday that Democrat Andrew Cuomo has been hiding in a foxhole while Albany burns.

NY DAILY NEWS: Cash in Gov. Paterson's coffer is barely more than pols running unopposed. Gov. Paterson would be the fund-raising king if he was running for Congress or the state Legislature.Too bad he's running for governor. Paterson's paltry campaign kitty is more in line with New York's congressional and state lawmakers - even though many of them aren't facing a serious challenge. "He's running at the level he ran at when he was an uncontested state senator," veteran Democratic strategist Joseph Mercurio said. "It's hard to imagine he's doing so poorly." ###

NY TIMES: Nobody Is Off the Hook. Gov. David Paterson is preparing to veto an ethics package passed almost unanimously by New York’s Legislature. The reforms were not nearly strong enough to address Albany’s serial lawbreaking, influence-peddling and conflicts of interest. But the veto must not mean the end of ethics reform this year.

NY TIMES: Errors Cited in ’09 Crash Could Persist, F.A.A. Says. A year after a commuter plane crashed on the way to Buffalo, killing 49 on board and one man on the ground, the Federal Aviation Administration says it has fixed a variety of flaws that the accident made obvious, but the agency also made clear that some problems are not likely to be fixed for years, if at all.

TIMES UNION: Cuomo picks up support at top. More county Democratic leaders are backing him over Paterson for ticket. At a private meeting, more Democratic Party officials called for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo - not Gov. David Paterson - to lead the Democratic slate in 2010. "It's not working. Paterson's a decent man, but there's a question as to whether the leadership qualities are there," Vincent Monte, chairman of the Rockland County Democratic Committee, told the Times Union Saturday. "With Cuomo, there's no question. I'm very supportive of his candidacy."

NY DAILY NEWS: Upstate Democratic leaders split between Gov. David Paterson and Andrew Cuomo. A group of upstate Democratic leaders lacked consensus Saturday on whether Gov. Paterson should stay or go.Democrats from 17 counties convened in Albany to discuss this year's ticket, with some saying the party's best chances lie with Attorney General Andrew Cuomo running for governor in place of Paterson. Sources said county chairs from Rockland, Orange, Saratoga, Albany, and Schoharie counties were among those backing Cuomo, who has far better poll numbers and substantially more money than Paterson.

NY DAILY NEWS: BENJAMIN - Gov. Paterson has mere $620G to battle $12 million-man Andrew Cuomo in primary. Gov. Paterson has a paltry $620,000 in available cash to spend on a primary - about 20 times less than his likely Democratic opponent, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. An analysis of the $3 million in campaign cash Paterson has on hand reveals he has far less for a primary battle than originally thought. The $620,000 is not even enough to buy a week's worth of TV airtime in the state. Cuomo, by contrast, can use roughly $12million of the $16.1million he has on hand to battle for the party's ballot line. "A governor with $600,000 on hand less than a year before the general election is a dead duck," said Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf. Full story

NY POST: DICKER - Paterson vows $8M boost to battle Cuomo. Gov. Paterson is raising eyebrows in political circles by promising to raise an astounding $8 million in the next few months for his looming battle with Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Paterson, whose dismal Jan. 15 fund-raising report led many to conclude he's a political dead duck, outlined the sky-high target at a secret strategy session attended by about 30 supporters Saturday morning at Mother AME Zion Church on 137th Street in Harlem, according to one of the participants. "I'll believe it when I see it," said a second participant. Full story

NY POST: Pols pushed $$ into their do-nothing Qns. charity. State Sen. Malcolm Smith and Congressman Gregory Meeks have funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars, including taxpayer money, into a charity led by their spouses and cronies -- an organization with almost no accountability on its spending. Smith and Meeks, both Democrats, have championed New Direction Local Development Corp., a group based in their Queens districts that claims its mission is community development "in Far Rockaway and surrounding areas." What, if any, community development it fostered is unclear. Only a few programs are detailed on the charity's tax filings, including money given to a senior-appreciation week, for a basketball and jump-rope tournament, a "family day" and a donation to Toys for Tots. Full story

