Accountability

EXCLUSIVE! Watch 'Hacking Democracy'- [http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=8367786376074634512&hl=en|Hacking Democracy] on Google Video Ok, so our own Michael is going to kill me, for publishing this. I do want to say that verified voting is not going to be an issue in New York this election. It's the 10% of the nation who is using these machines that may get screwed, like in the battleground states of Florida and Ohio. To me it's clear : Better to go armed with a heavy dose of skepticism and information than to go blinding trusting the current system to protect your right to vote. If there are lawyers on the fence about whether to do pro-bono voting verification work in places like New Mexico, this should be enough reason for you to make the right decision : pack your bags and just go. A lot of elections across the country will need lawyers to contest the vote. What do you think?
New York Democratic Lawyers Council Conducting Election Monitoring In Every County In New York- [http://www.nydlc.org/live/menulist.php?id=22&newsID=14|The New York Democratic Lawyers Council] have been training people all across the state on how to monitor elections. You still have time to join an election monitoring training session. They are happening all across the state. Please spread the word. There are tight races all across New York State, especially up north. You don't have to be a lawyer to volunteer, but you have to commit to the training session. Schedule Of Election Monitor Training Sessions Attendance at a training session is mandatory for election monitors. You may attend any training session regardless of where you are stationed on Election Day. You will receive the needed materials, including Poll Watcher Certificates, the NYDLC Voter Protection Manual, and your Election Day assignments. Location: Westchester Date: Saturday, November 4, 2006 Time: 4:00 p.m. Address: McCarthy Fingar, 11 Martine Ave, 12th Floor White Plains, NY Location: Westchester Date: Sunday, November 5, 2006 Time: 5:00 p.m. Address: Law Offices of Robert P. Ianelli 1436 Route 52 Fishkill, NY For more information about Westchester trainings
Reminder: Democrats vs. Republicans...HERE are the differences- I noticed that an earlier article I wrote comparing NY State Democrats and Republicans on several issues was getting considerable attention from people doing google searches for "Democrat vs. Republican." So, since we have an election today, I thought it worth reprising that piece with some added details. What are the main differences between Democrats and Republicans? Let's see: Issues: Democrats are ranked better by advocacy groups that push for veterans rights, disabled rights, national security, seniors' issues, environment, labor, and choice. Almost every NY State Democrat ranks better on all of these issues than every NY State Republican. Recently I wrote about an organization called Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) which has rated Republicans markedly lower than Democrats on issues of concern to soldiers and veterans. IAVA was founded in June 2004 and claims to be the nation's first and largest group dedicated to the Troops and Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the civilian supporters of those Troops and Veterans. The gist is that Republicans pretty much suck on defense while Democrats are mostly rated well by IAVA. Many of us have known this ever since Republicans in Congress criticized Clinton for going after bin Laden and since Republicans called Clinton "obsessed with al-Qaeda." That alone was enough for me to see that Republicans could not deal with threats to America while Clinton actually prevented the Millenium Attacks. Republicans claim that was pure luck (yeah...right), but it still is markedly better than anything Bush has been able to muster. Even some top ranking Generals, previously life-long Republicans, agree that Republicans are failing on Defense, not to mention the 21 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who are so pissed they are running for Congress as Democrats and are vocally opposed to Bush's policies.
OPEN POLL : Which State Senate races will go to recount?- * SD-3 : Trunzo, Dahroug, Ochoa\n* SD-25 : Connor, Diamonstone\n* SD-30 : Perkins, Fields, Mosley\n* SD-35 : Spano, Stewart-Cousins\n* SD-41 : Saland, Keeler\n* SD-44 : Farley, McCarthy, Stark\n* SD-47 : Griffo, Murad, Koziol\n* \n* \n* \n
BREAKING NEWS! MoveOn.org offers quarter of a million dollar reward for evidence of voter fraud- This from an email just received from [http://actforchange.org|Working Assets' Act For Change] via [http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=75874|US Newswire]:
Washington, Nov. 7 -- MoveOn.org Political Action is offering a $250,000 reward for new material evidence leading to a felony conviction for an organized effort of partisan voter suppression or electronic voting fraud. Throughout the day accusations of election fraud and voter suppression incidents have been flooding into state and federal authorities throughout the country. In Virginia, the FBI has launched a criminal investigation into charges of voter suppression. In 20 Congressional districts, NRCC robocalls appearing to come from Democrats harassed voters with repeated calls in an apparently coordinated campaign to suppress the vote. Complementing an earlier reward for whistleblowers, MoveOn's reward is being offered to anyone who provides this information.
Poor Rummy- Democrats win big...and the regime begins to unravel. Bye, bye Rummy
The Lesson the Republicans Forgot- Americans woke up and realized their government had been lying to them for 6 years. They saw the depth of Republican lies and corruption and they voted accordingly. The Republicans forgot a very important lesson: â€œYou may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.â€ --Abraham Lincoln, the best Republican President
He had it coming- He had it coming He had it coming He only had himself to blame If you'd have been there If you'd have seen it I betcha you would have done the same! Rumsfeld's out. Bush and Cheney [http://impeachpac.org|should be ready to go]. What better way to get into the mood than with Bob Fosse's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qwFCgQi8jY|Cell Block Tango]? The song is from his musical, Chicago (Widescreen Edition). This clip is from the movie with Catherine Zeta-Jones. Enjoy.
Some things I'd like to see- Since we're now entering an era of reform â€“ "Day One, everything changes" â€“ here are some things I'd like to see in Albany:
Reform now: Implement the full Brennan Center reforms. Three men in a room doesn't work and is an embarrassment to our state and our legislature. We're paying the price every day, via low citizen interest in the legislature, opaque legislative processes, wasteful pork-barrel spending, neutered legislators and an ongoing decline of vast reaches of the state. End it.
Non-partisan redistricting: Nationwide, the DLCC reports electing 275 new Democratic state legislators. In New York, we managed two, or maybe one and a half, depending on whether Spano manages to suppress enough votes to fend of Andrea Stewart-Cousins again. That would leave Janele Hyer-Spencer standing alone on the state's stage. The gerrymandering and incumbency protection racket practiced by both Houses of the legislature is a disgrace to citizens. Republicans concerned about their senate majority might consider that redistricting could bring them gains as well as losses in the future. It's so simple that it's almost embarrassing to mention, but legislators worried about their re-election tend to be more responsive to the concerns of voters. The model to follow is Iowa's, which lets an independent, non-partisan commission draw districts. What we should not be doing is allowing legislators to select the people who will be voting for them by drawing their own districts; that turns the dynamic of them serving us on its head, quite literally.
Veterans Day- On November 11th, 1918, the Central Powers ~~surrendered to~~ signed an armistice with the Allies in a railroad car in the forest of CompiÃ¨gne in Northern France, marking the end of what was then known as the Great War. Ever since, November 11th has been commemorated by the 1918 allied nations - the UK, France, Canada, the United States, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand â€“ as the occasion of what was clearly understood to be more deliverance than victory. Veterans Day 2006 finds us not in a war, but in occupation of a foreign country that rather clearly does not want us there. What was supposed to be a war, a 'war on terror', has succumbed to the usual difficulties of making war on a noun rather than a country. Meanwhile, the men and women of our Armed Forces have been subjected to carnage in a war of occupation, without having been given the tools, such as body armor, to prevail. What they got instead was photo ops, plastic turkeys on a platter held by a smiling draft-dodger. At the same time, the United States government, run by men and women who without exception did not see combat, did not do them the simple honor of executing the occupation the military fought to achieve with anything approaching competence. What we, and they, got instead was an employment program for the hyper-ideological spawn of Washington think tanks, a laboratory experiment for the so-called 'conservative movement'. The first thing ordered by Viceroy Bremer, even before he disbanded the defeated Iraqi army, was the privatization of the Iraqi energy industry. He moved on to impose a flat tax, invite foreign investors, and stand aside as looters ransacked the museums of Iraq. Bremer opened the Iraqi stock exchange before the main hospital in Baghdad had an uninterrupted power supply. Read about it, here and here.
Fighting Corruption: Showing the Republicans How it's Done- Some time back I discussed a relatively rare case of blatant corruption withing the Democratic Party. Congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana was basically caught red-handed taking a bribe. You can read more about Jefferson's Republican-level corruption here. But one key contrast I draw between Republican Corruption and Democratic corruption, other than the fact that Republican Corruption is much more widespread, is that Democrats actually fight against their own corrupt members while Republicans just cover it up like the did for six years after finding out that Republican Congressman Foley was a sexual predator. To emphasize this difference, I want to highlight the DEMOCRATIC led effort to oust Congressman Jefferson. Democrat Karen Carter is running against corrupt Democrat William Jefferson and their battle has gone to a run-off. Here is our chance to show Republicans how to handle corruption. Rather than re-elect corrupt politicians the way Missouri Republicans did with Congressman Blunt and New York Republicans did with Congressman Fossella, we need to vote corrupt Congressman Jefferson out of office. I urge you to donate to Karen Carter's honorable efforts to defeat the corrupt William Jefferson. Because it is the right thing to do!
The morning papers, November 17th- 'Spitzer is likely to seek Hevesi's ouster', says The New York Times. Also in the Times, a portrait of Steny Hoyer, the new House Majority Leader. The Albany Times-Union describes 'a bid to lock up' that 911 report re: John Sweeney, wifebeater. Isn't that what's commonly referred to as a coverup? Via AmericaBlog comes this from Bob Dornan: "I can't stand the thought of my party having as its three front-runners three open adulterers, Newt Gingrich, Giuliani, and McCain." Wifebeating and page groping too, Bob. Charles Krauthammer in The Washington Post figures out what the problem in Iraq is: it's the Iraqis. They're just too distracted by that looting and killing stuff to see the upside thereof, it seems. Neocon self-delusions continue undisturbed by facts or any sense of, say, their responsibility. George Bush finally makes it to Vietnam. USA Today: Iraq is set to surpass the expense of World War Two; it has already taken more time, so that's fitting. It's already been more expensive than Korea and more expensive than Vietnam.
