Why Deputy Mayor Wolfson Will Have to Resign
BloombergGate Cover-Up Unwinds
Harold Wolfson who Replaced political guru, Kevin Sheekey, as deputy mayor is now caught up in the cover-up of the Haggerty 750,000 scandal and will have to exit City Hall Soon. Yesterday Wolfson said the money given a day before a hotly contested election by Bloomberg to the Independence Party was a donation and not for campaign expenses. Wolfson's current explanation of the money that wound up in Haggerty's pocket is 180 degrees different that the one her gave the NYP early this year (January 30th). At that time the Deputy Mayor said that the money that Bloomberg gave the party was for election day expenses. On June 10th in the NYP Wolfson also told the NYP that Haggerty was not authorized to keep any extra funds. Wolfson June 10th statement seem to agree with his January 30th statement that the $750,000 was for expenses. How can you return a donation which he claimed yesterday? Additionally the Village Voice Wayne Barrett wrote in February that Bloomberg's lawyers admitted the campaign broke the law. What the Manhattan DA must now investigate is why and who told Wolfson to now say the money was a donation to the Independence Party.
Wolfson Flip-Flops on the 750,000 to the Independence Party that wound up in Haggerty pocketWolfson Says on September 18th 2010
"The $750,000 was a donation and not for expenses"
Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson said Bloomberg did nothing wrong. "It was a donation," Wolfson said. "It was not an expenditure." Indicted campaign aide John Haggerty points finger at Mayor Bloomberg's former deputy mayor (DN)
Wolfson Says on January 30, 2010The $750,000 went for campaign expenses
"One veteran GOP consultant said he believed Special Election Operations was designed to dispense "street money" -- cash that's spread around on Election Day to volunteers and for such incidentals as lunch. But Howard Wolfson, the mayor's campaign spokesman, insisted the $750,000 -- part of a $1.2 million personal contribution Bloomberg made to the state Independence Party right before the election -- didn't go for that purpose. "The [Independence Party] made the same Election Day expenses that all party committees make every election for Election Day workers," he said in an e-mail."Because the IP does not have the infrastructure to handle this kind of activity in-house, it used Special Election Operations to handle the payroll payments to all these individuals." Mike mystery money went to key elex aide (NYP)
Wolfson Said on June 10, 2010
"The mayor's campaign spokesman, Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson, told The Post that Haggerty was never authorized to keep any leftovers." Campaigner faces jail in Bloombucks 'scam' (NYP)
Was Wolfson's Flip Flop on the reason for the $750,000 an attempt to Protect Bloomberg's Campaign from Violating Campaign Expenditure Rules?
“The mayor filed a statement with the Board of Elections that he would only make campaign expenditures through his campaign committee,” said one lawyer familiar with the case who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the investigation. “But what might have happened here is instead of doing that, he gave personal funds to political parties to make political expenditures for him, and that could be stretching the rules.” G.O.P. Consultant Accused of Stealing Campaign Money
Even Mike Bloomberg's lawyers say he broke election law when he gave $1.2 million to the Independence Party right before the November election. The mayor's media guru, Howard Wolfson, and his elections lawyer Ken Gross told the Daily News that Bloomberg's two $600,000 personal checks to the party were used for poll-watchers, drivers, cellphones and food for election day. In their eagerness to account for the missing money -- most of which went to a mysterious, unincorporated firm now under investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance -- the two unwittingly admitted to an apparent violation of city and state campaign finance laws. Mike Bloomberg Broke Election Law, Admit His Own Lawyers (Barrett, Village Voice)
BloombergGate Hits Home/Cover-UP Unwinds
Has Haggerty has decided to take everyone down with him or is he trying to get the heavyweights involved to stop his investigation? Stay Tuned
"Mayor Bloomberg's political mastermind was outed in court papers Friday as the architect of a plan to hide $1.1 million in Election Day poll-watching. Indicted campaign aide John Haggerty said in a 41-page motion that former Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey convinced Bloomberg to hire the state Independence Party to do the monitoring - instead of using his own campaign team."