THE POST STANDARD: Harold Ford Jr. visits Syracuse as he mulls running for U.S. Senate. Syracuse, NY - The man who may or may not run for U.S. Senator from New York swung through Syracuse Sunday on a talking and listening tour. Harold Ford Jr., a 10-year Tennessee congressman turned Wall Street banker, says he might challenge appointed Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Ford said he'll decide in the next few weeks, and has embarked on a tour of the state before making his decision. Full story ###

JosephIlluzzi704@aol.com

Politicians in Wonderland

by Thomas Sowell

There was a recent flap because three different members of the Obama administration, on three different Sunday television talk shows, gave three widely differing estimates of how many jobs the president has created.

That should not have been surprising, except as a sign of political sloppiness in not getting their stories together beforehand. They were simply doing what Barack Obama himself does -- namely, just pulling numbers out of thin air. However, being more skilled at creating illusions, the president does it with more of an air of certainty, as if he has gone around and counted the new jobs himself.

The big question that seldom-- if ever-- gets asked in the mainstream media is whether these are a net increase in jobs. Since the only resources that the government has are the resources it takes from the private sector, using those resources to create jobs means reducing the resources available to create jobs in the private sector.

So long as most people do not look beyond superficial appearances, politicians can get away with playing Santa Claus on all sorts of issues, while leaving havoc in their wake-- such as growing unemployment, despite all the jobs being "created."

Whatever position people take on health care reform, there seems to be a bipartisan consensus-- usually a sign of mushy thinking-- that it is a good idea for the government to force insurance companies to insure people whom politicians want them to insure, and to insure them for things that politicians think should be insured.

Contrary to what politicians expect us to do, let's stop and think.

Why aren't insurance companies already insuring the people and the conditions that they are now going to be forced to cover? Because that means additional costs-- and because the insurance companies don't think their customers are willing to pay those particular costs for those particular coverages.

It costs politicians nothing to mandate more insurance coverage for more people. But that doesn't mean that the costs vanish into thin air. It simply means that both buyers and sellers of insurance are forced to pay costs that neither of them wants to pay. But, because soaring political rhetoric leaves out such grubby things as costs, it sounds like a great deal.

It is not just costs that are left out. It is consequences in general.

With all the laments in the media about skyrocketing unemployment among young people, and especially minority young people, few media pundits even try to connect the dots to explain why unemployment hits some groups much harder than others.

Yet unusually high unemployment rates among young people is not something new or even something peculiar to the United States. Even before the current worldwide recession, unemployment rates were 20 percent or more among workers under 25 years of age in a number of Western European countries.

The young have less experience to offer and are therefore less in demand. Before politicians stepped in, that just meant that younger workers were paid less. But this is not a permanent situation because youth itself is not permanent, and pay rises with experience.

Enter politicians. By mandating a minimum wage that sounds reasonable for most workers, they put a price on inexperienced and unskilled labor that often exceeds what it is worth.

Mandated pay rates, like mandated insurance coverage, impose on buyers and sellers alike things that they would not choose to do otherwise.

Workers of course prefer higher wage rates. But the very fact that the government has to impose those wage rates means that workers were unwilling to risk not having a job by refusing to work for less than the wage rate that has been mandated. Now that choice has been taken out of their hands, with the hidden cost in this case being higher unemployment rates.

It is of course no secret that there is no free lunch. It is just an inconvenient distraction that gets left out of political rhetoric.

Fox News The Right Stuff

by Bill O'Reilly

Watch out. America is moving to the right, and it's happening fast. The vote in Massachusetts was an ideological earthquake whose tremors are still being felt all over the country. When a big-government guy like President Obama takes to the lectern to announce he wants to freeze some federal spending, you know hell might be freezing over, as well.

But nowhere is the rejection of liberal doctrine seen more clearly than in the television news industry. Last week, Fox News Channel, the only network that has brought some scrutiny to Obama from the beginning, was the No. 1 rated cable operation in America. If you listen closely, you can hear SpongeBob and Hannah Montana weeping.

