*** Gov. Paterson Calls For Budget PowerThe Audacity of Bruno's Corruption Editorial Board Outrage Over the Years Leads Nowhere
In 2005 Bruno is passing lobbying and ethic reform at the same time he using his government position to rip off the tax payers according to federal prosecutors. He either has a large set of balls or he knows the game is fix and nothing is illegal in Albany.
From the NYP "For if the "historic" package on lobbying and ethics "reforms" trumpeted by Pataki, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and glowingly approved by several good-government groups is anything at all, it is - like the desert mirage - a chimera, the political equivalent of a Las Vegas magician's trick designed to shift an audience's attention away from an otherwise obvious sleight-of-hand. ALBANY'S EMPTY ETHICS REFORM(NYP) June 23, 2005 (notice how the good government group always do the bidding of the leaders)
NYT Today: Albany’s ‘Ethics’ on TrialThe trial of former State Senator Joseph Bruno makes clear that state law and its enforcers have too often allowed ethics in Albany to be optional (NYT Ed) The Times writes: "If Mr. Bruno broke no laws - something a jury will probably decide very soon - that would only confirm what many other New Yorkers have long thought: the problem is not what's illegal in Albany but what's legal."
The NYT Editorial Board
Problem is NYT has tried but failed over the years to change Albany
The real question now is the old gray lady ready to go to war with a new generation who runs Albany, who see the press as weak and not a factor in their governing or reelection. Now with thousands of less readers, it will be a tall order for the NYT to change the way Albany works
"Reformers' Feud." (Series Fixing Albany) March 4, 2004 "It would certainly be a crisis. Anyone who is familiar with Albany knows it's dangerous to presume that the Legislature will rise to an occasion, or do anything quickly. In the meantime, there would be no way for the public to have any idea of what lobbyists were up to."
"The 'Then What?' Problem" (Series Fixing Albany) Feb 16, 2004 "It's the ''then what?'' in Albany that seldom gets asked and almost never gets answered by New York's 212 legislators. Bills aimed at cleaning up Albany's governmental stables tend to disappear into legislative limbo. History suggests that the State Senate will pass an equally impressive-sounding but somewhat different batch of reforms and that the two versions will never be reconciled."
Pledges of Reform in Albany Stumble in a Familiar Whirl of Politics December 8, 2004 Lawmakers in both parties pledged in their November re-election campaigns to overhaul the notoriously dysfunctional state budget process, but by the time the dust had cleared in Albany yesterday, they had failed to fulfill this campaign promise. . . So, as with many things in Albany, the fate of the Legislature's promises to reform itself seemed caught in a net of complicated politics, entangled in the mostly contentious negotiations over a host of other proposals that seemed to swirl like the snow outside the State Capitol. . . ''The pre-election rhetoric has fallen far short of the post-election reality,'' said Blair Horner, a lobbyist with the New York Public Interest Research Group, who observed the events firsthand by stalking the hallways, as is his custom. ''Today was Albany at its most typical: secretive insider deal-making.''
"THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" (NYT) March 13, 2007 It comes down to this: Can Spitzer force lawmakers, finally, to act responsibly - on behalf of all New Yorkers? . . . The Senate, nominally in Republican hands, vowed yesterday to resume spending at the unsustainable rates of the past, despite Spitzer's efforts not to cut spending, but to slow its growth. . .Spitzer promised that everything would change on "Day One" - a grand, if wholly rhetorical, notion. Day 90 - April 1, the budget deadline - is a different matter. If Spitzer hasn't prevailed by then, he never will.
It Not Just the NYT Editorial Board that is ignored
TO MAKE ALBANY WORK - WITHOUT REFORM, MESS SET TO WORSEN May 30, 2006 (NYP) 'We've gone beyond dysfunctional - to chaotic.'NEW York state now passes budgets on time - but that doesn't mean it's not still dysfunctional. The current state budget, for example, boosts spending much faster than revenues, raises our sky-high debt even higher - and relies on more than $3 billion of one-shots that plug today's budget holes while increasing future budget gaps. Result: The state now faces gaps totaling at least $9.8 billion (and as much as $12.8 billion) in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 budgets."