"It was Mr. Sheekey who decided that Mr. Haggerty should contact the Independence Party and request that ballot security be conducted through that political party"Bloomy political mastermind outed in court docs
Haggerty - who is currently working as a "volunteer" for Carl Paladino's GOP gubernatorial campaign, the same title he had with Bloomberg, with no campaign payments listed going to him - has made clear he's planning on fighting the case. Haggerty's spill factor
Sunday Update
In a city where decent has all but disappeared, corporations control the news we are programed with and the number of voters keeps falling in each election why is the city giving away cable franchise without demanding more public accesses? An Appointment With the Cable Guy?Anyone who has wasted half the day waiting for a cable TV technician will find satisfaction in a contract New York City is close to finalizing with cable companies. (NYT Ed)
Bloomberg Vows to Help Bolster the Political Center (NYT)
Saturday Update
Paladino gets down & dirty against Andy * For Paladino, Upstate Vote May Not Seal Fall Election (NYT) * In House Full of Cuomos, a Dog Not as Burly as Paladino’s Duke (NYT) * GOP guv wananbe Paladino fires back at Gov. Paterson (DN)
Schneiderman called out for friendship with Lopez (DN)
Rangel Trial Unlikely Until After Elections (WSJ)
City Budget Mess Leads to Ghost Day Care (WSJ)
Thousands of Trees Killed by New York Tornadoes (NYT)
The Media Ignores Cause of NY's Pension Corruption
The Media has not ask one question of what reforms are need to prevent future corruption in the state comptrollers office
After a deal made with unlicensed placement agent Bill White who Cuomo called a fixer who filled his pockets the AG said there are serious problems in the state's controllers office “Unlicensed placement agents, secret fees, and even the appearance of pay-to-play erode taxpayers’ trust and pose an intolerable risk to our pensioners’ retirement funds,” said Cuomo, a Democrat who is running for governor. “New York’s pension system is fraught with systemic problems that we can no longer afford to ignore.”
Even Koch who is head of the reform group NY Uprising made no mention of reforms to the comptrollers office when Koch Endorsed Tom DiNapoli For State Comptroller
Deputy Attorney General Ellen Biben said White collected the sham fees from the Guggenheim Partners Select State Fund and other funds for securing $500 million in investments from the pension fund. Meanwhile, White bundled $50,000 in contributions from Guggenheim to Hevesi's political campaign. So far, six people, including former pension-fund manager David Loglisci, have pleaded guilty as a result of the probe. The state has collected $138 million in settlements so far. Cuomo has called for an overhaul of pension-fund management to protect the fund from further abuse. (NYP) * Disgraced ex-head of Intrepid, agrees to $1M settlement (DN) * $1M pension slap (WSJ) *
-
Pension Funds Gap Looms Larger
Many of America's largest pension funds are sticking to expectations of fat returns on their investments even after a decade of paltry gains, which could leave the U.S. with an even larger pensions shortfall than expected. (WSJ)
A Judicial Cover-up Attempt? It seems that even the judge does not want details about New York's pension corrupt to come out. Morris only card is to force a trial until they give him a deal he likes Judge Prods Cuomo, Ex-Hevesi Aide to Resolve Pension Charges Before Trial (Bloomberg)
NY's Soviet Style Elections Where Insiders and Incumbents Always Win
It was not only pro charter school candidate who lost tuesday, every challenger expect the one running with the insiders against Espada lost
Elections Show Hurdles for Charter School Backers (NYT) * Protecting the Capital’s School Reform Vincent Gray, the District of Columbia’s Democratic mayoral candidate, needs to reassure the city that he will not undermine school reforms started there. (NYTEd) * Foes Turn Up Heat on School's Chief Community groups and officials called for schools Chancellor Joel Klein to suspend some of his accountability policies because of steep declines in the number of children proficient in math and English. (WSJ) True News: New York Still Loves Their Bums
Gov: Just ‘Kidding’ About US Senate Self-Appointment
NYPIRG Covering their Ass
They actually come up with a report that two incumbents lost by smaller margins, ignoring the candidates with serious problems that blew out their challengers. The Throw Out the Bums movement made no difference the same number of incumbents lost this year as the in 2008 and 2006. - one lost in the city and 3 upstate. These jerks in the good government group cover up serious problems in our Democracy were every incumbent wins no matter what they do NYPIRG On The (So-Called) Anti-Incumbent Wave
True News Past Stories On Good Government Groups
Goo goos Reformers Have Their Annual Press Conference . . . Nothing Else * How Albany Operates Like the Mob
Gov. David Paterson seemed to suggest Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver wants the Democrats to lose control of the Senate majority because he won’t pass the property tax cap.