In addition, the Democratic outfit Public Policy Polling released a stunning scientific survey. It asked Americans which TV news operation they trusted. Hide the kids; here are the results:

Fox News: 49 percent trust, 37 percent don't trust.

ABC News: 31 percent trust, 46 percent don't trust

NBC News: 35 percent trust, 44 percent don't trust

CBS News: 32 percent trust, 46 percent don't trust

CNN: 39 percent trust, 41 percent don't trust

This is a rout. Nearly half the country trusts FNC, and nobody else is even close. Can you imagine the Fox bashers at NBC and The New York Times reading this poll? I'd pay to see the reaction.

Fox News can thank Obama for all of this. From the beginning of his astounding rise, most of the mainstream media loved him. Ask Hillary Clinton. But FNC treated presidential candidates Clinton, Obama and John McCain pretty much the same. We scrutinized them all. In fact, the McCain campaign kept the senator off my program fearing tough questioning.

But it was the scrutiny of Obama and the exposure of people like Jeremiah Wright that brought Fox News bitter criticism from the left. And the folks saw that. They watched as FNC was bashed all over the place. Today, many Americans have lost some confidence in the president, and they remember who was in the tank for him and who was not.

According to a new Gallup Poll, 64 percent of Americans believe the American media are not watching the Obama administration closely enough. Clearly, news consumers are asking the press to get back to the basics: Stop cheerleading and start reporting. Look out for the folks.

Because Fox News Channel gives voice to both the right and the left, while most of the other networks are heavily invested in liberal philosophy, when the country moves into a more conservative mode, it will be reflected in their television choices. It is hard to believe that uber-liberal media outlets that trumpeted government-run health care and civilian trials for terrorists will prosper anytime soon.

No, the winds of political change are buffeting the "progressive" press. They had a brief shining moment last year. But now that's all gone.

PoliticsNY.Net: A FEW THINGS

Answering so many queries: I am feeling better. I still have a lung issue that requires oxygen 24-7 except when I cheat & leave home without the tank. Please don't tell my doctor. Even though I like all saved Christians remain a sinner I live in God & His Son Jesus Christ's Spirit. I will be just fine no matter what happens.

Sarah is doing fine as well! I missed her birthday in December. However we were able to get out for lunch a few times since which is nice. I gave her an ipod. This is her 16th birthday photo. Yes! 16 can you believe it! We actually picked up her driving permit book. She remains on the honor roll, she lives the Christian Way. The "boyfriend" is history. She says she wants to "expand her horizons".

My 88 year old father came in 2nd this year in the Buffalo News runner of the competition. Bud Baily sent him a certificate.

I had a preview of the Buffalo News Bob McCarthy's Sunday column today, Saturday. With the exception of a couple of minor points nothing you have not read here.

He did write that Senate minority leader Dean Skelos was putting a lot of pressure on Jack Quinn to run in the 58th (read below).

He had his usual rant writing about Steve Pigeon & Golisano joining the fray in the State Legislature races this cycle. He has Joe Golombek running against Hoyt, former County Legislator Chuck Swanick running against Robin Schimminger, both Assembly races.

UPDATE: Without a new facility & a vibrant convention business Erie County & Buffalo will NEVER get our fair share of the convention & tourist dollar; this is not brain surgery. Donn Esmonde wrote a column Sunday about the need for a "central attraction" to move everything we are doing on our waterfront, downtown along. Right now that attraction is Bass Pro being built with tax payer dollars; this is a FATAL error in judgment, incredibly short sighted & dumb! A generic proven venue is the key to success & that venue is a new state of the art convention center marketed worldwide. Build the CC at the AUD site & a smaller version of the Bass Pro at the Donovan site next door. Connect both with a walking bridge & both can use the newly constructed parking facilities. By the way Donn I thought the Terminus you pushed for years was going to be the central attraction, guess not.