Three Final Congressional Races for 2006: Fight the Fraud!- There are three Congressional races that still need out attention to round out the 2006 election year. All three are critical because all three address fraud on some level. FL-13 represents a major battle in the fight for election integrity and could lead to one more pick up for Democrats in the House. LA-2 represents a chance to replace an extremely corrupt poltiican who is likely to go to jail with an honest politician. NC-8 is a case where the Republican is trying to prevent the counting of all ballots, including those from areas where military families live. The Republican is just barely ahead and the Democrat picks up more votes each time a batch of uncounted ballots is finally counted. So whether you want to fight election fraud or more run-of-the-mill fraud, these three races deserve your attention. All three races (described in detail below) can be found on my Final Races for 2006 Act Blue Page. Christine Jennings Recount Fund Jennings is running to replace Katherine "Stolen Election" Harris who prevented the 2000 recount in Florida and was rewarded by the Republican Party with this House seat. Harris tried moving on to the Senate, but failed. Jennings is locked in a neck and neck race to replace Harris. But Harris' legacy of election fraud continues as electronic voting machines in this district gave strange results, leading to an unusually large undercount. This suspicious behavior on the voting machines' part could cost Jennings the election. This one race could be the smoking gun that will discredit the eVote machines that do not have a legal paper trail.
Tony Blair Admits: Iraq is a "Disaster"- In sharp contrast to the Republican claims that all is well in Iraq, Tony Blair recently admitted that Iraq is a "disaster." This comes via Truthout.
Tony Blair admitted that British intervention in Iraq has been a disaster last night - sending shockwaves through Westminster. In his frankest admission about the war to date, Mr. Blair admitted that Western forces have been powerless to stop the descent into violence. The Prime Minister stopped short of accepting the blame for plunging Iraq to the brink of civil war - blaming instead the insurgent uprising that has killed 125 British troops. But his admission in an interview with the Arab news channel Al Jazeera will be seen as an historic climbdown for Mr. Blair, who has always fought to put a positive gloss on often disastrous events. Challenged by veteran interviewer Sir David Frost that the Western invasion of Iraq has "so far been pretty much of a disaster", Mr. Blair said: "It has." ... Sir Richard Dannatt, the Chief of the General Staff, told the Daily Mail that Mr. Blair's desire to forge a "liberal democracy" in Iraq was a "naive" failure and commented: "Whatever consent we may have had in the first place" from the Iraqi people "has largely turned to intolerance."
Fox cashes in on O.J.'s new book, edited by Bernie Kerik's WTC fuckbuddy- Some of these things are just so brazen that you initially suspect they're just a hoax; surely, Judith Regan, the woman porked by Bernie Kerik in an apartment secured for that purpose by throwing out WTC rescue workers, couldn't be the editor behind O.J. Simpson's new book, the one that examines how he theoretically could have killed his wife and her boyfriend back in the day. Which, of course, he didn't in fact do; he's just writing a book about theories and possibilities. Simpson's book, "If I did it", is being published by Judith Regan's venture, Regan Books, an imprint of Harper-Collins, which in turn is a part of the Murdoch media empire. Said far-flung fiefdom also includes Fox "News", The Weekly Standard, Fox Television, and other properties identified with the right. The Los Angeles Times notes:
"If I Did It" is the product of the former football star's collaboration with an unnamed ghost writer and will be published at the end of this month by ReganBooks, the euphonious shock-and-schlock imprint Judith Regan runs for the HarperCollins publishing house. Fox, ReganBooks and HarperCollins all have something important in common: They're owned by the predatory Australian-born media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, who has devoted his life to making money by making sure that news and entertainment are as coarse and vulgar as can be imagined in as many places as possible.
The morning papers, November 20- In a bit of colonial effrontery, NASDAQ announces a $5.1 billion takeover bid for the London Stock Exchange. The New York Times: Governor Pataki (remember him?) gives the special counsel investigating the Hevesi scandal subpoena powers. Also in the Times, a closer look at the goals of Attorney General-elect Andrew Cuomo:
â€œWe started this campaign talking about a reform agenda,â€ Mr. Cuomo said. â€œAnd we laid out specific legislative priorities. I think thatâ€™s the mandate from the people. They want reform in Albany. They say: Clean it up. Fix it. There is a lack of trust between the people and the government. Itâ€™s not a perception problem. Itâ€™s a reality.â€
The Washington Post: Charlie Rangel calls for a draft, again; John McCain says U.S. troops are "fighting and dying for a failed policy." Way to go in helping the terrorists, attacking the troops, blaming America first, blah blah blah, Senator. Rats leave the sinking ship. The Albany Times-Union: The best-kept secret in New York, Lieutenant-Governor Mary Donohue, may be kicked upstairs for a nine-year term on the Court of Claims. Still desperately sucking at the taxpayer teat, republicans are; isn't it odd how they never seem to head to that private sector they always extol, unless there's a government-dependent lobbying job, that is? Lastly, Ben Smith takes a closer look at the past of Malcolm Smith, Senate Democratic leader.
BEWARE! Big swinging Rangel on the loose- [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/19/AR2006111901100.html|Oh no he didn't!] :
Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) has long advocated returning to the draft, but his efforts drew little attention during the 12 years that House Democrats were in the minority. Starting in January, however, he will chair the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. Yesterday he said "you bet your life" he will renew his drive for a draft. "I will be introducing that bill as soon as we start the new session," Rangel said on CBS's "Face the Nation." He portrayed the draft, suspended since 1973, as a means of spreading military obligations more equitably and prompting political leaders to think twice before starting wars. "There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm's way," said Rangel, a Korean War veteran. "If we're going to challenge Iran and challenge North Korea and then, as some people have asked, to send more troops to Iraq, we can't do that without a draft."
What do I think about Rangel's move? It takes balls. Big. HUGE. Morbidly MASSIVE. COLOSSAL COJONES, to try to push this on Congress, needless to say, the American public.
About that draft...- As Liza notes, there's renewed conversation about the draft - no, thank YOU, Charlie Rangel. So here's a few ideas. Ann Coulter and Michelle ~~Maglalang~~ Malkin, Tucker Carlson, Rich Lowry, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity are merely the low-hanging fruit, the kind that wouldn't even make it through basic training. How about the College republicans? I'm thinking specifically of that bunch up at Columbia - the ones that have enough free time on their hands to invite the Minutemen to address them. Howzabout you get your flabby asses out of the shopping malls and into some cammies, eh, fellas? But there are more local options to refresh the killing fields. There's the NYU Federalist Society. The interns over at the Manhattan Institute. The full staff of Natonal Review over on 216 Lex. So. Out of the cocktail bars, and into the mess halls. Your country needs you.
Voting reform â€“ more than machines- It's an article of faith among many Progressive activists that electronic voting machines are a thing of evil, that these machines are somehow programmed to steal votes from Democrats, and that any and all Democratic election losses are directly attributable to this electronic menace. And who knows, this contention may very well be accurate. The problem with this perception is the same as that afflicting the arguments of so-called "Intelligent Design" advocates, namely that faith-based assumptions rest on thin evidentiary reeds. Despite what is alleged to be a massive, nationwide and ongoing fraud that would constitute a federal crime, no successful court case has yet been brought, let alone litigated successfully, that would support the assertions of the Dieboldistas. Now, this may be because everyone is in on the conspiracy; but the more natural conclusion, and one more in line with Occam's Razor, is that this vast conspiracy does not exist. The test may very well be the litigation underway over the contested results in Fl-13. But as things stand today, the verified-voting crowd is setting up an argument which is essentially not falsifiable â€“ "votes are being stolen in ways we can't see or verify", and that should, in my mind, offend the reality-based community. My personal argument with the Dieboldistas is this: there is, as noted, a bit of a disparity between the fervor with which they advance their claims, and the underlying evidentiary record; and more importantly, by engaging in a small-bore faith-based conspiracy theory, they're discrediting and hindering a realization that should be manifest to everyone, namely that our system of elections is deeply and perhaps irredeemably flawed. I'd go further and say that the Diebold crowd, by positing fraud as the proximate cause of every problem with the electoral process, weakens the case that must be made for fixing the system itself. Ironically, they argue for fraud in exactly the same way that, as noted, advocates of "Intelligent Design" argue for their designer, as the root default cause that explains everything. Tin foil hats are fashionable across the political spectrum, it seems.
Why Electronic Voting Really Is a Problem: FL-13- Despite Michael Bouldin's disregard for those of us who are concerned about DRE machines, the FL-13 race is indicating exactly why we have to stop these machines. From the Orlando Sentinal:
The group of nearly 18,000 voters that registered no choice in Sarasota's disputed congressional election solidly backed Democratic candidates in all five of Florida's statewide races, an Orlando Sentinel analysis of ballot data shows. Among these voters, even the weakest Democrat -- agriculture-commissioner candidate Eric Copeland -- outpaced a much-better-known Republican incumbent by 551 votes. The trend, which continues up the ticket to the race for governor and U.S. Senate, suggests that if votes were truly cast and lost -- as Democrat Christine Jennings maintains -- they were votes that likely cost her the congressional election... "Wow," University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato said. "That's very suggestive -- I'd even say strongly suggestive -- that if there had been votes recorded, she [Jennings] would have won that House seat."
