Spitzer's_Day_One

SPITZER APPOINTMENTS/JOBS..MOVEMENTS..ODDS AND ENDS

2007-07-07T07:10:00.001-04:00

HERE IS A ROUNDUP OF WHAT HAS TRANSPIRED OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS......IS YOUR NAME MENTIONED HERE???

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has withdrawn his controversial nomination of industry insider Angela Sparks Beddoe as commissioner of the Public Service Commission, according to Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno’s office.
The Senate has been sitting on the nomination while another PSC issue - alleged threats by Spitzer aide Steven Mitnick against Cheryl Buley, another PSC member - are under investigation.
AP reports that Sparks Beddoe withdrew herself, telling Spitzer in a letter, “I believe it is time for me to move on and refocus my attention on my family and professional life.'’(CAPITOL CONFIDENTIAL)

There are several new folks in top jobs at the state Department of Environmental Conservation, I’m told and staffers recently got a run-down on some of them, including:Stuart Gruskin, executive deputy commissioner, who will oversee day-to-day ops and comes from the Cozen O’Connor law firm.Alison Crocker, goes from DEC’s acting general counsel to general counsel.
Mike Lenane, deputy commissioner for regional affairs and permitting, comes via DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis’ office from when Grannis was in the Assembly.
Val Washington, deputy commissioner for solid and hazardous materials, environmental
remediation and mineral resources. She had been with the AG’s office and then New Partners for Community Revitalization, Inc. (NPCR), a not-for-profit organization that assists community organizations in neighborhood revitalization efforts.
Also coming to DEC from the attorney general’s office are Jared Snyder, assistant commissioner for air resources, climate change and energy and Jim Tierney who is now assistant commissioner for water resources.
While with the AG, Tierney also served as the New York City watershed inspector general.(CAPITOL CONFIDENTIAL)

A state official who was bumped from his job but given a $135,000 post to tide him over till retirement says he’s decided not to take the offer.
Peter Smith, who was head of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority head but stepped aside last week for Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s pick, Assemblyman Paul Tonko, had been offered a job as one of five deputy commissioners under John Egan at the Office of General Services.
Although it meant a more than $13,000 pay cut, the job was good for ten months, enough to take Smith to the retirement age of 55.
Smith, however, said that while he’s grateful to Egan and Spitzer’s appointments secretary, Francine James, for “giving me a safe landing,'’ he’s opting for a private sector job offer. He didn’t offer details except to say it comes with a one year contract.
He said he checked on his employment situation with the state and found he has more than 30 years of credit, so he can retire at 55 without penalty. Only hitch is, he loses state health insurance.
“I hope I make a lot of money,” he said. (CAPITOL CONFIDENTIAL)

The New York Power Authority’s deputy counsel quits after admitting to keeping his ex-wife on his insurance policy. Carmine J. Clemente, 64, loses his nearly $199,000 job, pays a $34,000 fine, and can’t hold a state job again.

now that the nominees are coming from a democratic governor, the republican-controlled senate embraces its confirmation power with gusto...........

State Republican Chairman Joe Mondello is questioning Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s nomination of a political contributor to head the MTA, accusing the Demcratic governor of instituting “a brazen ‘pay to play’ culture in Albany that is disappointing and shocking to the people of New York State.”
Spitzer nominated Dale Hemmerdinger, a real estate mogul who would replace former Gov. George Pataki’s pick, Peter Kalikow, as head of the massive mass transit system. He is also former chairman of the Citizens Budget Commission, a watchdog group.(CAPITOL CONFIDENTIAL)

Spitzer names New York City real estate developer H. Dale Hemmerdinger as MTA chairman.

Charles “Skip” Carrier has been serving Assembly Democrats for five speakers, but after this session he’ll be moving to the state Department of Transportation as its chief spokesman, officially taking over there July 16.
He has been Speaker Sheldon Silver’s director of communications since Pat Lynch quit to become a lobbyist almost seven years ago.
Carrier has been working on the third floor of the Capitol since 1977. So showing up every day at DOT’s headquarters on Wolf Road across from Colonie Center instead might be a culture shock. But getting out of work at a reasonable hour might be a bargain for the 60-year-old.
One downside of the move: this is the time of year when Carrier and other Assembly staffers start looking forward to using all that vacation and comp time they banked during the session. But they can’t take it with them to an agency.
Moving into Carrier’s spot. we’re told, is Dan Weiller, who’s been at the state Comptroller’s office for the past four years.
Update: The salary for the DOT post will be $116,000 a year. Carrier’s currently paid $105,997.65 (sorry for the delay; we overlooked this Friday and have been a bit busy with other things today.)

ALBANY -- Gov. Eliot Spitzer on Tuesday nominated former state comptroller and gubernatorial candidate H. Carl McCall to the State University of New York board of trustees. As expected, Spitzer chose former state schools Chancellor Carl Hayden, an Elmira lawyer, for chairman of the board. His third nominee was Linda Sanford of Chappaqua, a senior vice president at IBM.

More on Spitzer’s SUNY appointments. And here and here.

The Senate Finance Committee this afternoon gave a blessing to Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s nominee to become the next Medicaid inspector general.
The full Senate is expected to follow with a vote in favor of James G. Sheehan and his $136,000 pay.
“You may have the most important job of anything we do this year,” Sen. Dale Volker, R-Depew, told him at the Finance Committee meeting. “I don’t envy you.”

Governor Eliot Spitzer has nominated Tina Marie Stanford, an assistant district attorney for Erie County, to chair the state’s Crime Victims Board, which compensates ($26 million in 2006) to victims of crime.
Stanford, 43, of Buffalo, would be paid $101,600 in the post, which requires Senate confirmation

Long-time lieutenant to former Assembly Insurance Committee Chairman Alexander “Pete” Grannis, Peter Newell, joined the United Hospital Fund.
Grannis’ former aide goes to former Assembly Majority Leader James Tallon’s outfit and will split time between Albany and Manhattan.
As senior health policy analyst, Newell will work on issues related to expanding health insurance coverage in New York. Grannis’ aides have spread out, some going to the Department of Environmental Conservation, where Grannis took over as commissioner

Gannett News Service reporter Yancey Roy is heading to the Department of Environmental Conservation as the chief spokesman.Erik Kriss, recently departed but long-time Syracuse Post-Standard correspondent, is getting a similar post with the Department of Correctional Services. Scott Reif, a press officer for the Division of the Budget, who is also a holdover from the Pataki administration is going to be an assistant press secretary for Senate Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, who frequently criticizes the DOB, often complained that Reif’s old boss, John Cape, couldn’t couldn't count.

The state has a new ad firm to market tourism and it will be trying to steer some ofthe 44 million annual visitors to New York City to upstate, Gov. Eliot Spitzer said today.
Empire State Development Corp. chose Saatchi & Saatchi to run the “I Love New York'’ adcampaign. The firm will be signing a three-year contract, having beaten two dozen competitorsfor the chance to tap into nearly the $22 million tourism promotion program.
Spitzer said the state has failed to market itself effectively in the past, referring tothe years when the program featured Gov. George Pataki as the tourism spokesman.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer tapped Cornell University’s former leader to direct a new higher education commission to figure out ways to make the SUNY system a better place to learn.Hunter Rawlings, president emeritus of Cornell and the University of Iowa, is chairing a group that must report back by Dec. 1 and complete a final recommendation document in June of 2008.Spitzer said he wants the SUNY and CUNY system to be looked at as highly as the public systems of California and Wisconsin.The commission will include a few lawmakers, including Sen. Ken LaValle, Assemblywoman Deborah Glick and Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples.Others: William Scheuerman, president of the United University Professions; John Clark, interim of the SUNY system; Carl Hayden, former chancellor of the Regents; and Richard Mills, commissioner of education.

Brad Maione, one of Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s press officers, is heading to the Office of General Services to lead the public information effort there. Commissioner John Egan will keep him busy.

Trustees at the State University of New York have nominated John Clark as interim chancellor, who would take over in June with the departure of John Ryan.
Clark currently serves as interim head at SUNY Alfred and has served as interim president at Brockport, Plattsburgh, the school of Optometry and as acting vice chancellor of enrollment and university life for the SUNY system.

Matthew Walter is the new communications director for the Republican State Committee, meaning he’s moving a few blocks to 315 State St. from Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno’s press office in the Capitol.
Bruno helped install Joseph Mondello as the party’s chairman.

Jonathan Lippman, New York’s longest-serving chief administrative judge, was appointed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer as Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court for the First Judicial Department.

John Stouffer, the executive director of the Sierra Club, joins the list of environmental leaders in Albany trooping from the nonprofit sector for a state government post. Unlike the others, (Willie Janeway, Val Washington and Peter Iwanowitz to name a few) however, he’s not joining the Spitzer administration.
Instead, he will become an environmental policy analyst for Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.

Rathod Appointed to Key Position by N.Y. Governor Spitzer

2007-07-07T07:03:00.000-04:00

By KETAKI GOKHALEIndia-West Staff ReporterNick Rathod, formerly a manager at the Center for American Progress, was recently appointed associate director of political affairs for New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. The Washington, D.C.-based attorney will now be in charge of working with New York's congressional delegation in the nation's capital to make sure that the state's interests are represented in federal legislation."My main job is to make sure that the governor is positioned as a leader on a number of issues," Rathod told India-West. "New York's a large state, so many people are looking to him for leadership."

I love it...........New York is a large state :-) andy

Spitzer vetoes binding arbitration bills

2007-07-06T20:49:00.000-04:00

NEWSDAY.COM

SOME VERY INTERESTING VETOES HERE.......ODDS AND ENDS.......WHO THE HECK WOULD HIRE A 16 YR OLD TO DANCE NUDE IN A "JUICE" BAR??? AND WHERE WAS THAT LEGAL??? YIKES!!!!

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ Gov. Eliot Spitzer vetoed a series of bills that would have expanded binding arbitration in New York for police and other municipal workers. Among dozens of vetoes handed down Friday, Spitzer rejected bills that would have given binding arbitration rights to Office of Mental Health security assistants, downstate court workers and Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority police and firefighters. He also vetoed a bill that would have expanded the power of arbitration boards handling cases involving state troopers and another that would have set new requirements for boards for Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority officers. Spitzer said he was concerned about expanding binding arbitration, which transfers power from municipal officials to an independent authority. Critics claim that union contracts for police and firefighters reached through arbitration have proved too costly. "It should come as relief to taxpayers that he did this," said E.J. McMahon of the fiscally conservative Empire Center for New York State Policy. Some of the bills had previously been vetoed by former-Gov. George Pataki. And following Pataki's lead, Spitzer also rejected a bill that would have given higher workers' compensation benefits to privately employed medical responders dispatched to the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 attacks. Spitzer said the measure would create an "anomaly" by giving those injured workers more than other private workers. Spitzer also vetoed separate measures that would have granted peace officer status to court officers in the Town of New Windsor and the Village of Westhampton Beach, Wayne County animal abuse investigators, Union College security guards and Jefferson County civil enforcement officers. Peace officers have legal powers to make arrests, issue appearance tickets and conduct searches. But a full-time peace officer requires no more than 35 hours training, compared to 635 hours of instruction and training for police officers, according to Spitzer. "These are very far-reaching powers that should not be granted lightly and should only be granted to those who have received sufficient training," Spitzer said in a veto message. Also Friday: _The governor signed a law requiring any state agency with a Web site to post information about New York's Freedom of Information Law. Agencies will be required to provide basic information about how citizens can request information, such as contact information. Sponsors said state agencies have been inconsistent when it comes to posting information online about the law. _A law signed by Spitzer prohibits "juice bars" from hiring nude or topless dancers under age 18. The bars _ which are not regulated by the State Liquor Authority because they don't serve alcohol _ had been allowed to hire performers as young as 16, according to the bill memo. The higher age limit goes into effect Nov. 1.

Spitzer, Bruno well past settling differences

2007-07-06T20:42:00.000-04:00

NEWSDAY.COM

BRUNO IS DETERMINED TO DO THINGS.....HIS WAY........THE OLD WAY...EXCEPT THERE IS A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN....SITTING IN THE GOVERNOR'S MANSION........BRUNO DOESN'T GET IT YET....HE WILL......ANDY

This is what an all-out war looks like at the state Capitol.Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer's continued offensive against Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno has intensified past the point where a truce or a handshake could restore the usual ways of doing business.Spitzer's aides say they were asked by state police about a request from Bruno to use a state helicopter for trips to New York City - and that they replied that the troopers should do so, but log their travels.Such records are not generated for other state officials - such as, say, the governor. From what we can tell so far, Bruno used the resources to attend a couple of big GOP fundraisers in the city, and mixed the trips with what was arguably legislative business.Then came the fireworks.After the contents of the records were published by the Times Union in Albany, the governor's office sent documents to the attorney general and the local district attorney to investigate Bruno's use of these resources. This raised the ghost of last year's take-down of Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who was prosecuted and forced to resign for misusing state cars and staff.Now Spitzer's antagonists are arming and firing back. The governor took the aircraft on a trip to Monroe County, where he addressed a Democratic fundraiser, they said, and his lieutenant governor, David Paterson, was taken to Washington, where he met with party chief Howard Dean.In the GOP counter-narrative, Spitzer performed dirty tricks against a partisan foe."I was stunned to learn that Governor Spitzer is using the fine men and women of the New York State Police to conduct surveillance on me," Bruno declared. "This type of dangerous abuse of power is despicable, possibly illegal and undermines our democratic form of government."Spitzer spokesman Darren Dopp disputes the claim of "surveillance" - insisting that state troopers merely logged where they went and when.But from the start of his tenure, Spitzer, 48, has given every impression of seeking to take down the 78-year-old Bruno - with a kind of pugnaciousness that Albany veterans say they have never seen before. The governor's actions carry a risk, too: that voters will decide the Senate should stay Republican, if only to check his powerful ambitions.Stridency has long been a Spitzer trademark. As state attorney general, he caused shock waves only a few years back by charging with wrongdoing such powerful, wealthy men as Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, legendary chief of the insurance firm American International Group Inc., and Richard Grasso, head of the New York Stock Exchange.Shortly after becoming governor, Spitzer tweaked the accepted turf divisions by campaigning for Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) in what had been a Republican Senate seat, reducing Bruno's thin majority. He slammed Bruno's (ultimately successful) effort to restore billions in state health funding in the state budget as a reckless bid to serve special interests. Spitzer condemned GOP senators for defying his campaign finance proposals.On one of his trips to New York, Bruno met with business leaders at the firm C.V. Starr & Co. - which Greenberg has run since being forced to retire from AIG in 2005.Neither man's spokesman would say yesterday whether Greenberg and Bruno met - or whether their common pursuer, Spitzer, was discussed.But one can guess

Mondello Calls for Special Prosecutor to Investigate Spitzer

2007-07-05T21:32:00.000-04:00

News From New York Republican State Committee

HERE IS ANOTHER UNBIASED SOURCE OF NEWS.....AHHHH MONDELLO.......TO THE RESCUE OF HIS GOOD OLD REPUBLICAN BUDDY BRUNO.........THE SAD PART IS....HE IS USING OLD CAMPAIGN STUFF FROM THIS PAST YEAR'S ELECTION.......NOTHING ORIGINAL IN ANYTHING THAT IS WRITTEN HERE......HOW PATHETIC ........AND DESPERATE.......FASO SHOULD AT LEAST GET SOME CREDIT FOR THIS.............ANDY PS....HE IS EVEN BASHING NIXON...A TRUE REPUBLICAN..NOW THAT IS A FIRST........

ALBANY, NY (07/05/07; 1206)(readMedia)-- Given the shocking allegations surrounding Governor Spitzer in today’s New York Post, I am calling for a special prosecutor to immediately begin a thorough and independent investigation into Governor Spitzer’s reported abuse of power.
As Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer bullied and infringed on people’s rights in order to gain publicity for himself. As Governor, he has threatened, verbally abused and insulted anyone who does not do his bidding in an effort to advance his personal, political agenda.
Now, it is reported that he has ordered taxpayer-funded state police to serve as his own private detectives in a disturbing attempt to dig up dirt on his political opposition. If these allegations are proven to be true, it represents a frightening, Nixonesque abuse of power that should concern every resident of New York State.
Reports of Governor Spitzer’s latest attempt to enact personal revenge and retaliation against his political opponents reinforce his well-known reputation for having disdain and lack of understanding of the democratic process and checks and balances. These latest allegations are a serious breech of trust with the people of New York State and strike at the very heart of our system of Government.

Fighting Words: Bruno Calls Spitzer's People "Hoodlums & Thugs"

2007-07-05T21:17:00.000-04:00

WTEN NEWS10 ALBANY

Would you believe all this fuss is over a story in the NY Post???? the good old reliable post..the bastion of integrity and truthful reporting.....not........what total nonsense..........andy

July 5, 2007 08:29 PM
The back-and-forth between Senator Joe Bruno and Governor Eliot Spitzer is back on, as the Senator is now calling for an investigation into the Governor's actions - and he is not being shy about it!
NEWS10's John McLoughlin brings us up-to-date on the latest in the war of words.
Bruno is now accusing the Governor of "political espionage," and he likened Spitzer to a "third world dictator."
"With the hoodlums around him and the thugs around him, pushing him to bury me - if they can, well, here I am."
That is Bruno's reaction to a page-one story in the New York Post, quoting a Spitzer staffer confirming that the Governor used a State Police security detail to keep special records on Bruno's use, or misuse of state aircraft.
"What happens next?" says Bruno. "Does he follow me on a personal basis for political advantage? What country are we in?"
It all began last Sunday when the Albany T.U. reported that Bruno used the state helicopter on several occasions to attend political fundraisers. Bruno claims they were business trips, with politics mixed in.
Thursday afternoon, the Spitzer aide quoted in the New York Post story denied that there has been any State Police surveillance of Bruno, calling the story inaccurate and false. Still, Bruno wants the Attorney General and others to investigate, and says no longer can he trust what Spitzer tells him.
"If this Governor is capable of ordering that, what next?" Bruno says. "And you in the media ought to be asking that."
The New York Post says the Spitzer aide said Bruno got special surveillance after a complaint from Mike Long, Chairman of the Conservative Party. But Long told radio station WROW he never complained about Bruno's security detail, and he says the Governor's people are using him to try to cover their own tracks now.
Bruno, meanwhile, is calling for nearly all manner of investigation, starting with the Attorney General on down.

Don’t Get on the Wrong Side of New York Governor Spitzer

2007-07-05T21:10:00.000-04:00

FoxNews.Com

I love how unbiased and unrepublican the fox news crew is....not :-) Here is their latest cartoon journalism...........enjoy ........andy

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
Police Surveillance
New York Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer reportedly has targeted his chief political rival for unprecedented surveillance by the state police.
The New York Post reports Spitzer insists he authorized detailed record-keeping on Republican State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno’s use of state troopers for travel and protection — after a complaint from the head of the state's conservative party.
But conservative party leader Michael Long denies ever making any complaint — and calls the Spitzer contention — "a bald-faced lie."
A senior state official familiar with the surveillance told the Post he believed the governor was trying to "set up" Bruno.
The monitoring by state police did lead to allegations that Bruno improperly flew to political events on a state-owned helicopter. Bruno says all his trips on the helicopter were for state business.

New York Doctors Frustrated Over Malpractice Insurance Hike

2007-07-05T06:24:00.000-04:00

New York Doctors Frustrated Over Malpractice Insurance Hike

A 14 Percent Increase a Temporary Fix -- With Possible Lasting Ramifications
By JOSEPH BROWNSTEINABC News Medical Unit
July 4, 2007 —
New York State approved a 14 percent increase in the price of medical malpractice insurance Wednesday -- a step the state's government admits is aimed at temporarily fixing a broken system.
The New York State Insurance Department, which sets malpractice coverage rates for the state, justified the increase by saying that while it would be difficult for doctors to pay, it was a necessary step to avoid "perhaps an irreversible crisis" for insurers in the state.
"After years of failing to confront the fundamental problems that have led to this current environment, we have inherited the worst of both worlds -- physicians who cannot afford to practice medicine, and insurers whose financial condition is rapidly eroding," said Eric Dinallo, the state insurance superintendent. "The cause is high medical liability costs, and this administration is going to address it."
After announcing the rate hike, Gov. Eliot Spitzer appointed a committee to look into the causes of the high cost of insuring against medical malpractice.
"Due to years of inaction, the medical malpractice insurance market has reached a crisis level," he said. "This administration will not turn a blind eye to this situation. We will tackle this problem head on."
Hikes Threaten Practices
Doctors are concerned about how the rate hikes will affect their practice.
"The way medicine is structured, your income really depends on how many operations you do," said Dr. Roger Hardl, a neurosurgeon at New York Presbyterian Hospital. "That means that you are put into a position where you have to operate more. I'm not sure that's in the best interests of the public. I'm not sure that's in the best interests of practicing good medicine."
Hardl blames the problem on the lack of a cap for medical malpractice lawsuits in New York state.
He also said he has neurosurgeon colleagues who have given up operating on the brain entirely, focusing on the spine, an area of practice where they don't face such hefty lawsuits.
Dr. Steven Goldstein, who practices obstetrics and gynecology at the New York University School of Medicine, sees the rate hike as a small part of a large problem.
"There's nothing unique about New York, and there's nothing unique about this year, and it's a very sad thing," he said. "There's been a 'malpractice crisis' for as long as I can remember."
Indeed, malpractice insurance premiums appear to be increasing across the board. According to a June 2005 study published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, doctors can expect to pay $250,000 or more every year on malpractice insurance premiums, depending on their specialty and the state in which their practice is based.
And costs are on the rise throughout the nation. Study author Scott Ransom and colleagues at the University of Michigan School of Public Health noted that rates in major metropolitan areas rose sharply in some areas between 2003 and 2004 -- such as in Dade County, Fla., where average premiums rose from $249,000 to $277,000, an increase of about 11 percent.
Or Cook County in Illinois, in which average premiums jumped about 67 percent from $138,000 to more than $230,000 during the same time period.
Rising rates seem to take a particular toll on the obstetrics and gynecology field. Though there may be many reasons for this, some doctors suggest it could be due to high expectations on the part of expecting parents -- and subsequent litigation when outcomes don't match their hopes.
Goldstein said he doesn't think that insurance underwriters for medical malpractice are benefiting heavily from the increases, but that their cost for providing malpractice coverage is increasing as well.
"The system is broken, and nobody seems to want to take the true initiative to fix it," said Goldstein.
But according to its governor, New York State is going to try with its new commission, which will report on the malpractice issue by the end of the year.
David Neustadt, a representative for Dinallo, said the committee had not yet determined what direction it would take in evaluating the problem. "It's not helpful for me to speculate on what solution they will eventually develop," he said.
For Goldstein, that solution is critical.
Among the detriments of malpractice lawsuits, he points to a decrease in the number of physicians in the United States, as some doctors have to close up their practices and potential doctors will choose career paths elsewhere.
"Some of your best and brightest don't want to be doctors anymore," Goldstein said.

A QUICK HOLIDAY ROUNDUP

2007-07-04T08:18:00.000-04:00

BEEN AWAY FOR A BIT.....AND NOW BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN.NO PUN INTENDED)..HERE ARE A FEW THINGS THAT ARE CREATING POLITICAL FIREWORKS.....

Bruno continues to war with Spitzer, paper over use of chopper - The Journal News / Lohud.com - TROY - State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno let his ongoing criticism of Gov. Eliot Spitzer simmer somewhat yesterday as he launched diatribes against a local newspaper that reported on the senator's use of a state helicopter to attend GOP fundraisers.
The Times Union of Albany reported Sunday that Bruno, a Republican from Rensselaer County, had used taxpayer-funded state aircraft three times this year to attend fundraisers in Manhattan and had certified he was conducting legislative business on the trips.
After saying Monday that he attended the fundraisers because they occurred on the same days he was on legislative business, Bruno yesterday lashed out at the newspaper for what he called stories that weren't "accurate" and "factual," although he didn't deny taking the trips. He said in a news release that he canceled his subscription and his office got calls from an advertising representative who said he would need to buy ads to get fair coverage - which the newspaper disputes.
"I always know what the Times Union is going to write. It'll always be something negative about me. And they seem to be making a career out of ending my career and, so, I've canceled my subscription today," he said.
"Every trip that I took was government related, totally legal, totally qualified. We request a helicopter from the governor's office. They approve it and without their approval you don't fly in the helicopter, even though it's run by the state police," Bruno told reporters outside the Troy Boys and Girls Club, which he gave $50,000 in state funds.
Times Union Publisher/CEO Mark E. Aldam said in a statement that the newspaper regrets "losing Senator Bruno as a customer, but it won't interfere with our fair and truthful coverage of what he does."
Aldam confirmed that an ad rep contacted Bruno's office yesterday to set up an appointment to sell "issue-based" advertising "relating to the ongoing political dispute between Senate Republicans and Governor Spitzer."
"We do not believe it is true that the sales representative suggested, as the senator's press release states, that he would 'need to buy ads in the paper if (he) wanted to get fair coverage,' " Aldam said.
Aldam said Bruno was trying to deflect criticism by going after the newspaper.
Spitzer's office has forwarded documents regarding Bruno's use of the helicopter to the state Attorney General's Office and the Albany County District Attorney's Office.
The governor, a Democrat, has authorized an assessment of Bruno to see if it is appropriate for him to have ground transportation by state police. Bruno said he has received death threats and the transportation arrangement is appropriate.
State ethics laws prohibit lawmakers from using their positions to secure "unwarranted privileges" for themselves or others. Violations could result in suspension, fines or removal from office.
Bruno said using a helicopter to attend a fundraiser is legitimate if the trip also involves legislative business.
Bruno said he has rented planes probably 10 times in the past two or three years to attend political events in such places as Rochester and Washington.

FRANKLY I WOULDN'T EVEN GET IN A HELICOPTER.......WHO WOULD POSSIBLY ISSUE BRUNO DEATH THREATS??? MAYBE THE SAME CREW THAT HEVESI WAS TALKING ABOUT???

MEANWHILE........THEY ARE OFF TO THE RACES.......WELL NOT QUITE....

Horsemen leave Empire's racing bid Newsday ALBANY, N.Y. -- A group seeking to run New York racing has lost a major partner, the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association announced Tuesday. The decision to withdraw the horse owners' endorsement is a blow to Empire Racing, a Saratoga Springs group that includes Churchill Downs, Magna Entertainment, Delaware North Companies, Woodbine Entertainment Group and Scientific Games Holding Corp. The entity came in a close second last fall in the first round of consideration to continue the state racing franchise for perhaps the next 20 years. Horsemen's Association President Rick Violette said the group was ending its membership with one franchise competitor to assure its independence in working with the group that the Legislature and Gov. Eliot Spitzer eventually choose. "Regardless of which entity is ultimately awarded the franchise, it is imperative that the horse owners and trainers be fully represented and their interests, along with the entire thoroughbred industry, be given significant consideration in any resolution of the franchise question," Violette said. Empire CEO Jeff Perlee said the group is continuing efforts to run Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga race tracks. In a letter to the governor's office, he said the Horsemen's Association plans to lobby the state on behalf of the industry, but found it was barred from the activity because it was part of a group seeking the franchise. He cited lobbying rules regarding procurement of contracts. The Horsemen's Association announcement comes a day after the state Inspector General's Office report released its review of the "integrity" of the competitors. It reported that Empire's competitors believe if Empire wins the franchise, the horsemen wouldn't run racing. Instead, the view goes, New York racing would be run by the Canadian groups Magna and Woodbine and Kentucky's Churchill Downs _ an idea rejected as inaccurate by Empire's Perlee. "NYTHA and its 5500 members are looking forward to working with Governor Spitzer, Senator Bruno and Speaker Silver to make certain that the horsemen's interests are represented and protected in this process," Violette said. Empire faces three others in the field: Excelsior Racing Associates, which includes casino developer Richard Fields; the New York Racing Association that has held the franchise since 1955; and Capital Play, which turned around Australian racing. NYRA's franchise expires Dec. 31. Gov. Eliot Spitzer said the franchise could be split _ one group could run racing and another could run video slot machines at Aqueduct and Belmont.