Media Master Bloomberg tell the NYP "If you want great services, you have to have good people . . . You have to pay them fairly." At the same time according to newspaper reports the city is looking to layoff workers to close a 4.1 Billion dollar budget gap, Bloomberg is working to pay back the UFT for staying out of the mayoral campaign with higher pay. 4% increases is the buzz. Today's NYP Editorial Mayor creampuff makes the case that the mayor has already increased teacher pay 43% during his watch
Stuy Town: High Finance Continues to Manipulates Government
Fannie Mae created in 1938 as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal mission is to tear down barriers, lower costs, and increase the opportunities for home ownership and affordable rental housing for all Americans. Freddie Mac's mission is to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the housing market. Effort by several New York legislators to get bondholders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to include them in any restructuring, hit a wall. In separate letters to the group of legislators, the two lenders said that while they "understand" and "support" tenants concerns, they are in no position to help Wall Street Hijacks Federal Agencies Created to Provide Affordable Housings * Black eye over Stuy Tishman Speyer mortgage default imminent as the owners work with the pension funds to try to restructure the debt with their bondholders. The California pension fund has already written off the billion they contributed to the 5.4 Stuy purchase price. Reports are today that after the court ruling that Stuy rents were illegally raised and the colapse of New York housing market that the complex is now worth $1.8 billion, a third of the purchase price.
Update Daily News continues to beg Albany November 15, 2009 Editorial Masters of disaster: State Senate fiddles while fiscal Armageddon gets closer True News November 11, 2009 The Greatest Generation vs. Today's Take Albany Generation It is funny how the Daily News Editorial Board continues to beg to a generation that has tuned them out. It not denial when you don't care Nothing from nothings: State Senate Dems again fail to do their duty to New Yorkers
Above the Fold Court: Land Can Be Seized for Arena The 6-1 ruling by the New York State Court of Appeals allows the contentious $4.9 billion, 22-acre Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn to proceed. The project includes a new arena for the New Jersey Nets *** Obama Sets Dec. 1 Troop Deadline * Obama promises to 'finish the job' in Afghanistan
More Coming soon on the following issues
Quinn rails on yard plan
Homeless beggar jars a sham: AG Andy rips sidewalk beg 'con' * Homeless Organization Is Called a FraudWheels come off!
Pedicabs few & far between as crackdown takes effect
Gov of La Mancha Albany New York state must cut spending By SHELDON SILVER ***
More budget talks last night *** Aqueduct Racetrack Still Awaits a Decision ***Former Bush Treasury Official Eyeing Self-Financed GOP Run For Governor *** Sheldon Silver may make pact with Gov. Paterson, leave Senate on the spot (NYDN) *** Paterson, lawmakers fail again to strike budget deal*** The Times Union says we should listen to Moody's ***AG received defense cash campaign fund took tens of thousands of dollars from law firms representing clients that his office was investigating, records show *** Cuomo Took Cash From Lawyers With Matters Before Him (Update4) (Bloomberg News) *** Paterson was in Buffalo at two fund-raisers *** Video of the Monserrate Inquisition Panel's second meeting *** Special interests have helped fill Sen. Carl Kruger's campaign coffers *** Paterson: Cut My Way, Or Give Me the Power to Cut My Way *** Reaction to the Paterson Declaration *** Skelos: Paterson Wants a Credit Downgrade*** 'What's Next, Martial Law?' *** PM Let Me Cut Budget, Paterson Says; No, Lawmakers Reply (NYT) *** Skelos And Sampson, Albany's New BFFs *** Paterson Softens School Cuts in New Plan *** Paterson Proposes Emergency Legislation To Close Budget Gap (NY1) ***Gov. David Paterson modified his deficit reduction plan to reduce cuts to education and health care *** 1199 And GNYHA Remain Dissatisfied
Inspector Clouseau Another Troopergate Chapter Closed *** Felton Admits Troopergate Role, Won't Be Fined
Inside City Hall O invites mayor to state-dinner gala ***Gaming Out The Bloomberg III Cabinet: Schools, Parks, FDNY and DEP *** "He wouldn't share a stage with fellow Democrat Bill Thompson, but President Obama invited Thompson's campaign rival, Mayor Bloomberg, to attend a White House state dinner tonight." *** Bloomberg defended the move of trapping straphangers in the train where a murder took place *** Metro says "Bloomberg angrily defended" the move to lock the train doors *** A Philadelphia newspaper carries the news of Bloomberg defending the closing of the D train doors after the stabbing *** British media picks up the story of "horrified passengers forced to stay" in the D train *** A woman at Bloomberg's campaign headquarters said Africans "were exercised that the campaign had not produced a separate poster for them." *** Mayor Mike Bloomberg should meet with common folk after buzz about campaign trickery *** Is New York Ready for Instant Runoffs?