Seriously, Giuliani is kidding himself- There's an unreal quality to this whole Rudy '08 business, but now that the former mayor has filed an exploratory committee for real, it seems it should be taken just a mite more seriously than it deserves. To be clear, the idea that anyone, let alone Giuliani himself, considers him Presidential timber is thigh-slappingly hilarious, but seriousness is the order of the day, I guess. So let's take a look. Ed Koch, back in the day when he too was taken seriously, was a columnist for the Daily News; as such, he wrote a series of articles about His Rudyness; they were later serialized in a volume titled Giuliani: Nasty Man. The book appeared in 1999, before Rudy was sainted, and it's juicy. July 10th, 1998 (p. 119f): 40,000 construction workers demonstrate - the word used is 'riot' - in Midtown, leading to twenty injuries; Giuliani goes campaigning in Nassau County with the republican AG candidate, Dennis Vacco.
The Republican Poisoning of America: Ignoring the threat of lead in drinking water- Some believe that one contributing factor to the decline of the Roman Empire was the fact that they used lead pipes for drinking water. Chronic lead poisoning, it is argued, sapped the Romans of their health and intelligence, contributing to their decline. I personally think this is an unlikely scenario...but, in an Empire known for its extensive public water system, it is possible. But one thing is indeed clear, poisons like lead and arsenic in drinking water are a major health hazard. And this health hazard is one part of the Republican poisoning of America. This is another one of my pet issues: the ongoing poisoning of American by Republican policies. This is not an accidental thing. It is a byproduct of intentional deregulation, intentionally ignoring clear warning signs of health problems, and allowing companies and utilities to circumvent environmental regulations. Sometimes it is very specific: Bush ordering the EPA to lie about the toxicity of the World Trade Center smoke plume, thus poisoning thousands of New Yorkers, particularly first responders, leading to a syndrome known as "Ground Zero Cough" which has struck New York's rescue workers or Conrad Burns (A Montana Republican now happily ousted from the Senate by Jon Tester, a populist organic farmer) advocating testing pesticides on humans. Other times it is a more general increase in dangerous pollutants thanks to Republican blind faith in deregulation. But there is now a clear pattern of Republican policies threatening the health of Americans through our air, drinking water and soil.
Preview: Madam Speaker's First 100 Hours- Here is an outline of Pelosi's plan for the first 100 hours of the new Congress. She will need out help in accomplishing it all so quickly. From the Washington Post (from October...BEFORE the election):
Day One: Put new rules in place to "break the link between lobbyists and legislation." Day Two: Enact all the recommendations made by the commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Time remaining until 100 hours: Raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, maybe in one step. Cut the interest rate on student loans in half. Allow the government to negotiate directly with the pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices for Medicare patients. Broaden the types of stem cell research allowed with federal funds _ "I hope with a veto-proof majority," she added in an Associated Press interview Thursday. All the days after that: "Pay as you go," meaning no increasing the deficit, whether the issue is middle class tax relief, health care or some other priority. To do that, she said, Bush-era tax cuts would have to be rolled back for those above "a certain level." She mentioned annual incomes of $250,000 or $300,000 a year and higher, and said tax rates for those individuals might revert to those of the Clinton era. Details will have to be worked out, she emphasized.
The morning papers, November 29- The New York Times: Alcee Hastings, a lawmaker who in a previous life had been one of only a handful of judges to be impeached and removed by the Congress, will not chair the House Intelligence Committee. Nor, it seems, will AIPAC tool Jane Harman. We shall see. Also in the Times, a strange story about a leaked White House memo expressing doubts about the Iraqi premier; the chimp, of course, is meeting the Prime Minister in Jordan today. One wonders why and by whom that memo was leaked today; not very artful. Get ready for hospital closings. Larry Littlefield on Room Eight discusses possible consequences. The civil war in Iraq is not a civil war, says the White House. Just put your fingers in your ears, close your eyes, and sing La La La loudly; you'll be fine. Speaking of which, Saudi Arabia may be preparing to intervene in Iraq, says DailyKos. The Albany Times-Union goes into the details of Bruno and Silver's obfuscation on member item disclosure. The records were provided as a 3,000 page image PDF, rendering them largely unusable; the Assembly has now provided the earmark data in searchable format, which the Senate continues to refuse to do. See what a difference a republican Senate majority makes? Huh? Lastly, The Washington Monthly has a portrait of incoming Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
Pondering impeachment- The constitution provides for the removal from office of the President and Vice-President for what it terms 'treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors'. As does so much else in our constitutional system, the idea of impeachment derives from English law. Despite their illegitimacy, impeachment and removal are therefore the legal avenue (of several available) that seems most apt for dealing with George Bush and Dick Cheney. In judicial terms, impeachment is comparable to an indictment; at the Federal level, a simple majority of the House of Representatives is required to vote out Articles of Impeachment. These are then presented to the United States Senate, presided over by the Chief Justice, where a super-majority of two thirds is required for conviction and removal. Notably, The Federalist Papers make clear that impeachment is a political, as opposed to a judicial, process.
A well-constituted court for the trial of impeachments is an object not more to be desired than difficult to be obtained in a government wholly elective. The subjects of its jurisdiction are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust. They are of a nature which may with peculiar propriety be denominated POLITICAL, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself.
Impending Federal Decertification of DRE Machines?- The fight against the worst of the electronic voting machines may be nearing a turning point. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seems poised to recommend decertification of the direct record electronic (DRE)voting machines. NIST is a non-regulatory federal agency within the U.S. Commerce Department's Technology Administration that "promotes U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life." This probably means that their recommendation is non-binding, but would go a long way to convincing people like my city councilman, David Yassky, who has yet to sign on to City Council resolution 131, that they had better oppose DRE machines if they want to ensure a fair vote. From Internetnews.com:
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is recommending that the 2007 version of the Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines (VVSG) decertify direct record electronic (DRE) machines.
Nader's Legacy: First George Bush's Presidency, Now Union Busting- In the aftermath of Ralph Nader's colossal, nation-damaging ego trip of 2000, I still maintained that his earlier career was a good one and that there were still good aspects of his legacy. I cited the PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) movement as an example of something founded by Nader that has been of great benefit in American politics. Three things have soured Nader's legacy even more: his 2004 attempt at a repeat of the 2000 ego-driven disaster (this time without help from the Green Party, to credit them with learning a valuable lesson); the full scale of disaster that the Nader-enabled Bush administration has proven to be, fully in line with my warnings in 2000 and contrary to the Nader claim that Bush and Gore were equivalent; and finally, the decline of the PIRG movement into an anti-labor, union-busting political machine that seems to be betraying its roots. I didn't so much come to this story as have it thrust upon me from several sides. A discussion with a new New Democratic Majority member about what kind of canvassing options were available for pay brought up the PIRG efforts, which I knew were paid, and a comment from Michael Bouldin that he had heard they had become horrible to work for, a kind of progressive political sweatshop.
Worst, Worster, Worstest- The Washington Post carries a total of five op-ed pieces today discussing the likely historical ranking of George Bush in the Presidential gallery; and while, as far as I'm concerned, he doesn't belong in that line due to illegitimacy, they make for fascinating reading. In descending order of obloquy, the pieces are: Vincent J. Cannato argues that the test of history requires a historical timescale, and that it's possible that Bush could be spared the worst-ever ranking due to a haze of distance or with an eye to successes that may yet appear. This most obvious reactionary lickspittle amongst the five makes the best-case assumption that Bush's legacy will be 'mixed', thereby demonstrating that even amongst the right, there is a dawning realization of catastrophe. Michael Lind makes the case that Bush ranks merely as fifth-worst, and offers up James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Richard M. Nixon and James Madison as greater catastrophes. Douglas Brinkley also notes that there are two more agonizingly long years to go which may offer Bush redemption, but
Because we care more- This is so cool: people are getting tattoos, temporary and permanent, calling for impeachment.
Halliburton Corruption: Finally a conviction- This didn't even get it's own article in the NY Times but rather was buried at the bottom of an article on 4 marines dying in a helicopter crash. Really, you have to scroll down almost to the end to find it. It turns out that Halliburton has been awarding subcontracts based on bribes:
In Rock Island, Ill., the director of operations for a Saudi company that operates dining facilities for American troops in Iraq and Kuwait was sentenced Friday in the Federal District Court for the Central District of Illinois to 51 months in prison for his involvement in a kickback scheme, according to a news release issued by a federal prosecutorâ€™s office there. In the scheme, Mohammad Shabbir Khan, operations director of the Tamimi Global Company, paid kickbacks to an employee of Kellogg Brown & Root Services to secure two dining subcontracts valued at $21.8 million, the statement said. A United States district judge also ordered Mr. Khan to pay a fine of $10,000 and restitution to the United States government of $133,860, the amount he paid the Kellogg Brown & Root employee, the statement said.
The morning papers, December 7- Today is Pearl Harbor Day. 65 years ago, the Japanese Empire bombed the United States Pacific Fleet naval base, launching itself into a conflict it could not but lose. Here's some historical footage: More contemporary scary stuff: Gur Tsabar thinks he's on the TSA's 'selectee list', which means that he gets searched extra carefully, as a possible security risk, before he can get on a plane. Um, is the security risk that he got endorsed once by the New York Times? You can now search through the Assembly's pork via a nifty searchable Excel sheet. The New York Times: Oh, those Democrats and their egos. Also in the Times, the battle lines on the final decision for Atlantic Yards are hardening, with the EDSC board vote expected tomorrow. The Washington Post goes into delicious detail on the perils of being a southern party. Lastly, from OnNYturf, open questions about that Greenpoint Terminal fire.
Some grassroots news- If you thought that the New York City grassroots were taking a breather after the election, you'd only be half right; a breath was taken, it appears, but that was to gather steam for the next steps. Here are just a few examples that I'm personally involved or acquainted with at some level:
Katrina Vanden Heuvel of The Nation recently gave a speech to DFNYC; her transcript, and a well-deserved shout-out, are here.