AHHHH.........GOOD OLD JEFF PERLEE.....FORMER STATE LOTTERY DIRECTOR......MAYBE THESE HORSE GUYS KNOW SOMETHING WE DON'T??? OR MAYBE THEY JUST UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FRONT OF THE HORSE AND THE REAR???

CHECK OUT THIS ARTIST!!!

2007-07-04T08:14:00.001-04:00

http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=661434&fr=

THIS GUY IS AWESOME...CHECK OUT VIDEO ABOVE...THE MUSIC COULD BE BETTER...BUT THE ARTIST MAKES UP FOR IT......HAPPY 4TH..ANDY

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-07-04T07:42:00.001-04:00

A Letter from Gov. Spitzer

2007-07-03T07:41:00.000-04:00

The Legislative SessionMake Your Voice Heard
Dear Andy,
I came to Albany in January with an aggressive agenda to enact the reform our state sorely needs.
When I was elected, many doubted that I would be able to change the status quo enough to put into effect my administration's ambitious plans. It hasn't been easy, but we have achieved significant success.
Over the past six months, we have managed to push through substantial gridlock in the state legislature to make some huge advancements for New York:
In addition to making a historic investment of $1.7 billion in education, we have targeted assistance to the districts that need it most, and tied investment to accountability and reform.
We created the first building blocks to universal health care by expanding Child Health Plus to cover all 400,000 uninsured children, and vastly simplified Medicaid enrollment.
Property taxes have been reduced by $1.3 billion, and 60% of New Yorkers will see benefits within the next year.
Our beleaguered upstate cities will receive $200 million for economic development, technology innovations, and assistance in fighting crime. Major downstate projects- like the redevelopment of Ground Zero and the expansion of Stewart Airport- have been pushed through legislative gridlock and are finally underway.
Lawmakers and government employees are now subject to comprehensive Ethics and Lobbying Reform that prohibits them from taking gifts from special interests and makes them accountable to the people of New York State.
A lot has been accomplished, but there is still so much to be done- from major environmental initiatives like cleaning up brownfields, to the revamp of the Wicks Law, to campaign finance reform measures that make our government more responsive- and it must be done now.
Last week, the Senate majority chose to end the legislative session and go home, rather than stay in Albany to finish the people's business.
Our state government must work as effectively and diligently as the companies, organizations and people that make New York great.
You can learn more about what's been going on in Albany by clicking here to view a presentation I've been making across the state.
I urge you to contact your legislator, which you can do from my website , and encourage him or her to return to work in Albany, and finish the business we came here to do.
Sincerely, Eliot Spitzer

Legislators Ask to Revise Plan for Hospitals

2007-05-10T06:33:00.000-04:00

Tuscaloosa News

NOBODY IS WILLING TO BITE THE BULLET AND DO WHAT HAS TO GET DONE AS FAR AS CONTAINING SURGING MEDICAL COSTS IN THIS STATE...IT IS OUT OF HAND....NOW THAT THE GENERAL ELECTION IS OVER....THE LEGISLATURE WANTS TO REVERSE THE GOOD DEED IT HAS ACCOMPLISHED......DYSFUNCTIONAL FITS THIS GROUP TO A TEE.......SPITZER IS RIGHT IN STANDING FIRM AND SAYINGNO.....ANDY

ALBANY, May 9 — The Republican and Democratic leaders of the State Legislature said Wednesday that they wanted Gov. Eliot Spitzer to reconsider a plan approved last year to close, merge or shrink dozens of hospitals across the state. The comments by Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader, and Sheldon Silver, the Assembly speaker, came during and after a public meeting that Mr. Spitzer convened to identify legislation that might win approval before the end of the legislative session in six weeks. While they disagreed on some other issues, Mr. Bruno and Mr. Silver appeared to agree when it came to hospital closings, an issue so contentious and polarizing in Albany that lawmakers created a commission to handle it. Last year, that commission — formally called the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century — proposed a sweeping reorganization of the state’s hospitals through closings, mergers, downsizing, the elimination of some services, and the addition of others. The plan elicited sharp criticism from hospital executives and local elected officials, who pledged to fight it. But Mr. Spitzer, then the governor-elect, said he supported the plan, and the State Legislature, despite some grumbling, allowed it to take effect. On Wednesday, however, Mr. Bruno said the commission’s recommendations were up for reconsideration. “We have to look at the ramifications of what we did and correct it,” he said. “We’re governing here on a daily basis. You don’t govern once a year.” Mr. Silver said that his members were unhappy with some of the recommendations of the commission, and that it “should not be the end-all and the be-all.” He also said that key Assembly lawmakers were in discussions with the state Department of Health regarding modifying some of the commission’s proposals, for example, by keeping open some hospitals that would have been closed and by reconfiguring some mergers so that other hospitals could continue to offer specific kinds of care. Some of the hospitals under discussion, Mr. Silver said, are in Buffalo, Syracuse, Stony Brook and Brooklyn. Ultimately, he said, the Legislature would need to approve a new law for some of the changes. “The governor has indicated we should have these conversations with the Health Department and go forward and see what we can do,” Mr. Silver said. But at a news conference later in the day, Mr. Spitzer suggested that those discussions were fairly limited in scope. “I don’t think the Berger commission recommendations will be reversed or revised,” he said, referring to the commission by the name of its chairman, Stephen Berger. “The issue now is implementing the Berger commission recommendations in a way that shows sensitivity to the communities affected in terms of the continuity of care, in terms of the financing of institutions and job retention that is affected thereby.” Mr. Spitzer and leaders of the Legislature did find some common ground. They agreed to tackle a law on where to build power plants, legislation to overhaul state authorities, and Mr. Spitzer’s proposal to have healthier food at schools. But the meeting, though cordial, also betrayed lingering disagreements over some major issues and legislation, not limited to hospital closings. As he has often done in the past few weeks, Mr. Bruno again made clear — somewhat impatiently this time — that he did not share the governor’s top priority, stricter campaign finance laws. “I would recommend we move past that because it’s going to bog us down,” Mr. Bruno said. Later in the day, Mr. Spitzer, however, held a news conference with government watchdog groups to renew his call for campaign finance changes. One of Mr. Bruno’s own priorities, reinstating the death penalty for those who murder law enforcement officers, in turn got a lukewarm reception from Mr. Silver, who said that the state’s past experiment with capital punishment was a failure. But the areas of agreement, if overshadowed by the disagreements, were still significant. Absence of a law on the location of power plants has made it impossible to build new ones for years, despite New Yorkers’ growing appetite for electricity. And the state’s secretive public authorities have been an enduring source of scandal, waste and fraud. The leaders also spoke about the need to overhaul the Wicks Law, which requires school districts and others to hire at least four contractors for big construction jobs, a rule that many school officials say drives up building costs. Mr. Spitzer also said he would look with Mr. Bruno for ways to provide more capital investment upstate. Later in the day, the governor and the Legislature announced completion of a long-awaited economic deal under which Sematech, a major consortium of semiconductor and nanotechnology companies, is setting up a headquarters in Albany in exchange for $300 million in state assistance. But not before a few barbed lines were traded about Albany’s climate, political and otherwise. “Look at the sky today; it’s a gorgeous day out there,” Mr. Spitzer said after urging Mr. Bruno to pass a campaign finance bill. “It’s going to rain tomorrow,” Mr. Bruno replied.

Five-way Leaders Meeting Wednesday

2007-05-09T06:26:00.000-04:00

CAPITOL CONFIDENTIAL

THIS SPITZER ANNOUNCEMENT IS VERY VAGUE AND NO AGENDA IS MENTIONED...BUT READ THE COMMENTS POSTED BY THIS BLOG'S READERS......CYNICAL YOU SAY??? :-) ANDY

Gov. Eliot Spitzer plans to host a five-way leaders meeting Wednesday to discuss what could and should be on the agenda during the final six weeks of the legislative session.
The get-together is supposed to be open to the press, planners say.
Expect Senate Republicans to bring up the death penalty, which they will likely pass next week. Expect Spitzer to refer to Wicks Law reform and campaign finance reform.
Posted in General
4 Comments »
RAISES. Yippee. We all get raises. Screw the little people. Give them a nice steaming warm loaf of raisin bread. Raisin Bread as in raise. The legislature works so hard. Raises. Grateful citizens all over the state want to say “thank you” for everything and especially that Tommy the Comptroller guy covering up the Wild Accountants … or maybe uncovering them if you catch my drift. Raises.
Comment by likety.split — May 8, 2007 @ 3:53 pm
“The Million Dollar Steamroller Sweepstakes”
Comment by gary condit — May 8, 2007 @ 4:04 pm
Expect Senate Minority Leader Smith to nod his head like a Joe Bruno bobblehead in affirmation of anything Spitzer says.
Comment by RienziRide — May 8, 2007 @ 4:11 pm
“Expect Senate Republicans to bring up the death penalty, which they will likely pass next week. Expect Spitzer to refer to Wicks Law reform and campaign finance reform.”
…and expect the Assembly Democrats to….
Bueller….Bueller…
I find it amazing how the Assembly Majority continues to always fail to come to the table with something. You’d think with a $100k+/yr salary request hanging out there they’d at least pretend. It’d be nice if that was noted in a story or two.
Comment by Topsy Krett — May 8, 2007 @ 4:35 pm

Guv run? No way, mayor says

2007-05-09T06:15:00.000-04:00

NEWSDAY

BEING A MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY HAS BEEN A POLITICAL CURSE..NO NYC MAYOR HAS EVER BEEN ELECTED TO HIGHER OFFICE...EVER.AND BLOOMBERG IS "MR COMPROMISE"???? TALK ABOUT ARROGANCE AND MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY....BLOOMIE IS NO BARGAIN.......ANDY

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said yesterday he has "no interest" in running for governor and "never had a discussion" about opposing the re-election of Gov. Eliot Spitzer in 2010.The Republican mayor's comments came in response to a New York Post story that claimed he had recently expressed an interest in the state's top job to party officials, according to a senior GOP leader who requested anonymity. The newspaper also quoted the leader as saying Bloomberg was frustrated by Spitzer's domineering style and resistance to some city initiatives."Categorically I've never had a conversation about it," Bloomberg said at the Rockaway Beach boardwalk."I think the closest I've ever come - maybe two years ago when they were looking for candidates somebody said, 'Would you run?' and I said, 'No, thank you, I've no interest whatsoever,'" the mayor recalled.Bloomberg also phoned Spitzer yesterday to deny the Post story, which he told reporters "was totally made up."Post editor Col Allan replied, "We stand by our reporting."Spitzer, a Democrat, took in stride the hubbub in Albany caused by the story. "Frankly neither of us is thinking about 2010 right now," the freshman governor said. "He [Bloomberg] has been a wonderful partner."Bloomberg added, "I think the governor is doing a great job."Still, the duo have clashed over school aid, rebuilding lower Manhattan and congestion pricing, among other issues. And traditionally, governors and New York City mayors have had strained relations."They are bound to be on a collision course," said veteran journalist and pollster Maurice Carroll of Quinnipiac University, adding that Albany holds tremendous power over New York City, where about half the state's population lives.Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Brunswick), who tried unsuccessfully to persuade Bloomberg to make a gubernatorial bid last year, said yesterday he would make a better governor than Spitzer."He [Bloomberg] doesn't look to steamroller over anybody," Bruno said, referring to Spitzer's self-characterization. "He looks to compromise, to negotiate, and that's just a better style

Mansion neighbors asked to stop by

2007-05-09T06:05:00.000-04:00

ALBANY TIMES UNION

COME ON...WHAT IS AN OUTDOOR PARTY WITHOUT THE BOOZE...EVERYBODY IS WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE..SO NO THREAT OF DWI......OH WELL.......I WOULD STILL GO....THAT WAS A VERY NICE GESTURE OF SPITZER TO INVITE THE NEIGHBORS..........ANDY

ALBANY -- Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Silda Wall Spitzer are inviting 800 of their closest neighbors to the Executive Mansion for a taxpayer-funded bash. Burgers and blues, but no booze.
"We thought it would be the neighborly, right thing to do," Spitzer said Tuesday.
Invitations to the Tuesday, May 22, event began showing up in the mailboxes of residents near the governor's Eagle Street dwelling this week.
"Enjoy food, music and fun on the grounds," the invites read, noting that the first floor of the mansion will be open for tours.
Spitzer said he and his wife got the idea after they held an open house in January as part of the inaugural weekend events.
"A number of people came through the front door and said: 'I've never been here before and I live two blocks away,' " the governor said. "We said: 'That's not terribly neighborly . . . this is the governor's house, the people's house -- let's invite people over for a cook-out or something.' "
The event is being paid for out of the mansion's annual events budget.
Christine Anderson, a spokeswoman for Spitzer, said the cost should be "minimal" to hire Albany blues band Ernie Williams and the Wildcats and offer hamburgers and hot dogs to guests.
Alcoholic beverages will not be served.

Spitzer, O'Malley to Endorse Clinton

2007-05-09T06:01:00.000-04:00

AP STORY

EXTRA!!! EXTRA!!! READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!!!!!! WORST KEPT SECRET IN THE WORLD REVEALED!!!! ANDY

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton has secured endorsements from two governors - New York's Eliot Spitzer and Maryland's Martin O'Malley.
O'Malley is slated to endorse the New York senator Wednesday at an event in Annapolis, Md., two officials said Tuesday. They spoke on condition on anonymity in advance of the formal announcement.
Spitzer plans to make his endorsement Monday in Albany, N.Y. The event is expected to draw a host of other New York Democrats, including state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Lt. Gov. David Paterson.
For months, Spitzer has hedged about an endorsement of Clinton, who leads national polls for the Democratic nomination. But the governor had dropped enough hints that the endorsement really came down to a guessing game about when - not if - it would happen.
``New Yorkers know first hand how effective Hillary is as a leader, which is why her support runs deep in this state,'' Spitzer said Tuesday.
The praise from O'Malley in recent weeks was similar .
``I think she'd make a great president of the United States,'' O'Malley said in an interview on Washington Post radio in March.
Several governors have endorsed candidates in the 2008 race. Clinton also has the backing of New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine. Her rival, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has the support of Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS..AND ALOT OF THAT

2007-05-08T06:07:00.000-04:00

M.T.A. Chairman Is Resigning Peter S. Kalikow, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority since 2001, announced this morning that he would resign when Gov. Eliot Spitzer names his replacement, after six eventful years at the helm of the nation’s biggest and busiest mass transit system. ........THIS IS THE GUY SPITZER SAID WOULD HAVE TO GO....DON'T LET THE DOOR SLAM YOU IN THE BUTT ON THE WAY OUT........AND NOW FOR THE IDIOT STATE LEGISLATOR OF THE MONTH AWARD..GOES TO.........Not Reading the Fine Print.........."State Senator Antoine M. Thompson of Buffalo, a freshman Democrat".........State Senator Antoine M. Thompson of Buffalo, a freshman Democrat, made a fiery speech on the Senate floor last week, denouncing a bill to increase legislators’ salaries when it came up for a vote in his chamber. He cited the lack of raises for Buffalo city workers, police officers, teachers and sanitation workers, and said, “I can’t in good conscience vote for myself, or anyone else, a raise.”
That led Senator Frank Padavan, a Queens Republican, to pose a question:
“Why did your conscience allow you to be a sponsor of this bill?”
Indeed, all 29 Senate Democrats, including Mr. Thompson, had co-sponsored the bill days earlier, but, in a speedy turnabout, almost all of them ultimately voted against the measure, as the governor urged.
“Sir, as you may know, we get information on a regular basis, and when I found out the exact content of the bill I was in complete opposition,” Mr. Thompson explained, a deer-in-the-headlights expression passing over his face.
He resumed his speech, raising his voice even louder in outrage at the bill, before Senator John A. DeFrancisco, a Syracuse Republican, rose to speak.
“Is it true that you’re saying that before giving your name as a sponsor to this bill you didn’t read it?” he asked.
Mr. Thompson asked for the question to be repeated.
Mr. DeFrancisco: “Are you saying — very simple question — that before you agreed to co-sponsor this bill you did not read it?”
Mr. Thompson: “I did not receive the information.”
Mr. DeFrancisco: “You did not read it.”
Mr. Thompson: “I did not receive the information.”
[There’s more in today’s Empire .....................ENOUGH SAID............AND HERE ARE A FEW MORE SPITZER Appointments
May 7, 2007 at 3:30 pm by Jay Jochnowitz, State Editor
A couple of appointments from the governor today:
Carl H. Loewenson, Jr., nominated for chairman and member of the New York City Convention Center Operating Corporation, which operates and maintains the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. A partner in Morrison & Foerster, he’s also on the State Ethics Comission, and is chair and member of the New York Convention Center Development Corporation, which oversees the Javits centers’ planned expansion. The post is unpaid.
Edward Reinfurt, nominated for Executive Director of the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation, set up to encourage and expand high-tech academic research and economic development. He’s been vice president of the Business Council and helped create the standards for the state’s Centers of Excellence program. He used to be director of government affairs for the Carrier Group and the Associated Industries of New York State, Inc. Salary: $136,000. ....................AND YOU HAVE TO CHECK THIS SHORT VIDEO OUT....IT IS SOOOOOOOOO FUNNY.....WATCH HOW SPITZER IS A KINDER GENTLER SOUL.........COURTESY OF THE POLITICKER " Rich Baum dreams of a kinder Eliot Spitzer, courtesy of Jimmy Siegel [added]." AND Bruno Moves To Delay '07 Primary "Saying it would be "unfitting" to hold the 2007 primary elections on Sept. 11, Majority Leader Joseph Bruno announced the Senate will later today pass legislation he is sponsoring to bump them to Sept. 18. "...........TYPICAL REPUBLICAN WAVE THE FLAG HYPE...........WHAT BETTER WAY TO HONOR THOSE LOST ON 9/11 THEN TO GO OUT AND VOTE AND EXCERCISE YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT......SOMETIMES I WONDER ABOUT BRUNO........AND FINALLY DiNapoli Seeks To Dispel Hevesi 'Cloud' .............As reported in this morning's Daily News, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli is cooperating with Albany County DA David Soares investigation into a potential pay-to-play scam involving the $150 billion state pension fund, and is also taking additional steps to (as his press release puts it) "clean up remnants of a scandal." (That would, of course, be Chauffeurgate).
DiNapoli said he has hired the Manhattan firm of Mintz Levin (et al) to audit and review all activities of Jack Chartier, ex-Comptroller Alan Hevesi's former chief of staff, while he was at OSC. That effort will be headed up by Bridget Rohde, former chief of the criminal division of the United States Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York, who will share her findings with Soares........TOM IS DOING EXACTLY WHAT HE HAS PROMISED TO DO..CLEAN UP THE HEVESI MESS...........THAT'S IT FOR NOW........ANDY

Springtime for Spitzer. For Real?

2007-05-08T06:00:00.000-04:00

THE EMPIRE ZONE

POLITICS IS THE NAME OF THE GAME HERE.......DEMOCRATS ARE SUPPOSED TO GET DEMOCRATS ELECTED...THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A GOOD LOSS..........YES WORK TOGETHER AND GET THINGS DONE FOR THE GOOD OF NEW YORK...THAT'S WHAT THEY WERE ALL ELECTED TO DO..BUT NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF THE FACT...COME ELECTION TIME...YOU HAVE TO GET REELECTED..............ANDY

Relations between Gov. Eliot Spitzer and members of the Legislature have been notably more sour during the last few weeks, as the governor butted heads with lawmakers over campaign reform, school districts, and other issues.
But last weekend, in his performance at the Legislative Correspondents Association dinner in Albany, Gov. Eliot Spitzer aired a video skit of himself hugging members of the Legislature with whom he has had particularly public disputes — Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, and Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli of Syracuse, among others. Missing from the video, as we noted earlier today, was Senator Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader. Mr. Spitzer hopes to make him the Senate minority leader in the not too distant future.
But Mr. Spitzer struck a somewhat conciliatory note today following an appearance at the annual convention of the Newspaper Association of America.
“I deal with Joe, speak to him all the time and always have a wonderful, cordial relationship with him,” said Mr. Spitzer, when asked if he could effect change in Albany with Mr. Bruno still in power.
“We will respect that duality of our relationship,” the governor said. “We have a responsibility, which I’ve talked about since the very first moment I’ve been governor, to govern: to run the state, to reach agreements, to move the policy debate forward, get a budget, health care improvements, all the other things we’re trying to do. On the other hand, there’s a political arena where he’s trying to elect his members and I as the leader of the Democratic party of the state, am trying to elect Democratic senators. So, we respect that duality, we live by it and somehow work it through and get along all the same.”
A reporter pressed him, according to our correspondent on the scene. Mr. Spitzer said:
We are accomplishing a great deal already in the context of health care and property taxes and education. We are getting the changes we need, both in the budget and the other bills we’ve passed, the administrative determinations we’ve made. So, sure we can do it. It doesn’t mean that I will work less assiduously to elect those whom I agree with ideologically, but it also means that we will forge common ground and find those areas where we can agree to move the state forward. That’s our job and we’ll do it.
It’s a start.

Our Albany Observer: Spitzer names names, lawmakers gasp

2007-05-07T06:20:00.000-04:00

TIMES HEARLD RECORD Brendan Scott

I FOUND THIS ARTICLE IN MY GOOGLE SEARCH....INTERESTING UPSTATE PERSPECTIVE ON "3 MEN IN A ROOM" CONCEPT...ANDY

Times Herald-Record May 07, 2007
Psst, want to know the big secret about the three men in a room who run state government?
The three men in a room, as the governor, Assembly speaker and Senate majority leader get called whenever they go behind closed doors to cut deals, don't actually run state government.
Sure, the governor and the twin legislative leaders, who, for the last decade, have been personified by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, each hold enormous power in New York. With the flourish of a pen, they can make or break legislation, spend or save billions and reward or punish subordinates.
The legislative leaders in particular hold far more power than their counterparts in Washington. Whether Silver, D-Manhattan, and Bruno, R-Brunswick, personally like a policy weighs heavily on that policy's chances of becoming reality.
But the "three men in a room" slogan has helped us forget that these guys aren't hereditary peers. They serve at the pleasure of scores of majority-party legislators, who serve at the pleasure of us.
So, when "Sheldon Silver" steamrolled Spitzer's comptroller pick and elevated an assemblyman to the job in February, Assembly members Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston, and Aileen Gunther, D-Forestburgh, were in on the decision.
And, when "Joe Bruno" derailed Spitzer's campaign finance reform plan two weeks ago, Sens. John Bonacic, R-Mount Hope; Bill Larkin, R-Cornwall-on-Hudson; and Tom Morahan, R-New City, were helping him pull up the tracks.
In fact, the governor's aides say Spitzer thought he had a deal with Bruno until the Senate leader returned from a closed-door powwow with his members.
This is what makes Spitzer's decision to blast majority-party legislators in their own backyards so interesting — and controversial.
As much as lawmakers say they resent the perception that "three men in a room" run state government, it works in their favor whenever the Legislature must do battle with a popular governor.
In this way, Silver and Bruno, who have few worries of losing re-election themselves, act as heat shields for less secure members. The press compounds this by focusing on the big three for the sake of simplicity or drama.
But Spitzer tears down the time-honored defense when he — as he did during both the comptroller and campaign finance fights — travels the state to name rank-and-file opponents. When the governor shows up, the local media turns out to carry his critical quotes to the unlucky legislator's hometown voters.
"Bill Magnarelli is one of those unfortunate Assembly members who just raises his hand when he's told to do so," Spitzer told the Syracuse Post-Standard after the Central New York Democrat opposed his comptroller pick. The Legislature gasped.
Now, there are reasons why governors usually shy away from this kind of blood sport. For one, it burns bridges with the very legislators the governor needs to make his agenda state law. Public opinion could also swing against Spitzer if he picks the wrong issue or appears to bully a beloved lawmaker.
How would you feel if the governor swung through town to challenge Cahill's independence or accuse Larkin of maintaining the status quo? We might find out soon enough.

Jonathan’s Law signed

2007-05-07T06:15:00.000-04:00

EMPIRESTATENEWS.NET

AS I COMMENTED EARLIER...ELIOT WOULD SIGN THIS BILL.....THE TOUGHEST THING A PARENT OF A DISABLED CHILD HAS TO DO ...IS LET THEIR CHILD LIVE IN A GROUP HOME....ALWAYS WONDERING IF THEY ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING.........THIS LAW WILL ALLOW FOR BETTER PARENTAL SUPERVISION AND NOTIFICATION.........ANDY

Governor Eliot Spitzer Sunday signed “Jonathan’s Law,” which will provide parents and guardians better access to records and reports of incidents and abuse allegations involving their children in residential mental hygiene facilities.
Jonathan’s Law is named in honor of Jonathan Carey, a 13-year-old autistic boy who recently died while in the care of a state-run residential facility. Jonathan’s family has long championed this legislation after being refused full access to records and information related to his care and treatment.
Jonathan’s Law makes several important changes to state law. In particular, the new law will:
Require residential hygiene facilities to provide parents andguardians with telephone notification within 24 hours of incidentsaffecting the health and safety of their children;
Require such facilities to provide parents and guardians with aredacted incident report upon request;
Require facility directors to meet with parents and guardians todiscuss reported incidents;
Require facility directors to provide parents and guardians withwritten reports of actions taken in response to the incidents;
Grant parents and guardians full access to records and documentspertaining to allegations and investigations into patient abuse ormistreatment, with redaction of patient and staff names.
In addition, a Task Force on Mental Hygiene Records will be established to examine existing laws regarding records access concerning individuals receiving care in facilities licensed or operated by the Office of Mental Health and the Office of Mental Retardation and Development Disabilities. The task force will be comprised of representatives from state agencies, private providers, parents, advocates and others.
The bill will also increase penalties to $1,000 per day or a maximum of $15,000 per violation for facilities licensed by OMRDD that fail to comply with applicable rules and regulations.

Jokes are on Capitol figures

2007-05-07T06:11:00.000-04:00

ALBANY TIMES UNION AP STORY

SOUNDS LIKE EVERYONE HAD A GOOD TIME......SORRY I MISSED THIS..ANDY

ALBANY -- In Saturday's installment of the nation's longest-running annual political satire by journalists, powerful lawmakers in Albany plot to attack Gov. Eliot Spitzer in his only vulnerable area: his hairline.
But Agent 007 Spitzer, with a license to reform, prevails against Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, portrayed as Dr. Evil from the "Austin Powers" movies, and against Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, dressed in a white dinner jacket stroking a cat like a Bond super villain. Their attempt to zap the Democrat with a laser hair-removal system via satellite is foiled.
"So now it's springtime for Spitzer, in Albany-y-y," sang Kyle Hughes of NY Capitolwire. He played Spitzer, the hard-charging former attorney general, and sang to the tune of "Springtime for Hitler" from Mel Brooks' "The Producers."
"I'll ride to town, and smack them down, just like I was A.G.
"So now it's springtime for Spitzer, in Albany.
"Everything's changed since Day One!"
The skewering drew a comic rebuttal from Spitzer, who produced a video and presented a monologue.
In another song, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo was spoofed for his kinder, gentler side these days after a career of hard-edged politics as a one-time candidate for governor, as housing secretary in the Clinton White House and as a political operative for his father, former Gov. Mario M. Cuomo.
To the tune of "This Magic Moment" by the Drifters, three members of the Legislative Correspondents Association sang:
"A brand-new Cuomo, so different and so new, no longer so pushy, no longer scares you."
LCA President Michael Cooper of The New York Times also presented reporting awards for Albany coverage at the event. The LCA Award went to Jim Odato of the Times Union, while the Alumni Award went to Marc Humbert of the Associated Press

WEEKEND EDITION!!!!