Pay to Play Construction 7 Charged for False Building Documents
New York Economic Crisis 525 Clinton: From Construction Fatality to Stalled Development *** NYC business lender to be acquired for $738M *** Bronx luxury condos auctioned at 45% off *** Need for emergency food spikes nearly 21% in NYC *** Huge spike in number of city soup kitchen visitors *** Stimulus Funds Stock Pantries and Soup Kitchens
New York and Terrorism Charges Detail Road to Terror for 20 in U.S. *** Lawyer: Fort Hood suspect may use insanity defense *** Hasan's Lawyer: Due Process Trampled *** Man Arrested in Philadelphia in Alleged Missile Smuggling Plot *** At mosque, unwanted attention *** Scott Fenstermaker, Lawyer For 9/11 Defendant, May Be Bringing His Own Politics To The Case (Huff Post) *** New York rally planned to protest 9/11 trial Reuters
Law and Order Vada gang trembling at Rikers *** Cop fired 8 at 11-shot teen ***Florida link flooded NYC with guns *** Right and Left Join to Oppose Government in Criminal Cases *** War on Illegal Guns, Fought on Two Fronts *** NYPD Bust Gets Dozens Of Illegal Guns Off The Streets *** South Carolina shoots holes in gun battle by peddling tax-free weapons for Black Friday *** 2008 sees sharp spike in hate crimes against gays *** Outrage over victims of gun tragedies *** Gotti jurors plead can't agree on verdict after nine days
More City News Runaway Spent 11 Days in the Subways *** H1N1 Vaccinations Rise; Infections Low *** Artist Arrested for 42nd Time, This Time on the High Line *** Jewish NYer booted from '36 Nazi track team gets record restored *** Rules for queasy riders: Give the subway-car brake a break (DN Ed) *** Full of the fighting spirit: Brooklyn boxer contends he can be rabbi *** Atlantic Yards goes forward: State's highest court OKs Bruce Ratner to proceed with eminent domain *** After eight years, Cortlandt Street subway station to reopen
White House Obama Set to Announce Afghan Strategy Next Week *** U.S. to Propose Emissions Cut Before Climate Talks *** Obama Issues Sharp Rebuke of Mugabe *** Indian prime minister makes state visit to Washington (Cnn) ***Cohen: Obama is missing in action *** Signs of Hope The U.S. has the intellectual resources and expertise to lead in the development of clean energy. It just needs the will to make it happen (NYT Ed) *** In the Shadow of Hoover - William Greider, The Nation *** America's New Crisis of Confidence - David Rothkopf, Foreign Policy *** Decline & Fall of America? Not So Fast - Richard Reeves, RealClearPolitics *** Our Pushover President - Pat Buchanan, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review *** India: Obama's Forgotten Friends - Tunku Varadarajan, The Daily Beast *** Missing Obama's Moral Clarity - Richard Cohen, New York Daily News *** Too Much Head, Too Little Gut From Obama - David Paul Kuhn, RCP *** Justice, The Chicago Way - Ronald Cass, RealClearPolitics *** Deficits Are Killing Us - George Melloan, Wall Street Journal *** It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like a 'W' - Irwin Kellner, MarketWatch *** Obama Welcomes India Prime Minister *** Jennifer Hudson to Perform at State Dinner *** Top Republican Lawmakers Not Invited to Obama's First State Dinner (Fox) *** Comeback for White House choppers? (Politico) *** What bipartisanship? Top GOPers say they didn't get invite to Obama's first state dinner *** Washington's Goals in Afghanistan - Richard Holbrooke, Der Spiegel *** The Carter Ricochet Effect - Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal *** Obama at the Tipping Point - Gloria Borger, CNN
Congress Kansas Rep. Moore Plans to Retire *** Rationing: The Unspeakable But Honest Solution - Eugene Robinson, WP *** Health care reform legislation is coming down to a battle over the public option. (WashPost) *** Lieberman's Stand: No Public Option *** Lawmakers Probe Climate Emails *** Sen. Chuck Schumer says the Senate Democrats will pass a health care reform bill with or without the Republicans *** War surtax: 'Pay as you fight' *** Bishops search for Senate sponsor *** Dennis Moore retiring *** Credit crunch: RNC flack sacked *** Nuclear power regains support (Wash Post) *** Sex, Faith and Scandal Niteline Exclusive: Doug Hampton Speaks Out on Sen. Ensign's Affair With His Wife *** Patrick Kennedy, the Bishop and RI Politics - Froma Harrop, RCP Blog