New Democratic Majority has the comprehensive overview on Albany reform, here, with some really cool resources. Rules reform in Albany is, I think, the next major step we need to take, so go there and get busy. Legislative rules reform is as arcane a subject as anyone can imagine, but it's key to stopping and reversing the decline of this state.
Speaking of Albany, take a look at The Albany Project, an effort by bloggers NyBri and Lipris of DailyKos renown to bring some transparency to the state capital, whether the capital likes it, or not.
The morning papers, December 11- The New York Times captures the drip, drip, drip of debacle: The Taliban establish a mini-state in Afghanistan, here, the U.S. still doesn't quite know who it's fighting in Iraq, here, the President of Iraq denounces the American security efforts, here, and Iraq isn't spending what money it has, here. The Washington Post: Hamas targets a Fatah leader, and kills his three children instead. Sizzling pork over at the Albany Project. Bob Geiger checks his Osama clock; it's been exactly 1,911 days since The Decider decided that he wanted him 'dead or alive'. Political Wire: Hillary re-releases her children's book, "It takes a Village", this time, with a shot of herself on the cover. Hotline: Mitt Romney isn't enough of a gay-hater for some on the right; watch as he now tries to prove them wrong. He can hate just as much or more as the next reactionary freak show, just you wait and see. And lastly, Political Insider has a remarkable document: a memo sent by John Boehner, the republican House chief, to his caucus as they head into the minority.
Gatemouthiana- Ben Smith calls it cryptic, I just think it's deplorable and infuriating: Gatemouth goes into early retirement under pressure.
Effective immediately, Gatemouth has indefinitely suspended operations. This is a direct result of the efforts of persons who made complaints manifesting a desire to see this organization cease and desist. Because I am not without my obligations to others, they have successfully attained their goals.[...] My heart is heavy. Outside of my non-traditional family life and my collection of vinyl LPs, there is nothing which affords me more fulfillment than writing this column; in fact given the vices age has forced me to forgo, Iâ€™m hard pressed to think of anything else, beyond those things already enumerated, which even brings more than a passing smile to my gloomy countenance. In a long work-life spent joylessly laboring at jobs for which I could offer nothing more than flashes of inspiration within seas of journeyman-like competence (when I could manage even that), while receiving in exchange insufficient paychecks and but fleeting moments of joy, I had finally found something for which my skills seemed matched. I shall miss it, and I shall miss most of you.
Sen. Gonzalez Gets a Little Too Into the Spirit of Giving- So I posted a bit under my old superhero identity, back before the Daily Gotham had become quite the colossus it is nowadays. Bouldin has convinced me to come out of retirement (despite all the good TV I'll be missing), and I'm thrilled to join the great community of bloggers here at the DG who have been muckraking so brilliantly over the past year and a half. My first offering comes via the Albany Project and Capitol Confidential, who report that Democratic Bronx state Sen. Efrain Gonzalez Jr. has been indicted for "mail fraud and theft of funds in a conspiracy to steal $432,000 though a complicated scheme involving non profit groups." As the Empire Zone explains, "The charges allege that the State Senator directed member item funds through various not-for-profit organizations and ultimately stole more than $400,000." There's a certain poetry in the idea of a state legislator being indicted for allegedly stealing member item money, since member item money is in itself basically a form of theft: it amounts to money stolen from taxpayers, which is then used by Albany leadership to filch the loyalty of legislators. It's a racket.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning- Via The Politicker: Bronx Assemblyman Peter Rivera's take on the Gonzalez indictment?
"I don't understand the logic why [U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia] would pick the day we're in session to re-indict an individual again, when we're in session. Allegedly, and this is something I learned from the media, allegedly we're up here doing pay raises. Is the point to discuss, when the coverage is going to be 'pay raise' or 'no pay raise,' a member of the legislature gets indicted?"
So, er... 1. Does that mean that the legislature will not be considering a pay raise? and: 2. Is the indictment of a sitting state Senator on charges of stealing almost half a million dollars of taxpayer money somehow supposed to be less embarassing if it comes on some other day? Oh, and: 3. Will the last state legislator with a sense of shame please turn out the lights?
The Roads Not Taken- Sometime in the next few weeks, City Council members will probably have a big press conference to pat themselves on the back for all the work theyâ€™ve done this year. Theyâ€™ll talk about lobbying reform, their work on the budget, and several other things. But they will also break for the holiday having left several important things undone. There are many bills that should be passed, some of which clearly would pass if they were allowed to come to the floor for a vote. In the comments for this blog entry, I'll list just a few of the many good bills that were not passed. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, you can search for a particular bill, or get the complete list of all legislation introduced and how each individual bill did, online at www.nyccouncil.info/issues.
â€œI canâ€™t get the tears. Iâ€™m too angry.â€- It was on NBC News this morning, and The New York Times confirms it: another young black man got shot to death by the police.
A police officer fatally shot an armed 19-year-old during a struggle in the vestibule of a South Bronx apartment building last night, the police said. The police said that the officer fired five shots at the man, identified by his mother as Timur Person, and that at least one of them hit him in the chest. A friend of Mr. Personâ€™s who witnessed the shooting, Hector Suarez, said that Mr. Person had a gun tucked into his waistband. â€œThey were punching and kicking him,â€ Mr. Suarez said. â€œAll I kept hearing was: â€˜Let go of the gun! Let go of the gun!â€™ â€[...] Mr. Personâ€™s mother, Allene Person, said that Mr. Person, her youngest child, was two days shy of his 20th birthday. â€œI canâ€™t cry,â€ she said, banging her palms against the chain-link fence outside the hospital. â€œI canâ€™t get the tears. Iâ€™m too angry.â€
The morning papers, December 14- The Washington Post: 57% of Americans trust Democrats in Congress to do the right things for the country; 31% trust Wienerboy in the White House. Mandate, anyone? Also in WaPo: Senator Tim Johnson, Democrat of South Dakota, had emergency brain surgery last night and remains in critical condition. The New York Times: what is described as "one of the countryâ€™s most important collections of artifacts devoted to the history of African-Americans" is seeking a new home. Brian Keeler on "Why the Gonzalez indictment matters". Rochester Turning discovers cross-promotion within media conglomerates, or as I like to call it, product pimping. What price credible journalism? Capitol Confidential: Spitzer to legislature: take care of business, then we'll talk about a pay raise. Lastly, with no link yet, NDM and other interested parties are putting together an event on legislative rules reform for next week. Stay tuned. [Update]: Los Angeles Times must-read: Jonah Goldberg calls for an Iraqi Pinochet; neo-con heads explode.
They Got Needs- Larry Littlefield, at Room 8 Blog, explains why, critical as he is of Albany shennanigans, he's not particularly worked up over the prospect of a pay raise for NY state legislators:
It may be fair to suggest that our current state legislators have treated the general public with contempt, and do not deserve the increase. But my view is that one has to meet oneâ€™s own obligations before pointing fingers, and showing contempt for the legislature by cutting its inflation-adjusted pay isnâ€™t doing so. Remember, there are plenty of interests up in Albany who are willing to pay more than we do for their services and a bigger share of our money. They are up there being nice to our elected officials and giving them money. Perhaps the general public needs to ante up.
He's got a good point. This is why unpaid, or virtually unpaid legislatures are such a bad idea. If you want a job done right, you have to pay for it - and if the taxpayers don't pay legislators, someone else will. It's silly to oppose raises for lawmakers simply out of the knee-jerk opinion that they're all a bunch of bums.
Legislature to Pataki: Bite me!- Outgong Governor George Pataki called the state legislature back into session this week. He dangled pay raises in front of them in exchange for confining sex offenders after their prison terms are served and lifting the cap on charter schools. Confining sex offenders after they are "released" from prison is a hot topic. On paper, it makes sense for a conservative to want it, because it looks "tough on crime", especially the crime-of-the-month. But if we really want to keep sex offenders off the street, why not just increase the prison sentences? We have reached the current limit of 100 charter schools statewide Despite lower enrollment of special education and "ELL" (English language learner) students in charter schools, there is no added benefit to most students. Meanwhile, the 98% of students who don't get in to a charter school are being squeezed into smaller spaces with fewer resources. Adding more charter schools will just exacerbate the problem without providing any kind of solution. Pataki wanted both of these things passed and, knowing how justly unpopular they are, tried to bribe the legislature with a pay raise. Fortunately, the legislature effectively told him to take a long walk off a short pier.
Clean Money, Clean Elections- Bob Fertik of Democrats.com emails over an interesting appeal that I'd like to pass on:
End the Scandals, Empower Voters -- Support Clean Elections Reform DeLay and Abramoff were just the beginning. New scandals involving the rotten triangle of special interest lobbyists, wealthy donors, and our elected officials continue to break while we pay the price for this "pay-to-play" political system. But there is a real solution: Clean Elections campaign reform. Already working in 7 states and 2 cities, Clean Elections helps keep politicians working for the voters and not for the special interests and their lobbyists by providing public campaign funding to qualified candidates that agree to forgo private contributions and follow strict spending limits.
You can sign the petition, and learn more, here.
The morning papers, December 15- The New York Times: The Extraordinary Session of the legislature was pretty much a failure, but we can't tell you why, because most of the action that mattered took place in secret.
Because the failed negotiations were all conducted in secret, it was difficult to say with certainty why the proposed deals all fell apart. But all three men were only too happy to offer their theories in Thursdayâ€™s post-mortems â€” and to get in a few last licks at one another.