2007-05-05T07:50:00.000-04:00

THE BUFFALO NEWS DOESN'T LIKE SPITZER DOING SOME CALIFORNIA DREAMING AND RAISING SOME CAMPAIGN LOOT Spitzer sends wrong signal .......AND IN AN IDEAL WORLD THEY COULD GIVE THEIR NEWSPAPERS AWAY TOO......COME ON.....THE ITHICA JOURNAL REPORTS Report may help case for mergers of governments ....
"ALBANY — Members of a panel studying how to shrink the number of local governments in the state said Friday they hope a new report that found government costs far higher on Long Island than in a similar area of Northern Virginia will help them make their case.
“I think it's a compelling case when you compare counties that are very similar and find one has fewer units of municipal government and fewer school districts and also has lower property taxes,” said former Lt. Gov. Stan Lundine. He is the chairman of a commission appointed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer in April to study how to consolidate local governments. The panel is slated to make recommendations next year." IF THINGS DON'T CHANGE QUICKLY ON THE ISLAND HERE.....PEOPLE WILL BE MOVING OUT IN DROVES...THE ONLY THING SLOWLY THINGS DOWN NOW..IS THE CURRENT REALESTATE SLUMP....TOO MANY HOUSES ARE ON THE MARKET..PEOPLE WANT OUT...THIS IS A WARNING SIGN..THINGS HAVE TO CHANGE.......AND SPEAKING OF CHANGE...MAYOR BLOOMBERG...MR RICH GUY..SOMETIMES LOSES SIGHT OF HOW THE MIDDLE CLASS AND POOR LIVE.....NEWSDAY GIVES US $8 ride in high gear "Mayor Michael Bloomberg challenged the governor and state Legislature on Friday to approve his controversial congestion pricing plan this year, and warned that the city and its deep-pocketed power brokers have the political and financial muscle to make it happen.Drivers pay $8 per day; trucks $21 at entries and other points in the congestion zone. Motorists paying a toll, then driving in the congestion zone would not be charged twice. Exemptions would exist for taxis, livery cabs, emergency vehicles and those with handicapped plates." SO THE FAT CATS IN THEIR STRETCH LIMOS CAN GET AROUND MIDTOWN QUICKER NOW...I WOULD BET THE HOUSE THAT FRAUDULENT HANDICAPPED PLATE USAGE GOES UP A THOUSAND PERCENT......KILL THIS BILL....IT IS A RICH MAN'S DELIGHT...........AND.......SOMETHING THAT IS STILL FREE TO THE PUBLIC ...THE TROY RECORD LETS US KNOW It's smooth sailing for opening day of canal season......."The Canal System is one of New York's greatest recreational and historic assets, welcoming visitors from all over the U.S. and the world each year," Governor Eliot Spitzer released a statement encouraging all New Yorkers to consider visiting the Canal System in 2007."Whether you are a history buff, boater, hiker or picnicker, there's plenty to enjoy at this remarkable waterway," he said." AND FINALLY Lawmakers will weigh plans to ease jail crunch ..........HOW LONG HAS THIS PROBLEM BEEN AROUND???? ANDY

Dear Lord, Let Us Snipe (updated)

2007-05-03T20:44:00.000-04:00

Capitol Confidential

What a bunch of hypocrites......they have no problem with Bush and all the Iraq killings......and yet they give Spitzer a hard time because he wasn't fast enough for them in declaring a national day of prayer...like God needs the government to make prayer official.........Eliot has a beautiful family......what the hell are they talking about when they say he is anti family???? Maybe because he is not part of the Far Right Christian Republican Movement in this Country??? Bush is their shining leader......doesn't that tell you something about this group??? Enough said...........andy

Gov. Eliot Spitzer officially marked today with a proclamation declaring May 3 a “Day of Prayer and Reflection in the Empire State,” in following with the National Day of Prayer created under President Reagan in 1988.
But a Christian Web site says Spitzer was the last governor in the country this year to sign such a proclamation, and suggests he did so at the last minute only under pressure.
The administration says otherwise.
Christian Post quotes James Dobson, chairman of Focus on the Family, as complaining on Monday that Spitzer had been dodging requests for months to officially recognize the Day of Prayer:
“Gov. Spitzer was asked in January to issue such a declaration by April 1st if possible. No response was received as of Friday, April 27. Phone calls from the governor’s office were not returned, and pastors and volunteers who inquired were treated rudely and given no indication that a proclamation was forthcoming.”
Dobson in his group’s daily broadcast Monday told listeners of the “slap in the face that the governor of New York has delivered to people of faith all across the country,” according to Christian Post.
Spitzer spokesman Paul Larabee, however, said he’d been working on the the proclamation matter for weeks. He also said he personally tried to contact Focus on the Family. “I was put on hold indefinitely,” he said.
Spitzer signed the proclamation last Wednesday, Larabee said (the proclamation also lists that as the day he signed it), and it was posted on the governor’s Web site earlier this week. As for whether Spitzer was, as Christian Post contends, the last governor in the country to sign such a proclamation, Larabee said he couldn’t affirm or dispute it without checking on every other state, which he clearly was not inclined to do.
Focus on the Family has more issues with the Democratic, Jewish governor than the prayer day or his move this year not to keep Republican predecessor George Pataki’s tradition of an annual prayer breakfast (although Spitzer’s office says ”an event providing an opportunity for prayer and reflection is being developed.'’) In the Christian Post article, Gary Schneeberger, Focus on the Family’s senior media director of government and public policy, is quoted as saying “Governor Spitzer has never been a friend to pro-family causes. He’s introduced a bill to legalize gay marriage and has worked to shore up abortion rights. He has not earned the benefit of the doubt from the pro-family community.”

Loophole used to ship tax-free cigarettes closed

2007-05-03T20:39:00.000-04:00

The Buffalo News

Untaxed internet tobacco sales went up in smoke........maybe the upstate tribes will start making up Anti Cuomo signs like they did for Spitzer...........andy

New York’s attorney general has closed another loophole that local Indian tobacco merchants have been using to ship tax-free cigarettes over the Internet.
Andrew M. Cuomo, continuing an investigation that predecessor Eliot L. Spitzer began last year, announced an agreement Wednesday with a Long Island firm that had been processing checks and electronic payments for at least 10 Indian tobacco merchants.
Nine of the 10 Indian smoke shops that had been using the service were from Western New York.
Creative Cash Flow Solutions, of Amityville, announced it will no longer provide services to those who sell tax-free cigarettes over the Internet.
Cuomo said the company agreed to immediately stop processing payments once its executives were told the payments violated state law.
Spitzer, when he was state attorney general, had reached agreements with credit card companies, getting them to stop allowing customers across the country to use credit cards to buy tax-free cigarettes.
Cuomo said that Creative Cash Flow Solutions had filled the credit card void for Indian tobacco sellers.
A check of Indian tobacco Web sites Wednesday showed that some of the retailers who once used credit cards had switched to electronic payments.
A Cuomo spokesman identified the 10 retail cigarette sellers using the Long Island firm’s processing as:
My Choice Tobacco, Williamsville; Phat Smokes, Salamanca; Drive Through Smokeshop, Lewiston; All American Tobacco, Salamanca; Peace Pipe Cigarettes, Mastic; Seneca Stars Cigs, Salamanca; Highlander Discount Cigs, Salamanca; Smoke Signals, Salamanca; Buy Cheap Cigarettes, Brant; and OT Direct, Salamanca.

Resort Hotel Eyed For Aqueduct

2007-05-03T20:30:00.000-04:00

Queens Chronicle

Very interesting article on some of the proposals for taking over NYRA and what to do with the racetracks.......a must read if you are following this whole process.........andy

Sky-high hotels and gaming resorts may be in the cards for Aqueduct and Belmont, if the firms vying for control of the two racetracks get their way. Last month, representatives from each of the four bidders — Capital Play, Empire Racing, Excelsior Racing and the New York Racing Association — outlined their plans to the members of a state racing panel in Albany. In addition to controlling Aqueduct Race Track in South Ozone Park, and Belmont Park Race Track on the Queens-Nassau border, the winning bidder would run Saratoga Race Course, located upstate. The three tracks constitute the state’s racing franchise, which the New York Racing Association has run since 1955. Each bidder hopes to woo state officials with promises of millions of dollars in tax revenue and renderings of gaming resorts that would draw droves of affluent leisure-seekers who now head to Atlantic City and Connecticut. Empire Racing’s $2 billion proposal centers on the construction of a 325-room hotel and entertainment complex on Aqueduct’s 200 acres. It would include the development of Aqueduct Live! — modeled after Woodbine Live! at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto. Aqueduct Live! would have high-end bars, restaurants, shops and a live music venue, according to Empire Racing spokesman Dave Vermillion. Both Aqueduct and Belmont would get new backstretch areas and Belmont would also see the construction of a row of new corporate suites overlooking the racing area. Capital Play, a group of Australian investors, pitched their plan for the development of a similar hotel and entertainment complex that would be geared toward 21- to 35-year-olds. The three sub-options within their proposal, each of which includes the creation of a multistory hotel tower, range in price from $730 million to $1.8 billion. Through aggressive subway and billboard ad campaigns, Capital would target women, many of whom don’t regularly visit the tracks. “Our goal is to reinvent New York state horse racing,” Capital Play CEO Karl O’Farrell told panel members. Excelsior Racing would make grandstand, clubhouse and racetrack improvements at Aqueduct, but the lion’s share of its investment would be put toward the construction of a 500-room hotel at Belmont. Excelsior, whose advisory board members include famed jockey Jerry Baily and the Rev. Floyd Flake, the pastor of Jamaica’s Greater Allen Cathedral, won the endorsement of a nine-member recommendation committee last November. The committee, formed by former Gov. George Pataki, placed Empire second in its preference ranking. The New York Racing Association fared poorly in November because of what many committee members viewed as a checkered history of fiscal irresponsibility. It declared bankruptcy last November. As it petitions the state to renew its contract, NYRA’s proposal does not center on large development projects. It would instead change its status as a nonprofit corporation to a not-for-profit one, and make changes to its simulcasting pricing model. All the interested firms proposed installing video lottery terminals at Belmont and Aqueduct. The panel evaluating the proposals includes three of Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s appointees, two members of the Assembly and two members of the state Senate, including John Sabini (D-Jackson Heights). They will deliver a decision to Spitzer by the end of May. If NYRA is not selected by Spitzer and the Legislature, a new firm will assume control of the franchise on Jan. 1, 2008. Although many in South Ozone Park have expressed concern about Aqueduct’s future, Vermillion said: “Anything that we do will be in full cooperation with the community. We’re not just going to drop a hotel in here without talking to people.” Citing the concerns of some of her constituents, Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer (D-Ozone Park) said that a hotel built too close to homes and businesses may be detrimental. But she added that South Queens would benefit from the tax revenue the facility would generate. Merchants on Crossbay Boulevard and other commercial strips may also enjoy increased business, Pheffer said. Sabini said that because so many hotels already exist around Kennedy Airport, the Aqueduct resort might be an “easy sell.” But he said that he would not endorse or oppose any plan until he had a better sense of the scope of the development.

10,000TH VISITOR TO BLOG

2007-05-03T06:55:00.000-04:00

THANK YOU ALL FOR VISITING MY BLOG!!!! IT IS HARD TO MAINTAIN A 1 MAN BLOG....WITH MY BUSY SCHEDULE........BUT MAKING A VALIANT ATTEMPT TO KEEP IT GOING :-) THANKS FOR YOUR TIME SPENT HERE...APPRECIATE IT........ANDY

AM RUSH HOUR SPECIAL

2007-05-03T06:37:00.000-04:00

State Has First Black Governor -- for a Day ................"AP -- New York had its first black governor - for a day, anyway. Under the state constitution, Lieutenant Governor David Paterson, a Harlem Democrat, was in charge on Monday. That's because Governor Eliot Spitzer was out of state, attending a California campaign fund-raiser. It was actually the third time Paterson, under the constitution drafted in 1777, had the powers of the governor this year. The other two times Spitzer was in Washington, D.C. on state business".......TODAY MUST BE COLOR THEME DAY FOR STORIES........Governor's mansion going green..............."ALBANY -- Solar panels should start showing up at the Executive Mansion this summer under an effort to make it the nation's first "green" residence for a governor.
The goal is to meet about 40 percent of the mansion's electrical needs from the sun by next year, First Lady Silda Wall Spitzer said Tuesday.
"Starting today, the mansion will also function as a sustainable building," she said. As she addressed reporters off a side porch, workers inside were preparing the first step of a project that's expected to cost about $650,000 -- replacing an 11-year-old washing machine with a new, energy-efficient model.
That's part of an effort to cut the 20,000 square-foot, 151-year-old mansion's demand for electricity by 15 percent." OK.......HOW ABOUT A FEW STATE JUDGE'S FACES TURNING RED..............Senate approves commission to study state salaries................"Albany — Few things draw the ire of taxpayers like lawmakers conspiring to raise their own salaries, especially in a state that already has the nation's third- highest paid Legislature.
That could be why legislators seized on the idea of creating a bipartisan commission to review and impose pay hikes for elected officials. The commission would do the dirty work.
The commission concept was put forth by Chief Judge Judith Kaye, who hoped to finally break the political game of chicken that has forced the state's 1,200 judges to go eight years without a raise.
Kaye says lagging salaries are forcing talented lawyers from the bench. But each year, lawmakers have refused to give the judges a raise without getting their own." AND ON A VERY SAD NOTE.............Slain Trooper laid to rest with full honors................"Delmar -- New York State Trooper David Brinkerhoff was laid to rest Wednesday, and his family and close friends remembered him as someone who was always there to enlighten and bring a positive outlook to a situation, and someone who just lived his life to the fullest." AND STATE COMPTROLLER IS PUTTING Money's where his mouth is ............"ALBANY - Wading into the heated debate over changes to campaign finance, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli yesterday proposed turning his re-election bid in 2010 into an experiment with spending limits, contribution caps, mandatory debates and public financing.DiNapoli, a former assemblyman from Great Neck, said the "pilot project" would provide an opportunity to test the alternatives pushed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Assembly Democrats and good-government groups. The results could be used to institute changes affecting the races for governor and other statewide offices in 2014, he said.
Under the initiative, DiNapoli and other candidates for state comptroller would restrict contributions from individuals to $10,000, and cap campaign spending at $5 million per candidate for a primary and $7.5 million for the general election.".........WAY TO GO TOM!!!!!!!!!!!! ..................ANDY

A QUICK REPLY TO COMMENT POSTED

2007-05-03T06:34:00.000-04:00

North Country Gazette has not tried to contact me to remove one of their articles I posted in here.........and......they got full credit for the article......and were identified as the author of such.......believe me...free publicity is never turned away by the media......get a life...will ya!!!!!!!! andy

OUT-REFORMING ELIOT

2007-05-02T05:48:00.000-04:00

New York Post Editorial

This post editorial is pure republican bs........they don't want campaign contribution limits.....yet they support this phony republican revenge bill......fundraising is a political reality......nobody likes to do it........but you need money to run.....this is another excuse for the Republicans to avoid real campaign reform.................where was the post's indignation when pataki was governor??? andy

May 2, 2007 -- Assembly GOP leader James Tedisco has fired a shot across the campaign-finance bow at Gov. Spitzer, announcing he'll introduce a bill to limit the practice of "bundling" - campaign cash put together by individual fund-raisers.
You know the concept - it's the one Spitzer himself is using in his own re-election bid in 2010, promising bundlers who raise $25,000 to $1 million a rolling scale of special inside-access inducements.
Which is why Tedisco's bill is certainly far more in line with the governor's campaign promise to fix the way business is done in Albany than is Spitzer himself.
After all, as Spitzer noted the other day, "Special interests give millions to lawmakers each year and, in return, lawmakers are expected to do their bidding."
Precisely.
And nowhere is this attitude more blatant than in the practice of bundling.
It allows lobbyists, power-brokers and influence-peddlers to enhance their power by delivering a pile of checks far above the individual campaign limits to appreciative lawmakers.
Tedisco proposes to limit bundling in state races to a maximum of $100,000 per individual. "If anything defines pay-to-play, this is it," he says.
In fact, his bill would go even further: It would require campaigns to publicly disclose those who bundle for them and how much they raise; list the name, occupation, employer and spouse's employer of all contributors and list any specific access awarded by contribution level.
The governor had no immediate comment yesterday. He was off in California - on a political fund-raising trip.
But state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, who would dearly love to stick one to the governor, said he's open to placing limits on bundling.
As are we.
We've been leery of past efforts at campaign-finance reform - most of which have amounted to little more than an attack on the First Amendment rights of individuals and groups to support the candidate of their choice.
But no such limits are proposed here.
All that's at stake is the ability of would-be political players to boost their clout by playing campaign Santa Claus, delivering bundles of cash and checks to money-hungry legislators.
We hope that Spitzer agrees - when he returns with his California cash.

State judges deserve better

2007-05-02T05:41:00.000-04:00

Newsday Editorial

The state's judges got the short end of the stick again this week, when a plan for a long overdue pay raise hit the skids. The problem for judges - who've had only one raise in 19 years - is that legislators linked judicial pay hikes to increases for themselves, unconscionably holding judges hostage in an effort to fatten their own paychecks. The linkage almost paid off for legislators this week. A proposal combining a raise for judges with the creation of a compensation commission to consider future pay hikes - for judges and lawmakers - appeared to have the votes to pass. But it was derailed when Senate Democrats, nudged by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, pulled their support for the plan and Assembly Democrats put it on hold. Chief Judge Judith Kaye had proposed the commission in a pragmatic bid, borne of frustration, to move the issue of judges' pay out of the statehouse. That's the right thing to do. The state's judges were given pay parity with federal judges nine years ago but have seen their compensation stagnate since then. New York's Supreme Court justices are paid $136,700 a year; federal district court judges, $165,200. But raises for legislators shouldn't be outside the political arena. Lawmakers are paid $79,000 a year, a $152 per diem while in session and additional pay for leadership positions. That's a good deal for a part-time job that allows outside earnings. Spitzer, who agrees judges should get a raise, said the legislature should reform its notoriously ineffective ways before even considering its own pay hike. The legislature should decouple judicial and legislative raises, give judges an immediate increase, and provide a mechanism for regular cost-of-living increases. Then, if there's a case to be made for legislative raises, legislators are welcome to make it.

Our judges deserve a raise........let's cut the political crap out...and give them one...........andy

Wicks Law, Other Mandates Would Be Eased Under Spitzer Plan

2007-05-01T06:54:00.000-04:00

North Country Gazette

Found this while doing the ususal google thing.....good read.........andy

ALBANY—Unnecessary mandates on local governments would be eliminated under a legislative proposal advanced by Gov. Eliot Spitzer. This legislation will make amendments to the Wicks Law, ease local government procurement procedures, provide equal treatment for localities with respect to collateral source payments, reform the laws governing interest rates, and streamline the enforcement of local housing code violations.
“This legislation enacts necessary measures to reduce the heavy financial burden, ease the cumbersome workload, and roll back the excessive mandates that for too long have handcuffed New York State’s local governments,” said Governor Spitzer. “By encouraging structural reforms and reducing operational costs, this bill will promote fiscal savings for our taxpayers, increase flexibility for our municipalities, and ensure the long-term economic stability of our state.”
The mandate relief package will include the following provisions:
The Wicks Law is an antiquated statute that requires multiple contracts for all municipal construction projects costing over $50,000 - a monetary threshold that has not been increased since the early 1960s. This legislation will:
–Increase the threshold to $1,000,000 for Upstate projects and $2,000,000 for projects in New York City, and annually index these new thresholds to adjust for inflation;
–Strengthen subcontractor protections to ensure that subcontractors are treated fairly in non-Wicks projects; and
–Authorize the use of project labor agreements, which standardize the terms and conditions for labor on public works contracts, in lieu of Wicks separate specifications in certain circumstances.
This legislation will facilitate local government procurement processes by:
–Increasing the competitive bidding thresholds for public works contracts from $20,000 to $50,000 and for commodities purchases from $10,000 to $20,000;
–Allowing local governments to consider “best value” when awarding contracts for services, and;
–Allowing local governments to “piggy-back” on federal information technology procurement contracts.
The State’s collateral source laws provide for the deduction of certain third-party payments from jury awards in personal injury and wrongful death actions, to ensure that injured plaintiffs do not get paid twice for the same injury. While most past and future collateral source payments are deducted from jury awards, future payments are not offset in actions against public employers. As a result, local governments end up making future payments to plaintiffs who are already scheduled to receive such payments from other sources. This legislation eliminates that inequity.
Local governments currently must pay interest on outstanding judgments at a fixed rate of 9% — which is significantly higher than current market interest rates. This unnecessarily increases the interest costs of local governments, and provides a windfall to third parties. This legislation will reduce those expenses by setting a market-based method of calculating interest rates - similar to the method used for judgments involving the federal government - and by capping interest rates at the current statutory rate of 9%.
Local governments can currently enforce local housing maintenance codes only through court action, a cumbersome and costly process that has led to significant violation backlogs in some municipalities. This legislation gives local governments the option to use administrative proceedings to streamline the enforcement of local housing code violations. 4-30-07

NIGHT TIME ROUNDUP

2007-04-30T20:22:00.000-04:00

LET'S START OFF WITH New York Governor Signs Prayer Proclamation ......"Eliot Spitzer today joined the other 49 governors in issuing a proclamation supporting Thursday’s observance of the National Day of Prayer (NDP)"..............BELIEVE IT OR NOT...BUT SPITZER HAD OTHER THINGS ON HIS PLATE FOR THE LAST FEW MONTHS....HE IS NOT ANTI-FAMILY AND HE IS DEFINITELY NOT AGAINST PRAYER.......THE DOBSON FAMILY EARN A LIVING WITH THIS KIND OF STUFF.....I AM SURE THEY ARE ARE NOT WORRYING ABOUT THE STATE BUDGET....OR OTHER TRIVIAL THINGS LIKE THAT..........NO PRAYER BREAKFAST...OH NO!!!!!........MEANWHILE .New Crime Stats Low ........."While Gov. Eliot Spitzer said Monday that the latest statistics show a reduction of crime in targeted high-crime areas, state and local officials met to plot how to sustain that and expand the effort"...........AND WE LEARN State Lawmakers Hit Speed Bump As They Push For New Raise........."A proposal by state lawmakers to boost their own salary hit a bump Monday. A key legislator, Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith from Queens, pulled his support from a bill that would have set up a system to boost pay starting in 2009. Smith says that while he supports raises for legislators, they should only be considered after lawmakers have made progress on important legislation, such as campaign finance reform. That is also the opinion of Governor Eliot Spitzer, who said he would veto any pay hike until there is an agreement on the reforms."...........AND...... Bill to Protect Disabled Now Up to Spitzer "Albany, N.Y.) AP - Michael and Lisa Carey are waiting to see if the bill they pushed in memory of their autistic son, Jonathan, becomes law so that parents can better protect their disabled children.The bill passed in the Legislature with overwhelming support and is now before Governor Eliot Spitzer. Jonathan's Law is named after the Careys' 13-year-old son who died in February while under the care of a residential facility. The bill would require facilities to notify parents and guardians when their children are involved in incidents that could involve or lead to injury. The bill would also create a task force to review confidentiality provisions intended to protect the privacy of patients."..........THIS BILL MAKES PERFECT SENSE.......AND WILL BE SIGNED BY SPITZER...........A FEW TID BITS FROM LIZ OVER AT THE DAILY NEWS.........."With the pro-gay marriage forces poised to descend en masse on Albany tomorrow, the Coalition to Save Marriage in New York is starting its pushback.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer doesn't think it's hypocritical for him to push for campaign finance reform while simultaneously asking donors to bundle large amounts of cash in exchange for exclusive access to him. " ............."After his Law Day speech, AG Andrew Cuomo lunched with the Democratic Assembly majority today at the state Capitol and was full of praise for the lawmakers, according to several who were in attendance.
Cuomo touted the Assembly for being a steadfast bastion of progressivism and even went so far as to call New York's Legislature "the best in the country," putting him at odds with NYU's Brennan Center, which dubbed the Legislature the nation's most dysfunctional back in 2004. (Unless, perhaps, he thinks they've improved enormously over the last three years).
Cuomo's compliments came as music to the ears of the legislators, who have been steadily slammed in recent years for their dysfunction and for a slew of scandals, both ethical and sexual.
And Gov. Eliot Spitzer has at times led the criticism parade this year, alternately praising the Legislature (when it goes along with his reform proposals) and slamming it (when they don't do what he wants, as with the state comptroller vote).
"People really appreciated it because they're so sick of getting the shit kicked out of them," one assemblyman said.
The contrast between Cuomo and Spitzer, who cancelled a "get-to-know-you" lunch with the Assembly majority aand a DACC fundraiser in February after they defied him and made ex-Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli comptroller over the governor's wishes, did not go unnoticed by lawmakers who believe Cuomo still has designs on the governor's office. " .............NIGHT NIGHT..........ANDY

