Thirty-five active members of the Brooklyn Democratic County Committee have, under the leadership of Morgan Pehme of the Brooklyn Optimist, signed an open letter to the City Council opposing the Bloomberg Putsch to reverse behind the scenes the term limits that were put in place by two referendums approved by the voters. Let me make two comments: first, my wife and I are among these 35 County Committee members who have signed on. Second, not everyone who has signed this letter believes in term limits. We all simply oppose an arbitrary mayoral and legislative reversal of the clear will of the voters of NYC. Here is the open letter we have signed:

An Open Letter from 35 Members of the Brooklyn Democratic County Committee to the New York City Council Opposing the Extension of Term Limits

cc: Mayor Mike Bloomberg
Council Speaker Christine Quinn
Ronald Lauder

Dear Council Members.

The Democratic Party is on the verge of claiming complete control of the New York State government. There is a Democratic governor, and Democrats make up about two-thirds of the state Assembly. The last remaining Republican holdout is the state Senate, and Democrats are only two seats away from a majority there. In addition, the watchword for this election is "change," and Democrats are on the "change bandwagon."

The major stumbling block to turning the state Senate blue is that Republicans have several million dollars available. The Senate Republican Campaign Committee (SRCC) has $1.7 million in cash, compared with just under $1.3 million for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (DSCC). As of a week ago, the Democratic state party committee had a tiny advantage over the Republican state party committee, $418K to $360K. In addition, over the last two months the SRCC had transferred far more to individual candidates than the DSCC had transferred to its candidates.

In other words, Democrats need a major transfusion of money, and there's no time to raise it.

There is a source of money that might be tapped. After a three-way primary in which he got 68% of the vote, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver still has $2.5 million in his own campaign account. State law only allows him to transfer small amounts to other candidates' campaign accounts, but it also allows him (or any candidate) to transfer as much as he wants to the DSCC, which could then transfer all they want to individual Senate candidates' campaign committees.

In other words, he could send $1.5 million to the DSCC, which would give Democrats a huge leg up in the battle to win the state Senate, and still keep a million dollars.

But wait - there's more!

An addition of an extra term for city officials will have a chilling effect on competition for elective office, worsening a political system in the City which is already on life support. The immediate critical problem is not that less than 1% of registered voters during the last primary had a choice at the polls; it is the centralization of control in the hands of a new breed of powerbrokers that has evolved since the corruption scandal uncovered in the 1980’s in the Koch administration.

Only one man can stop this elite gang of elected officials, party leaders, lobbyists and their clients from a complete takeover of New York City’s budget and political system: Michael Garcia, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District. Garcia, whose office is mostly known for convicting members of violent organized crime families, must not let the city’s secret powerbrokers end his investigation of the City Council’s member item slush fund scandal. Mr. Garcia, you have assembled valuable resources to stop this new ruling gang from continuing to loot the City’s budget. You must use the power in your hands to do so now. It was the municipal scandal of the 80’s that led to the term limits reform not the money of Ron Lauder.

Will Garcia Uncover a New Municipal Scandal to Rival New Jersey U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie’s Accomplishments?

Heads-up: if you're not registered to vote yet, or need to update your information, today is the last day to do so to be able to vote in November. So get yourself to your local post office and get on it, folks.

Christine Quinn is having some difficulties making up her mind on Mayor Bloomberg's power grab.

Last December, Quinn said (as reported by the NY Post): "I am today making a firm and final decision. I will not support the repeal or change of term limits through any mechanism, and I will oppose aggressively any attempts by anyone to make any changes in the term-limit law." She needs to know that people know what she said, and want to hold her to her word.

Her office number is 212-788-7210.

It appears that by striking a deal with Ron Lauder, Mayor Bloomberg may have broken the law.

Common Cause and NYPIRG have filed a joint complaint, charging that giving Lauder a seat on a Charter Revision Commission in exchange for Lauder's support for extending [his] term limits is a violation of the Conflicts of Interest Code.

Details are available on the Common Cause website.

Daily Kos/Research 2000 released a poll today for NY-29 that matches recent DCCC polling: Eric Massa is slightly ahead of his wingnut rival, Shotgun Randy Kuhl.

Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 10/7-8. Likely voters. MoE 5% (No trend lines)

Kuhl (R) 42
Massa (D) 49

Good news, if they can use it, for Senate candidates David Nachbar and Kathy Konst.

When George Bush slithered into office due to the unconstitutional power grab of his daddy's Supreme Court cronies, the Dow stood at 10,643.

Now, it's at 8,918, after falling all the way to 8,859.78. Measured from its 52-week high, 14,198.10, the market has lost over 5,000 points.

Here's the good news: while the stock market has lost over a third of its value in the last year, that's not as abysmal a performance as the value of the dollar put in. This because the vaunted greenback has lost over half its value against the Euro since Bush came in.

So yeah, yay republicans!

Three weeks out, we're seeing the consolidation of traditional Democratic coalitions around the state (personal aside: I think we're on the cusp of a system-wide, up-and-down-the-ballot landslide, but I'll expand on that later).

Here, for example, is Brian Foley, running against dynamic bundle of energy Caesar Trunzo in the Third, at a rally for women.

The accompanying press release lays out the stakes.

More than 20 women, along with elected officials and representatives from Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic Action Fund and NARAL Pro-Choice America, gathered today to support Brian X. Foley's run for State Senate. This is the inaugural event for a new group of women in Brookhaven and Islip who are coming together to elect Foley. These women were joined by Assemblywoman Ginny Fields, Assemblywoman Pat Eddington, Legislator Kate Browning, and Town Councilwoman Connie Kepert.

Planned Parenthood Action Fund and NARAL Pro-Choice NY also endorsed Brian X. Foley for State Senate at this event. "In this election, the choice is clear," said Reina Schiffrin, President/CEO, Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic Action Fund. "Senator Trunzo is the embodiment of the old Albany – mired in the status quo, entrenched in the past. After almost 40 years, woman of Long Island are hungry for a representative who will fight for them, not against them. Brian Foley will bring the integrity and results that Albany desperately needs."

"I am honored to stand with the women of Islip and Brookhaven to proclaim that change is needed now," said Brian X. Foley. "For too long, Caesar Trunzo and his failed majority in Albany have shut out the voices of women and their families, allying instead with corporate interests. I believe that the future begins with the women of this District."

Senator Caesar Trunzo has an abysmal voting record on issues affecting families and women. He voted against insurance companies covering mammograms for women over 40, and voted against cervical cancer screenings. He also opposes the Paid Family Leave Act, Pay Equity Act, and voted against expanding Family Health Plus and controlling rising health insurance premiums, which have skyrocketed 67% in the last three years alone.

Meanwhile, up in Rochester, Rick Dollinger just garnered the endorsement of Senator Clinton, and held a rally for women attended by hundreds of supporters.

As the campaign has unfolded, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been following John McCain's efforts with some amusement. You may have heard that he's a mavericking mavericky maverick; one of the central premises of that maveriliciousness is the evil that is the Federal earmark, commonly and affectionately known as pork. Apparently, eliminating said earmarks - roughly $18 billion last year, including some money for the Hudson River Park - will balance the $500 billion hole in the Federal budget. And to republicans, not known for their firm grasp on the world as it is, that makes sense.

So here's the problem with that. McCain doesn't even have an office in this state - there's a bi-state office in Woodbridge, New Jersey - and no detectable independent campaign. That means that whatever informal McCain campaign exists in this state is being run out of local campaigns, Federal and state: randy Kuhl in NY-29, for example, Joe Robach, Serph Maltese, Caesar Trunzo, are McCain's front line.

The problem is this: none of his state-level front groups are not much to write home about on earmarks, because they take and spend millions of dollars worth of them every year. Here are the top ten porkers for last year:

Bruno $4,211,000.00
Skelos $3,740,000.00
Libous $3,497,000.00
Johnson $3,275,500.00
Robach $2,550,000.00
Morahan $2,464,000.00
Volker $2,446,082.00
Maltese $2,440,500.00
Padavan $2,437,500.00
Young $2,321,700.00

Now, to be fair, this isn't even a Senate problem: the Assembly does much the same thing, generally with lower amounts due, perhaps, to the smaller size of their districts. But make no mistake: these funds are earmarks. Pure pork, the same pork John McCain is so angry about.

And the same people who front for McCain's campaign in this state are throwing this pork out the window like so much confetti.