The newest Q-Poll shows that New Yorkers want reform. Hillary goes to New Hampshire. National Journal speculates; could Texas go blue, now that republicans have repeated their California 1994 mistake of pissing off Latinos? The New Republic gloats. Charles Krauthammer applies the word 'fatuous' to someone else. The gall. Slow news day.
Joe Bruno Just Loves the Horses, That's All- This morning, the New York Times delves into the relationship between Republican State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and "wealthy investor" Jared E. Abbruzzese. While the two men insist that their bond is nothing more than "a mutual love of horses," the Times describes a relationship between a key lawmaker and a man with business before the state: one that is "unusually close even by Albany standards."
Over the past four years, two of Mr. Abbruzzeseâ€™s companies have contributed more than $118,000 to a campaign committee controlled by Mr. Bruno. Mr. Abbruzzeseâ€™s wife bought property for $90,000 from a group involving Mr. Bruno. Mr. Bruno has also flown on Mr. Abbruzzeseâ€™s private jet at least half a dozen times. And in a February 2005 transaction that has not been previously reported, Mr. Bruno bought 2,000 shares in a small Texas securities brokerage in which Mr. Abbruzzese was intimately involved. Mr. Bruno says he invested in the firm, Tejas Inc., after discussing it with Mr. Abbruzzese. The firmâ€™s stock was not traded on any major exchanges and Mr. Abbruzzeseâ€™s own financial advisory company merged with Tejas several months later.
MoveOn's NYT ad for Tuesday- MoveOn is raising money for an ad to run in Tuesday's New York Times. Here it is:
The morning papers, December 19- The Huffington Post: Eight years ago today, the republican House voted to impeach President Clinton. Impeachment was put into the constitution as a measure to deal with inconveniently popular Democratic Presidents, and is not applicable to republicans, goes the conventional wisdom. Also in HuffPost: That female Marine officer killed in Iraq the other day? She was escorting republican felon Oliver North and a Fox "News" crew, along with some guy from Newsweek. Even the manufacturing of republican talking points, it appears, gets people killed. The New York Times: "Attacks in Iraq at Record High, Pentagon Says". Also in the Times: Hevesi is negotiating with the Albany District Attorney, instead of doing what everyone is wishing he would do: just quietly go away. The Albany Times-Union says an indictment could come as early as Friday. The Washington Post: E.J. Dionne analyzes the death of Red America. DMIBlog: "White Progressives Don't Get Race". Lastly, The Albany Project has a book club. Now, heh, where have I seen that before? It's all good.
The Albany Sewer- With Joe Bruno under investigation by the FBI, Shelly Silver flexing his muscles over Atlantic Yards, and a new governor coming in, Albany is getting some much-needed attention. And let's face it, that's a good thing, because Albany is broken. Today's Bruno and Silver headlines illustrate two different aspects of what is wrong with our dysfunctional, crippled and embarrassing state government. Capitol Confidential:
Bruno read a prepared statement and took very few questions. He seemed ill at ease and spoke haltingly, but said he hasnâ€™t done anything wrong and insisted all his outside business has been cleared by the Legislative Ethics Committee.
Clearance by the Ethics Committee isn't enough, I guess, to ward off a Federal criminal investigation. Certainly not when Senator Bruno has a major say in who sits on that committee and what that committee decides to do. It's not necessary to take a position on Bruno's guilt or innocence to state the obvious: that's not much of a control mechanism. When you consider that nine, count them, nine state legislators have been indicted in this decade alone (and it's only 2006), there's a problem. When the state's top accountant is under a legal cloud, wins re-election, and still clings to his seat, there's a problem. Part of that problem is that someone like Bruno â€“ or, say, Diane Gordon â€“ doesn't need to worry about getting re-elected once he or she is actually in office. We think so little of our state representatives, and by extension of ourselves, that even crooks will do fine.
More on the FBI's Bruno Investigation- WCBS reports (video link) that the investigation does appear to be related to Bruno's close, strictly-horse-based relationship with Jared Abbruzzese. They also note the particularly unfortunate timing for the state's soon-to-be highest-ranking Republican. With Spitzer riding a wave of reform in and Hevesi riding a wave of scandal out, Bruno may find himself particularly vulnerable. Hank Sheinkopf: "Senator Bruno seemed to be away from the problem, now heâ€™s right in the middle of it. The calls for reform will only increase, and thereâ€™ll be more attacks on the Albany politicians." Meanwhile, it's up to us to find a proper name for the emerging scandal. Saddlegate? The Horse Pork Affair? Albany Cowboys? I got nothin'.
Hevesi out Friday- Alan Hevesi is expected to step down Friday, reports The Albany Times-Union.
State Comptroller Alan Hevesi will agree this week to resign to avoid an indictment stemming from an ethics scandal in which he used public employees to chauffeur his wife, according to sources familiar with his decision. Hevesi, one of the state's highest-ranking elected officials, will consent to stepping down from the post he has held since January 2003 by Friday morning at the latest as part of a plea deal with Albany County District Attorney David Soares. The comptroller, a 66-year-old Queens Democrat, will also plead guilty to a criminal charge, which will not be higher than a Class E felony and will not require him to spend any time in jail, according to the sources.
The next steps in the process are unclear; the governor, George Pataki, could in theory name a replacement to serve out the remainder of Hevesi's current term, while governor-elect Eliot Spitzer and the legislature will no doubt wrangle over whom to appoint in Hevesi's stead for his next term, for which he was just elected. Stay tuned.
Not so fast- Liza and myself actually walked by the Atlantic Yards site today at about 1 PM or so after an interview, and had a chance to enjoy the traffic jams that already choke Atlantic Avenue before the first spade has hit the ground. Now that the Public Authorities Control Board has greenlighted Atlantic Yards, that enjoyment can be more broadly shared by 30,000 more people who aren't just passing through, but actually live there. So is this a done deal? Not quite, says Develop Don't Destroy, the local activist group that has been fighting to protect their homes in the face of near-unanimous opposition from the Powers on High. I spoke briefly with Daniel Goldstein about their mood and the next steps: "Clearly, today shows that public pressure is ignored. Personally, I've had little faith that our most powerful leaders in this state would do the right thing. But in a way weâ€™re fortunate. All of the political maneuvering can be put behind us, and the plaintiffs and the community can go to a court and seek relief based on the law, instead of contending with fixed, inside deals. And when we win our case, the project will have to be scrapped for a plan that benefits the many, instead of the corporate few."
Glasnost in the State Senate?- Following on Michael's link to the Albany Project's great post about state Senate gerrymandering... There are broad issues to look at here, including not only whether the gerrymander is constitutional, but whether Democrats and progressives have been committed enough to overturning the Republican majority. We'll spend more time on both of these subjects in the coming months. In the meantime, though, rumors of Senate coups are swirling in the wake of Brunogate... First, incoming state GOP Chairman Joseph Mondello is forced to deny speculation that he may seek to replace Bruno as majority leader with Long Island Senator Dean Skelos:
â€œSenator Joseph Bruno has been a dear friend and political ally of mine for many years. He is well-liked and respected by people on both sides of the aisle because of his honest, straightforward style. I know him to be a man of integrity and one of the hardest working public servants in this state. As Chairman of the New York Republican State Committee I look forward to
How American are you?- I see that Andrew Rice at The Politicker has beaten me to the punch on this one, but it's worth rehashing. The good folks at People for the American Way, intrigued by the Federal government's revamped test for new citizens, decided to administer it to randomly selected people hurrying around downtown Manhattan, and the results are much what one would expect: slightly more than half failed. So are we just ill-educated, vapid, reality-TV-obsessed shopaholic zombies, or is the test too high of a hurdle? Now, before you answer that â€“ we Americans do have this tendency to describe ourselves in our great masses as, well, charming, but not always too bright â€“ consider these questions: How many amendments does the Constitution have? (My guess would have been twenty-nine, but the correct answer is two fewer than that. In consolation, nobody â€“ nobody! â€“ got that one right.) What is the rule of law? (The correct answer is "Everyone must obey the law, leaders must obey the law and government must obey the law"; I would have likely started ranting about impeachment, but hey.)
Giuliani's 9/11 Myth Begins to Take on Water- This morning the Post reports on how 9/11 families are inconveniently refusing to play along with the Rudy Giuliani 9/11 Hero Myth. This is one of the biggest political con jobs - well, there have been a lot of political con jobs over the last few years, but this is a big one, too - and I know I won't be the only one talking about it over the coming months. But let's start with Sally Regenhard and the Skyscraper Safety Campaign. From the Post:
"I can't see why any 9/11 family member who knows the truth about the failures of the Giuliani administration . . . would not be outraged about the failures," said Regenhard. She co-founded a group called the Skyscraper Safety Campaign and heckled Giuliani when he testified at 9/11 commission hearings in 2004. She has long blamed Giuliani for communications failures, including faulty radios, at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Giuliani's self-serving version of the 9/11 story doesn't include the part about his own incompetence:
Senator Malcolm Smith: We'll Be Watching- Newsday has another little profile of incoming Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, Democrat of Queens. It's a new year and I'm feeling the spirit of clean slates and open minds - and, y'know, hope. But, Senator Smith, we'll be watching. Will you act as a true leader of the opposition, rather than giving in to the temptation to accomodate the Republican leadership and appear "bipartisan"? Will you embrace and openly advocate for a progressive legislative agenda? Will you aggressively prepare the ground for a Democratic takeover of the state Senate in 2008? Will you work with Governor Spitzer and the Assembly Democrats to put pressure on Senate Republicans? Will you clearly and enthusiastically support legislative rules reform to introduce democracy and accountability to Albany? The go-along-to-get-along days are over. The Albany Sewer has festered in obscurity for a long time now, but not because the public approves of it. It only needed a light to shine on it, and activists and bloggers are working to get better and better at shining that light. Happy New Year, Senator Smith and Democrats of New York State. We'll be watching you.