HERE COMES THE JUDGE!!!! AFTERNOON PRO BONO BLOG BITS

2007-04-30T13:48:00.000-04:00

JUDGE JUDY WOULD NOT BE A HAPPY CAMPER WITH ALL THE CRAZINESS GOING ON FOR JUDICIAL PAY RAISES........About That Pay Raise......."The Senate Democrats gave Gov. Eliot Spitzer a little negotiating help on campaign finance reform today, saying they don’t think a legislative pay raise is warranted until “substantial progress in addressing priority bills, including the reform agenda.”
Consequently, Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith and his colleages withdrew what only last week was their unanimous support for Majority Leader Joseph Bruno’s proposal, which included judicial pay hikes and a commission to consider and recommend legislative and executive pay hikes."...................MEANWHILE........CAPITOL CONFIDENTIAL ASKS THE PROVERBIAL QUESTION Marchers In Robes? Not Just Yet........"I just took a stroll around the Capitol parks and didn’t see any judges bearing picket signs or marching in circles.
There had been some buzz over the weekend that judges, frustrated with the way the push for judicial pay raises are going, had been talking about coming to Albany and staging some kind of a protest. But they decided not to.
Moreover, Jim Odato, who is at the Law Day talk with Gov. Eliot Spitzer, tells me all is quiet there as well, even though Spitzer is decrying what he said is the legislature’s holding a pay raise “hostage'’ to their own desires for a raise.
Judges, I’m told concluded that an outright protest would be impolitic. They reportedly got some persuasion from Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman, who is also said to be interested in a spot on the Appellate Division and may want to demonstrate his deftness in keeping judges under control.".............................HOW ABOUT RUBBING 2 NICKELS TOGETHER..........ERRRRRRRRR...MAYBE NOT...........A $20 Million Fight Over a Nickel ........"In case anybody needed a reminder how lucrative Albany gridlock can be...
The question of whether to include 5 cent deposit charge on certain drinks in New York has been a $20 million fight, according to lobbying records analyzed by Common Cause. Supporters spent $6,888,265 to get the bill passed.Opponents spent $6,306,459 to stop it.
More quick numbers, from the group’s public statement:
$2,705,678.47 was given in campaign contributions by the bottling industry, beverage distributors, food retailers and others that oppose the new bill
$1,388,272.26 was given in campaign contributions by organizations supporting the expanded law, often called the “Bigger, Better Bottle Bill.” Over 94% of these contributions came from one entity—the Public Employees Federation.
The full report is here [pdf]. " THERE YOU GO........WHAT THE HELL DOES A CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES UNION GOT TO DO WITH SODA CAN DEPOSITS??? OUR UNION DUES HARD AT WORK :-) ..............................AND WE LEARN.........Malcolm Smith Agrees with Spitzer, Abruptly.............The AP has an official statement from Democratic Senate Leader Malcolm Smith explaining why he pulled his entire conference off a bill raising salaries for state lawmakers--something Governor Spitzer opposed. Smith said the conference changed position because Senate Republicans didn't agree to campaign finance reform.
As a result, the members of the minority conference will remove their names as sponsors of Sen. Bruno's pay raise bill," Smith said in a prepared statement. "Moreover, we will oppose this bill absent an agreement by the majority to embrace meaningful campaign finance reform.
Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, needless to say, thinks that Smith got steamrolled.
Somewhere, political consultant Norman Adler -- who once called the Senate Democratic conference a "wholly owned subsidiary" of Spitzer's operation -- is chuckling...........NO REFORM..NO PAY HIKES.......YIKES!!!! WHAT WILL BRUNO DO NOW??? .........MEANWHILE CLOSER TO HOME Replacing a Pataki Holdover ..............One of the last George Pataki holdovers to walk the halls of second floor in the Capitol has been replaced.
Karen Paikin, who was Pataki's -- and for a short time, Eliot Spitzer's -- Jewish liaison, was replaced today by Ross Wallenstein, an aide to Rep. Gary Ackerman of Queens and Nassau. ..................AND FINALLY WE ARE TOLD Spitzer Still in Fighting Mood.........Appearing today at an Albany middle school, Gov. Eliot Spitzer seemed in high spirits, even somewhat defiant, in response to questions about his prodigious campaign fund-raising and whether or not it conflicts with his message of tighter campaign finance limits.
The governor said:
I have set limits far below the statutory limits and I am abiding by those limits, unilaterally putting myself at a disadvantage. I am traveling around the state calling on the Senate majority to pass campaign finance reform that will finally get money out of the system. Joe Bruno should agree to limit L.L.C. contributions. That appears to be the issue that is preventing the Senate from signing on to a bill that every good government group has supported. That is what New York needs.
He also responded to questions about a New York Post story, in which the same good government groups that the governor is allied with on campaign reform expressed unhappiness with some of his fund-raising mailings.
“We are not offering access,” Mr. Spitzer said. “We are abiding by every law, in fact, going way beyond the laws of the state of New York. I’ve been doing that since I announced back in December and imposed ethics obligations on those in my administration and my own fund-raising that is far beyond what the state requires.”
He also rebuffed suggestions that lawmakers rush to pass legislation that would allow the dealth penalty for cop-killers. Republican leaders in the Senate began sounding the call for such a bill mere hours after the death last week of Trooper David C. Brinkerhoff, before it turned out that the fatal shot that killed Trooper Brinkerhoff came, accidentally, from a fellow trooper.
Gov. Spitzer said his position on the dealth penalty was clear — he supports it for cop killers — but that “the moment to discuss that, I’ve said, is not on the eve of a funeral.” He then went a little further, obliquely but harshly criticizing the Republican senators calling for a bill.
“There are a lot of politicians who I think, in almost a grotesque example of playing politics with a horrific event, seize an event like this to start putting out press releases,” he said. “That’s wrong.” COME ON BRUNO AND THE REPULBLICANS PLAYING POLITICS OVER A TRAGEDY????? UNHEARD OF........AFTER ALL 9/11 AND IT'S AFTERMATH WAS NEVER USED FOR POLITICAL GAIN BY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY........ERRRRRRR...NOT MUCH........HMMMMMMM....OK...SPITZER HAS A POINT..............ANDY

Spitzer bill would ban junk food in schools

2007-04-30T06:45:00.000-04:00

LoHud.Com

This bill should go along way in fighting little kids being so overweight....a nationwhide problem..............andy

The once-popular school lunch of greasy chips, snack cakes and soda, already on the run for years from school cafeterias, would go the way of lead pencils under a new plan by Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
With public concern growing by the day over childhood obesity, Spitzer wants to turn up nutritional standards for food and beverages served in public schools, inside and outside the cafeteria.
Spitzer's Healthy Food Act would eliminate soda and most junk food; set limits for fat, sugar and sodium; designate a minimum amount of time for students to eat lunch; require a daily recess period for students in eighth grade and under; and call for better nutrition education.
Assemblywoman Sandra Galef, D-Ossining, who has had a similar bill for several years, said she hoped Spitzer's support would help bring healthier food to New York's schools.
"I think we have a really good opportunity to get something done this year," she said. "We have to get healthier foods in schools. Certainly, we're looking at fresh fruits and vegetables, but also granola bars, yogurt, fat-free puddings and those kinds of things. And baked chips - in smaller packages."
Even though schools have been improving their main cafeteria offerings, Galef said, students who skip their salads can often turn to the a la carte section of the cafeteria, the vending machines outside or school stores where candy is sold.
"The big culprit with childhood obesity is those vending machines," she said.
Spitzer's plan, which he released Saturday, would restrict school-day snacks to fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat or nonfat dairy items. Additional snacks could be purchased after the school day, as long as they met fat, sugar and sodium limits. Sports drinks would survive for after-school sports.
Many schools have been moving in this direction for years, replacing fried foods with greens.
Every school that participates in the federal lunch program is now required to have a wellness policy.
Last year, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation - created by former President Clinton and the American Heart Association - made it easier for schools to work with beverage distributors to replace soda with healthier drinks.
Dr. Susan Rubin of Chappaqua, who has been on a longtime mission to improve the overall quality of school food, believes that Spitzer's plan tinkers with school offerings instead of addressing the real issue: the need to replace packaged food with fresh fruits and vegetables.
Rubin is director of A Better Way Holistic Health, a health counseling practice in Mount Kisco, and founded Better School Food, a regional group working toward her goals. She and a friend, Amy Kalafa, have produced a documentary called "Two Angry Moms" about their frustrating efforts to replace processed school food (even the low-fat, low-salt kind) with fresh food.
"This bill is a step, but not big enough; we need behavior change," Rubin said. "We just did 20 years of low-fat and fat-free foods and where did it get us? We have to go back to real food, not processed, packaged stuff. I don't need the fat content of an apple or carrot. I just need to get my kids to eat them."
Rubin said the film would be released in the fall and would feature how the Katonah-Lewisboro school district changed its approach to nutrition.
Carol Bumbolow, the school nurse at Walter Panas High School in Cortlandt, said Spitzer's bill sounded like an important piece of a larger solution to the problem of childhood obesity. Her school is working with Hudson Valley Hospital Center's Wellness Club to bring a group of about 20 students together for exercise and to learn about good eating, from calorie intake to portion size.
"A lot of districts like ours have been pulling out the soda machines and junk food," she said. "But I don't know that there is one solution. We need more younger child education, more parental education. We need more physical education, although physical education teachers have come so far, doing wellness training. More healthful foods are very expensive and the people more inclined to need healthful foods can least afford it, so that's something to consider.
"To remove the temptations of the junky stuff is one thing, a start," she said.
Spitzer's plan would require that students in eighth grade and under be given 30 minutes of recess on days when they don't have gym class. It would also prohibit schools from taking away recess as discipline.
What of the classic school bake sale? Or the classroom birthday party centered on cupcakes?
They would survive.
Spitzer's bill would not apply to snacks and drinks sold as part of fundraising activities or served as part of classroom celebrations. Still, the bill encourages schools to suggest ideas for healthy fundraisers and celebrations.

SPINCYCLE: Power struggle on state energy panel

2007-04-30T06:27:00.000-04:00

Newsday

Unfortunately another Pataki Legacy for Spitzer to deal with....all those Pataki Hacks that still remain in state government....shielded by long term appointments....funny...I don't recall any Pataki Commissioners protesting the pilferage going on over the last 12 years.......do you??? andy

April 30, 2007A charge of undue coercion, leveled by a state utility board member against a high-ranking state aide, threatens to short-circuit Gov. Eliot Spitzer's energy policy goals for weeks or months to come, insiders say.State Public Service Commission member Cheryl Buley, a patronage appointee of former Gov. George Pataki, publicly accused Spitzer's top energy adviser of improperly trying to influence her actions on a commission case.For reasons still unclear, the adviser, Steve Mitnick, allegedly prodded her in repeated calls to stop agitating for what's known as a "prudence investigation," a formal probe, of last summer's Con Edison blackouts.Mitnick even warned that her refusal "could result in me being removed from my commissioner position," Buley charged at a PSC meeting April 18.Commissioners are paid $109,800 annually.Spitzer's office called it a misunderstanding. But the governor also asked his inspector general, Kristine Hamann, to investigate. Well-placed sources now believe Mitnick - experienced in the energy business but new to government - might in fact have acted too high-handedly with Buley and that his future in the job may be in doubt.One big Spitzer goal is to extract investment in renewable energy from the utilities. But trying to drive the PSC's agenda means a foray outside his own power grid. All four current members were tapped by predecessor Pataki - for terms lasting into the Spitzer years and possibly beyond:Buley, with solid GOP connections, serves until February 2012. She once worked for Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and headed the ad-hoc state Freedom Party - created to give Pataki an extra ballot line in 1994.Patricia Acampora of Mattituck, the current chairwoman, joined the panel after serving for 12 years as a Republican assemblywoman from Suffolk. She's appointed until 2009.Lawyer Maureen F. Harris, serving until 2012, is the sister of a longtime Pataki associate, appointee and friend, Michael Finnegan.Lawyer Robert E. Curry Jr., is a Democrat and corporate governance expert, serving until February 2012.Once the charges surfaced, Bruno's Senate majority put off confirming Spitzer's selection of a fifth PSC member who'd replace Acampora as chairwoman - Angela Sparks-Beddoe, vice president of a firm that owns upstate electric companies regulated by the PSC. The Senate plans its own hearings on Buley's charges, further delaying Spitzer's reach into PSC.

WEEKEND ROUNDUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-04-29T07:34:00.000-04:00

Here is some odds and ends.........Is It A Plot? The Politicker’s Azi Paybarah reports that Democratic Senate staffers, including those from New York City-area offices, are being summoned to Albany for a meeting on Tuesday.
Clearly, this could have something to do with the Dem’s ongoing efforts to take control of the Senate, although it’s not clear because, at least as of last week, they weren’t divulging details (although one staffer is quoted as calling the meeting “unprecedented.'’
Read more here (Capitol Confidential)...............Say "Cheese"!!!!!!!......Judy Joins Spitzer.........She’s been a well-known figure in front of a TV camera for years in Albany’s Capital Region, now, Judy Sanders is on the other side of the lens.
Sanders, who until last June had been one of the WRGB Channel 6’s premier reporters for more than two decades, is now Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s official photographer.
Technically — and in one of those longstanding oddities of state government, Sanders is employed in $65,000 position by the Empire State Development Corp., said Spitzer spokesman Paul Larrabee. “She’s assigned to chronicle the activities of the governor,'’ said Larrabee. She replaces former gubernatorial photographer Lester Millman.
Photography is nothing new for Sanders, however, as she’s long had an avid interest in photography, with several exhibitions to her credit.......not a bad gig if you can get it.....meanwhile the NY Times EmpireZone reveals Trooper’s Death Was ‘Friendly Fire’ ..............Preston L. Felton, the acting New York State Police Superintendent, said during a news conference this afternoon that Trooper David C. Brinkerhoff was apparently killed by friendly fire during a gunfight on Wednesday between state troopers and a suspect holed up in an unoccupied farmhouse.
“We do not know whether this was the result of a ricochet or direct line of fire incident. We are reconstructing the situation and will report after the analysis of what actually happened,” he said. .........here is the ironic past of all of this...Bruno was yelling and screaming all week for a death penalty bill....this clearly shows the possibility of someone being put to death by the state over an "honest" mistake..........something to think about.......and the BuffaloNews gives us Foreclosure moratorium weighed by legislators "ALBANY — In response to the surge in subprime loan defaults, state legislators are considering a six-month moratorium on mortgage foreclosures and stiffer penalties on brokers who fraudulently complete borrowers’ applications.
State Sen. Jeffrey D. Klein, DBronx, said there could be 28,000 foreclosures in New York this year just from loans originated in 2005. That assumes 21 percent of subprime loans are foreclosed and is based on research by the Center for Responsible Lending, a Durham, N.C., group opposing what it sees as abusive lending practices.
“Loans that home buyers took a few years ago are now being reset with higher rates — 9.9 percent and 10 percent — and people who can’t afford the payments are losing their home,” Klein said.
Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers said they are looking at possible ways to deal with effects of the subprime defaults. Legislative hearings are planned, and Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s administration is considering ways to help affected homeowners find refinancing, Klein said. " Most people will do anything to get a house of their own..........literally get their foot in the door of their home.....unfortunately these "balloon" type mortgages are coming due now.........what a mess.........andy

Spitzer Pushing Bill to Shore Up Abortion Rights

2007-04-27T15:35:00.000-04:00

Gov. Eliot Spitzer with Kelli Conlin, president of Naral Pro-Choice New York at the group’s luncheon on Wednesday. (James Estrin/The New York Times)

NEW YORK TIMES DANNY HAKIM

ALBANY, April 25 — Gov. Eliot Spitzer said Wednesday that he planned to introduce legislation to overhaul the state’s pioneering but antiquated abortion law, shoring up abortion rights in New York.
The proposal follows the United States Supreme Court’s decision last week to uphold the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, at a time when several other states are moving to tighten restrictions on abortion.
New York took an early role in legalizing abortion, and the governor’s plan could take on much broader significance if the Supreme Court ever returns abortion law to the discretion of the states. Still, it is far from certain that the legislation will pass the Republican-led State Senate.
Mr. Spitzer’s bill, the Reproductive Health and Privacy Protection Act, would update current law, which, for example, does not include a provision allowing for abortions late in pregnancies to protect a woman’s health. New York state laws on the books also treat abortion as a homicide, but with broad exceptions that allow the procedure in many cases.
Mr. Spitzer’s proposal would remove abortion from criminal statutes and make it a matter of professional and medical discretion. It would also repeal an old statute “that criminalizes, among other things, providing nonprescription contraception to minors,” according to the governor’s office. For the rest of this article...........click here..........andy

New York Democratic governor warms up to candidate Clinton

2007-04-27T15:25:00.000-04:00

WINS 1010 NEWS AP STORY

Hillary is still waiting for that elusive Spitzer endorsement.....hey.....you never know!!!!!! andy

Friday April 27, 2007
By DEVLIN BARRETT
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who has yet to endorse a presidential candidate, touted home state Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the job Friday.
Both Democrats spoke to a convention of New York State teachers at a Washington hotel, and when Spitzer followed Clinton to the podium, he gushed that she would be the next president.
``What an amazing president she will be for every person in this country,'' said Spitzer, who for months has avoided making an early endorsement in the Democrats' nomination contest, calling such a move premature.
Spitzer and Clinton did meet privately before their joint public appearance. Clinton flew to Washington after a debate Thursday night in South Carolina and planned to fly back to the state to campaign after the teachers convention.
At the podium, the governor joked the crowd shouldn't expect as good a speech from him.
``Having her go first reminded me of a luncheon I was at about a year or so ago and Jerry Seinfeld spoke before I did,'' he said. ``It's a tough act to follow.''
Clinton was almost as effusive, praising the reform-minded governor for trying to ``break some of the political pottery'' in the state capital.
The senator's voice grew raspy as she rapped President Bush over funding levels and testing requirements under the No Child Left Behind law.
Sounding like a stern mom, the former first lady said today's youth need some old-fashioned discipline.
``I believe it is time we get back to teaching discipline, self-control, patience, punctuality,'' she said, to applause from the crowd of educator activists

Gov. Spitzer Proposes Gay Marriage Equality Legislation

2007-04-27T15:21:00.000-04:00

WNBC.COM

Another campaign promise Eliot is keeping................andy

NEW YORK -- New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer submitted legislation Friday to create civil marriage equality for all New Yorkers. This legislation would establish equal responsibilities, recognition, benefits and protections for all married couples. The bill would additionally stipulate that no clergy member or religious institution should be compelled to perform any same-sex marriage ceremony.
"This legislation would create equal legal protection and responsibilities for all individuals who seek to marry or have their marriage protected in the State of New York," said Gov. Spitzer. "Strong, stable families are the cornerstones of our society. The responsibilities inherent in the institution of marriage benefit those individuals and society as a whole."
Under current law, partners unable to enter into a civil marriage, and their children, lack legal protections taken for granted by married couples.
In such areas as property ownership, inheritance, health care, hospital visitation, taxation, insurance coverage, child custody and pension benefits, married couples receive important safeguards against the loss or injury of a spouse, and crucial insurance against legal intrusion into marital privacy.
"This bill guarantees that the inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness will be protected equally for all individuals in the State of New York," said Lieutenant Governor David Paterson. "This is an important step in the fight for civil rights for all people."
The legislation will include the following provisions:
A marriage that is otherwise valid under the law will be valid regardless of the sex of the individuals.
Government treatment, legal status, and all rights, benefits, privileges, protections or responsibilities relating to marriage will be equal for all individual parties who enter into marriage regardless of the gender of their partner.
No application for a marriage license will be denied on the ground that the parties are of the same sex.
No clergy member or religious institution will be compelled to perform any marriage.

Homeland Security decision seen as costly

2007-04-27T15:17:00.000-04:00

Buffalo Business First

Homeland Security has cornered the market on idiots........one fiasco after another.....thank you President Bush...another "legacy" for this country to deal with..when you finally leave office.................andy

One day after federal officials killed a proposal to move all inspection booths on the Peace Bridge to the Canadian side of the international crossing, the local anger continues.
The Department of Homeland Security, on Wednesday, withdrew a plan to build U.S.-bound inspection booths on the Fort Erie, Ont., plaza side of the bridge, citing logistical concerns and the inability to work out a formal agreement with the Canadian government. Placing the inspection booths in Fort Erie was a critical component to a shared-border management initiative being championed in both countries. It was also seens as a means to save development costs and potential legal battles.

The shared-border management pact was first announced in late 2004.
The plan had been endorsed by former Pennsylvania Gov. Thomas Ridge, who headed the Department of Homeland Security at the time. His successor, Michael Chertoff, rejected the plan.
"Secretary Chertoff's predecessor, Thomas Ridge, had committed to find a way to make shared border management work," said Andrew Rudnick, Buffalo Niagara Partnership president and CEO. "However, it has been clear that Mr. Chertoff's willingness to live up to that commitment has been sadly lacking. It seems that the DHS negotiators have looked for reasons not to fulfill their commitment instead of responding to the good faith efforts of the Canadian government and the hard work of Buffalo Niagara's representatives in the House and Senate."
Homeland Security's decision has been derided by a wide range of political leaders including Reps. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, and Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport along with Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton, Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.
With the booths now shifting back to the U.S., the cost of the Peace Bridge project, which is already pegged at $334 million, may rise as much as $46 million. At least 68 residential and commercial properties on Buffalo's lower West Side may have to be acquired through costly eminent domain proceedings to accommodate the new booths.
The plan to move the booths back the Buffalo would also cause further design and engineering delays to a project that has already dragged on for more than one decade.
"Ceasing negotiations on shared border management could prove detrimental to the overall economic and cultural relationship between the U.S. and Canada," Rudnick said.

'ACCE$$IBLE' ELIOT FLOORS REFORMERS

2007-04-27T06:18:00.000-04:00

New York Post

In the real world...you need money to run for office....any office..........fundraising is a part of life for all politicians.......probably the hardest part of the job....nobody likes doing it............Eliot has set his own personal reform standards which nobody else has done........but........he still needs to raise money........this is the real world.............andy

April 27, 2007 -- ALBANY - Government-reform leaders who stood with Gov. Spitzer in support of his campaign-finance overhaul proposals were stunned yesterday to learn he's offering access to those who can raise bundles of cash for his 2010 campaign.
The Post reported yesterday that Spitzer is asking prospective donors to join his re-election finance committee to raise up to $1 million each by Election Day 2010.
Those who raise big bucks are granted varying degrees of access to Spitzer - depending on how much they commit to raise - ranging from quarterly finance-committee meetings with Spitzer to lunches, private barbecues and holiday parties with the governor and his wife.
"Promising access for dollars never looks good," said Rachel Leon, of Common Cause/New York, which stood with Spitzer earlier this week when he ripped Senate Republicans for blocking a campaign-finance reform deal.
Leon said she credits Spitzer for voluntarily adhering to self-imposed stricter donation limits while pushing the Legislature to act on campaign-finance reform. But she said asking individuals to raise $1 million from friends and colleagues for the campaign - a practice known as bundling - is troubling.
At the very least, Spitzer should agree to publicly reveal who is helping raise the money, otherwise "how are we going to know who those 'special people' are?" she said.
Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson defended the practice.
"If you want to convince friends to raise money, how is that any different than getting people to go door to door or attend a rally? That's how you fund-raise. You get people involved," Anderson said.
"The governor has imposed [donation] limits," she added. "To somehow suggest that fund-raising or bundling is off-limits is off the mark."
Russell Haven, of the New York Public Interest Research Group, said that while "the governor deserves credit for voluntarily setting lower limits for himself, the escalating access based on how much his supporters raise sends the wrong message."
Barbara Bartoletti, who heads the state chapter of the League of Women Voters, said encouraging bundling by providing special access "is almost like an end run around" the voluntary donation limits the governor agreed to adhere to.
"It's bundling and does allow people access that the ordinary citizens would not have," Bartoletti said. "I don't see how you cannot expect people are going to criticize it."
"Average citizens do not give $10,000 to any candidate certainly with an eye toward raising $1 million," she added.
"You'd need 100 friends to give $10,000 just so you can get to a barbecue. We know who the ones are that will be able to do that - lobbyists and special interests."

Senate In Harmony on Pay Raises

2007-04-26T16:10:00.000-04:00

Capitol Confidential

Gee...no press releases....no press conferences.....on pay hikes.......I wonder why???? ......yeah right..........andy

In the spirit of bipartisanship, all 62 senators have signed on to a new bill sponsored by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman John DeFranciso that would provide for pay raises for judges and elected officials, including legislators.
Check out S5313 to see a bill that both parties embrace. Every senator’s name is on it and it is expected to be voted on next week.
It arrived Wednesday without a press release or mention despite two press conferences by Senate Republicans and one by Senate Democrats on other topics.
It grants annual pay raises to judges retroactive to January, costing $48.2 million this year, and sets up a commission to plan for compensation upgrades for lawmakers and statewide elected officials. Those upgrades would be effective as soon as January 2008.
It would also establish a 13-member Commission on Executive and Legislative Compensation, appointed by the governor, legislative leaders, and chief judge. It would make binding recommendations on pay hikes for the officials effective next year, except for the Legislature, whose raise (if any) would be effective in 2009, after the next legislative election year. Oddly, the bill seems to leave out immediate raises for the governor and lieutenant governor.
The bill also calls for another, similar commission to be set up every four years, starting in 2011, to review executive, legislative and judicial compensation for the following four years.

Clinton, Spitzer to address NYSUT delegates

2007-04-26T16:06:00.000-04:00

NYSUT Media Relations

WASHINGTON, D.C. April 26, 2007-- U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer will address nearly 3,000 delegates attending the New York State United Teachers union's annual Representative Assembly at the Washington Hilton on Friday, April 27. Clinton is scheduled to speak at 8 a.m. and Spitzer is scheduled to speak at 9 a.m. The NYSUT delegates are meeting in the International Ballroom, on the Concourse level of the Washington Hilton and Towers, at 1919 Connecticut Avenue N.W.
Media reporters and photographers must register (show photo ID and sign in) to cover the convention. Press registration will be available beginning at 6:15 a.m. at a table outside the International Ballroom. The Ballroom will open to delegates and the press at 7:30 a.m.
A satellite feed of the speeches will be available. For more information about the satellite feed, call Anthony Donahue at the Washington Hilton audio/visual office, at (202) 483-3000.

Spitzer proposal ends elections for state Supreme Court judges

2007-04-26T16:02:00.000-04:00

The Business Review

More campaign promises Spitzer is keeping...................andy

New York Supreme Court judges would no longer be elected under a reform package proposed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer April 26.
Instead the governor wants to be able to appoint justices of the Supreme Court, the lowest level of New York state court, to be chosen by regional judicial nominating commissions. Supreme Court judges are elected for 14-year terms.
This change would require an amendment to the New York state constitution. An amendment approved by the Legislature elected in 2006 would have to be approved by the Legislature that will be elected in 2008 and then go to the voters in 2009.
The proposal does not effect county court judges who would continue to be elected.
Under Spitzer's plan local judicial commissions would vet candidates and forward a list of potential justices to the governor, who would make the final selection. The same system is used to pick judges for the four Appellate Division courts.
In the interim the governor is proposing legislation that would replace the current judicial nominating convention system, which has been judged unconstitutional by a U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, with a new system for selecting judicial candidates.
That change would simply require the Legislature to change the law.
Spitzer's reform package also calls for consolidating the state's trial courts into a two-tiered statewide system.
The governor would also allow the number of Supreme Court judges to increase. Currently that number is fixed in the constitution. This has resulted in judges in other courts, such as family court, to be named acting supreme court justice so they can handle excess cases.
Finally the governor's plan calls for increasing judicial salaries, a measure promoted by Chief Justice Judith Kaye. The increases would be retroactive to April 1.
Under Spitzer's plan, Supreme Court judges would receive an annual salary of $162,100, and effective April 1, 2006, Supreme Court judges would get $165,200. Salaries of all other judicial officers would be based on a percentage of the salary set for Supreme Court Justices.
The governor is also proposing constitutional amendments which would allow the creation of a fifth appellate court division to handle cases, and which would allow the appellate division districts to be redrawn every ten years instead of being fixed.

AM ROUNDUP

2007-04-26T07:40:00.000-04:00

With a state trooper shot and killed.......Death penalty bill urged ........is the hot topic this week in Albany....... "Citing the shootings of three state troopers within 24 hours in Delaware County, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno urged Gov. Eliot Spitzer on Wednesday to focus on a new state death penalty law instead of pushing for campaign finance reform.
Spitzer spokesman Darren Dopp said he expects the governor will sit down with legislative leaders next week to discuss a death penalty law. Spitzer, a Democrat, has favored a death penalty since his two terms as attorney general, particularly for cop killers." ............my guess it will get passed in the coming weeks............and Gov Spitzer had this to say "The state of New York suffered a tremendous loss; one of our best was fallen, another was seriously wounded.
I visited with the family of the wounded trooper a while ago at Albany Med. The anguish these family members feel is only surpassed by that of the slain trooper’s family.
These families knew that the obligations of being a state trooper created every day the risk of harm and potential tragedy. On this day, at this particular moment, I think it is best to simply reflect on the extraordinary service and sacrifice of our troopers and their families. Law enforcement is a difficult and dangerous job and our state troopers deserve our respect, gratitude and support.
I know here at the Capitol there is an ongoing debate over legislative initiatives and politics. Now is not the moment for that debate. There will be much time for that later.
Right now we should be respectful for what has happened. Our thoughts should be with the troopers, their families and personnel in the field.
Acting Superintendent Felton and other top state police officials are at the scene coordinating ongoing action. They and we will be releasing information when appropriate. Thank you very much.” Amen and Amen..........on another note..would you believe people are actually happy about school tax increases??? Newsday gives us A moderate tax hike "Long Island school districts are calling for their smallest spending-and-tax-rate hikes in eight years, a phenomenon that is drawing smiles even from some of the region's toughest tax critics.School taxes would rise an average 4.72 percent next year, compared with 6.23 percent this year, assuming voters approve budgets on May 15. As always, rate hikes vary widely from one district to another, with a handful in double digits" jump for joy......with the largest increase in state school aid for education..my question is...why are they going up at all??? and would you believe Support is growing for grandparents raising kids (Buffalo News) "At a time when grandparents should be enjoying their retirement, starting a second career or simply spending time with their grandchildren, many find themselves parents again.
Kinship care — the term for grandparents and other relatives raising the children of family members — may not yet be a household phrase, but it is a burgeoning public-policy issue demanding our collective attention. The statistics are overwhelming:
• Across the nation, according to the Census Bureau, grandparents and other relatives are raising more than 6 million children — or one in 12 children — outside the foster care system.
• In New York State, more than 400,000 children are growing up in households headed by grandparents or other family members, and more than 140,000 grandparents are solely responsible for raising a grandchild. " You need to pass a test and be licensed to drive a car...yet to be a parent...all you need is the opportunity to have sex............and the New York Post alerts us to another Pataki Mess......Spitzer is going to have to deal with GROWTH & THE CITY PAYING FOR PATAKI "NOW that JP Morgan Chase is threatening to move to Stamford, Conn., over sup posedly insufficient subsidies to keep it in Manhattan, let's all remember what got us into this pickle.
It was former Gov. George E. Pataki's bone-headed insistence on building a $1 billion tunnel under West Street - a scheme finally abandoned in April 2005 after another Wall Street power, Goldman Sachs, threatened to abandon Downtown over it........Why did Pataki want a tunnel? Ridiculously, to protect the "sanctity" of the memorial, even though the memorial will have traffic whizzing by on three other sides.
And why, come to think of it, is JP Morgan Chase considering a new tower across the street from Ground Zero, rather than in Ground Zero itself? " if you get a chance read the whole article.....Pataki really dropped the ball all around on this whole ground zero redevelopment project.............and finally...Newsday reports on Spitzer's "reform road show" on the Island yesterday.....Raising the stakes on finance reform....Spitzer comes to LI, vowing to fight Marcellino and others who block his campaign reform plans........."Gov. Eliot Spitzer promised an electoral fight yesterday for state Sen. Carl Marcellino and others who block his campaign finance proposals. At Sagamore Hill, Spitzer called on Marcellino (R-Syosset) and Senate Republicans to agree to his proposed package of campaign finance reforms. "Come November of 2008, you will be asked a simple question: Whose side were you on?" Spitzer said. "Were you on the side of Teddy Roosevelt and reform and the citizens of the state or were you on the side of those who want to perpetuate a system that values money over judgment?"Marcellino said he's ready for any challenge Spitzer and Democrats have coming, but said the time for that is next year, not now.".......I will be the house.....some kind of campaign reform legislation is passed before next year..........andy

New York House Catches Fire During Manhunt

2007-04-25T21:51:00.000-04:00

Flames engulf the Marargetville, N.Y., farm house after a police assault during the hunt Wednesday for a man suspected of killing one trooper and wounding two others.