Political Parties Lou hints at run for presidente *** Conservatives Make a List to Measure Candidates’ Commitment *** Palin's book tour for 'Going Rogue' hits Fort Bragg *** How Far Will Democratic Leaders Go? - Jay Cost, RealClearPolitics *** Can Populism Be Liberal? - Michael Lind, Salon *** Christopher Buckley indexes Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue.” (Daily Beast) *** Could Palin Win in 2012? You Betcha - Matthew Dowd, Washington Post *** Liberals & Mammography: What Rationing? - Wall Street Journal *** Three Republicans Planting 2012 Seeds in Iowa - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette *** The Wilding of Sarah Palin - Robin of Berkley, American Thinker
Health Care Public Database Is Urged to Monitor Drug Safety *** The Values Question Like all great public issues, the health care debate is fundamentally about values, about whether we have a moral preference for vitality or security (Brooks NYT)
Wall Street and the Economy SEC's war on hedges' derivatives *** Billions in Lehman accounts unfrozen *** National retail sales face holiday slump, poll says *** Price War Brews Between Amazon and Wal-Mart *** Existing home sales jump to highest level in 2 1/2... *** Government Deficits & Private Growth - George Melloan, Wall St. Journal *** Why the Dollar Will Remain Weak for Some Time - Albert Bozzo, CNBC *** Don't Get Carried Away by Housing Numbers - Joshua Zumbrun, Forbes *** One in 4 Borrowers Is Underwater *** AIG's Rescue Bedevils U.S. *** Fed to Banks: Pay Us Back *** Dems push $150B stock tax on Wall Street... *** Trumped-Up Job Count Flunks Science Test - Caroline Baum, Bloomberg *** Uncle Sam Can't Be a Tightwad Now - Jesse Jackson, Chicago Sun-Times *** Young Black Men Hit Hardest By Recession 34.5% Unemployment *** Christmas Won’t Come to Greenwich This Year
Wall Street Spin of the Day Slow Month for Retailers, but Strong Finish Is Seen *** For the Hotel Industry, Recovery is a Long Way Off
National SC Gov. Sanford faces dozens of ethics charges *** Economy Is Forcing Young Adults Back Home in Big Numbers, Survey Finds - NYTimes.com *** Schwarzenegger Appoints Lt. Governor *** Goodbye jobs, hello mom and dad, say young adults
International Iran Expanding Effort to Stifle the Opposition *** Philippines Declares Emergency After Election Violence *** Netanyahu Says Prisoner Swap Is Not Certain *** China OKs Shanghai Disney park *** Turkey's Islamist Government - Washington Post *** China Executes Two for Milk Scandal *** Iraq Elections Fall Apart Again *** Interrogated About ‘The Daily Show’ in Iran
Media and New Tech Opinion: News Corp. content not a Google killer *** News Corp. Weighs an Exclusive Alliance With Bing *** Shows Online, Brought to You by *** Murdoch, Microsoft, and Google *** AOL reveals its new look *** New news model? Microsoft wants News Corp to get paid to remove its news from Google *** Lou Dobbs is reportedly mulling a run for the White House; the Latino vote might be a problem. (Politico) *** Warner Music Swings to Loss on Higher Costs *** A feast of Thanksgiving DVDs *** Top 2 booksellers report losses, their shares fall *** Kindle 2 gets native PDF support, improved battery life *** Playboy To Outsource Most Operations, Cut 25 Jobs *** BBC won't charge for online news... *** Tribune, Scripps Use Thanksgiving to Increase Prices (Update1) *** Sarah Palin's 'Going Rogue' Outsells Hillary Clinton's Memoir in First Week FOXNews *** If Seinfeld Were on Today ... *** Murdoch and Microsoft: The Mice Are Trying to Roar (Wolff Newser) *** Time Inc. to Close In Style Weddings *** Exec Editor Quits BusinessWeek To Start Digital Media Company ***MediaWashington Post To Close New York, Chicago, LA Bureaus