Saddam executed- The media are reporting the execution of Saddam Hussein; remarkable, really, when he had such good friends back in the days when he was convenient to us. Friends with U.S. Government pensions, one might add; friends who likely won't ever face the anachronism of a trial. Those are for the defeated. We don't do those for powerful Americans, no matter how many crimes they commit or condone - eh, Rummy? And just coincidentally, the above photo was taken a year after the crimes for which Hussein was executed. Didn't stop us from selling him weapons of mass destruction, of course. This leaves a bad taste in the mouth; not because of any tears that need shedding over the man, but because, once again, we seem to be engaging in the usual ill-thought-out gesture politics so beloved of the extreme right. As Liza notes below, it's not at all clear that this act will produce a benefit either to this country or Iraq. One word: Zarqawi.
Don't Let it Slip Away- Governor Spitzer's opening salvo of executive orders has been receiving a fair amount of (well-deserved) attention. They're good, solid anti-corruption measures and it's simply outrageous that they weren't issued a generation ago. The order on "Promotion of Public Access to Government Decision Making" is particularly neat, as it requires state agencies and public authorities to "broadcast" their meetings on the internet (except those granted special exemption). Brian Lehrer, however, made an interesting point on this in his radio show this morning (just under halfway into the "Tuesday Morning Politics" segment): the order only mentions "broadcasting" the meetings, not archiving the broadcasts. Streaming without archiving wouldn't do much to improve public access. Will archiving also be a requirement, or will state agencies allow their streamed proceedings to be lost in the ether?
Moveon Moves On Congress- As the new Congress convenes, Democratic majorities in hand (if only barely), progressives and their organizations are hoping to remind their representatives about the progressive agenda. In a limited, behind-the-beltway sort of way, even Wednesday morning's Washington Post has begun to notice. Moveon.org's Political Action arm which has been adding on-the-ground muscle to its 3.2 milion member internet life, is about to bring "Operation Democracy" to Congressional Districts accross the United States. Begining with hundreds of meetings in early December (one I atternded in lower Manhattan drew eighty or so), Moveon volunteers have been collecting petitions and photographs of activists. In January, we plan to meet with our Congress Members to remind them about the progressive agenda demanded by 2006 voters: End the Iraq War; Health Care For All; Clean Energy. As I understand it, these Congressional District groups will become long-term boots-on-the-ground volunteers organized to help our progressive Congress Members take leadership as the long Bush nightmare begins to fade -- And to help those right-wingers still in office seek early retirement.
Republicans Unanimously Endorse Brunogate- Governor Spitzer: "End the politics of cynicism." New York State Republican Party: "The politics of cynicism ROCK!!!!11!1!"
The formal re-election of Silver, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, and Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco to their respective leadership posts and the election of Sen. Malcolm Smith as Senate minority leader. In his brief acceptance speech, Bruno said there are challenges and crises to be overcome both singularly and collectivley. He did not refer directly to the FBI probe of his outside business dealings, but discussed the â€œchallenging timesâ€¦more for some than others.'â€™ UPDATE: The election of Bruno was done via voice vote. No â€œnaysâ€ were heard.
Albany: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall- New York State Senate Republicans should be held to account for unanimously electing as Majority Leader a man who is currently under FBI investigation for his ties to an allegedly crooked businessman. But the Albany swamp is a bipartisan problem. And it's triggering disgust among grassroots activists in both major parties, as Stuart Mirsky's post at Urban Elephants demonstrates:
If one aspect of our political system is incumbent collusion as exemplified by the Serph-Audrey axis in Queens, the bigger problem resides in the voters' preference for political largess over change. [...] [A]s long as they care more about pork in the pocket than making government more efficient, accountable and intelligent in its priorities, we wonâ€™t see real change any time soon. It's not enough to hold elections every few years. You have to have a system where change is possible. And that means voters have to want it. Our current system advantages incumbents, not least of all through those infamous member items, while insulating them from accountability by arcane legislative practices and the use of semi-governmental public authorities for debt creation. But, as we have seen, these things, besides making for awful governance, also make corruption commonplace. As Nelson Denis wrote in The Sun, "Statistically, New York State legislators are more likely than members of the general population to be engaged in criminal activity." [More after the break]
I Could Party in Ohio!- This year I have been invited to dozens of inaugural parties all over the country. If we could have made it to DC we could have party hoppped and really enjoyed the enthusiasm of all the newly elected Dems. But there is one inaugural party I am most proud to be invited to. For all who remember the Republican corruption in Ohio and the possibly stolen election in Ohio in 2004, THIS is really sweet: Too bad we can't be there! Best of luck to Mark Dann and Jennifer Brunner. I am proud to have sent them some publicity and some donations. If YOU want to go to their party, you can talk to the Ohio Democratic Party.
Why does Glenn Beck still have a job?- Empire Zone does a nice job of summarizing Glenn Beck's musings on drowning New York City.
According to a CNN transcript of the program â€œGlenn Beck on Headline News,â€ when it was suggested that a hurricane could cause a 20- to 25-foot storm surge in New York City, Mr. Beck said, â€œActually, that would clean the streets out. It might not be bad.â€ Liberal blogs have cried foul, noting that studies show such a storm would cause â€œheavy loss of life.â€ One local blogâ€™s summary: â€œGlenn Beck wants to kill you.â€ (It should be noted his show is based here.)
So you have to wonder: why aren't people talking about this? And why does the man still have a job? As the Zone notes, it's the liberal blogs, pretty much alone, that are talking about this; certainly not the rightwing blogs (who are more interested in hysterically yapping about war with Mexico and muttering darkly about their crypto-terrorist luggage). You might think that those folks would occasionally wonder if their allies aren't bigger threats than whatever it is that they exercise themselves over so loudly and often. But that would require a bit of critical distance from the rightwing Kool-Aid, and that's a step none of these folks seem ready or able to take.
Looking into the not so distant future of the fate of the New York City Council- 2009? Ok I know what your thinking "Spitzer just got in to office,we have three special elections coming up in the next month, and 2008 is a Presidential year. What about 2009?" 2009 represents the year when truly a cast of thousands well seek the numerous City Council seats that will become vacant. My count has 41 City Council seats that will be open due to those pesky term limits that Speaker Quinn may want to remove. That leaves only 10 seats that may not see a new face after the primaries in 2009. Now how about those 41 who may be job hunting soon? Will one of the remaining ten that survive re-election will become speaker of the House? (i.e. Letisha James) Well is my "unfinished painting" for 2009. Be mindful its early but then again we are picking Presidential winners and losers(Guilani) already. City Council List (Who is Staying, Going, and Not Knowing) 1. Christine Quinn â€“ Term limited in 2009- Expected to run for Mayor or Public Advocate 2. Council Member- District: 32 Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr.- Democrat 1/1/02-12/31/09 (Term Limited) 3. Council Member- District: 17 Maria del Carmen Arroyo- Democrat 3/21/05-12/31/2009 (Not Term Limited-Up for Reelection 2009)
Shining a Serious Light on Albany- Bouldin has already linked to it, but I want to put in a special word for the TAPopedia. The folks over at the Albany Project have come up with such a good idea here, but the whole point is that it needs input from all of us. Let's face it: there's woefully little out there in the way of systematic explanation of how Albany works and who its players are. TAPopedia gives us the opportunity to use open-source knowledge to explore every nut and bolt in the sausage factory, and to track every single legislator down to the most obscure freshman Assemblymember. Since so much of Albany's dysfunction results from its opacity, a tool like TAPopedia holds a lot of promise in the struggle to achieve transparency. But it needs you! What do you know? Go and build!
"The most dangerous blunder since Vietnam"- It's not New York-related, but here's your must-see video of the day: Chuck Hagel dressing down Condi Rice. Amazing how far a crushing defeat will go in restoring honesty to public debate, no?
Still the Decider- So you do have to wonder: The Decider says, on Iraq, it's his way or the highway. Congress, Shmongress, the People, the Shmeeple. Simple question: when do Congress and the nation grow a pair, impeach and remove the son of a bitch and throw his pompous, entitled ass in jail, where it belongs? Let's be really clear here: if Bush goes through with this escalation in the face of a Congressional refusal to fund it, that's a constitutional crisis of the first order; that's what Iran-Contra was all about.
In an interview broadcast last night on CBS's "60 Minutes," Bush said he has the authority as commander in chief to move ahead with the deployment, regardless of what the Democratic-controlled Congress does in opposition. "In this situation, I do, yeah," Bush said. "I fully understand they could try to stop me from doing it. But I've made my decision. And we're going forward." National security adviser Stephen J. Hadley said yesterday that the money is already in place to begin moving additional troops to Iraq.
Elsewhere, January 16- Chris Owens commemorates MLK, and includes a charming story about his mom, tearing up his principal back during his school days. That silly man hadn't known, one would think, that having Chris' mom up in arms really is severely ill-advised. DMIblog also turns to King, here and here and here. What is it with Albany and horses? The Times-Union reports on Shelly Silver's member items, featuring an annual tradition of $250,000 going to a charity headed by the daughter of the chairman of the New York Racing Association. He, in turn, offers his Saratoga home to the Assembly Democrats for a fundraiser every year during the races. Note: it doesn't need to be illegal to look sleazy. The New York Times: Governor Spitzer wants New York to take the lead on stem cell research. Standing in the way, as usual, is Senator Roadblock, Joe Bruno. Rochester Turning looks at the positions taken by local Congressmen on the Bush-McCain escalation plan to kill more Americans. Left Behinds dissects the immigration debate with the use of a fiendish, heathen construct known as "data". Quinnipiac polls Mayor Bloomberg, who receives a 75% to 16% approval/disapproval rating. The fallout from the Sean Bell killing is confined to Ray Kelly and the NYPD, viewed negatively by 34% and 40%, with approval at 52% and 53% respectively. That's down from Kelly 70% to 16%, NYPD 72% to 20%. Among blacks, the numbers are, unsurprisingly, worse: Kelly 32% approval, 57% disapproval, NYPD 23% approval, 63% disapproval. Lastly, since I just noticed â€“ not paying attention here, I guess â€“ that The Politicker has a feature called 'Elsewhere', we need a new title for the daily news roundup. Suggestions in the comments, please.