Here is the latest update................Fox 5 New York ............AP Story

-->By MICHAEL HILL Associated Press Writer MARGARETVILLE, N.Y. (AP) -- Massive flames engulfed a farmhouse after a police assault during the hunt Wednesday for a man suspected of killing one trooper and wounding two others. There is a "reasonable degree of certainty" that shooting suspect Travis D. Trim was hiding in the unoccupied house even though police had no communication with him after the fatal shooting, said New York State Police Acting Superintendent Preston L. Felton. "Once the fire is out, then we will go through and search the scene ... and try to locate the remains." The fire erupted soon after an armored vehicle rolled up close and police fired tear gas into the building. SWAT teams tried to enter the house at about 5:50 p.m., but were driven back by the flames. Half the house was burning by 6:15 p.m. The assault came roughly nine hours after two troopers were shot, one fatally, searching the rural home where police believe Trim, 23, took refuge while on the run after the shooting of another trooper Tuesday. Felton said police fired a "non-incendiary type" device containing tear gas into the home at about 6 p.m. as troopers stormed in to search room-by-room for Trim. A robot and cameras mounted on poles had been used to check every room but one where Trim was believed holed up during the day, he said. He said the cause of the fire that thwarted the search isn't known. It's possible Trim set the fire, Felton said, or a tear gas round could have ignited something. "We are looking closer at the type of round that was fired into the residence, the type of tear gas round," he said. Despite witnesses' accounts of gunfire directed at the house, Felton said police did not fire bullets into the structure, just the tear gas rounds. He said investigators won't be able to get into the burned building until Thursday. They will search for Trim and begin trying to determine what caused the fire. Earlier Wednesday, Felton identified the dead trooper as David C. Brinkerhoff, a member of the specially-trained Mobile Response Team and the second member of that unit to die during a manhunt since September. Brinkerhoff and Trooper Richard Mattson were shot at about 8:45 a.m. while searching the farm for Trim, who is suspected of shooting a trooper Tuesday afternoon during a traffic stop in nearby Margaretville, Felton said. Brinkerhoff was hit at least once in the head and Mattson was wounded in the left arm. He was in serious but stable condition after surgery at Albany Medical Center, where he was taken by helicopter. The wounded troopers were pulled from the house by two other officers who were helping search the farm as part of a massive police sweep through the area. Heavily armed officers positioned on hillsides and behind stone walls spent much of the day keeping watch over the farmhouse as the armored vehicle moved around the building and the cameras were used to search inside. The farm, which neighbors described as a weekend residence, is in Arkville, a rural hamlet near Margaretville. Trim's relatives expressed anxiety as the day unfolded. "I don't think there's anyway for this to turn out good now. Not after shooting a trooper. His goose is cooked," said Ruth Trim, the suspect's grandmother, in a telephone interview from her home in northern New York. Brinkerhoff, 29, was an 8-1/2 year state police veteran. He joined the MRT in early 2006. He is survived by his wife, Barbara, and 7-month-old daughter. Mattson, a 6-1/2 year veteran who joined the MRT in 2006, is married with 1-year-old son. "Today, the New York State Police and the State of New York suffered a tremendous loss," Gov. Eliot Spitzer said in a prepared statement. "One of our best has fallen and another has been seriously wounded in the line of duty." The manhunt was touched off by the shooting of Trooper Matthew Gombosi in this town on the edge of Catskill Park at about 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. Felton said Gombosi had pulled Trim over for a minor traffic infraction -- most likely the license plate missing from the stolen Dodge Caravan he was driving. When Trim failed to provide identification, Gombosi told him he was under arrest. At that point, Felton said, Trim pulled a handgun from his waistband and fired once at the trooper. Gombosi was hit in the lower left ribs and saved from serious injury by his body armor, police said. After the shooting, police searched for the Caravan, which was later found abandoned. The minivan had been stolen Monday in St. Lawrence County, police said. Trim, 23, is from North Lawrence, in St. Lawrence County about 10 miles south of the Canadian border. He spent 21/2 months at the State University of New York-Canton during the fall semester of 2006 before withdrawing in mid-November, said Randy Sieminski, the school's director of public relations. He was registered in the school's motorsports performance and repair program. Margaretville is about 65 miles southwest of Albany. Last summer, Ralph "Bucky" Phillips led police on a five-month manhunt throughout heavily wooded western New York after breaking out of a county jail. During his time on the run, he shot one trooper during a traffic stop and two others who were searching for him, both members of a special tactics unit that was called in to hunt for the fugitive. One of those troopers later died. Phillips was captured in September and is serving two life sentences. After the intensive manhunt, the largest in New York history, the union that represents state troopers sharply criticized the way state police officials managed the search. The latest shootings follow a hard year for state police. Besides the troopers Phillips shot before he was captured in September, another trooper was gunned down by a bank robber in March near Elmira. Also, one trooper died last April near Syracuse after crashing his vehicle while chasing a speeding motorcyclist and another, a Marine Corps captain, was killed in August while on foot patrol in Fallujah, Iraq.

2007-04-25T18:57:00.000-04:00

The Daily Politics Liz Benjamin

I could not resist publishing this....andy

From the division of shameless media self-promotion...
My colleagues in the Legislative Correspondents Association, the brave souls who cover the state Capitol up in the hinterlands of Albany, asked that I plug the upcoming 107th annual LCA show - the nation's longest-running political satire extravaganza.
For the uninitiated among you: Think the Inner Circle show, only with lower productions values and meaner jokes.
Tickets are still available for the black-tie dinner next Saturday night, which will feature post-show reubttals from Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith and former Republican state comptroller candidate Chris Callaghan, who is said to be planning a turn at the piano - something that hasn't happened sinceex-Rep. Alfonse D'Amato's response, I'm told.
This year's show features such gems as:
- Ramblin' Joe (about everyone's favorite 78-year-old Senate majority leader).
- He Hates Us (in which legislative leaders lament about how the new governor hates them).
- Stand By Your Gov (starring a certain Assembly speaker).
In the interest of full disclosure...I will be taking the stage during Act II (most likely sporting a blonde wig) as New York's junior senator in a duet with her rival for the Democratic nod, Barack Obama.
It's also AP veteran Marc Humbert's last show as a fully-employed reporter (he's retiring this summer after more than three decades in the business).
Tickets are $300 apiece, and all proceeds after show expenses are covered go to charity. Tables of 8, 9 and 10 are available. Call 518-455-2388 for more information.

ROUGH ROAD FOR PLAN TO CHARGE CARS

2007-04-25T14:48:00.000-04:00

Staten Island Advance

ALBANY --" The road for Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan runs through the state Capitol, where it seems to be no more popular than the Edsel.
The controversial proposal to charge motorists for driving into the busiest part of Manhattan to alleviate traffic and encourage public transportation would require approval from the state Legislature -- whose members are loath to burden their constituents with extra fees. "............sure the rich can afford the extra fees.......but what about the working stiffs out there??? from Queens, Brooklyn, Nassau etc.........sounds like a tax to me........meanwhile Azi P......................(The Politicker) gives us a rundown on how local officials are reacting to Bloomberg's proposal..........Local Officials on Congestion Pricing .................So Al Gore may be in favor of congestion pricing for Manhattan, but lots of local officials are still squarely on the fence.
Here is a quick look at some of them who have, and haven't, taken a position:
Eliot Spitzer
Studying the issue.

Sheldon Silver
Leaning against.
Bill Thompson
Has "concerns" about "its financial impact on small business" and the outer boroughs.

Christine Quinn
Studying the issue.

Betsy Gotbaum
Studying the issue.

Anthony Weiner
Opposes. Considers it a tax on the poor and middle class.

Bill Perkins, state Senator in Manhattan
Supports, with reservations. Says it can be done “without it being a tax on the middle class and the poor.”

Richard Brodsky, Assemblyman in Westchester
Opposes. “This is a bill that will keep all the BMWs and Mercedes in midtown. You just won't see any more Chevrolets.”

Diane Savino, state Senator in Staten Island/Brooklyn
Opposes. Considers it a tax.

Andrew Lanza, state Senator in Staten IslandUndecided.

Vincent Gentile, City Councilman in Brooklyn
Opposes, for now. “How about giving us ferry service first, before picking our pockets yet again.”

David Weprin, City Councilman in Queens and Chairman of Finance Committee
Opopses.

Lew Fidler, City Councilman in Brooklyn
Opposes.
Leroy Comrie, City Councilman in Queens
Wants more info about Queens traffic solutions.

Peter Vallone, Jr., City Councilman in Queens
Wants more info about Queens traffic solutions.

Miguel Martinez, City Councilman in Manhattan
Opposes.

Spitzer's office confirms one trooper killed; shooting suspect surrounded

2007-04-25T14:46:00.000-04:00

Capital News 9

Here is the latest on the trooper killing............andy

A spokeswoman for Governor Eliot Spitzer says one trooper has died after being shot in the hunt for a man suspected of shooting at least two other troopers. Police said two state troopers were shot this morning in Delaware County during the hunt for a man suspected of shooting Trooper Matthew Gombosi on Tuesday. Gombosi was treated and released from the hospital. The other trooper shot this morning was taken to Albany Medical Center for treatment.
Police said they have surrounded the suspect who is identified as 23-year-old Travis Trim of North Lawrence. He is reportedly in a house in Arkville.

House surrounded in Arkville
State police said Trooper Gombosi was shot around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday in the Village of Margaretville in Delaware County during a traffic stop. The shooting happened at the Sunoco Country Store located at 515 Main Street. They said Trim was looking at a map and appeared to be lost.
Police said Gombosi's bulletproof vest stopped the bullet and he was not seriously injured.

Troopers later found a Dodge Caravan that Trim was driving at the time of the shooting. The vehicle was reported stolen on Monday in Saint Lawrence County.
Police have not released the names of the troopers shot this morning, but state police confirm they were not from Troop G in Loudonville

Spitzer’s returning to Albany

2007-04-25T14:18:00.000-04:00

Gov. Eliot Spitzer dropped his schedule of stops downstate to return to Albany, given the shootings of troopers the past two days.
Spitzer had been scheduled to speak at a NARAL luncheon. He is heading back to his Capitol office, according to his office.Earlier today, he spoke out against Senate Republicans to promote his campaign finance reform package in Nassau County. (Capitol Confidential)
meanwhile..............
Troopers shot, Bruno calls for meeting on death penalty law...........Drawing from three trooper shootings in the past 24 hours in Delaware County, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno urged Gov. Eliot Spitzer Wednesday stop beating the drum for a flawed campaign finance reform bill and return to the Capitol immediately and use his influence to force a death penalty law.
“Why isn’t he using his influence to push this?” Bruno said. “What is more important than protecting the lives of law enforcement officers? Is campaign finance reform more important than that? I don’t think so.”
Bruno said the governor’s priorities are out of whack and that he is misguided in “wandering'’ around the state blasting Senate Republicans for not signing on to his proposed campaign finance reforms. He suggested the governor’s time would be better spent urging Assembly Democrats to fix the death penalty law to make in constitutional while creating a death penalty law for those who murder law enforcement officers.
Spitzer, he said, should come to Albany today and start convincing his fellow Democrats in the Assembly to join him on a death penalty bill, just as he persuaded them to go along with civil confinement of sex offenders. He said he wants to sit down with the governor and AssemblySpeaker Sheldon Silver to discuss a death penalty package as soon as possible.
“It’s open season on law enforcement people,'’ Bruno complained after a press conference calling for Assembly passage of “Granny’s Law,'’ which passed unanimously in the Senate. That law calls for stiffer penalties to those who assault people 70 years old and up. ...............leave it to Bruno to try and dodge reform by using current tragedies to deflect criticism on his republican delegation.......this reminds so much of Bush.....using 9/11.......as an excuse to take away our civil liberties and involve us in Iraq......and then blast his critics by being anti American soldiers........Spitzer is returning to Albany for the right reasons..not because Bruno thinks so...................andy

Spitzer set to criticize LI pol

2007-04-25T06:03:00.000-04:00

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

A few photos.....................

2007-04-24T20:52:00.000-04:00

Sanjaya Malakar, the shy, slender, 17-year-old "American Idol" reject, was at his table when a tall, middle-aged man stopped by to ask for an autograph. The boy's hosts, from People magazine, tried to shoo him away."We are trying to let him eat," they explained. The man protested: "But I'm the governor of New York."And so Eliot Spitzer got his autograph......photo and questionable story courtesty of the Gawker...someone on their staff is one jealous dude.....get a life Gawker...........lol andy

The New Improved Liz Benjamin........she looks so sophisticated here.......andy

Nite Caps

2007-04-24T20:17:00.000-04:00

Capitol News 9 starts us off with Battle continues over campaign finance laws "Governor Eliot Spitzer has been pushing for an overhaul of the state's laws on campaign contributions, but Senate Republicans don't like the governor's plan to limit donations" ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,no surprise here.....meanwhile the Troy Record declares Spitzer brings battle to Bruno turf "Gov. Eliot Spitzer took his campaign finance reform battle on the road Tuesday and his first stop was in the backyard of state Senate Majority Joseph Bruno, who he said is more worried about holding onto his slim majority than fixing Albany."Does Joe live near by? I didn't know that," Spitzer told The Record's editorial board.".....I come on...Eliot knew that :-) ....................and Newsday reports.......School districts to sign money for performance contracts "High needs school districts across the state, including three on Long Island, will sign contracts promising to boost student achievement in return for more financial aid, under regulations approved Tuesday by the state Board of Regents.Brentwood, Copiague and Westbury are among 55 districts statewide that must sign the contracts by July to qualify for the extra money."...imagine that...actually requiring some kind of performance for the extra taxpayer bucks......what will they think of next???.........speaking of taxpayer bucks...The Buffalo Business First reveals Lundine tapped to head state commission "Former lieutenant governor and congressman Stan Lundine has been named to oversee the newly created Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness.
The 15-member panel, announced by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, will review ways that the state's more than 4,200 local governments can save taxpayer dollars and become more efficient by sharing services and undertaking regional collaboration.
"The sheer number of taxing jurisdictions has led to a significant degree of overlap in public services, which has had a devastating affect on local tax burdens" said Spitzer. "Under Stan Lundine's leadership this Commission will help local governments administer services more efficiently and cost effectively."
Spitzer cited Lundine's experience at three levels of government -- he also served as mayor of Jamestown -- in placing at the top of the commission.
"There is much that can be done to drive efficiency at the local level without reducing the public's access to important services," said Lundine, who served under Mario Cuomo in Albany. A Website -- www.nyslocalgov.org -- has been set up allowing for public involvement in the process. " ........Newsday actually breaks it down by county and percent of property taxes ...Taxing Task for Former Lt's ...meanwhile the New York Press sadly tells us Spitzer Loves The Gays, But Can't Necessarily Help 'Em With Marriage "And after much speculation regarding the strong, non-Gucci-clad resistance to any such legislation, Gov. Spitzer said yesterday that while he stands by his promise, there is no chance the state will enact a law to legalize gay marriage this year. “I do not think there is a realistic shot that it gets passed, but I will submit it because it's a statement of principle that I believe in, and I want to begin that dynamic,” he said. This is why the whole 'it’s the thought that counts' logic is so faulty"...........reality is reality.....Spitzer promised he would present a bill.....with Bruno still in control of the State Senate...there is no chance at all for it's passage....period..........and check out Elizabeth Benjamin's new digs at The Daily News "The Daily Politics" ....good luck Liz...miss you at Capitol Confidential...................andy

Things to Know About Eliot Spitzer

2007-04-24T13:17:00.000-04:00

The Gothamist

I found this...and thought I'd share it with you all...................andy

He wants to reform campaign finance laws. Spitzer told a group of government reform activists (aka Goo Goos - the good government types) he was negotiating with the Senate and Assembly, but State Senate Majority leader Joe Bruno said, "We've been close for a month, but close, you know, you don't get a cigar," and pointed out that it's easier for Spitzer to introduce campaign finance reform because he's rich (like almost $2 million reported on tax return rich).
His public opinion numbers have gone up a little.
He will submit legislation to legalize gay marriage, but also said, "I do not think there is a realistic shot that it gets passed." (He's introducing the as a "statement of principle.")
He's getting good grades on green issues so far, though he needs improvement on "Making a Stronger Commitment For Environmental Justice" and "Promoting a Smart Growth Development Strategy"
He got Sanjaya's autograph at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday. Even though People magazine reps just thought he was any ol' Sanjaya fan.

College poll: Spitzer’s ratings head back up

2007-04-24T06:52:00.000-04:00

Governor Eliot Spitzer’s favorability and job performance ratings have begun to rebound since the enactment of the state budget, while Senator Hillary Clinton’s favorability rating and presidential electoral support continue to erode, according to a new Siena (College) Research Institute poll of registered New York voters released Monday.
The new Siena poll also shows that New Yorkers are divided over whether the enacted budget was good or bad for the people of the state, while they overwhelmingly believe that the budget demonstrates that things in Albany have pretty much stayed the same, despite the Governor’s vow that ‘everything changes on Day 1.’
Clinton was viewed favorably by 50 percent of voters and unfavorably by 42 percent. Last month her favorability rating was 56-37 percent. Senator Barack Obama’s favorability rating is 55-23 percent. And Senator John Edwards has a 52-29 percent favorability rating.
In the Democratic primary Clinton gets 39 percent to 17 percent for Obama, 12 percent for Al Gore, 11 percent for Edwards, and single digits for the other candidates. In the Republican primary, Giuliani gets 47 percent to 16 percent for Sen. John McCain and single digits for the other candidates.
Three in 10 voters said that the recently passed state budget was good for the people and 27 percent said it was bad, while 14 percent volunteered it was mixed. When asked who the biggest winner was in the budget battle, 26 percent said special interest groups, 23 percent said the Governor, eight percent said the Senate and six percent said the Assembly. While only 23 percent said that the budget demonstrates that things in Albany ‘have dramatically changed,’ 62 percent said that it demonstrates that things in Albany have ‘pretty much stayed the same.’ (EmpireStateNews.net) and......

Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s favorability ratings have rebounded a bit since the state budget was completed, according to a Siena Research Institute poll out this morning.
Sixty seven percent of respondents this month said they have a favorable rating of the governor, while 20 percent were unfavorable and 13 percent didn’t know. That’s up from the 62-20-18 percent breakdown last month but not quite as high as January, when 75 percent offered a favorable view, with 10 percent unfavorable and 16 percent not knowing.
Moreover, the Democratic governor still does well with Republicans, with 60 percent offering a favorable rating, said poll spokesman Steve Greenberg.
“His favorability rating is at least 65 percent in every region of the state,'’ said Greenberg who added that 55 percent of those polled said Spitzer is doing a “good'’ or ‘’excellent'’ job.
Meanwhile Hillary Clinton has slipped, with her favorability rating going to 50 percent, with 42 percent unfavorable, compared to last month when it was 57-37 percent.That’s the lowest level in more than two years of Siena’s New York Poll, Greenberg noted, adding “the fall in her rating has been dramatic since January when she had a 60-33 favorability rating. (Capitol Confidential) .

So when the dust finally settled......Eliot is still getting the respect he deserves for taking on the special interests and starting New York back on the path to prosperity.............andy

WE ARE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-04-24T06:49:00.000-04:00

I have been on vacation the last few weeks.......a belated one...due to special elections this year...we had to delay our "winter" vacation to spring.....good to be back..and will start posting articles again.............andy

More Spitzer Nominations and Appointments

2007-04-07T12:42:00.000-04:00

Gov. Spitzer has nominated Melvina Lathan as head of the state Athletic Commission.
It’s an unpaid job but there are some big shoes to fill, literally and figuratively. The late boxing great Floyd Patterson once served in the same position and the commission does have a fair bit of clout when it comes to regulating boxing and other sports.
Lathan was the first female African American licensed as a boxing judge in New York and she’s worked on more than 235 fights including 82 World Title contests. Lathan is also an artist, with works having been displayed at the Smithsonian among other places.
The governor also appointed Stanley Gee as the $140,000 executive deputy commissioner for the state Department of Transportation. Prior to that, he spent 36 years with the Federal Highway (CAPITOL CONFIDENTIAL)

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-04-07T12:40:00.000-04:00

Spitzer: How am I doing?

2007-04-06T06:58:00.000-04:00

AP STORY

ALBANY - Like an eager junior executive, Eliot Spitzer spent much of February pressing a card in the hands of anyone he met, pitching his spiel in a quick patter on how he'd transform Albany.Politicians don't usually commit their promises in black and white like that, let alone laminate them in full color. But Spitzer did under the categories "fiscal restraint," "health care reform," "fully funded schools," "property tax cut" and "New York's turning point."Spitzer had swept to the governor's office last November after a campaign that confidently promised to change everything "on Day One."Nearly 100 days on, how's he doing?For some close to and within Albany's machinations, the view is as clear as the New York Post's state budget editorial, "Eliot's Education." It said: "Gov. Spitzer got taken to school last week, that's what happened - and New Yorkers will be paying for his crash-course in Albany realpolitik for years to come."That's a view shared by some political commentators who heard candidate Spitzer's bold promises but were disappointed that the budget isn't smaller, powerful lobbyists survived, and the budget process spiraled back into the covert, three-men-in-a-room negotiations that gave Albany much of its bad name in the first place.Barbara Bartoletti of the League of Women Voters is among the critics. She said the back-room budget talks were part of a process that hit "rock bottom," even by Albany standards.Beyond the budget, Spitzer's first 100 days did include successes. He secured his workers' compensation reform and doubled last year's property tax relief. Add to that his agreement with the Legislature on ethics reform and "breaking shares" so that school aid will now be based on need, rather than politics, and you have a policy record that hit many of his campaign promises, if sometimes only glancing blows."When all the surrounding dust settles and the public looks at what we accomplished, you will see this budget hit every one of the objectives I have laid out," Spitzer said.Tom Laudico, a 52-year-old electrician in Buffalo, remains optimistic."It's like anything else, you start a new job, you've got to get out all the kinks and dings," Laudico said. "It seems like he's going in the right direction. At least I hope he is. Hopefully something comes of it."The first 100 days were sometimes rocky for the governor who whipped reform into Wall Street as attorney general before he took on Albany. Political critics and a biting, multimillion dollar television campaign against Spitzer by a labor union targeted for his Medicaid cuts also appears to have helped erode Spitzer's popularity a bit. A Quinnipiac University poll on Wednesday showed Spitzer's approval rating had slipped to 48 percent, down from 61 percent in February

ELIOT TAPS TOP FED AS MED-FRAUD COP

2007-04-06T06:55:00.000-04:00

NEW YORK POST

April 6, 2007 -- Gov. Spitzer has tapped a nationally recognized Philadelphia federal prosecutor to be his pit bull against Medicaid and health-care fraud, The Post has learned.
James Sheehan - who handled more than 500 health-care fraud cases as associate U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania - will be the state's new Medicaid inspector general.
The watchdog position was created last year.
Sheehan, 54, is considered a national expert on using whistleblower laws to root out massive fraud - helping collect more than $600 million from alleged wrongdoers.
He led the federal government's recovery of $332 million from SmithKline Beecham Clinical Labs in a settlement over fraudulent Medicare billing.
Sheehan also spearheaded the case against Medco Health Solutions, which resulted in a $155 million settlement. The pharmaceutical management firm was accused of canceling and destroying prescriptions and offering kickbacks to firms to promote its medications and obtain business.
Sheehan won national honors for his vigorous prosecutions.
Spitzer - the former state attorney general - said Sheehan is the right guy to be the watchdog for New York's $50 billion Medicaid program.
"As a career prosecutor specializing in complex health-care enforcement and recovery matters, Mr. Sheehan has experience rooting out fraud that dramatically drives up costs and severely threatens the efficiency and delivery of health-care services," Spitzer said.
"New York state's health-care spending is the highest in the nation, and our system requires dramatic reform. Mr. Sheehan will bring his experience and energy to that effort."
Sheehan said he's eager to monitor the Medicaid program. His appointment requires confirmation from the state Senate.

Spitzer no steamroller, but an engine of change

2007-04-06T06:50:00.000-04:00

Newsday Editorial

Another interesting look at the recent state budget process......isn't it a shame that this editorial is encouraging game playing with the public..in order for Eliot to look better......geeeeeeez...........andy

Maybe next time Gov. Eliot Spitzer would be well advised to compare himself to The Little Engine That Could instead of a steamroller.Let me explain. The talk of Albany these days isn't so much that Spitzer, on his first try, got a state budget passed on time or that he made real progress in taming two Albany monsters - the wasteful state Medicaid system and the wholly irrational school aid formula.Rather, he's being criticized for not being the steamroller he predicted he would be because he compromised with Senate Republicans over his proposals. He also has been lambasted for succumbing to the same "three men in a room" secret negotiations that have characterized dysfunction in Albany over the years. Spitzer had promised, "Day one, everything changes." But in the end it didn't seem to change all that much. At least not compared with the expectations Spitzer created with his lofty and sometimes spicy rhetoric. That highlights what may be the Democratic governor's most fundamental mistake in his first few months in office: He didn't play the expectations game well. Like it or not, politics is often as much a game of perceptions as a matter of reality. Spitzer set an impossibly high bar for himself, and that's what he is being measured against. You can admire his ambition and his determination, but he's got a way to go in political savvy. He would do well to take a page out of the James Baker playbook. The former chief of staff and Treasury secretary for Ronald Reagan and secretary of State for the first President Bush, was a master of the expectations game. In both his public statements and in background briefings for reporters, he would always dampen down expectations on whatever project he was working on - whether it was a tax reform bill or Mideast peace negotiations - and then, when he did better than expected, he'd look like a hero.The reality is that Spitzer has made more progress in reforming Medicaid and aid to education than any governor in decades. And he did it with a State Senate controlled by Republicans. Split legislatures (the Democrats control the Assembly) almost guarantee stalemate. And they also force backroom negotiations so that fundamentally different positions and interests can be negotiated in a face-saving way. The alternative is that nothing gets accomplished. I'm not suggesting that Spitzer shouldn't have proposed a bold agenda or that as a candidate he should not have promised how he would change things once he was in power. He asked for a mandate from the voters, and he received a big one, with almost 70 percent of the vote. Too many politicians avoid bold positions in campaigns, hoping not to alienate any voting bloc, and then have no mandate to govern. But once in office the newly elected official must understand the difference between campaigning and governing. As my colleague Lawrence Levy repeatedly pointed out to me, Spitzer might believe he has a mandate for his agenda, but almost every one of the Republican state senators who objected to many of his proposals was elected with a 60- to 70-percent majority. New York is a very big, very diverse state, and the different interests of upstate, downstate and city are reflected in the Legislature's composition. Should Spitzer have dug in his heels and used the pressure of a late budget to drive a better deal? In the past, nothing symbolized the dysfunction of state government more than its inability to pass a budget on time. And, besides, the budget that would have been passed weeks or months later would not have been that much different from the one passed this week. No doubt Spitzer has learned something about the limits of his power. Hence my suggestion that he trade the steamroller analogy for The Little Engine That Could. Then we all might have a greater appreciation of how hard it is to chug up the mountain.
Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.