Loser of the Week
Harold Ford, Steve Israel, Carolyn Maloney & Carolyn McCarthy – Any one of these four was expected to be able to mount a credible challenge to Kirsten Gillibrand, but they all begged off, citing other concerns publicly as they worried about the difficulty of the race. Enter Gail Goode, a woman who was probably completefly unknown to nearly all of the 131,000 people who protest voted against Gillibrand, but still managed to get 24 percent of the vote. Sure, that is a blowout, and no doubt the race would have been harder fought if Gillibrand had been actively defending herself, but those returns for an unfunded unknown suggest that someone with a base, a message and a fundraising prowess could have given the junior senator at least a real run for her money, especially on the same day when a former two-term governor and nine-term congressman got trounced in Delaware. (Plus, Maloney’s win in the primary shows there is not a big anti-Congressional incumbent mood in the air in New York.) Winners & Losers, Sept. 17 Edition
De Blasio Seeks Answers on Voting Snarls (NYT)
City Reject Court Fix for Firefighters Test
City Rejects Judge's Offer on Hiring Firefighters (NYT) * City Forgoes New Fire Class (WSJ) *
New York Economic Meltdown Paterson: Layoffs certain(NYP) * Untaxed Cigarettes Are Sold on Reservation, Mayor Says (NYT) * Finance Jobs Fall in New York State (WSJ) * Struggling NYers were just getting by, but not anymore (DN)
True News How Wall Street Used Stuy Town to Lose Billions in Pension Funds
StuyTown judge tells Ackman: Put up $3.7B (NYP) * Company Fends Off Challenge on Stuyvesant Town * Zoning Changes for Comptroller A task force commissioned by City Comptroller John Liu is poised to call for a major change in the way that the city determines what amenities to extract from real-estate developers in exchange for approving their plans. (WSJ)
Mosque Standoff
One Project, One Faith, and Two Men Who Differ (NYT) * Disjointed Strategy at Mosque (WSJ) * Five Arrested Over Pope Plot Street Cleaners * Developer Starts Paying Back Taxes on Islamic Center Site (NYT) * The Park51 developer is moving to pay his back taxes. * Muslim powwow (NYP)
It was not only pro charter school candidate who lost tuesday, every challenger expect the one running with the insiders against Espada lost
Elections Show Hurdles for Charter School Backers (NYT) * Protecting the Capital’s School Reform Vincent Gray, the District of Columbia’s Democratic mayoral candidate, needs to reassure the city that he will not undermine school reforms started there. (NYTEd) * Foes Turn Up Heat on School's Chief Community groups and officials called for schools Chancellor Joel Klein to suspend some of his accountability policies because of steep declines in the number of children proficient in math and English. (WSJ) True News: New York Still Loves Their Bums
Gov: Just ‘Kidding’ About US Senate Self-Appointment
NYPIRG Covering their Ass
They actually come up with a report that two incumbents lost by smaller margins, ignoring the candidates with serious problems that blew out their challengers. The Throw Out the Bums movement made no difference the same number of incumbents lost this year as the in 2008 and 2006. - one lost in the city and 3 upstate. These jerks in the good government group cover up serious problems in our Democracy were every incumbent wins no matter what they do NYPIRG On The (So-Called) Anti-Incumbent Wave
True News Past Stories On Good Government Groups
Goo goos Reformers Have Their Annual Press Conference . . . Nothing Else * How Albany Operates Like the Mob
Gov. David Paterson seemed to suggest Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver wants the Democrats to lose control of the Senate majority because he won’t pass the property tax cap.