Headlines, January 17- Via DailyKos, the news that the Bush administration is forcing inconvenient District Attorneys â€“ the kind that pursue official corruption - to resign. Must have something to do with that 'honor and dignity' business. The New York Times: Bloomie plans a property tax cut, and the elimination of the sales tax on clothing. Cue the Bloomberg '08 chatter. Albany budgets that are transparent and balanced - what's the world coming to? The Wall Street Journal has relief for those confused by the wildly gyrating Presidential race, a handy overview chart. Capitol Confidential says that Craig Johnson has $211,845 cash on hand. Teaser: that number may rise very shortly. MyDD: Senator Escalation loses a GOP straw poll, which will surprise the media, but not people who are paying attention. I keep on telling people: their base hates him. Listen to people occasionally instead of telling us what you think the story should be, dear media. And lastly, via CultureKitchen, the Hotness of Jake Gyllenhaal.
NY City Council Schedule for Next Week- I am a big advocate of people being INVOLVED in government and poltics. It is easy to complain, but it is much harder to be part of the solution. I want people to be part of the solution. Recently I have started receiving (not sure why!) the line up for NY City Council meetings. I think passing it along to our readers would be a good service and allows the community to know what the City Council is doing and to keep an eye on them. So here is the schedule for next week:
City Council Calendar for Monday Jan. 22nd, 2007 - Sunday Jan. 28th, 2007 - - - - - - Community Conversations on the Budget - - - - - - - In addition to legislative hearings held at City Hall, the Council is holding meetings in every borough for individuals to identify their community's needs and priorities. Also note that Budget ideas may be emailed directly to Speaker Quinn at: http://www.nyccouncil.info/rightnow/contactspkr.cfm?issue=budget This week's meetings include: Brooklyn Community Conversation Meeting Wednesday, January 24th, 7:00pm New Life Tabernacle, 4905 Avenue D More info at http://www.nyccouncil.info/
Snip. There's more.
Dead SOX? New York and the Future of Corporate Transparency- Mayor Bloomberg and Senator Schumer have teamed up to release a report urging changes in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which set stringent new standards for corporate governance and transparency in the wake of the Enron scandal.
The study suggests exempting some non-U.S. companies from the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate-governance regulations. [...] ``Unless we take corrective steps, and soon, we're going to see America's leadership in global financial transactions dwindle, putting a chill on the nation's economy,'' Bloomberg said today during a press conference held at City Hall in New York. The report calls for ``greater clarity and balance to what is now a burdensome and inflexible system of government regulation and enforcement,'' he said. [...] Bloomberg, a Republican, and Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said efforts to make Sarbanes-Oxley less onerous should go beyond recent changes recommended by the SEC. The New York politicians suggested small companies be permitted to ``opt out'' of provisions of the law as long as they disclose it to shareholders and foreign firms be exempt from certain Sarbanes- Oxley requirements.
The report comes as part of broad wave of attacks on SOX, from corporations, conservative think-tanks, and some politicians (see, for instance, this article by Stephen Bainbridge, a prominent SOX critic). A particularly New York angle is that, supposedly, New York will suffer economically as more and more companies either go private or flee to less-regulated foreign capital markets. The attempt to blame SOX for companies going private, though, may be completely misguided. And, as this Times editorial points out, companies seek out foreign capital markets for all kinds of reasons - not least of them the fact that underwriting fees in London, for instance, are roughly half the size they are in New York. Moreover, SOX may help American markets maintain a reputation for transparency and investor confidence that will serve them well when Enron-type scandals start to pop up in dodgy foreign markets. [More: Spitzer on SOX]
Who is Cesar Borja Jr. and Why Does He Matter?- I am not an enthusiastic fan of Hillary Clinton for a variety of reasons. However, her dogged dedication to a cause very close to my heart is enough to earn my vote. Hillary continues to champion the cause of the tens of thousands of victims of 9/11--no, not those who died in the attack but those who died and are dying and will die as a result of the attack. Hillary invited the son of Cesar Borja to the State of the Union Address in her seemingly futile crusade to focus national attention on what one day may be considered to be one of the most heinous crimes in American history. Cesar Borja is one of a growing number of 9/11 heroes who are dying. Borja needs a lung transplant because he was poisoned on The Pile. Borja is one of as many as 400,000 victims of the largest and most ignored toxic waste dump in world history. Back in September of 2006, NY1 ran a series on the release of a Mount Sinai Medical Center study that horrifyingly documented the true nightmare and crime of 9/11. This profoundly disturbing study scientifically documents the short and long term health impact of the World Trade Center collapse among an estimated 400,000 New Yorkers. That number includes those heroes who worked on the pile during the days and weeks following 9/11, the office workers and residents who returned to their jobs and homes in lower Manhattan within weeks following the disaster and residents of Brooklyn and Staten Island who were subsequently exposed to lingering dust and the dumping of debris.
Predictable outrage over Atlantic Yards- The newest spat over Atlantic Yards features some of the usual suspects; on the one hand, there's Errol Louis, on the other, the Brooklyn Papers. This is Kabuki. If you, for example, should ever find yourself needing to know just what Louis' position is on a given issue, do this: imagine the most stereotypical black liberal you can, drawing heavily on all relevant clichÃ©s. Imagine what position this liberal phantom would take on the issue you're trying to divine; Louis will take exactly the inverse position to that. Try it; it's a parlor game of sorts in some circles, with an astonishing degree of accuracy. The Brooklyn Papers, meanwhile, can be counted on to give column inches to every Yards controversy; the paper, perhaps, is seeing the need to expiate its endorsement of David Yassky some time ago. At issue is this: as the Brooklyn Papers recounts, and Louis delivers the counter-screed to, Forest Ratner, the developer of Atlantic Yards, has managed to sell naming rights to the stadium proposed for the site to the British bank Barclay's. This house, which traces its roots to a Quaker establishment of 1690, has a troubled past with regard to the slave trade (as do many of the going concerns that still exist from that era) and more recently, was active in Apartheid-era South Africa.
Rightwing terrorist sentenced- From The Albany Times-Union:
BUFFALO -- A man already serving time in a state prison for the sniper-shooting murder of a doctor was convicted Thursday on a federal charge of targeting and killing the man because he provided abortions. [...] "You do not decide that you are the judge, the jury and the executioner, that's what [the defendant] Mr. Kopp did," U.S. Attorney Terrance Flynn said after the verdict. The government will seek a prison term of life without parole at sentencing, scheduled for June 19, Flynn said.
Kopp, affiliated with the domestic terrorist groups Operation Rescue and The Army of God, killed â€“ executed is a better term â€“ Slepian with a high-powered assault rifle as the latter was making dinner in his kitchen; his children watched their father bleed to death. Following the murder, Operation Rescue released a statement that justified the murder. After Slepian's execution, pro- and anti-choice groups took out a full-page ad in a Buffalo newspaper calling for civility and abjuring violence, which OR also denounced as a "pitiful philosophy and vision", urging followers to take to the streets.
The status quo fights back- We're at a crucial point, I think, in our state's history. New York has a real opportunity to break open decades of encrusted, corrupt lethargy; we have a new governor elected on the promise of reform with a crushing mandate, the Senate seems about ready to flip, and most importantly, We The People know things need to change. Someone should tell the old guard, because they are fighting hard to keep Things As They Are. For example, The New York Times has an article about the crusading Albany District Attorney that also lays out the resistance he's encountering from those content with the rot. Closer to home, the old guard seeks to make an example of the special election in SSD-7. The Murdoch Post reports that our sweet and cuddly billionaire mayor, the guy so many of us voted for because he's almost a Democrat, just threw a cool quarter of a million dollars into helping Maureen O'Connell, the anti-choice extremist who aspires to be Joe Bruno's next little helper.
Sarbanes-Oxley: Not the Apocalypse- Last week I posted about the kvetching and cavilling over Sarbanes-Oxley, the corporate transparency act passed in response to Enron and other boardroom scandals. Senator Schumer and Mayor Bloomberg were the latest to throw their lot in with the anti-government conservatives and the panicky Wall Streeters, predicting economic doom for America - and New York in particular - if SOX were not "reformed" to within an inch of its life. The Wonkster points to this week's James Surowiecki column in the New Yorker, which provides a number of nice big grains of salt for you to take with all that criticism. Surowiecki outlines some of the many different reasons why companies seek out foreign markets for IPOs, and points out that attracting foreign listings is not necessarily indicative of economic health anyway. He goes on:
And there is no evidence that Americaâ€™s attractiveness to investors has diminished. Its share of global stock-market activity in 2005 was actually three points higher than it had been a decade earlier. In the same period, the market capitalizations of the New York exchanges rose almost twice as fast as the market cap of the London Stock Exchange. And, according to the New York report, if you look at the annual growth in equitiesâ€”which is what Sarbanes-Oxley would presumably be a drag onâ€”you find something unexpected: from 2001 to 2005, the U.S. market grew significantly faster than that of Europe or the U.K. Does that really look like an industry crippled by regulation? Thereâ€™s no doubt that Sarbanes-Oxley is an imperfect piece of legislation, but it is not a harbinger of doom for Americaâ€™s capital markets, and we should be skeptical of any analysis that says it is. Wall Street, after all, has greeted practically every important market regulation introduced in this century with howls of dismay and predictions of disaster.