Spitzer Road Show

2007-04-05T06:54:00.000-04:00

Spitzer hits road as budget-time polls slump..........and we have an Interview with Governor Spitzer..........meanwhile Spitzer takes 'victory' lap and Spitzer answers tough questions in Chili...............and • No Tobacco Sales at Fair...........more stories........later.........andy

Is The Honeymoon Over?

2007-04-04T13:55:00.000-04:00

Capitol Confidential

It appears to me anybody and everybody associated with this latest State Budget took a pr hit.....expectations were set very high.......and everybody loves reform as long as it doesn't affect them or their pocketbooks.......unfortunately New York State is past it's prime and alot of people haven't figured that out yet.......those future budget deficits are looming and lurking...and if the economy does a downturn.....there is going to be alot of grinding and gnashing of teeth for the next budget........people don't like Spitzer bullying people to do their job...and then they don't like Spitzer allowing them to spend too much money........you can't have it both ways......without taxpayer support of Spitzer's Budget Reforms.......this state is headed to hell in a hand basket...that is why so many people that I know have or are in the process of moving out of state...........instead of having school districts in wealthy areas..figure out a way to keep costs down and maybe consolidating districts......no way...throw them more money.....throw the hospitals more money too.....keep dysfunction in place........my question is...what happens when the money runs out??? andy

Gov. Eliot Spitzer took a big drop in yet another poll today, this one by Quinnipiac.
The poll found his approval rating down to 48 percent from 61 percent in February. His disapproval rose from 11 to 27 percent in that same period.
Spitzer’s colleagues/adversaries in the Legislature fared even worse: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver had an approval/disapproval rating of 30/30, while Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno shook out at 27/34. As a whole, the Legislature got 34/43.
Interestingly, or perhaps fickly, voters didn’t like Spitzer’s “steamroller” approach, but on the flip side they said he gave away too much. The dichotomy continued deeper into the poll, with more people supporting health care restructuring than not, but most saying it would hurt health care.
Whether this downturn lasts for a governor who came in with historic support is another matter. As Quinnipiac University Polling Institute’s director Mickey Carroll noted, this is something of a season thing.
“There’s nothing like a knock-down, drag-out New York State budget battle to take the steam out of even the most vigorous steamroller. Budget stories dominated the media and Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s job approval numbers sagged.”
Among other politicians, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo did well. Most people don’t know enough about Lt. Gov. David Paterson to have an opinion. Same for Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.

OPEN LETTER FROM ELIOT SPITZER

2007-04-04T13:50:00.000-04:00

Amherst Times

Open letter to NY State residents:

This weekend, the New York legislature passed a budget that achieves the goals we have all strived toward: health care funding to give all children in New York State health insurance; aid for the schools that most desperately need it; relief from the high property taxes that are burdening working families; and resources to help our communities continue to grow and prosper. While the battle was not won easily, it produced many great outcomes for the people of this state. Many newspapers across the state have been supportive, but most notable are today's editorial pages of The New York Times and New York Daily News. Both recognize that one of my top priorities as governor has been to expand health coverage for New Yorkers, while establishing smart financial practices that will ensure our health care system's stability in years to come. The enacted budget expands the current Child Health Plus program to cover 400,000 uninsured children, growth the Times explains "expands health insurance in ways that could make New York a leader in the nation." The budget also makes sure that Medicaid dollars follow Medicaid patients, while fulfilling my commitment to bring the growth in Medicaid costs under control. The budget also provides an historic level of investment in our schools--an increase of $7 billion in education aid, hailed as an "education bonanza" by the Daily News. The new funding will be targeted to districts most in need, with all districts receiving an increase of at least 3 percent. This aid will be tied closely to accountability: school districts will have to show that the funds they receive are producing measurable improvements in the learning environments of students. Special attention and funding will be given to preschool and prekindergarten, and the cap on charter schools will be raised. I know that our parents, teachers and students will rise to the challenges set before them, and make the most of this historic investment.
We have also made great strides in easing the tax burden on the families of New York State, while providing funding for growth in our state's hardest-hit communities. The budget provides $1.3 billion in property tax relief targeted toward middle-class homeowners, and is only the first phase of a three-year plan to provide over $5 billion in tax relief to New York's families. Also, a greater number of distressed cities, towns, and villages will receive increases in aid to drive economic development or investments in technology. Businesses of all sizes will also be helped by substantial targeted tax relief, benefiting thousands of companies across industries throughout New York State. These changes will spur development, help our small businesses, and once again make New York a great place to live and work.
What we have accomplished here in New York--and that we've accomplished on time--is no small feat. Nothing we have done would have been possible without the empowerment of the people of our great state. As always, I welcome your thoughts on the changes to come. Thank you, again, for your continued support.

A Budget Is Born

2007-04-03T15:18:00.000-04:00

Gov. Eliot Spitzer leaving the New York State Assembly chamber Sunday after his budget passed. (Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times).

BUDGET MANIA

2007-04-03T08:27:00.000-04:00

And the budget winner is? The Albany Times Union thinks Spitzer in the long run.......but not the NY Post.........ELIOT'S EDUCATION .......and the NY Times believes this is a A Budget With a Breakthrough in Child Health Care .......just to give you an idea of how negative The NY Post is.......how childlike and cartoonish catch these budget stories.......BACK-FROM-THE-DEAD BRUNO'S BUDGET BOAST..........and NY'S BROKEN BANK..........meanwhile Governor Spitzer Touts State Budget In City...........and we learn Republican Bruno crowing over new budget......I wonder if the FBI Investigators are crowing too????? one last hurahhhhh for Bruno??? and the Gothamist tells us Even Spitzer Can't Steamroll A Budget To Be On Time and STATE BUDGET HAMMERED OUT ONE OF THE HIGHEST IN 25 YEARS and School aid gets record boost of $1.8B more for education............so many articles...so little time............that should keep you guys busy for now............andy

LET THE FINGERPOINTING NOW BEGIN........

2007-04-02T06:38:00.000-04:00

Our Albany Observer: Spitzer failing to uphold his promise.........here is a classic line from this rant..........."Sure, you got lots of what you wanted in your first budget. A new school aid formula, some big health reforms and money for stem-cell research.".......hello.......I would have to say that is pretty good for the first time around no???? and "Big Health CareA multimillion-dollar ad campaign cut Spitzer’s poll numbers and helped roll back some of his health-care cuts. But the governor won efforts to tie health aid to patients rather than institutions. That will cost hospitals, nursing homes and their labor unions big money in the long run." .........no mean feat don't ya think??? sorry Spitzer didn't part the red sea and turn water into wine......for goodness sakes.............here is the article for you to read.................

Albany – Don’t say Joe Bruno didn’t warn you, governor.It was just days after you made that now-famous boast about doing “more in three weeks than any governor has done in the history of this state.”Yup, you remember that whole steamroller thing. So you probably recall the Senate majority leader’s folksy response.“When the going gets a little bit tough, a steamroller spins,” Bruno joked. “It doesn’t advance.”My, how prophetic those words now seem. You made the name Eliot Spitzer during hard-line negotiations with some of the financial world’s most powerful power brokers. But one quick budget dance on slippery floors of the state Capitol and the Sheriff of Wall Street has fallen flat on his tail.Sure, you got lots of what you wanted in your first budget. A new school aid formula, some big health reforms and money for stem-cell research.But politically, The Steamroller’s a wreck. After all, it’s the numbers we’ll remember: $121 billion in spending, 8 percent more spending than last year, $440 million to placate Long Island senators, $350 million in give-backs to the health-care industry, 11 hours late.You gave ground when you didn’t have to. Worse yet, you did it in secret, hunkering behind closed doors for hours to decide how to spend $121 billion taxpayer dollars. By pushing things to the deadline, you forced lawmakers to vote on bills that were still warm to touch.Now, every executive will make unpopular decisions from time to time. But how can you succeed if you alienate your base, the people who are tired of watching the same old reruns of “Albany Follies,” the people who don’t want a governor who would argue that a late budget is actually an on-time budget.Now, if this is asking too much, I’m sorry. It’s the bar you set for yourself.Remember, “On day one everything changes.”

Brendan Scott covers Albany for the Times Herald-Record. His column runs Mondays. Read his blog and other Albany coverage on recordonline.com’s “Can This State Be Saved?” page. Reach him at 518-463-1157 or by e-mail at bscott@th-record.com.
Winners
Joe BrunoThe guy’s pushing 80. His business interests are under investigation by the FBI. His party loses more members in the state Senate every election cycle. But don’t underestimate Joe Bruno, the wily Republican who’s led the Legislature’s “upper house” for more than a decade. Bruno had a powerful card to play: The guy who promised to change “everything” cared more about having a late budget than he did.

School districtsSchool districts across the state were looking forward to a big payday from the beginning, when Spitzer proposed a staggering $1.4 billion increase in education aid. The Legislature added another $440 million and then struck some of the toughest restrictions Spitzer would have put on the money. Cha’ching!

Stem-cell researchersNew York joined the ranks of those courting the controversial medical field by committing $600 million over the next five years to start a embryonic stem-cell research fund.
Supporters of ‘school choice’The budget increases the amount of charter schools permitted to open in the state from 100 to 200. It provides $22 million in transitional aid to public schools that lose students to charter institutions.

Losers

Eliot SpitzerCall him the victim of high expectations. The first-term governor promised to sweep into office with a new style that would get it done and do it in the open. Alas, one fast-approaching budget deadline, and it all fell apart. It will take months for Spitzer to overcome the political losses of last week’s budget talks.

GOP Long Island senatorsThe convoluted formula that Republican senators protected for years to ensure that Long Island got a large share of education aid is dead. It’s been replaced by a new need-based system that will force Long Island reps to battle each year for funding.

Big Health CareA multimillion-dollar ad campaign cut Spitzer’s poll numbers and helped roll back some of his health-care cuts. But the governor won efforts to tie health aid to patients rather than institutions. That will cost hospitals, nursing homes and their labor unions big money in the long run.

Advocates for open governmentTheir hopes for an end to business as usual suffered a crushing set back when Spitzer slid behind closed doors to slam together a budget before the April 1 deadline.

Budget late, but passed

2007-04-01T18:07:00.000-04:00

www.news10now.comBudget late, but passedUpdated: 4/1/2007 9:01:02 AMBy: Web Staff

It is April 1st, and the State of New York officially has a budget. Even though Governor Eliot Spitzer's $121 billion spending plan was not technically in place by the midnight deadline, it was passed earlier this morning.The printing process was stalled Saturday night after a few last minute negotiations prevented the budget bills from being finalized. But, lawmakers on both sides of the spectrum finally agreed to a deal that they say is one that's best for the people of New York.
"When all the surrounding dust settles, and the public looks at what we accomplished, you will see that this budget hit every one of the objectives I've laid out over the course of the prior two months, so I am thrilled," Governor Spitzer said.
"We were focused really on getting the best job done, and that's what's important really. It's not who's the most powerful, who's the most important. And, if there's a lesson for anybody to learn, I think that's the lesson we learned. It isn't all about power; it's about what's best for the people of this state," Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno said.
Governor Spitzer said the budget was essentially on time and that the printing process is just a technicality. However, James Tedisco said the process was the most flawed he's seen in 25 years.
Meanwhile, it appears as though areas hit hard by last summer's flooding will benefit from the budget. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno says $5 million was tucked into the budget for counties in Central New York, the Mohawk Valley and the Southern Tier.
The aid targets areas in which floods damaged roads, homes and other buildings in June and November last year. The money can be used to cover the cleanup costs of cities, towns and school districts offsetting the expense in their local budgets and tax bills.

STATE BUDGET ROUNDUP AND OTHER STUFF

2007-04-01T08:48:00.000-04:00

Gov. Eliot Spitzer met with reporters in the Capitol on Friday to discuss the state’s budget negotiations(Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times)

The Associated Press New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, left, joined by Lt. Gov. David Paterson, speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Albany Saturday night.

Some people have a hard time with compromise..it is either all of nothing....Spitzer's steamroller looks to be running short on steam......and Spitzer answers back....Spitzer Stands Up To Critics On Eve Of Budget Deal ......technically the budget is going to be late by hours.....Lawmakers miss on-time budget deal.........isn't it awfully funny..how people are for reform and fiscal restraint as long as their pocketbook is not affected....simply amazing huh? ......... and we learn Tax Deal Provides Added Relief to Middle-Income Homeowners..........and Middle-class relief ........oh what a relief it is..........how about this........Grannis Headed For Full Senate Confirmation......and on the 7th day......errrrrrrrr..no rest this time ......Legislature comes back to finish budget vote...........and a "mess" of a budget is passed........Frenzy yields core of budget....almost??? .........hey...let's make all the teachers in new york state....state employees??? ya think the state unions would like that??? Outside-the-box funding.................this budget process gives us all a bird's eye view of how dysfunctional Albany has become...maybe Day One was too optimistic...but you need to start somewhere..it is always better to aim high and miss your mark...then have no aim at all.....Virgin Spitzer has learned quite a bit with his first budget process..and my guess is..the next time around..things will be different.........Eliot is a fast learner.....andy

THIS JUST IN.............

2007-03-29T12:48:00.000-04:00

maybe 5 men in a room??? Leaders behind closed doors ........a special "secret" meeting the whole world knows about is taking place...trying to hammer out state budget passage and timetable...stay tuned.......and Behind Closed Doors "We’re back to five men in a room. (Is that better than three men in a room?)
Gov. Eliot Spitzer is meeting in the executive offices with the majority and minority leaders of the Senate and Assembly this morning. Apparently, they’ve decided that their only hope of getting the budget done by the April 1 budget deadline is to sit in a room together and narrow their remaining differences face to face.
Given the showmanship and theater that has consumed many of the public budget meetings so far, they may well be right. But critics will say that when the going got tough, and push came to shove, Albany speedily reverted to form." and speaking of form........Ah, the Open Budget Process............'"So the big thing officials here in Albany point to when questioned about the lack of transparency in budget negotiations is the conference committee system, where the Senate and the Assembly are supposed to hash out the nitty-gritty details of the budget in public.
The problem is, those committees, headed by rank and file lawmakers and committee chairmen with some expertise in their fields, can do little until they receive their scripts from the Legislative leaders, who hammer out the real deals in private.
So the much-anticipated education conference committee, which was supposed to get under way at 10 this morning, was postponed until 2 p.m., with lawmakers saying that they hoped there would be a firmer agreement to discuss by then." and how about Budget: Headed North of $121 Billion yikes............andy

AM BUZZZZZZZZZ

2007-03-29T05:58:00.000-04:00

Everybody is talking about the state budget.........Fred Dicker of the NY Post thinks GOV. STEAMROLLED INTO A BIG SOFTEE - "Gov. Steamroller has become Mister Softee this week as plunging poll numbers, Republican recalcitrance, and the approaching April 1 budget deadline forced Eliot Spitzer to change himself into George Pataki." noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!! meanwhile Newsday has a Thumbs up for budget "True, the tentative state budget deal is more than the state can afford. It was cobbled together behind closed doors, so it's hard to tell just how much it will add to future deficits. And most of the new money added to Gov. Eliot Spitzer's initial plan was a sop - as usual - to the state's wealthiest and most powerful special interests.
But New Yorkers should hold their nose with one hand and give the deal a thumbs-up with the other.Why? Because, for all its flaws, the agreement moves the state forward toward long-sought reforms that were Spitzer's top priorities. And because, given the strength of the opposition he gamely fought, Spitzer made as much progress as possible in one year. The budget also may be on time as well." "But what's most important, overall, is that Spitzer finally achieved something that has eluded at least three governors - a formula for distributing aid that is based on educational and economic need, not political power. ' ok....a few more budget observations.......Budget's too fat and Critics attack big jump in state spending and 'Steamroller' in Albany Learns How to Concede and Now the hard part: Writing a budget based on talks and Don't make excuses for return to late budgets and finally my favorite.....Bottle bill would create 'garbage warehouses'..............yikes...........andy

Spitzer, Legislature strike tentative budget deal

2007-03-28T06:38:00.000-04:00

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Compromise is the order of the day here.........job well done......almost............andy

Albany - WABC, March 27, 2007) - New York state Governor Eliot Spitzer and Legislative leaders tentatively agreed on Tuesday night to a budget of more than $121 billion that would add about $1 billion in total state and federal spending, but is expected to result in a spending plan passed by Sunday's start of the fiscal year.
The agreement would:
Restore more than $350 million in Spitzer's $1.3 billion in proposed health care cuts including funds hospitals and nursing homes said they needed to avoid layoffs. But the deal would include $1 billion in cuts and preserve Spitzer's plan to dramatically reduce the annual growth in Medicaid costs.
Add $500 million to education, including more money to Long Island school districts and increased operating aid for districts statewide. The number of schools that would get the minimum 3 percent increase in aid would drop from 303 school districts out of the state's 700 districts to 170 school districts. So under the plan, more districts would get larger boosts in aid with high-needs, urban schools getting the largest increases. That would raise the current school aid total of $17 billion by nearly $2 billion.
Provide $1.3 billion in property tax breaks that Spitzer sought, but in the form of direct rebate checks to property taxpayers sought by the Senate's Republican majority. Those checks would amount to hundreds of dollars per taxpayer.
Ease up on Spitzer's plan to collect $500 million by closing what he called a tax loophole enjoyed by a few major corporations. Business leaders argued that would hurt New York businesses and Tuesday's tentative agreement would offset that bite with certain unnamed business tax reductions.
Increase spending over Spitzer's $120.6 billion proposal in January by about $1 billion in state and federal funds, or about $800 million in state spending alone. That includes $575 million in additional revenue projected after Spitzer's Jan. 31 proposal.
The property tax cut package is about $200 million less than Spitzer proposed for the first year of his $6 billion property tax cut, but that "was scaled back to make the (budget) pieces fit," he said.
The tentative 2007-08 deal must be approved by the Assembly and Senate and voted into budget bills by Saturday to be in place for the start of the fiscal year.
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno cautioned that tentative agreements have fallen apart before. He also said many other smaller issues haven't been settled because Spitzer and leaders have focused on the major areas of education, health care spending and tax cuts.
"If we can get out the conceptual agreement, there are still an awful lot of things that have to fall into place in order to get a budget," Bruno said. "You have to have three-way agreement that once you've talked about appears in bill form that you can take to the floor. Things have unraveled because when you speak conceptually, then you try to get that agreement on paper, it comes out three different ways and you don't have an agreement. I've seen that happen. We announced a conceptual agreement once and we did the budget in July because it unraveled."
Spitzer agreed with Bruno: "There's always the possibility that things could go amiss," Spitzer said. "If it were easy then it would be done faster, sooner and it wouldn't be as much fun."
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said joint legislative conference committee will begin meeting early Wednesday to put the concept into budget bills. "I think it's a terrific agreement," Silver said. "Hopefully we can do it on time."
He said Spitzer adopted the Assembly's years-old proposal to base school aid increases on need, rather than the share of state enrollment.
Spitzer emphasized the spending reforms agreed to will help control spending for coming years and will be built upon in subsequent budgets. "I think we've come very far in the context of what is clearly going to be a multiyear effort to turn the ship of state," Spitzer said, referring to "poor decision making" in past years. "No one should think this will happen in one budget cycle."
The tentative deal received some support from one element of the health care industry that was critical of Spitzer's cuts.
(Copyright 2007 WABC-TV)

A LATE AFTERNOON KNOSH

2007-03-27T17:56:00.000-04:00

League wants the door open .........Who let the dogs out???.....come on..some things are better said in private.....these guys do have to run for reelection..."look at the hands...and forget the mouth???".........and thankfully Bruno says things are progressing "Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno just came out of his majority conference meeting and said his members are determined to get a budget deal accomplished by Saturday.“I think we’re progressing,'’ he said. “We’re compromising.'’ ....hey...what a novel idea....maybe this stuff will catch on??? and Spitzer Looking At April 2 To Pass Budget ......."Gov. Eliot Spitzer began polling legislative leaders Tuesday about the possibility of coming in on Monday to pass a budget - the second day of the new fiscal year.
That indictates a deal could be put together for bills to begin aging for the required three days this weekend.
On sundown Monday, Passover begins, so it is possible for some work to be done on what is supposed to be the first day of a two-week break for the Legislature.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, has discussed the possibility of calling back his members on April 11 - what is supposed to be the second Wednesday of the break. " ........Bruno must be really compromising huh??? and we learn The long-delayed confirmation of the state environmental commissioner, Pete Grannis, passed a major hurdle.......and Marist Poll: Spitzer Under Fire "Today’s WNBC/Marist Poll provides more grist for those of us wondering how the millions of dollars’ worth of anti-Eliot-Spitzer ads over the last few weeks have affected his popularity.
Yesterday’s Siena poll put the governor’s favorability at 62 percent favorability rating and job approval at 47 percent.
The Marist poll puts his job approval at 43 percent, not too much different, and for historical context, notes that Governor Spitzer has a lower job approval that Mario M. Cuomo had at roughly the same point in his first term, though higher than what George E. Pataki rated at a similar point in his first term.
Spitzer folks will be heartened by the fact that Mr. Spitzer’s overarching image is more or less what they want it to be: 60 percent of registered voters think he’s a good leader for New York State, according to the poll, and by 56 percent as “a new kind of independent politician.”
But clearly the ads have had a toll: less than half of voters think Mr. Spitzer can be trusted to do the right thing on health care." you really can't govern by popularity contests...but give those health unions credit...they are giving Spitzer a run for their money.............and ever wonder how many elected state officials got in with special elections??? Document: Get In, And Stay In Here’s a little something interesting, apropos of today’s special elections.
"according to the study released today by Citizens Union, the state’s systems for filling unexpected vacancies in state offices is even less competitive than normal elections, which are themselves so uncompetitive that incumbents in the Legislature have a 95 percent retention rate.
Which is bad, the report argues, since nearly a third of Assembly and Senate members achieve office through the special election process. Those people effectively never face a serious competitive election — not even the first time around, since most special-election candidates are hand-picked by party bosses.
“This leaves little but the ceremony " Actually special elections are one of the few times...there is an actual level playing field....nobody is an incumbent......off topic but important.......Vests for the Auxiliary Police "Shortly before noon, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is expected to announce that the city will begin providing bullet-resistant vests to its 4,800 auxiliary police officers. The news conference is scheduled to take place in the Greenwich Village police precinct where two volunteer auxiliary officers were fatally shot by a gunman on March 14.
The city will spend $3.3 million to acquire the vests, which are the same as those provided to regular police officers" why does it take the deaths of 2 unarmed auxiliary police officers to get this much needed vest??? and why in God's Name would they allow citizens dressed as police officers to patrol new york city without being armed???? New York City ain't Mayberry RFD.........andy

SPITZER APPOINTMENTS TO DATE

2007-03-27T17:43:00.000-04:00

(COURTESY OF LIZ BENJAMIN CAPITOL CONFIDENTIAL)

Here is the complete list of Spitzer Appointments.....Liz is so good at this stuff........andy

Two more of Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s appointees made it past their first confirmation hurdle this week.
Robert Hite and Jerome Lefkowitz, both of whom the governor tapped to serve on the Public Employment Relations Board (Hite for an unpaid seat and Lefkowitz to the $120,800-a-year chairmanship), were confirmed yesterday by the Senate Labor Committee.
They, like DEC commissioner-in-waiting Alexander “Pete” Grannis, must now clear the Senate Finance Committee and then will be put before the full Senate for a vote.
UPDATE: So far, 33 of Spitzer’s appointments have been sent to the Senate for confirmation. The full list appears after the jump.
M. Patricia Smith, Commissioner, New York State Department of Labor.
Karen Carpenter-Palumbo, Commissioner, Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services.
Patrick Hooker, Commissioner, Department of Agriculture and Markets.
Robert Maccarone, Director, Probation and Correctional Alternatives.
David Hansell, Commissioner, Office of Temporary Disability.
Michael Burgess, Director, Office of the Aging.
Mindy Bockstein, Chair and Executive Director, Consumer Protection.
Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez, Secretary of State.
Kumiki Gibson, Director, Division of Human Rights.
David Swarts, Commissioner, Department of Motor Vehicles.
Carol Ash, Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
Brian Fischer, Commissioner, Department of Correctional Services.
Astrid Glynn, Commissioner, Department of Transportation.
Denise O’Donnell, Commissioner, Department of Criminal Justice Services.
Michael Hogan, Commissioner, Office of Mental Health.
Gladys Carrion, Commissioner, Office of Children and Family Services.
Alexander Pete Grannis, Commissioner, Department of Environmental Conservation.
Diana Jones-Ritter, Commissioner, Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.
Barry Kluger, MTA Inspector General.
Nancy Groenwegen, President Civil Service Commission.
Robert Hite, Member, Public Employment Relations Board.
Daniel Gundersen, Commissioner Dept. of Economic Development.
Judd Levy, Chair, Housing Finance Agency and State of NY MortgageAgency.
Eric Schmertz, Member, Public Employment Relations Board.
Jerome Lefkowitz, Chair, Public Employment Relations Board.
Dr. Richard Daines, Commissioner, Department of Health.
John Egan, Commissioner, Office of General Services.
Richard Neiman, Superintendent of Banking.
William Casey, Member, Parole Board.
Eric Dinallo, Superintendent, Insurance Department.
Cesar Cabrera, Member, Niagara Frontier Transportation Board.
Brian Obergfell, Member, Banking Board.
Patrick Foye, Chair, Urban Development Corporation.

Getting it right, not just done

2007-03-27T06:54:00.000-04:00

Newsday JAMES T. MADOR

Some interesting points on how to get a state budget passed on time.....enjoy...........andy

ALBANY - While Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver yesterday ruled out a disruption of government services if Gov. Eliot Spitzer and legislative leaders fail to reach agreement on a new state budget in the next couple of days, the governor refrained from speculation.The spending plan must be adopted by Saturday before the April 1 start of the new fiscal year. But for 20 of the past 22 years, governors and legislatures have blown the deadline; only during the final two years of Gov. George Pataki's tenure were there on-time budgets."We still have seven days to go," said Spitzer, after speaking to editorial writers here. "So, we will see what we can do."Spitzer also repeated his preference for a "correct" budget over "timeliness." This is the Democratic governor's first round of budget talks, though as state attorney general he watched the disagreements among the Republican Pataki and legislative leaders."Everybody would like an on-time budget," Spitzer said. "Both because getting an on-time budget has become, rightly or wrongly, one of the measures of our capacity to run the ship of state as it should be run."The major sticking points remain education funding, particularly for affluent school districts on Long Island, Medicaid spending and tax cuts.Silver (D-Manhattan) urged Spitzer to consider "extenders" that provide money to keep state operations running in the absence of a budget. "We shouldn't disrupt the operations of the people of the state of New York," he said.Late budgets create uncertainty for school districts, charities and others who rely on state aid. But the only immediate impact is on lawmakers, who don't get paid until a budget is adopted.Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Brunswick), through an aide, said, "Our preference is to get a budget done on time and that's something that is still possible."Because of the Jewish Sabbath starting Friday night, however, less than four days remain to strike a deal. The State Legislature is expected to adjourn for the Passover and Easter holidays, though Silver has told his Assembly colleagues to anticipate being called back on April 11 - five days before the session is to resume.Political scientist Gerald Benjamin of SUNY-New Paltz said the state constitution requires that bills lay on lawmakers' desks for three days before being adopted. But that time frame can be shorted by a governor issuing "a message of necessity." Many governors have used such messages, which are controversial because they allow for little analysis before voting starts."It's hard for this governor to do because he's advancing reform and the message of necessity violates reform tenets," Benjamin added.Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson said, "we have not ruled it [message] out."