We want to know what is Chris Collins going to do to keep his mind occupied for the next five years? Think about it; what is going on in County government that will challenge Collin's brilliant mind & ambition? Answer: Nothing really. He will find away to get the budgets in balance & follow through with a number of development projects already on the table. Collins is a guy who needs to challenge himself. Collins needs to put a consortium together, the Senecas, Harbor Corp., et al. & find a way to get a new state of the art convention center built. Tourism is the keys to the kingdom; this County must have a new facility to market around the world!

Interesting juxtaposition over at the County Legislature. Former Legislature Chair Lynn Marinelli is seated in the back row next to Tom Loughran. Interesting because both have filed dueling resolutions to downsize the Legislature, Marinelli 15 to 13, Loughran to 11 as Marinelli's Commission recommended. The public hearing is scheduled for February 11, 2010 Legislature Chambers Old County Hall at 6:00 PM. We support 11!

A number of sources are telling us that Water Authority Chairman Frank Swiatek's tenure could come to an end in April. Swiatek is well respected BUT politics will play a major role in Swiatek's fate. The Legislature confirms these positions & the anti Lenihan forces are gearing up to throw Swiatek under the bus to take this appointment away from Lenihan et al. We are hearing Attorney John Elmore's name. However, even though Elmore did interview four years ago, we do not know if he is still interested.

The draft Kudlow movement is taking on a life of its own. Hard to believe that Chuck Schumer is vulnerable BUT apparently that is the case. No doubt Scott Brown's win has heartened the GOP.

State GOP Chairman Ed Cox has been accessible & seems like a great guy. However, even with his stated examples on Pataki, D'Amato & most recently Ed Mangano in Nassau County the fact is these are three names of relative unknowns winning elections. There are hundreds of races every year & the GOP still lacks quality candidates with real name recognition & bankrolls. Rick Lazio is an excellent example of the GOP's weakness statewide.

& so it goes ###

MARINELLI MISSED A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY

The Buffalo News Editorial Board actually wrote an editorial in Saturday's paper with respect to former County Legislature Chair Lynn Marinelli's refusal to accept the Chair of the Finance Committee.

Legislature Chairwoman Barbara Miller Williams showed real leadership in appointing Marinelli to that post for two reasons: Marinelli, a Miller Williams political enemy, knows more about the budget & process than any other member. She is the best person for the job. The Chair of the Finance committee gets more press than other post save the Chair.

Obviously, Miller Williams was aware that putting Marinelli in that position would give her a bully pulpit.

Kudos to Miller Williams for taking her ego out of the equation; to bad Marinelli did not take the high road & respond in kind.

Miller Williams sent two messages: She respects Marinelli's ability.

Collins will have a complete review of his 2011 budget to say the least with nemesis Marinelli at the helm of the Finance committee.

Alas, Lynn Marinelli succumb to very bad advice AGAIN (Probably Hoyt's minion Majority Leader Maria Whyte & or County Dem Chairman Len Lenihan).

One thing is clear she let sour grapes & her ego take over by refusing the appointment.

She should really - really should humble herself & reconsider.

Its called "public service" Lynn, remember that was your mission in life.

If not then appoint Minority Leader John Mills. He is the right person for the job; no question about it!

& lets move on! ###

PLAYING FAVES

"Gov pulls 'win' lever for friend. pping a flawed selection process, Gov. Paterson yesterday picked a business consortium tied to friend and former Democratic Rep. Floyd Flake to build a slot-machine casino at the Aqueduct Racecourse in Queens. But Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said he had attached four "conditions" to the decision to give the contract to Aqueduct Entertainment Group, or AEG." Full story

NYS SENATOR GEORGE MAZIARZ SUPPORTS KUDLOW

“Larry Kudlow will bring much needed fiscal conservatism to Washington,” said Maziarz. “At a time when our economy continues to slump, we can no longer accept the status quo”.

Maziarz has registered at a website for those hoping to recruit Kudlow, www.draftkudlow.com and is a fan of the Facebook page “Draft Larry Kudlow for New York”.