The right-wing ideologues will always attack corporate regulation - even when that regulation ultimately contributes to the health of the market. And New York politicians will always feel pressure to bend to the manias of Wall Street. But let's not forget why Sarbanes-Oxley exists. It exists because ordinary people lost their jobs, their pensions, and their futures thanks to shady accounting and irresponsible corporate governance. It exists because no economy can prosper without strong investor confidence. It exists because sometimes the private sector only works when government sets boundaries.
Andy Stern of SEIU attacks Spitzer, mocks WFP- Via MyDD comes this video interview with the head of SEIU, Andy Stern, explaining why his union, in New York, is supporting Maureen O'Connell. In so doing, he manages to trash the Working Families Party ("[hasn't] worked successfully"] and to deliver a very simple message: reform of this state is not as important as every single last dollar spent, wisely or not, that SEIU is interested in. And to make sure SEIU keeps every last penny it considers its due, they'll be working with Senate republicans. To quote: "Eliot Spitzer made a speech today that made our members incredibly angry, attacking them for some of the high costs of health care. [...] So you ask people, why would they support people who feel like they're the enemy against [republicans] who seem to want to work with us to get things done? And so, it's complicated, but it's fairly simple for our members."
Florida Wants to Throw Away it's DRE/eVote Machines- The foundation of any democracy has to be free and fair election. I have written considerably about the danger the over-priced, insecure and non-verifiable DRE eVote machines are. By now you'd think the evidence was more than enough to kill any interest any state might have in these machines. To me one of the deciding factors should be the fact that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has advocated the decertification of these machines because:
According to an NIST paper to be discussed at a meeting of election regulators at NIST headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md., on Dec. 4 and 5, DRE vote totals cannot be audited because the machines are not software independent. In other words, there is no means of verifying vote tallies other than by relying on the software that tabulated the results to begin with. The machines currently in use are "more vulnerable to undetected programming errors or malicious code," according to the paper. The NIST paper also noted that, "potentially, a single programmer could 'rig' a major election."
The Escalation in Brooklyn- Bush's massive escalation of the Iraq war isn't the only escalation New Yorkers have to worry about. We are facing a massive escalation of the amount of money taxpayers are expected to subsidize to Pataki/Bloomberg buddy Ratner so he can build his dream project at Atlantic Yards. It seems that the mayor's office has recently let slip that the amount of capital improvements the city is expected to pay for for Ratner's Atlantic Yards project is around twice what was promised almost exactly 2 years ago, and that there is no cap on the amount the city may have to pay out for Ratner. In the 2/18/05 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) proposed $100 million in taxpayer money for capital improvements to make Ratner's plan possible. In the Bloomberg administration's newest capital budget, the mayor proposes $205 million for Atlantic Yards. I think you can do the math: with little fanfare (and even less press coverage) the mayor has just doubled the amount you and I have to pay for Ratner to build his project. Can we have an accountability moment here? Why the sudden increase? When the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Dan Doctoroff was asked whether the was a cap on the amount taxpayers were expected to shell out for Ratner, the response was:
Message to Republicans...- The bullshit tactics used by the Republican candidate in the 7th NY State Senate race reminded me of a comment a friend of mine from Seattle said about the bullshit tactics used by Republicans all across the country in November: "HINT: if you can only win with BS tactics, maybe your politics SUCK!" What a bunch of losers! I miss the days when the Republican Party was a GENUINE conservative, reasonable alternative...back in Eisenhower's day. Now they are a bunch of lying, sleazy, corrupt extremists. I wish they'd finally learn their lesson, turn on their corrupt members and get back to business.
Republicans STILL Don't Get It!- Maureen O'Connell's string of dirty-dirty-irty-irty tricks shows that despite their rout in November, Republicans still haven't remembered the lesson of their founder: â€œYou may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.â€ --Abraham Lincoln, the best Republican President
The Art of Flipping- With Craig Johnsonâ€™s victory, speculation will heat up over Democratsâ€™ apparent plans to try to persuade a pair of Republican Senators to flip across the aisle. The two most commonly mentioned candidates are Joseph Robach of Rochester and John Bonacic of Orange Country. Robach is a former Assembly Democrat, who, as Rochester Turning has described, was lured into the Republican camp at least in part by Joe Brunoâ€™s promises of member-item money. He knocked out Democratic Senate incumbent Richard Dollinger, in a challenge he claimed was motivated by a dispute with Shelly Silver over redistricting in his Assembly District. But the prospect of $5 million a year in discretionary funds probably didnâ€™t hurt either. Bonacic, of course, was a very lonely Republican voice calling for Joe Bruno to step down as majority leader, considering all those FBI investigations and so on. Credit where due: Bonacic went out on a limb, and now thereâ€™s no guarantee that Bruno wonâ€™t try to saw it off. So let the debate begin. Letâ€™s be clear: we want the Senate. Weâ€™re not pie-in-the-sky idealists in the NY netroots; we know how important it is for the well-being of New Yorkers to have a Democratic Senate at last, and we know how tough it is to take out incumbents. Weâ€™ve been there.
Headlines, Sheldon Silver edition- Check out Merriam-Websters definition of dysfunction. The Albany Times-Union, lead editorial, titled 'The legislature's gall':
Take that, New Yorkers. It's what the state Legislature -- and, most insidiously, the dominant bloc known as the Assembly Democrats -- thinks is best that matters. It's what they want, mainly political reward and advancement for themselves, that comes before the public interest. The most recent, and particularly egregious, example of that came Wednesday afternoon as Speaker Sheldon Silver of Manhattan and the rest of the Assembly Democrats saw to it that the Legislature would select one of their own, Thomas DiNapoli of Nassau County, as the state comptroller. So went a sneering rejection, not only of three recommended, and much better-qualified, candidates from outside the Legislature, but also of the very process that Mr. Silver agreed to less than a month ago and now declares was flawed.
The Daily News, lead editorial, titled 'Stunning lack of integrity':
Nothing good will come of this for the leaders - particularly for Silver, who directed a charade screening process - and the worst awaits DiNapoli. He is now the poster boy for Albany dysfunction and bears the stigma of being a third-stringer who doesn't belong in the job. The voters, so fed up with the capital's sloth and sleaze, will remember when the time comes that DiNapoli is not their man. That he is Silver's creation, the guy who had the backing of party bosses because they felt they could work with him, the man in a small job who took advantage of a rigged process to become someone big. The someone who got sole custody of the pension fund money, though his financial acumen ends with balancing the family checkbook. A pox on him. A pox on them.
The Legislature Blew It, but Smith Passed a Test- One thing I'd like to note, lest it get lost in the ruckus surrounding Shelly Silver and Joe Bruno's Comptroller stupidity: new Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith stood up on the right side here. As described in the Let his words serve as a battle cry in the war to change the legislative culture.I've mentioned before that Senator Smith, as Majority Leader-in-Waiting, will be under great scrutiny from progressives. So credit where credit is due: in the Comptroller battle, at least, Senator Smith sided with reform and with the voters of New York State. Kudos.
The Comedians in Our New York "Legislature" Strike Again- One of the more hilarious arguments put forth by New York legislators during the Comptroller fight has been that by blowing off their deal with the governor, they were somehow standing up for the principle of separation of powers. For instance, here's Assemblyman Joe Lentol of Brooklyn:
"I, too, stand for reform today," Assemblyman Joe Lentol, a Brooklyn Democrat, said during the comptroller vote. "The reform I'm talking about is not abdicating my responsibility as a member of the Legislature of the state of New York and ceding that authority to the executive.
Don't flatter yourself, Mr. Lentol. There is no such thing as the New York legislature. There's a bunch of hands that dutifully go up at the beginning of each session, and then there's Shelly Silver and Joe Bruno. Ceding that authority to the executive? Mr. Lentol clearly has a rich sense of irony - or none at all. Don't talk about ceding power to the executive when you've ceded all your power to an executive named Shelly Silver. At least Spitzer has the virtue of having been elected by 69% of the voters of New York State, as opposed to a handful of folks on the lower east side and in the capitol building. The arrogance of so many of New York's so-called legislators is matched only by their cluelessness. One of them called Spitzer "f--ing nuts." Assembly Majority leader Canestrari said, â€œI donâ€™t think tactics that impugn our integrity work.â€ You. Don't. Get. It. (more...)
Assemblymen Feel The Heat Over DiNapoli- Corruption and the benefits of being in the 'club' have been mainstays for the state government of New York. Selecting Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli to comptroller would have hardly batted an eye in the past. However, it seems that the times, they are a changing.
First Eliot 'Steamroller' Spitzer came out and attacked lawmakers for appointing the unqualified DiNapoli to the position to state comptroller last week. The harsh reaction from the Governor prompted the NY media to cover the criticism. Now it seems the public is taking noticing and letting their Assemblymen know how they feel.
More below the fold:
Even Some on the Right Question Rudy's 9/11 Myth- I just caught this. On Urban Elephants' thread officially announcing the Giuliani candidacy, 'GOPNY' left a comment that included this remark:
The adoration he's received from 9/11 -- mostly because he gave voice to our city's collective grief -- will disappear quickly in a general election campaign, when people will start questioning why he had a command center at the most vulnerable target in NY; why he never unified command between the NYPD and FDNY on that day (police choppers could not tell firefighters the towers were in danger of collapse); why he took no action to improve the repeaters on the firemen's radios (something that had been warned about well, well, before 9/11); why Bernie Kerik was essentially AWOL from One Police Plaza and basically acting as Rudy's "bodyguard" that day; why he changed command centers at least three times on 9/11; why he exposed nearly every city official under him to attack by leading the

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