Spitzer, Bruno get serious as deadline nears

2007-03-27T06:45:00.000-04:00

Jay Gallagher Ithica Journal.Com

Why does all the real negotiating have to be done in the final hours??? Bruno had weeks to get this done....geeeeeeeezzzzz....andy

ALBANY — With time running out in the state fiscal year, Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno met behind closed doors Monday to try to work out a deal on a new state budget.
While agreements were near on major issues such as health-care funding and business taxes, the last remaining major sticking point remained distribution of school aid — with Senate Republicans insisting that more money go to Long Island districts than Spitzer has proposed. Spitzer wants more to go to New York City and other urban districts.
“Who blinks is the real question here,” said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, who has been largely on the sidelines as Bruno and Spitzer try to resolve their differences. Someone close to the talks between those two leaders described them as “cordial,” and said the leaders were in a “summation mode.”
But as senators came out of a closed-door meeting Monday evening, they said nothing had been finalized.
“Everything is fluid,” said Sen. Vincent Leibell, R-Patterson, Putnam County.
Bruno and Spitzer have agreed that property-tax breaks will be delivered to taxpayers directly with checks from the state, as the Senate insisted, rather than funneled through school districts, as Spitzer proposed. Spitzer had set aside $1.4 billion for the breaks, while Bruno wants to spend $2.6 billion. There is no agreement yet on how much will be coming back to taxpayers.
Much of the $1.3 billion that Spitzer wanted to trim from health-care spending is also expected to be restored. Spitzer is trying to slow the growth of health-care spending, which jumped 8 percent last year. His plan would hold the hike to less than 2 percent.
On business taxes, Spitzer has proposed about $400 million in what he calls “loophole closers” and opponents call taxes. Spitzer said Monday that he would consider lowering the state's corporate-tax rate to make the plan revenue-neutral, but it was unclear whether that would happen in the next fiscal year.
“We're checking the numbers,” he told reporters Monday.
Also Monday, a poll showed that Spitzer is still popular with New Yorkers, but that the budget fight is talking a toll.
He is now viewed favorably by three times as many voters as disapprove of him — still a strong figure, but down from a six-to-one positive rating a month ago, according to a new Siena College poll of registered voters.
“While Spitzer continues to earn strong public support, the budget battles are moving some New Yorkers from the pro-Spitzer column to the anti-Spitzer column,” said Siena poll spokesman Steven Greenberg.
Just before Bruno and Spitzer huddled privately, Assembly Republicans Monday unveiled their “budget clock” that is counting down the time until the start of the new fiscal year on April 1.
“Most New Yorkers get up every day and go to work, and they don't leave until they've finished their job,” said Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, as the clock behind him counted down through five days, nine hours and 45 minutes before the budget deadline.
He said Republicans today would introduce a bill that would force lawmakers to stay in Albany until a budget is adopted.
The plan now is to break Friday and not return until the end of the Easter and Passover holidays, on April 11.

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS.;.AND WHOLE LOT OF THAT......

2007-03-26T18:09:00.000-04:00

The budget clock is ticking down.....while the assembly republicans are taking a licking..but keep on ticking.........photo courtesy of Capitol Confidential

Newsday's SpinCycle is in rare form these days.......Spitzer Numbers Dip...
The avalanche of negative ads about Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s proposed budget have dented his popularity, and the public wants a “good budget” even if it’s a little late, according to a new poll from the Siena Research Institute.
Spitzer’s favorable ratings fell to three-to-one positive in the last month compared with six-to-one positive in February. The poll of 622 registered voters was conducted March 19-22 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percent.
Sixty-two percent of those surveyed gave Spitzer a favorable rating, down from 74 percent in February and a high point of 75 percent after his November electoral victory.
In terms of the budget, 80 percent said they favored “a good budget” over one that was on time. Thirteen percent said they preferred an “on-time budget.”
James T. Madore
Poll spokesman Steven Greenberg said, "Voters believe an on-time budget is important but not nearly as important as a good budget. And if the deadline is missed and there's no budget by the weekend, voters spread the blame widely and don't single out the governor or either house of the Legislature." ........ok..as long as state government is not shut down........and how about Naked Ambition........

Which of the following was the most fevered lunge for self-promotion by a power player? 1. Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long leaning more toward Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s budget proposals than Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno’s, in an open letter to Spitzer?

2. Former Vice President Al Gore, returning to Congress, pleading with lawmakers to fight global warming with moral courage — but saying nothing about whether he'll run for president.

3. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), refusing at a hearing to let Gore answer questions that he posed to him.
CLICK HERE to vote

meanwhile Liz Benjamin(Capitol Confidential)...thinks the budget is going to get done on time......"The Assembly Republicans broke out their “countdown budget clock” today, noting that after two years of on-time budgets, they had come to believe this item might no longer be necessary.
“We had one five-way leaders meeting in public, only one. We tried to have others but the Democrats wouldn’t show up. That’s a recipe for a late budget and it was one used to cook up 20 in a row at one point,” said Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady.
Meanwhile, one source connected to Gov. Eliot Spitzer said “progress was made” during budget talks today, although no hard-and-fast deals are about to be announced. The governor is (at this moment) fairly confident that an on-time budget is possible.
The legislative majorities in both houses are currently conferencing. There are no current plans for a leaders meeting, but talks are expected to last through the night.
My prediction: A handshake deal by Monday morning, but no bills passed.
Anyone care to place their (non-monetary) bets? " come on Liz...non-monetary bets are are like drinking non-alcoholic beverages.......yikes.........and if you feel in the mood to trash Pataki...and throw in Gargano for good measure..then read..........Gargano’s Slush Fund..........meanwhile back at the ranch...we learn Republican Senators from Long Island aren't impressed with Eliot Spitzer's budget modifications. and we learn Silver Says No To A Shutdown “I don’t think it’s an advisable option,” Mr. Silver said. “I think that there’s no reason to do it to gain political advantage. If there is, I’m not sure there is a political advantage, especially the next ten days. The first ten days of the fiscal years are a variety of religious holidays for people in the state. We don’t have to create turmoil"..........just like Santa Claus.....Santa Spitzer...He’s Making A List ......Appearing at today’s family-planning confab in Albany, Gov. Eliot Spitzer took a light jab at Senator Craig Johnson, the newly elected Long Island Democrat.
There are more than a few people who feel that Mr. Johnson owes his seat to Mr. Spitzer, who campaigned and fundraised hard for the senator — but who then came out against the governor’s plans to remake the formula for state education aid. (The existing formula is especially generous to the Long Island suburbs.)
Spotting Mr. Johnson in the audience, Mr. Spitzer told the assembled advocates that they were lucky to have Mr. Johnson as an ally.
“We’ll be counting votes very shortly,” he added. “Not to put you on the spot.” and finally it is very good to hear that the Gov, Mayor Work Things Out .........

Budget talks might be stalled, but Gov. Eliot Spitzer appears to have worked out his biggest difference with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
The mayor and city officials howled when the governor proposed, in his executive budget, to cut $328 million in unrestricted state aid to New York City. The governor has relented, agreeing to restore a small amount of the money in the upcoming fiscal year and most if not all of the funding in ensuing years, we report in the Empire Zone column today........andy

Sides move closer on state budget

2007-03-26T06:29:00.000-04:00

AP STORY

Despite breakthroughs Friday, talks bog down on tax relief, hospital funds

(March 26, 2007) — ALBANY — With the state budget due in a week, negotiators for Gov. Eliot Spitzer and the Assembly and Senate majorities failed to reach critical agreements Sunday.
Closed-door talks were scheduled to continue today, although all sides agreed even a deal early in the week might not leave enough time to print budget bills and approve them in both chambers to pass an on-time budget. The budget is due next Sunday.
Despite apparent breakthroughs Friday night, negotiators were again bogged down Saturday and Sunday on issues that were being negotiated as a package. That means there is no agreement on one issue until there is agreement on all, said officials close to the governor and the legislative majorities.
"Our concern has been and continues to be a fair and equal distribution of school aid and property tax relief for the most taxed residents in the country and health care restorations to prevent the pain and suffering of the (Spitzer) budget proposal out there now," said John McArdle, spokesman for Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. "Staffs are still talking and we continue to press for open conference committees."
There was no immediate comment from spokesmen for Spitzer or Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.The Legislature has passed on-time budgets in the last two years after 20 straight years of missed deadlines. Late budgets create fiscal uncertainty for school district officials and delay funding for nonprofit groups that run social service programs.
Three key negotiation issues remain:
How many suburban schools on Long Island and elsewhere will get greater increases in aid despite Spitzer's plan to direct far more of the funding increases to high-needs urban schools.
How to distribute more than $1 billion in property tax relief.
How much aid should be "restored" to hospitals and nursing homes to ease Spitzer's health care reform.
All sides acknowledge room for compromise in the key areas.Specifically, Spitzer last week said he is more committed to driving property tax relief to middle-class families than he is to how it is done. That means he is open to the Senate Republicans' proposal for rebate checks sent directly to taxpayers rather than Spitzer's original plan to increase funding for the state's STAR program.
Spitzer may also be open to changes in his school funding program so that wealthier but highly taxed school districts on Long Island get more than his minimum increase of 3 percent, according to a Spitzer official close to negotiations. The Senate GOP wants to add $538 million for these schools, most of which are in the conference's Long Island power base.
Senate Republicans who have fought Spitzer's $1.4 billion cut in the $45 billion Medicaid system may end up accepting some of Spitzer's reforms if he agrees to phase in his program so big hospitals and nursing homes don't face immediate 1 percent to 5 percent cuts in state aid.
Spitzer proposed a $120.6 billion budget in January. That's an increase of 7.8 percent — more than twice the inflation rate.

IT'S ELIOT'S MOVE

2007-03-26T06:19:00.000-04:00

NEW YORK POST EDITORIAL

Yeah...the heck with c0mpromise and reason...shut the state down..that I'll show em good..........errrrrrrrrr.......not........simplistic solutions to complex issues....at least the Post is consistent...........andy

March 26, 2007 -- With just six days to go before the start of the new fiscal year, and with no state-budget deal in sight, New Yorkers are about to see just what their new governor - Eliot "The Steamroller" Spitzer - is made of.
Will he settle for a business-as-usual budget - brokered with special interests to the detriment of the Empire State and its beleaguered taxpayers?
Or will he take command of the process - making it clear that if New York does not have a good budget on April 1, it will have no budget at all?
That is, will he shut state government down - and place the blame where it belongs, at the feet of obstructionist legislative leaders?
At the moment, the principal obstacle is Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, who is obstinately insisting on spending $3 billion in make-believe money above Spitzer's own 9 percent hike in outlays.
And no Bruno, no budget.
What next?
Spitzer has three choices:
* Bow to Bruno, putting the state's long-term solvency (and his own legacy) at dire risk.
* Kick the can down the road, extending talks and missing the April 1 deadline - just like in the bad old days.
* Or shut down state agencies - arguing, correctly, that an administration cannot without a budget in place.
If Spitzer hopes to make good on his vow to fix Albany - to "change everything" - his choice is clear:
He must close down New York government.
Tell state employees they're out of work. Ready the pink slips, as then-Gov. Pataki did in '95.
Tell New Yorkers who depend on state services that, absent a budget, they're out of luck; the services can't be paid for.
And tell them, too, to blame Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (and Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver) for the mess.
Let's face it: As critical as this fiscal fight is, there's far more at stake than the 2007-08 state budget.

NEW YORK STATE GOVERNMENT GOING TO SHUT DOWN???

2007-03-24T06:48:00.000-04:00

Liz Benjamin Capitol Confidential

I really don't think so..........too costly and destructive..........andy

March 23, 2007 at 5:02 pm by Elizabeth Benjamin
In an interview with WNBC’s Jay DeDapper to be broadcast this Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Malcom Smith, D-Queens, gives the clearest indication yet that a government shutdown may be in the cards.
Asked if closing down Albany is a “real” possibility, Smith responded in the affirmative, claiming New Yorkers “don’t want anybody spending money wildly to the point where we have a deficit out into the future that would just basically mortgage the future of our children.”
“And so we’re prepared to shut the government down if that has happened,” Smith said.
While it’s a long way from a late budget to an all-out (or even partial) shutdown, Smith said the budget would almost certainly be tardy if an agreement isn’t reached by Monday.
“If we [by]pass Monday, that’s it, we’re going to be in pretty bad shape and you’re looking at a late budget,” Smith said. “And then if the governor chooses just to go ahead and deal with essential services, you know, the other part of big government will shut down.”
Given how close Smith and Spitzer are (politically speaking!), it seems a safe bet that the minority leader is acting as a surrogate for the executive. Spitzer himself has been unwilling to rule out a shutdown in recent days, preferring instead to adopt an optimistic attitude (at least publicly) by saying that there’s still time for a deal to come together.
Of course, he was saying that earlier in the week - back before Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, starting holding his GOP-only general budget conference committees and Spitzer started trying to pick off Republican senators by calling them into his office for private, one-on-one meetings.
New York hasn’t experienced a full-scale government shutdown in the modern era, though it came close in 1995 - the first year another governor was in office.
In ex-Gov. George Pataki’s first year atop Albany, which many agree in retrospect was his most productive time in office, the government prepared pink slips to send public employees in anticipation of a late budget.
There was also a fierce battle over Pataki’s decision to suspend more than 4,200 state paychecks, including for legislative staffers and some in his own office. He lost in court over that one. But New York was never really in full shutdown mode.
However, one needs to only look at the damage a federal government shutdown caused one Washington politician - now a possible Republican presidential contender - to see that all sides will be scrambling to assign blame elsewhere should it come to that.
Under a deal struck in 1998, which brought legislators their last pay increase and created charter schools in New York, lawmakers have their paychecks withheld if they fail to pass a budget by the April 1 deadline. This provision does not apply to the governor.
Also on Sunday, DeDapper interviews former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s newest presidential campaign advisor, Mike McKeon, who says the ex-mayor’s wife, Judith Nathan Giuliani, is “going to be more than an asset,” adding: “I think she’s going to be probably the surprise of the campaign.”
Click here to read the whole transcript

SENATE SANTA SEES LATE BUDGET or Bah Humbug

2007-03-24T06:36:00.000-04:00

Santa Bruno

HOUSINGWORKS.ORG

Majority Leader Bruno rejects medicaid reform but delivers billions to big hospitals and the rich; ‘I don’t care if we’re here ‘til Christmas’

"State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno said Wednesday that he’s more than willing to blow through an April 1 deadline in his quixotic effort to add an unprecedented $5 billion in spending to Governor Eliot Spitzer’s state budget plan.
“I don’t care if we’re here ‘til Christmas,” Bruno told listeners to Albany radio station WROW-AM." for the rest ......click here...........andy

IT AIN'T OVER TILL THE FAT LADY SINGS

2007-03-23T08:28:00.000-04:00

Bruno is not quite ready to sing yet with Senate GOP attacks Spitzer "Senate Republicans suggested Thursday that Gov. Eliot Spitzer is trying to attack, divide and conquer opponents of his budget plan, but that the strategy isn't working.
"The governor should stop trying to just divide all of the entities that are out there that have an interest in doing this budget right," said Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, R-Brunswick" yeah..come on Spitzer..stop playing politics..and beating my butt in public....the Buffalo News gives us another view on the whole recycling issue......Expanded recycling doesn’t require a new beverage tax..........meanwhile Assistant deputy secretary for criminal justice named ........Governor Eliot Spitzer Thursday announced the appointment of Lai Sun Yee to serve as Assistant Deputy Secretary for Criminal Justice...........and the AP warns us WTC staircase debate may delay new towers..... "a prolonged debate over whether to preserve a 175-ton staircase that still stands at the World Trade Center site is threatening construction schedules for new office towers, rebuilding officials said this week.
The staircase, which several people used to escape the debris-filled complex in the moments after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has been named one of the nation's most endangered places by a preservation group. It is the only remnant of the complex that is above street level.." just what we all need...another delay........meanwhile Long Island Business News gives us a different view on this whole medicaid/health care reform debate.....2 minutes with Kevin Dahill, President, CEO, Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council ..........."Kevin Dahill is a man on a mission, although it’s a mission he’d rather not have.
The leader of the regional trade organization for Long Island’s 24 hospitals spoke with LIBN fresh from a trip to Albany, in which eight busloads of Islanders met with lawmakers to discuss potential cuts in Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s proposed state budget that could shear $68.5 million in Medicaid reimbursements from Island hospitals and $77.6 million from Island nursing homes – a “disastrous” scenario, according to Dahill."....a short question and answer interview..I don't agree with all of it....but a good read on the controversy..........if you always wanted to know how to make Pork Kosher ..The NY Post gives us a hint.......ROASTED 'PORK' POLS OK DISCLOSURE DEAL "Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders yesterday agreed to a new process to ensure that community organizations that get state pork-barrel funds disclose any ties to the lawmakers who secured the money for them." and the every optimistic NY Sun gives us their Albany doomsday scenario with Budget Fight Could Close Government "With budget negotiations coming down to the wire, Governor Spitzer is not ruling out shutting down the government if he and the Republican Senate don't hammer out a deal before the April 1 deadline.
Republicans, however, say they are standing their ground and are accusing the governor of negotiating in bad faith, even while preparing to deal with the fallout that a late budget would produce" let's put it this way...nobody...I repeat....nobody is going to want to take credit for shutting the state government down........it is NOT going to happen...the financial consequences would be too devastating............and finally.... To persuade Albany to lift limits on scalpers, vendors are giving away tickets to lawmakers.....yikes....."Key backers of efforts to take limits off ticket scalping - including Gov. Spitzer - have received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from ticket brokers, the Daily News has learned." ..........hello.....ticket scalping is illegal.....and alot of people get screwed ..and never receive legitimate tickets.....come on...let's get real here...........andy

New York's governor You ain't seen nothing yet

2007-03-23T08:10:00.000-04:00

ECONOMIST.COM

If you don't think the world is watching what Spitzer is doing..think again....here is a snappy little piece from England........andy

HE IS not known for being timid. As New York's attorney-general, he was called “The sheriff of Wall Street”. Last year he campaigned for governor with the promise to shake up state government. He won with 70% of the vote, and now he is trying to live up to expectations. In his first three months in office he has reformed an outdated workers'-compensation law, issued executive orders to make Albany's politics more transparent and got involved in a fight about the choice of comptroller—though, embarrassingly, he lost that one.

Now Eliot Spitzer is in the biggest fight of his term so far: an all-out brawl over health care. With the state's budget due on April 1st, the battle is the first real test of whether his forceful style will be effective in his new job. Charles Rangel, a Democratic congressman from New York City, called the melée a “food fight”. The governor seems to be enjoying himself.

If Mr Spitzer wanted to pick a fight, he has chosen the right one. Not only has health care become a prominent issue among governors, inspired by plans for universal coverage in Massachusetts and California, but New York's health system is in dire need of fixing. The state's Medicaid programme, at more than $45 billion, is America's most expensive, with spending per person more than twice the national average. New York saw a hint of progress last year, when a state commission recommended closing underused hospitals and nursing homes. But Mr Spitzer still has his work cut out.

To inch towards universal coverage, Mr Spitzer wants to extend health care to all New York's 400,000 uninsured children. His plans to curb spending are more controversial. In a testament to Albany's perversion, Mr Spitzer, a Democrat, wants to rein in costs; the Republican-led Senate, backed by the health-care lobby, does not. For years New York has subsidised inefficient hospitals and nursing homes through high Medicaid reimbursement rates, providing an incentive to provide unnecessary services. Mr Spitzer wants to begin changing this by freezing such rates. Other measures to contain costs include spending less to train interns, tightening the list of drugs covered by Medicaid and ramping up efforts to fight Medicaid fraud. In all, the governor's budget would cut health-care spending by about $1.2 billion.

Such changes are unheard of in Albany. The previous governor, George Pataki, had similar ideas, but he pursued them with the audacity of a dormouse. Mr Spitzer, by contrast, is relishing his role as a crusader against “special interests”. Enraged, the hospitals' association and the health-care workers' union have spent more than $4.5m to condemn his cuts through television advertising, rallies and mailings. They recruited Al Sharpton, an omnipresent black activist, to denounce Mr Spitzer, and on March 15th thousands of health-care workers protested outside the governor's office in Manhattan. (One hand-written sign read: “Eliot is an Idiot”.) Mr Spitzer is fighting back with characteristic zeal. He called the Senate's plan to restore his cuts “ruinous” and has spent $2m of campaign money on television ads of his own.

This tussle may extend past the budget deadline, but it will eventually end in compromise; the question is how far Mr Spitzer will retreat. If he concedes too much, he will encourage future opponents. But the governor is in a unique position to be firm. Unlike Mr Pataki, he enjoys high approval ratings—61% in February, according to a poll by Quinnipiac University. And the state Assembly, led by Democrats, seems amenable to many of his proposals.
Still, Mr Spitzer's budget only begins to address New York's health-care mess. Among the questions that remain are how to care for the elderly more efficiently and how to reform Medicaid reimbursement rates, which are now based on data that is over 14 years old, so that the programme subsidises patients, not hospitals.

The governor must also do much more to be a true reformer. His $120.6 billion budget may cut health-care costs, but it is far from fiscally conservative, says E.J. McMahon of the Manhattan Institute, a think-tank. Mr Spitzer wants to raise state spending by 7.8%, up to three times the projected rate of inflation. This increase is driven in part by the governor's proposed new infusion of money into the schools: $1.4 billion this year, part of a 40% rise over the next four years. In exchange for this munificence, schools must comply with a “contract for excellence” that requires them to show how they are spending the cash and face sanctions if they fail to improve. This is all well and good, but the plan may not be sustainable. New York already spends more on education than it does on Medicaid; the state's comptroller has warned of future budget gaps.
And though Mr Spitzer has declared himself an enemy of special interests, there are many groups he has yet to challenge. He has been reluctant, for example, to take on New York's unionised public employees, who account for one in eight of the state's workers (the national average is one in 19). The cost of their pensions is rising by the minute. Mr Spitzer, asked recently about his guns-blazing style, replied with a smirk, “That wasn't guns going.” The biggest fights are yet to come

Gabe Pressman's View: Is Spitzer Tough Guy Or Bully?

2007-03-23T08:05:00.000-04:00

WNBC.COM

Hey..whatever gets the job done.......this is what the voters wanted.....Eliot is certainly giving them their money's worth.......andy

If anyone had any doubts about it, Gov. Eliot Spitzer has dispelled them.
The new governor is tough, determined, and tenacious. He may be the strongest governor in a quarter of a century. Based on his first three months in office, it's clear that a new force has been unleashed in Albany, and its name is Eliot Spitzer.
This governor has a ''take no prisoners'' approach. His meeting the other day with the two leaders of the Legislature, Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Republican Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno made this clear.
The Governor chided the Republican leader for advocating a budget proposal that was like a game of three-card monte, ''because every time you look underneath to find the money, it's not there.''
The Governor, anxious to complete the budget by the legal deadline, April 1st, tried to prod Bruno into action. He said that many critics - virtually every financial analyst and every editorial board -gave the Bruno budget bad marks.
Spitzer had arranged a meeting with the legislative leaders that were held in public view. This was a departure from an Albany culture that, for many years, has seen such meetings invariably conducted behind closed doors.
This innovation in itself is Spitzer's way of socking it to his political enemy. Reporters heard it all, including Bruno's weak rejoinder. The senator said that the Spitzer budget, by giving New York City a larger share of school aid than other places, would ''pit one school district against another.''
On Wednesday, Bruno charged that Speaker Silver and Democratic Senate Leader Malcolm Smith had been ''totally intimidated''' by Spitzer. Bruno told New York Post state editor Fred Dicker, ''He gives me a lecture.... that is not debate. That is not discussion. That is a bully.''
Occasionally, he may go too far, as in his recent tv commercial using the hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah to hammer his opponents on the health care issue. But he is effective.
Whether bully or hero, there's no doubt that Eliot Spitzer is a stronger Governor perhaps than any man since Hugh Carey. For the press he already is the most accessible governor in 12 years. Under George Pataki, the second floor of the statehouse, the governor's floor, was closed to the press. Now it's open, as it was in Mario Cuomo's day.
It's much too early to tell how it will all play out. But early signs are encouraging. Eliot Spitzer has taken command: a strong hand is at the helm.

AM RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC

2007-03-22T05:53:00.000-04:00

Eliot Spitzer wants background checks conducted on people bidding for the state's horseracing franchise.........meanwhile Spitzer is calling individual state Senators to get them to abandon Joe Bruno...........like the old computer game "come follow me"...........and Eighty days after joining the Spitzer administration, former state Senator and ex-Clarence Norman aide Carl Andrews still doesn't have an official title.....meanwhile the Budget battle continues and we learn Weitzman out of running for tax commissioner "Nassau Comptroller Howard Weitzman said yesterday that he has withdrawn his name from consideration for state tax commissioner because family considerations bar him from working full-time at the Capitol."I was honored to even be considered by the Spitzer administration for this position," Weitzman told Newsday. "I look forward to helping the governor in his work to lower our tax burden, especially in the area of health care, and reform of our multiple levels of government." .........ahhhhhhhhh but suppose he was appointed state comptroller??? so his interviewing for state comptroller was make believe???? and State lawmakers vote for an early presidential primary -"Both legislative houses approved a bill yesterday moving up the state's presidential primary from March 4 to Feb. 5 next year, in line with actions by other big states.The bill now goes to Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who is widely expected to sign it." a big boost for Hillary...........meanwhile we learn No agreements on school funding "With Long Island's share of school funding now seen as the highest hurdle in talks on a new budget, Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Deputy Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos met privately yesterday to air opposing views but reached no agreements"......no big surprise here..........and the winner is......Gov. Spitzer to reveal new Sullivan County clerk soon and the Sun believes Spitzer should make a Capital Case for the death penalty.......one windmill at a time please.......and finally Gov. Spitzer urged to collect cigarette tax "the state was open to a proposal that would provide for collection of the tax while sharing the revenue with tribes. The measure would end tribes’ price advantage over non-Indian retailers obligated to collect the state’s $1.50 per pack tax. The New York Association of Convenience Stores, led by Calvin, has long complained that the group’s 7,000 stores are unable to compete with tribal competitors’ reduced-price cigarettes and that state and local governments have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue." with all the medical evidence out there...do people still smoke???? yikes..........andy

L.I. Schools Speak Out Against Spitzer’s Education Plan

2007-03-21T14:45:00.000-04:00

LONG ISLAND PRESS

This is just a taste of what the upcoming state aid to education budget battle is shaping up to be...........people on the Island don't want to hear about New York
City.and equity.....residents of new york city. pay extremely low property taxes compared to nassau and suffolk counties..........maybe it is time for those school disticts mentioned below to change their way of doing business...and try to centralize things more..to bring costs down...but that is another sacred cow nobody is willing to touch........no wonder scores of people are moving out of new york state to find more affordable communities to live in.....will anything every change??? andy

In the wake of Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s proposed school budget cuts, dozens of LI school districts came together on Monday morning to voice their disapproval of how the plan’s funding for education aid will be distributed, and more districts will be joining the campaign.