Loser of the WeekHarold Ford, Steve Israel, Carolyn Maloney & Carolyn McCarthy – Any one of these four was expected to be able to mount a credible challenge to Kirsten Gillibrand, but they all begged off, citing other concerns publicly as they worried about the difficulty of the race. Enter Gail Goode, a woman who was probably completefly unknown to nearly all of the 131,000 people who protest voted against Gillibrand, but still managed to get 24 percent of the vote. Sure, that is a blowout, and no doubt the race would have been harder fought if Gillibrand had been actively defending herself, but those returns for an unfunded unknown suggest that someone with a base, a message and a fundraising prowess could have given the junior senator at least a real run for her money, especially on the same day when a former two-term governor and nine-term congressman got trounced in Delaware. (Plus, Maloney’s win in the primary shows there is not a big anti-Congressional incumbent mood in the air in New York.) Winners & Losers, Sept. 17 Edition
De Blasio Seeks Answers on Voting Snarls (NYT)
City Reject Court Fix for Firefighters Test
City Rejects Judge's Offer on Hiring Firefighters (NYT) * City Forgoes New Fire Class (WSJ) *
New York Economic Meltdown Paterson: Layoffs certain(NYP) * Untaxed Cigarettes Are Sold on Reservation, Mayor Says (NYT) * Finance Jobs Fall in New York State (WSJ) * Struggling NYers were just getting by, but not anymore (DN)
True News How Wall Street Used Stuy Town to Lose Billions in Pension Funds Wall Street Hijacks Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for Stuy Town 2
Wall Street is Still Trying to Make Money Off of Stuy Town's Middle Class HouseStuyTown judge tells Ackman: Put up $3.7B (NYP) * Company Fends Off Challenge on Stuyvesant Town * Zoning Changes for Comptroller A task force commissioned by City Comptroller John Liu is poised to call for a major change in the way that the city determines what amenities to extract from real-estate developers in exchange for approving their plans. (WSJ)
Mosque Standoff
Terrorism Six street cleaners nabbed in threat against Pope (DN) * The Terror Translators (NYT) * Informer in Bomb Plot Describes His Two Lives * Terrorism Arrests Related to Pope’s Visit to UK (NYT) * US scientist, wife charged in nuclear weapons secrets case (NYP) *
Law and Order 53 in ID Fraud Ring(WSJ) * Smoke Shop Sting * Video shows ripoffs on Indian reservations (DN)* John Lennon's killer: Sex with my wife is high priority in prison (DN) * Cop-killer's chance of parole is slim to nun (DN) * Kin of pupil who drowned on PS trip sue city for $20M * $10G reward in hunt for Brooklyn rooftop sniper (DN) * Starbucks bombing teen gets plea deal (NYP) *Brooklyn Malls Try to Limit Youth Loitering (NYT) * Starbucks Bomber to Get 3½ Years (NYT) *Luxury Home Exits Housing Court (WSJ) * NYPD can finger suspects a lot faster now with new device (DN) * Valentine Ave. in Bronx at heart of heroin ring (DN)
Media and New Tech The iPad Gets A Slew Of New Features * WATCH: Stewart, Colbert Announce Dueling Marches On Washington * Report: Newsweek And The Daily Beast Might Combine Under Tina Brown
Jimmy Carter: ‘We’d Have Comprehensive Healthcare By Now If Not For Ted Kennedy’
Two Different WorldsThe movers and shakers can’t seem to grasp the depth of the economic crisis facing ordinary Americans. (Herbert, NYT) * Working-class blues: Rocked, economically Americans get no help from Washington (DN Ed)
The Secret ElectionAdvocacy committees that are sucking in many millions of anonymous corporate dollars are making this the most secretive election cycle since the Watergate years. (NYT Ed)
