Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Spitzer set to criticize LI pol
Newsday
The Spitzer "road show" is now hitting the Island.........and according to Newsday Carl is going to get smacked around a bit..he is my rep here.....very good for the environment and local issues...very popular...Suozzi tried to target him in his "fix albany" campaign and failed.........this is a very heavy rep district...........andy
- Gov. Eliot Spitzer is expected to be in Oyster Bay this morning to criticize another Republican state senator for opposing some of the new governor's proposals for overhauling campaign finance.After blasting two senators yesterday, Spitzer, a Democrat, was expected to be equally harsh on Sen. Carl Marcellino (R-Syosset) during a visit to President Theodore Roosevelt's Sagamore Hill home, which is in Marcellino's district.Spitzer began hectoring senators in their districts after negotiations broke down Monday over his plan to reduce the amounts individuals and political action committees can donate to campaigns, and to ban gifts from corporate subsidiaries and limited liability companies, among other changes.He said the Senate's GOP majority was more concerned about the interests of big money than those of citizens."Things will change only when citizens ... ask their elected representatives, whose side are you on?" Spitzer said here yesterday. "Are you on the side of big money ... or are you on the side of democracy and transparency?"Marcellino, who has been in the Senate since 1995, shot back that Spitzer was more interested in scoring political points than reform. The governor's plan would make it more difficult for candidates of modest means to compete against wealthy rivals, the senator said."If he wants to do real reform, we are there," Marcellino said last night. "But he doesn't want to compromise. He issues ultimatums ... That's a bully."Sen. Dean Skelos of Rockville Centre, deputy majority leader in the Senate, added, "Instead of these partisan political attacks, I hope that the governor plans to apologize to Long Island property taxpayers for attempting to slash our state school aid, eliminate our rebate checks and jeopardize our health care. Clearly, he doesn't understand the challenges that middle-class Long Island families face."Changing the campaign finance system was Spitzer's top priority for the legislative session ending June 21. He sought to reduce New York State's contribution limits, which are the highest in the country.Spitzer said Republicans balked at prohibiting gifts from corporate subsidiaries and LLCs. But Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno countered that the freshman governor's proposals were anti-democratic and favored rich candidates - a charge Spitzer denied.Bruno also accused the governor of being "temperamental" and seeking to doom the GOP by curbing its fundraising. Republicans have 33 seats in the Senate to the Democrats' 29.Referring to Spitzer's status as a millionaire, Bruno said, "It's kind of hard for him sometimes to relate to the average person. He, himself, has the ability to write checks by the millions of dollars."Spitzer responded by vowing to travel the state telling voters "we must do better ... That is what reform is all about
The Spitzer "road show" is now hitting the Island.........and according to Newsday Carl is going to get smacked around a bit..he is my rep here.....very good for the environment and local issues...very popular...Suozzi tried to target him in his "fix albany" campaign and failed.........this is a very heavy rep district...........andy
- Gov. Eliot Spitzer is expected to be in Oyster Bay this morning to criticize another Republican state senator for opposing some of the new governor's proposals for overhauling campaign finance.After blasting two senators yesterday, Spitzer, a Democrat, was expected to be equally harsh on Sen. Carl Marcellino (R-Syosset) during a visit to President Theodore Roosevelt's Sagamore Hill home, which is in Marcellino's district.Spitzer began hectoring senators in their districts after negotiations broke down Monday over his plan to reduce the amounts individuals and political action committees can donate to campaigns, and to ban gifts from corporate subsidiaries and limited liability companies, among other changes.He said the Senate's GOP majority was more concerned about the interests of big money than those of citizens."Things will change only when citizens ... ask their elected representatives, whose side are you on?" Spitzer said here yesterday. "Are you on the side of big money ... or are you on the side of democracy and transparency?"Marcellino, who has been in the Senate since 1995, shot back that Spitzer was more interested in scoring political points than reform. The governor's plan would make it more difficult for candidates of modest means to compete against wealthy rivals, the senator said."If he wants to do real reform, we are there," Marcellino said last night. "But he doesn't want to compromise. He issues ultimatums ... That's a bully."Sen. Dean Skelos of Rockville Centre, deputy majority leader in the Senate, added, "Instead of these partisan political attacks, I hope that the governor plans to apologize to Long Island property taxpayers for attempting to slash our state school aid, eliminate our rebate checks and jeopardize our health care. Clearly, he doesn't understand the challenges that middle-class Long Island families face."Changing the campaign finance system was Spitzer's top priority for the legislative session ending June 21. He sought to reduce New York State's contribution limits, which are the highest in the country.Spitzer said Republicans balked at prohibiting gifts from corporate subsidiaries and LLCs. But Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno countered that the freshman governor's proposals were anti-democratic and favored rich candidates - a charge Spitzer denied.Bruno also accused the governor of being "temperamental" and seeking to doom the GOP by curbing its fundraising. Republicans have 33 seats in the Senate to the Democrats' 29.Referring to Spitzer's status as a millionaire, Bruno said, "It's kind of hard for him sometimes to relate to the average person. He, himself, has the ability to write checks by the millions of dollars."Spitzer responded by vowing to travel the state telling voters "we must do better ... That is what reform is all about