Citing state funding inequity for LI public education and the elimination of important aid categories, representatives from Suffolk and Nassau schools sent a strong message to Spitzer on Monday at a press conference in Holbrook.

“We are trying to unite and demand equity and fairness in state funding,” says coalition spokesperson Karen Lessler, President of the Middle Country Board of Education. “Long Island has 17% of New York State’s students, and yet we will be receiving only 13% in state aid. Also, the state should not be able to impose mandates without funding them.”

Spitzer maintains that the proposed education state aid package is adequate for all school districts.

“We believe we have a strong budget,” says Brad Maione, a spokesman for Spitzer. “Each district will receive an increase in funding."

In Spitzer’s January “Contract for Excellence” address, the governor outlined his goals for the budget plan, including the integration of a “foundation formula,” a more straightforward and general system for how much education aid various school districts will be eligible to receive.

“This formula will distribute educational funding based on the needs of our children, not the needs of our politicians,” Spitzer said in the address. “We don’t need 65 different formulas to allocate money, each one more complicated than the next.”

Dr. Shelley Saffer, the superintendent of the Comsewogue School District, argues that with the flat lining of 113 of Long Island’s 124 public schools and the cutting down of aid formulas, the plan will hurt most LI schools.

“Spitzer said that every school district will receive a three percent increase in funding, but that’s not true for our school district,” Saffer says. “By collapsing aid formulas, Spitzer’s proposed plan gets rid of a huge number of aid categories that help most Long Island school districts.”
The coalition, which currently consists of 29 schools, is growing in strength as an increasing number of schools are backing the movement.“Today’s press conference was a big success because more school districts are coming together and we’re all going to speak with one voice,” says Middle Country’s Lessler. “We’re not asking for anything that we aren’t entitled to.”

Budget Negotiations Begin As Dispute Continues

2007-03-21T14:35:00.000-04:00

NY 1 NEWS

It appears Bruno is going for broke here......with the Republican Party in shambles.......he figures he has nothing to lose by supporting his strongest health care union ally and protecting his remaining long island senators..which districts would get hit the hardest with the redistribution of state aid to new york city..........an on time state budget seems out of reach now........andy

There are less than two weeks before the state budget is due but it's not looking promising for an on-time agreement. Negotiations that began Tuesday only displayed just how far apart the leaders are. NY1’s Josh Robin had a tableside view, and filed this report. The set-up for Tuesday’s budget negotiations had the look of a card table and with the multibillion dollar state budget in the balance, the stakes are high. But each player says his opponent is playing with a loaded deck. “This is a game of Three-card Monte,” said Governor Eliot Spitzer. “You know why we’re big spenders?” responded State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno. “Because to fix the distortion in your formula when you submitted it, we need to add dollars.” The back and forth dominated a tense, 52-minute sit-down between Governor Eliot Spitzer and state lawmakers. It was supposed to be a six-way meeting. But the key opponents were Spitzer and Bruno. Their tone was friendly, but it was clear this was not canasta; it was war. “If you were counting, you would find that over $4 billion of that is for property tax relief,” said Bruno. “Joe, smoke and mirrors is not going to get us a budget,” said Spitzer. “It’s time to be real. It’s time to cut the politics. It’s time to come to the table.” At issue was dueling budgets. Spitzer wants health care and education cuts and claims the Senate's plan triggers billions in deficits. But the Republican insists Spitzer's fooling with taxpayers by demanding pricey tax loophole closures, without acknowledging them as taxes. “They are job depriving, tax increases,” said Bruno. “By any name it’s a tax increase.” Spitzer smiled and took notes -- looking like a prosecutor, or a poker player, who sees an endgame. Bruno and his Senate conference are virtually alone in the capitol supporting his budget. And Spitzer is going around him to talk individual Senate Republicans. NY1 has learned Spitzer has meetings Wednesday with individual senators -- and is very close to a deal with a hospital group that used to back Bruno. The senator still does have many friends. After the meeting, Bruno was toasted at a rally of a health care union running ads attacking Spitzer's health care proposals. That group might be one of Bruno's few allies -- but in the state capitol there are few interests better-funded or more skilled at the poker game of the state budget. -Josh Robin

Three Spitzer Appointees Confirmed

2007-03-21T14:29:00.000-04:00

The latest three administration appointments by Gov. Eliot Spitzer to be taken up by the GOP-controlled state Senate just sailed through the confirmation process.
The newly confirmed officials are:
Dr. Richard Daines, commissioner, Health Department.
Denise O’Donnell, director, Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Judd Levy, chairman of the board of the state Housing Finance Agency and state Mortgage Authority.
Daines and O’Donnell both received high praise from senators on both sides of the aisle.
Daines, in particular, got a ringing endorsement from Sen. Efrain Gonzalez Jr., D-Bronx, who said he has known the doctor for years because he has served as the senator’s personal physician.

Thanks Liz B......Capitol Confidential............andy

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-03-17T19:31:00.000-04:00

Ice Storm Tid Bits

2007-03-16T15:07:00.000-04:00

Elephants, Skinned Cats and de Blasio at 1199 Rally Against Spitzer Cuts ..........yikes some very weird stuff........"When elephants fight, the grass gets hurt."
That's according to Bronx Assemblyman Jose Rivera, who spoke at today's SEIU 1199 rally opposing Gov. Eliot Spitzer's proposed health care cuts. Rivera said he told Spitzer those words himself at a half-hour meeting the previous day before leading the crowd in a chant: "You cut back, we're gonna fight back." and we learn there is More Nontraditional Help for Spitzer "Here's a new radio ad that criticizes "special interests" for not supporting Eliot Spitzer's plan to lift the cap on charter schools. The group running the ad is Real Reform Now, a new collaboration between the New York Charter Schools Association and Dems for Education Reform.
So far, there's a $100,000 ad buy for this radio spot, according to Michael Tobman, head of Dems for Education Reform........thanks Azi for above tid bits...........Pataki Releases His Iowa Volunteers Iowapolitics.com is reporting: “Former New York Gov. George Pataki has told supporters he cannot guarantee he is going to run for president this cycle and has given his blessing for them to join other presidential campaigns.” A couple of big names have apparently made the jump to Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts." This Cycle??? meanwhile...Minority Leader Malcolm Smith tells us good friends...never leave their friend's behind??? Malcolm’s Happy Place........this totally grosses Liz Benjamin out.......“(Bruno) actually told me what he said to the governor in terms of how he described me being so close to the governor, and I said: Well, you know, there’s room. You can be that close as well.”
Later Smith said: “I told Joe(Bruno) there’s room, he can come on up, too. He can come on up there.”................and Newsday's Spin Cycle gives us Hallelujah poor John Riley...he hates Spitzer so very much...it must be killing him..to see Eliot actually leading and getting things done................."Gov. Spitzer's latest ad in the health care wars (below) features a children's choir in hospital robes singing 'Hallelujah' while his hired narrator recites newspaper excerpts praising his "reforms." The ad, as is typical of both sides in this fight, never bothers to explain what the "reforms" are -- except at the end, where the narrator cites "all the kids who'll finally have medical coverage."
This sounds wonderful. But for the record, the actual fight here is over $1.2 billion in cuts in health care funding, most of them from the Medicaid program, most of them from hospitals and nursing homes. When you delve into the details of his budget, you find that a grand total of $34.7 million is going into expanding childrens health insurance. Most of the health money is being diverted to school aid and property tax cuts.
Meanwhile, Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson is lashing out at the "distortions and misrepresentations" in ads from the other side, which suggest the cuts will lead to mass layoffs etc." and speaking of lashing out......and finally is Eliot trying to get unions to start fighting each other??
divide and conquer??? Solidarity Forever " Gov. Eliot Spitzer meets this afternoon in New York City with District Council 37. Though it's always possible to read too much into political schedules, the timing is interesting. It comes as he's engaged in a very public battle with 1199/SEIU, the health-care workers' union, as evidenced by the statement yesterday (click continued, below) from union leader Dennis Rivera.
There has long been a certain feeling of competition for political clout between DC 37 and 1199 in the labor world. As representatives of some of the lower-paid constituencies in the municipal and state workforce, both are big political contributors and providers of personnel on Election Day. "

Spitzer Appointments

2007-03-16T14:16:00.000-04:00

Liz Benjamin has the latest scoop...........andy

Gov. Eliot Spitzer today announced two new appointments:

Gary Johnson, director, Governor’s Office of Employee Relations
(salary = $138,000). Johnson has served as associate counsel for NYSUT since 2004. From 1994 to 2004, he was associate counsel and director of litigation for the New York State Public Employee Relations Board. Prior to that, he served as an Administrative Law Judge for the state Public Service Commission in 1994 and for the New York State Public Employment Relations Board from 1991 to 1994. Johnson also served as Associate Counsel for the New York State Office of Court Administration in 1991 and was Assistant Counsel to the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations from 1988 to 1991. Johnsons was an ADA in Kings County from 1985 to 1988.

Stephen H. Shane, president and CEO, Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation
($143,000). He has served as general counsel for the Sparrow Construction Corp. since 2002. He previously served as special assistant to the commissioner of the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal where he was designated to be the representative to the Board of Directors of Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation. Shane was Partner at Lowenthal, Landau, Fisher & Bring from 1985 to 1987; Tishman Spayer Properties from 1981 to 1984; Carro, Spanbock, Fass, Geller, Kaster & Cuiffo in 1981; and Demov, Morris, Levin & Shein from 1964 to 1980.
Posted

A BUDGET TOO FAR

2007-03-16T06:34:00.000-04:00

New York Post MICHAEL R. LONG

Mike doesn't like much of either budget proposal...but he picks the "lesser" of 2 evils.........check out the response below to this conservative party "endorsement"............andy

March 16, 2007 -- THE Conservative Party this week released to the press my letter to Gov. Spitzer essentially stating our disappointment in his budget and in what the Republican state Senate majority added to his budget.
Let me be perfectly clear: Both proposals spend far too much. Neither considers how New Yorkers will pay the bills when they come due.
Neither plan considers how New York's overburdened taxpayers will pay for the increased spending.
New York is hemorrhaging money; someone must apply the pressure to stop the hemorrhaging.
The state's health-care programs are out of control. Do we pay too little to those who are entrusted with the care of our sick and elderly? Of course. But if you want to increase their paycheck . . . you have to make the cuts in other places. Hospitals that are not productive must be closed.
Hiking taxes on businesses will only lead to less employment - and less employment with no change in state spending means higher taxes on those who stay here.
Competition in the marketplace produces lower prices for consumers; competition in schools will produce better students, better teachers and better results.
I'm a lifelong New York City resident, and all of my working years have been in retail as a small business owner. I've seen the results when the state and city continue to spend far too much money: Government spending forces me to raise my prices, because my taxes are increased. I can't hire more workers because the amount I have to pay in taxes can't be absorbed in the price I charge my customers.
Government spending must be cut, and Gov. Spitzer's proposals, while still spending more than New York taxpayers can sustain, at least head in the right direction. If the proposed health-care reforms are enacted, there's a better chance that future budgets - which spend our money - will no longer grow at three times the rate of inflation.
We must give Spitzer the opportunity to make some very necessary changes in the way things are done in Albany. For many years, the Republican majority in the Senate has been the ally of New York taxpayers in holding back unreasonable spending. However, we can no longer depend on them. We must depend on ourselves.
We must speak out and demand that elected officials remember it is our money, not theirs. We must hold all their feet to the fire and have them produce a budget within our means.
As a good parent must sometimes do, we have to cut off the credit cards and make them live within our means.
Michael R. Long is the chairman of the state Conservative Party

Spitzer, Not A Democrat? (thanks Liz B Capitol Confidential)

Jennifer Cunningham, senior advisor to (and political mastermind of) SEIU/1199, responded thusly to state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long’s abandonment this morning of Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and praise of Gov. Eliot Spitzer:
“When New Yorkers elected Eliot Spitzer, we voted for a Democrat who we thought held firmly Democratic principles like supporting healthcare and public schools.”
“Now, as he’s accepting the kudos of the New York State Conservative Party, we have to wonder: Who will the governor stand with next in order to pass his wrongheaded budget?”
UPDATED: Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson e-mailed over this response:
“Ms. Cunningham’s comments speak of remarkable hypocrisy considering the many republicans 1199 has endorsed and funded over the years.”
“Their latest hit joins a long line of deceptive rhetoric that continues to demonstrate they’ll stop at nothing to block the Governor’s reforms that could lead to health coverage for all children.”

LET'S TAKE A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

2007-03-15T12:14:00.000-04:00

ENJOY THESE SPECIAL "KODAK" MOMENTS..........ANDY

The Rules of the Track

2007-03-15T12:09:00.000-04:00

The NY Times Empire Zone

"And there off..........." let the bidding process begin..........again..........this time with a much more structured "open" process...........andy

The Spitzer administration has sent letters to the six would-be contenders for New York’s horseracing franchise, outling how the bidding process will work now that the administration has decided to ignore the findings of the Pataki-era Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of Racing, which recommended that Excelsior Racing Associates get the franchise.
Proposals are due on March 31, and the contenders will be asked to make public presentations on April 10 and April 11.
Interestingly enough — given that individuals associated with Excelsior have close ties to Gov. Eliot Spitzer — the bulk of the letter is devoted to new integrity provisions that the administration has added to the process, ostensibly to prevent excessive wheeling and dealing by the highly-connected, highly-lobbied-up consortiums.
The letters, dated March 13 and issued by Richard Rifkin, the governor’s special counsel, stipulate that the public presentations in April “will be your only opportunity to make substantive presentations to the Governor’s office, unless the office initiates informational meetings prior to the hearing.”
Bidders are precluded from initiating any contact with the administration, and will also be subject to an extensive “integrity review” conducted by the state Inspector General. “Failure to fully cooperate will result in disqualification,” the letter warns.

Conservative Chairman Abandons Senate GOP

2007-03-15T11:55:00.000-04:00

Capitol Confidential Liz Benjamin

"A Rose by any other name......" or maybe a republican in any other state??? Like the "welcome to bizzaro world" article the other day..everything is turned upside down here...unless Long is looking for a few state jobs from Spitzer..to dole out......andy

"State Conservative Chairman Mike Long has reached out to Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer today with a letter (made public via press release) in which he acknowledges he and the governor would be considered “strange bedfellows,” but says he can’t support the Senate majority’s proposed spending increases.
“William Shakespeare wrote in The Tempest “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows,” and in 2007, I find myself in the exact same position,” Long wrote.
“The New York State Conservative Party finds itself coming full circle…we are back where we began in 1962. For years, we have been aligned with the Republican Party in New York, but J. Daniel Mahoney and Kieran O’Doherty, founded the Conservative Party because the Republican Party had lost its way.”
Governor Spitzer, I do not agree with most of your budget. You have increased spending at levels that according to the Comptroller are unsustainable. I believe there is fat in your budget and given the opportunity, I would cut spending. If your future budgets continue at the same rate of spending, New York could go bankrupt.”
“As difficult as your budget is, what the Republican controlled Senate is proposing, forces me to re-evaluate your proposals.”

SPITZER AND BRUNO TRADE @#%! BOMBS

2007-03-15T06:40:00.000-04:00

New York Post FREDRIC U. DICKER and KENNETH LOVETT

Here is some more detail on the "blowup" yesterday...between Spitzer and Bruno....meanwhile the budget clock is ticking down to april 1st.......politics is a funny game..one day...yelling and screaming..the next day...a bouquet of roses...........andy

March 15, 2007 -- ALBANY - Gov. Eliot "Steamroller" Spitzer was at it again yesterday, in a 15-minute, expletive-laden exchange with Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno that left top state officials aghast - and caused a secretary to flee the face-off in horror, insiders said yesterday.
"I'm not going to be bullied, I'm not going to be steamrolled," Bruno shouted at Spitzer, sources said of the explosive behind-closed-doors confrontation.
Spitzer fired back, "I'm the governor and I'm not going to be insulted," according to a senior state official.
Another official said Spitzer infuriated Bruno by accusing him of seeking "absurd" and "indefensible" increases in the governor's proposed new state budget.
Bruno then angrily countered that Spitzer was "embarrassing me in the papers."
To which Spitzer was said to have responded, "You're doing that to yourself."
Bruno was also said to have exploded when Spitzer told him he had to "get serious" about the state budget.
Bruno angrily contended the claim was the "same mantra" embraced by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens), both Spitzer loyalists. "That's all I hear," said Bruno, adding, "They [Silver and Smith] are so far up your ass it's ridiculous."
"There was a lot of screaming and curses," a senior state official who said he was briefed on the blowup told The Post.
Things got so heated that one of Spitzer's secretaries "got up and ran out of the room," said a source close to the Bruno camp.
Several sources said the confrontation between Democrat Spitzer and Bruno, a Republican from upstate Rensselaer County, was triggered by Bruno's morning appearance on Albany's WROW-AM.
On the radio, Bruno angrily accused the "liberal press" of ignoring the governor's alleged efforts to raise state taxes by $800 million and his alleged misstating of available state revenues.
"Gov. Spitzer walks on water, Gov. Spitzer is infallible, Gov. Spitzer can't do anything wrong. Gov. Spitzer is the reincarnation of everything that is good and holy and Bruno is evil," Bruno said on the radio show when asked about Spitzer's criticisms of his just-unveiled budget proposal.
A source close to Bruno claimed Spitzer "went ballistic" over several of the senator's comments on the radio show. Minutes later, Spitzer allegedly retaliated by refusing to invite Bruno into a meeting with the family of Connie Russo-Carrierro whose murder by an ex-con sex-offender contributed to the political climate which led to the passage of a "civil-confinement" bill last week.
The snub - which is how aides to Bruno described it to several members of the press - occurred a few minutes before Spitzer and Bruno were set to appear together at a bill-signing ceremony at which the governor approved the civil-confinement measure.
Spitzer has earned a reputation for a confrontational style both as attorney general and, since Jan. 1, as governor.
The Post disclosed last month that Spitzer had warned Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco (R-Schenectady) not to oppose his proposals because he was a "f- - - -ing steamroller" prepared to crush him.
Meanwhile, the "peace pact" between Spitzer and the state's top healthcare association and union abruptly ended after just one day.
TV advertisements attacking the governor - pulled to permit serious negotiations on Spitzer's proposed healthcare cuts - suddenly went back on the air.

NO MORE MR. NICE GUY

2007-03-15T06:26:00.000-04:00

New York Post Editorial

The Post wants Eliot to kick some Bruno Butt...and keep kicking it until a reasonable budget is passed on time......come on..the guy is 78 yrs old.....maybe one good shot in the pants will do it??? andy

March 15, 2007 -- Eliot Spitzer gave state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno a reality check yes terday, telling Bruno he had to "get serious" about drafting a state budget - and, by the way, forcefully reminding the lawmaker of his proper place in Albany's pecking order.
Bruno had mocked the gov on a radio show hosted by The Post's Fredric U. Dicker: "Gov. Spitzer walks on water. Gov. Spitzer is infallible," Bruno whined. "Gov. Spitzer is the reincarnation of everything that is good and holy - and Bruno is evil."
Well, not evil, maybe.
Reckless regarding state finances, yes.
Putty in the hands of public-employee unions, sure.
But probably not exactly evil.
And it certainly was refreshing to see Spitzer remind Bruno of his place.
The putdown occurred in Spitzer's second-floor Capitol office, and became so heated that one of Spitzer's secretaries actually fled the room.
"There was a lot of screaming and curses," an official said.
Well, no one ever said that "changing everything" would be easy.
And Spitzer's frustration with Bruno is understandable.
The lawmaker has proposed a $120-billion budget for the coming fiscal year - the same total as Spitzer's - but which adds a staggering $3 billion in outlays to the governor's plan.
How does he do it?
Simple: He just pretends that the extra spending isn't there.
Memo to Bruno's budgeteers: Spending plans comprise two basic lines - that which comes in (known as revenues) and that which goes out (called expenses).
Traditionally, those lines are identical. And, happily, Spitzer appears to be a budgetary traditionalist.
Which is why he had earlier hinted that Ken Lay could've learned something from the august Senate leader.
"To say it's Enron accounting is to be unfair to Enron," Spitzer said. "These guys just simply took entire pieces of expenditure and said, 'Oh, you know what? It's big, we won't count it.' There's no way that their numbers would stand even minimal scrutiny."
So why would Bruno want to hide more than $3 billion in new spending?
Because if he didn't, his budget would be seen as more profligate than any plan anyone has yet proposed - or, practically speaking, imagined.
Making Bruno and his Senate Republicans the most liberal - that is to say, reckless - spenders in state history.
Spitzer already is proposing to burn through $120.6 billion next year.
That's a whopping 9 percent increase over last year. Thomas DiNapoli, the new state comptroller, calls that growth "unsustainable" - "almost two times faster than revenues" and "21/2 times the rate of inflation."
Bruno clearly believes the GOP's days as the majority party in the Senate are numbered.
So he's beat a hasty path to the left by restoring much of Spitzer's $1.3 billion slowdown in spending for the "health care" cartel, adding to the gov's healthy boosts in school spending and even throwing billions more to taxpayers in the form of rebate checks.
Yet, using Bruno's budgeting tricks, it's all free money.
His bottom line magically remains the same as Spitzer's.
It's time to end government by Ouija board.
If Spitzer is going to put a stop to it, he has to get tough - just like yesterday,
And, as we suspect (and hope), he will again and again - as many times as it takes to get the message across.
Kick butt, governor.
They have it coming.

Let's go for a blog.........

2007-03-14T18:24:00.000-04:00

Bruno tells the world he is as old as dirt and is not afraid of anyone......Spitzer’s Dis (Updated) .........".Bruno said Spitzer “robs Peter to pay Paul, puts one county against another county, and that is plain wrong.” He declined Dicker’s invitation to debate the governor on the radio, saying Spitzer’s ratings “are slipping already, and I do not want to be a party to him slipping anymore.”
When Dicker suggested Bruno is “afraid” of Spitzer, the majority leader replied:
“Fred, you know that I am not afraid of anything. I’m too old to be afraid. I’ve lived too long to be afraid. People don’t run me over with steamrollers. I am who I am. I’m going to be 78 years old next year (sic). I haven’t been run over yet. I haven’t been knocked n my ass yet, and I am not going to be by this guy or anybody else.”........acutally 78 next month.....maybe Bruno is getting a bit confused??? things escalated when "Gov. Eliot Spitzer did not invite him(Bruno) into the governor’s office to a pre-press conference meeting with the family of a White Plains woman murdered by a Level 3 sex offender.
Bruno was stuck waiting with reporters in the Red Room for the official event, at which Spitzer signed civil confinement legislation into law, as other lawmakers met with the sons, uncle, parents, nieces and nephews of Connie Russo-Carriero. Sources said Bruno was left out in the cold in part due to comments he made this morning on WROW-AM 590" meanwhile Senate Confirms 3 Spitzer Appointees
Diana Jones Ritter, commissioner of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.
Michael F. Hogan, commissioner of Mental Health.
David J. Swarts, commissioner of Motor Vehicles.
and Governor Spitzer has some more harsh words for Bruno's State Senate ....“Yesterday, I talked about their profilgacy, which is simply stunning in its scale,” Spitzer said. “…Further analysis that not only is the Senate’s proposal profligate and ruinous, it is Colossally Misdirected" "The Senate majority would not only drive spending to unsunstainable levels, they would wrongly eliminate every patient-centered program in this budget.” .......and Newsday throws us a few political morsels with Bruno Probe Update (or Rerun)? "Turns out Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno has used campaign funds for lawyers in the probe of his business affairs, putting his troubles again in the spotlight. He told reporters Tuesday that there is nothing new to report on the probe."
But here's the UPDATE: Mark Hansen of Bruno's office shows a story in the Albany Times Union three months ago that reported the payout -- demonstrating that there really is "nothing new here." .......yawnnnn and Spitz-ing Distance of an Endorsement "Eliot Spitzer came within a hair of saying he'd endorse Hillary Clinton today on an Albany radio show today, hinting that he was only waiting for the best time and place to sign up.
"I don't want to act precipitously or without having arranged what I'm going to say with the appropriate folks," he said. "I'll talk to Hillary and talk to folks and see how things are moving from their perspective and see what they want, what their desires are." .....I guess a public Spitzer endorsement of Hillary at Denny's is out of the question now ..........and Gay Marriage Postponed? "The same-sex marriage bill is unlikely to be acted on this year, reports Gershman in The Sun.
Spitzer had earlier signalled it would not be his top priority." yeah...I think Eliot has a few other things on his plate right about now....geeeeeeez.....and finally the NY Times Empire Zone gives us Trouble with the Senecas The Empire Zone read with interest the story in the Buffalo News "this morning about the protest rally held by the Seneca Nation at which Gov. Eliot Spitzer was branded “an agent of satan” and compared to Adolph Hitler. All this because the governor wants the Indian nation to start collecting taxes on cigarette sales to non-Indians, an issue that has been a point of contention for many years and led to violent protests in the past. Officials from the Seneca Nation and the governor met last week to try to iron out their differences, but the governor has said the taxes should be collected and has already included nearly $200 million in projected revenue from such collections in his budget. The Senecas say the governor indicated during his campaign that he would allow them to regulate themselves, but a spokesman for the governor told the Buffalo News that no such deal was struck.
“We feel the governor has gone back on his word,” Maurice A. John, the president of the Seneca Nation, said, adding, “we are not going to be tax collectors for New York State.” Can't you just here the steamroller engines revving up in the distance......maybe it is time they give up unhealthy cigarettes and stick to running casinos.......now that is a plan....huh??? andy

Budget jabs for Spitzer, Bruno

2007-03-14T06:27:00.000-04:00

Newsday

my guess is Bruno is prepared to cave in pretty fast.....alot of public posturing...and huffing and puffing....but what is the bottom line??? watch the hands...not the mouth as Suozzi is fond of saying..........andy

ALBANY - Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno traded new and biting charges of fiscal irresponsibility yesterday - two weeks before the deadline for a new budget - even as both expressed hope of reaching an agreement in time.Spitzer said that to call the Senate's counterproposal to his $120.6-billion plan "Enron-style accounting, is to be unfair to Enron." He asserted, "Adoption of their proposal would be ruinous to the state."Bruno (R-Brunswick) derided Spitzer's remarks as "sad, unfortunate and not surprising" and characterized the governor as opposed to property tax rebates, tax cuts to create jobs and "restorations to ensure patient care."The rift appears wide for the moment, with the Assembly's Democratic speaker, Sheldon Silver, staking out a fiscal position somewhere between the Senate's and the governor's.By the Senate Republicans' account, they are looking to restore potentially harmful funding cuts to hospitals and nursing homes, increase Long Island's share of school aid funds, and halt tax hikes that Spitzer describes as closing tax loopholes.Spitzer contends the Senate plan would bloat spending by $3 billion, wipe out cash reserves and cut funds for staffing anti-fraud efforts in the Medicaid program and other health-related initiatives that go with the governor's $1.3 billion in cost reductions in that area.In an unusual turn yesterday, new state Sen. Craig Johnson of Port Washington was one of two out of 29 Senate Democrats to side with the majority Republicans in voting for the part of Bruno's proposal that adds $358 million in school aid."I acted in the best interests of the residents of my district and acted in the best interests of Long Island," he said afterward. The other Democratic "yes" vote came from Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Yonkers, who, like Johnson, is a rookie lawmaker in a seat long held by Republicans.On Monday all the Democrats voted as a bloc in favor of Spitzer's controversial Medicaid proposal.Asked about an April 1 agreement, opposing leaders said that remains possible. "We want an on-time budget result that meets the needs of the people," Bruno said yesterday. On Monday Spitzer said, "Right now there's time to bridge chasms that may be significant."