“If nothing else, Scott Brown has shown us that no seat should be taken for granted and no one is invincible,” Maziarz stated. “Larry Kudlow has the right message at the right time to address the economic challenges that lie ahead.” ###

THE 58th & 59th NYS SENATE DISTRICTS

Senator Dale Volker

The Buffalo News Bob McCarthy as usual is months late & a dollar short with respect to the Buffalo News & his coverage of the local political scene.

PoliticsNY.Net has been writing for months that Erie County GOP Chairman Jim Domagalski has a "passion" for the 59th district Senate seat. Out of respect for Volker he has kept his powder dry, so to speak.

There is no doubt that Jim is a brilliant leader; there are many who would hate to see him step down from his "voluntary" leadership position as GOP Chairman, i.e. the man doesn't get paid.

Jim would be State Chairman right now if he had been interested in pursuing that role. Believe me when I write that as fact!

(The reason you hear differently from a few local quarters is Jim did not endorse former Niagara County GOP Chairman Henry Wojtaszek for state chair. There were/are people who were very-very angry with Jim. Some of the diatribes, however, were to personal & over the top!)

We do not believe Domagalski has made up his mind whether or not to primary Volker; that is an open ended question.

Enter Assemblyman Jack Quinn (R).

No question before Domagalski let it be known that he is interested many insiders believed Assemblyman Jack Quinn was heir apparent to Volker's seat even though he lived in Stachowski's district.

Now follow me on this: Legislator Tim Kennedy (D) enjoys a 24-30 point lead over incumbent Bill Stachowski (D) in the 58th.

Quinn doesn't live in Volker's district. He lives in Stachowski's district.

Quinn, according to reliable sources, has a double digit lead over Kennedy. However, with the overlay (more dems than repubs) that in our opinion would change. Kennedy would have to be favored in November. However, in the 59th the overlay favors the GOP.

Sources are telling us that Quinn has bought a house in Volkers district.

We do not have the exact date.

Unlike a congressional race where you can run & if you win move in after the election. The rule for the NYS Senate is you have to live in the district a year before you can run.

Quinn & Domagalski are not close. Quinn telling me at one time he doesn't talk to Domagalski.

Apparently, this has changed. Sources say Quinn committed not to challenge Domagalski should Volker retire.

CORRECTION: No chance of that Volker is committed to running; BUT the question of an an endorsement could come to the forefront should Volker retire after the election. If Quinn did buy that house then he has positioned himself to challenge Domagalski for the endorsement.

The Gov calls a special election; ergo the endorsement is key because there is no primary. The Gov, however, is NOT required to call a special election then the seat would come up the following election cycle. (Sorry! I was mixing apples & oranges when I wrote appointment yesterday. Thanks to Senator Thompson for the clarification!)

Volker is rumored to favor Quinn. Needless to say things are fluid. stay tuned ###

PANEPINTO A TWOFER?

"Hoyt minion Catherine Nugent Panepinto, one of Superintendent James A. Williams most persistent critics on the Buffalo Board of Education, is seeking a State Supreme Court judgeship in next November’s election. Tuesday, Panepinto said she also will seek re-election to the North District board seat in a separate May 4th election.

"I’m a candidate for both, which is just because of the timing," said Panepinto, administrative law clerk to State Supreme Court Justice Tracey A. Bannister.

Interesting, although it might be good timing, it would appear that it appears to be in violation of NY State Educational Law, which says:

"No person shall hold at the same time the office of member of the board of education of the city of Buffalo and any other elective office nor shall he be a candidate for any other elective office at the same time he is a candidate for the office of member of such board of education." NY State Education § 2553 (10) (e). A fine line!

OOPS! ###

JosephIlluzzi704@aol.com

Crisis of the Government Party

by Patrick J. Buchanan

President Obama is in a dilemma from which there appears to be no easy or early escape.

Democrats are the Party of Government. They feed it, and it feeds them. The larger government grows, the more agencies that are created, the more bureaucrats who are hired, the more people who become beneficiaries, the more deeply entrenched in power the Party of Government becomes.

At the local, state and federal level, there are 19 million to 20 million government employees. And if one takes only Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and earned income tax credits, we are talking of scores of millions who depend on government checks for the necessities of their daily life.

These vast armies of voters -- these tens of millions of government employees and scores of millions of government beneficiaries -- are the big battalions of the Party of Government. They provide implacable resistance to any party that pledges to cut or curtail government. For they are fighting for their livelihood. And here is where Obama's dilemma arises.

The progressives thought that with the takeover of both houses of Congress by veto-proof Democratic majorities, and the election of the most progressive of the candidates in the Democratic primaries save Dennis Kucinich, a new Progressive Era was at hand.

Another New Deal, another Great Society. And early passage of a stimulus package of $787 billion, nearly 6 percent of the entire economy packed into a single bill, seemed to confirm that happy days were here again.

But, at the same time, the federal takeover of AIG, General Motors and Chrysler and the bailouts of Fannie, Freddie and the Wall Street banks were igniting a Perot-style prairie fire that manifested itself in Tea Party rallies in the spring and town-hall protests in August.

Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi denounced these folks as "evil-mongers" engaged in the "un-American" activity of shouting down Democrats -- though, when college radicals do it to conservatives, it is called "heckling" and the conservatives are instructed that they "just do not understand the First Amendment."

Came November, Republican victories in Virginia and New Jersey showed that the grass-roots rebellion was real and broad-based. This was confirmed by Scott Brown's astonishing upset in Massachusetts, where a state Obama won by 26 points went Republican by 6 points, with Brown capturing a Senate seat held by the Kennedy brothers since 1952. Talk about a fire bell in the night.

Obama's dilemma, evident in his State of the Union, is that the progressives, who were indispensable to his victories over Hillary, now feel betrayed, especially with apparent abandonment of health insurance reform, while conservative Democrats and independents, who were indispensable in giving Obama his November victory, are angry and alienated and disposed to vote Republican to stop what they see as America's plunge into socialism.

The non-negotiable demands of these two essential elements of Obama's coalition are in irreconcilable conflict. Obama tried to mollify both in his address to Congress by emphasizing aspects of his agenda that appeal to each. Thus the progressives were promised an end to the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military, while Tea Party and town-hall activists got a partial freeze on federal spending and promises of nuclear power, clean coal and offshore drilling.

Obama's problem: He can end up satisfying no one and angering everyone. John McCain has already denounced Obama's call for open homosexuality in the military, a position that will resonate with Middle America, while House Democrats are appalled the Pentagon will be exempt from budget caps imposed on social programs.

Arthur Laffer has pointed up the burgeoning crisis Obama and the progressives confront. Today, state, local and federal government spending consumes 38 percent of the gross domestic product. Federal spending alone is 27 percent.

"If you total what the government takes in the income tax, corporate tax, Social Security taxes, capital gains taxes," says Laffer, "all of that adds up to $2.2 trillion in tax receipts, and they spent $3.5 trillion."

In 2009, we had a deficit of $1.4 trillion, 10 percent of GDP. The most conservative estimate for this year is a deficit of $1.35 trillion, more than 9 percent of GDP.

Two questions.

With the public debt surging as a share of GDP, and talk of a debt default by the United States, how can Obama create or expand the social programs as progressives demand? And with the deficit running above 9 percent of GDP, how -- even if the economy starts to grow -- can you close this without raising taxes from 18 percent of GDP to 22 percent or 23 percent? That would be an added tax hike of $560 billion to $700 billion -- a year.

That kind of hit on the private sector could kill a recovery, just as Herbert Hoover and FDR did in the early 1930s.

Obama has a problem -- and so do we.



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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FORMER NEW YORK CONSERVATIVE PARTY STATE CHAIRMAN AND CO-FOUNDER JOINS KUDLOW DRAFT

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