Monday, January 28, 2013

Albany's Jackpot Fight

Team Cuomo Attacks Silver's Gambling Plans
 
AEG II?
Silver wants the Legislature to make the decision on where to locate new casinos in NY because it would open the Legislature to huge casino lobbying money for legislators’ campaign funds
Silver shows his hand(NYP) (Dicker, NYP) Bets on lobbyists in casino clash with Cuomo.  Albany insiders are ridiculing Assembly Speaker’s Sheldon Silver’s latest issue, calling it, “The Lobbyist Protection Act of 2013.”  That’s because Silver is demanding that politically chosen lawmakers, and not Gov. Cuomo’s new Gaming Commission, make the decision on where to locate up to seven new gambling casinos in New York. “This could be worth tens of millions of dollars in fees to lobbyists from gaming interests across the country, and it could make that much more money for many of Shelly’s friends,’’ said a source involved in preparing gambling legislation. “Shelly knows that granting discretion to the Legislature to make judgments like this means opening the spigot to huge lobbying dollars to influence the decisions. And he knows, too, that where there are huge lobbying dollars, there are huge contributions to be made to political campaigns,’’ the source continued. * Cuomo’s new Gaming Commission is set to begin work in four days, but no one knows who the commissioners or executive director will be for a body that could determine where New York’s first non-Indian casinos will be built.* A source grumbled to Fred Dicker that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s insistence that lawmakers have a role in deciding where new casinos are located (if approved at all) would enrich the speaker’s lobbyist friends.
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Cuomo vs. Silver on casino in Queens(Queens Crap)
From the Queens Chronicle:Gov. Cuomo reiterated his support for full casino gaming — including table games — in New York State, but under the plan he outlined in this week’s State of the State speech, Queens residents will have to drive a good long while on the Thruway to get to roll real dice at a real craps table or sit with an actual blackjack dealer.In his speech, Cuomo said the idea behind limiting full gaming to upstate is to boost tourism and economic development in upstate counties, while New York City already has 50 million tourists a year. Under his plan, up to three casinos would open to full gaming in upstate counties should the state Legislature and New York voters approve a constitutional amendment to allow table games.*  NY Casino Lobby Unveils New Radio Campaign(NYDN)
Daily News Blames Albany For BOE Not Being Able To Hold Run Off Elections As The Law Requires


The News writes that the New York City Board of Elections’ ideas to compensate for slow electronic ballot machines that were forced on them by the state Legislature, are absurd * Billion-dollar ballots(NYDN Ed) The city Board of Elections has produced an insane list of plans for conducting this fall’s citywide primary elections — including the vote that could well determine who becomes our next mayor.The plans include the possibility of spending $430 million on a runoff, should one be necessary.In 2010, Albany forced the city to buy electronic ballot-scanning machines. Since then, the Legislature has stubbornly ignored the equipment’s limited and time-consuming capabilities.State law says a candidate must get at least 40% of the vote to win. If no one hits the mark, the law sets a runoff two weeks later between the top two finishers. No can do. The scanners take far too long to produce results, especially in close elections. Counting can go on for weeks or months.

BOE Absurd Solutions
How about printing up 2.2 million Democratic runoff ballots and 350,000 GOP runoff ballots for every possible outcome among the top two candidates? There are more than 216 combinations.Add in the 50% extra needed for absentee, military and affidavit ballots, and the total comes to 826 million ballots. At a cost of 52 cents each, the cost for ballots would be $430 million.Here’s a great one: Leave the candidates’ names off the runoff ballots. Instead, list Candidate A and Candidate B. At each polling place, signs would say who is A and who is B. The solution favored by Albany is to have the primary in June.


Albany/BOE Incompetence Could Make Quinn the New Mayor
That means that the election would favor the candidate who is well funded and already ahead in the polls.  How about holding the general election in December?




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Campaign 2013

Neighborhood de Blasio

de Blasio Announces His Run for Mayor In Front of His House to Drive Home the Image He is A Neighborhood Outer Borough Guy 
De Blasio, Announcing Mayoral Bid, Pledges to Help People City Hall Forgot(NYT) Bill de Blasio, the city’s public advocate, promised to focus on education as well as neighborhood and pocketbook issues that he said had not been addressed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. * More on de Blasio * Public Advocate De Blasio Paints Himself As Mayoral Candidate For Working Class(NY1) * Public Advocate Bill de Blasio officially announced his own mayoral campaign yesterday. In their coverage of the event, the Daily News quickly noted his son’s “stupendous afro,” the New York Times said his “modest, homespun tableau stood in calculated contrast to the formality of an announcement at City Hall,” and the New York Post focused on his criticism of Mr. Bloomberg’s administration.
The Onion or NYT headline: "De Blasio's Announcement Is Upstaged by Son's Hair"
 De Blasio's Announcement Is Upstaged by Son's Hair(NYT)




Remember Gillibrand Glam Pictures
Madam Would-Be Mayor(NY Mag) Hanging out with the crude, playful, openhearted front-runner, Christine Quinn. * New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn received the endorsement of influential pastor, Rev. Calvin Rice of New Jerusalem Baptist Church in Jamaica, Queens, for her mayoral campaign, the News reports:  * Jonathan van Meter writes of Quinn (AKA “Madam Would-be Mayor”): “A very skillful political operator nonetheless finds herself caught between those who see her as Bloomberg Lite and, well, those who see her as Bloomberg Lite.”*
In a letter to ConEdison CEO Kevin Burke, Quinn insisted that the utility fix its infrastructure damaged by Sandy without raising its rates, as ConEd requested to the Legislature they be allowed to do, the Post writes: * Mayor's Relationship With Speaker Comes With Candid Fashion Advice(NYT)



While on Up Close With Diana Williams, another GOP’er, Joe Lhota, pushed back on the notion that his former boss, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, alienated communities. “I will go into every community and if people tell me that, I will disagree with them,” he declared. “Because people in those communities, lives were saved by the reduction in crime. More lives were saved in the City of New York during his term as mayor than in any other period in the city and it happened in every part of our inner cities. And by the way, Rudy Giuliani, every month did a town hall meeting in every communities in the city. And in tough communities in the city, a lot of whom didn’t agree with them* Joe Lhota warns of return to dark days if Democrat elected next NYC mayor(Huff Post) * Joe Lhota Warns of Return to Dark Days if Democrat Elected Next Mayor(DNAINFO)*: "I don't buy into the political punditry that believes that NYers vote based on party lines" * Lhota Joins Fellow Republicans At Bayside Meet-Up(NY1)



Carrion’s hopes dim as GOP officials eye Catsimatidis(CrainsNY)
Catsimatidis says: "My life has far exceeded the dreams I had as a young boy growing up on 135th street" and now is the time to give back. On the eve of his mayoral campaign announcement, John Catsimatidis is moving closer to sewing up support among the NYC GOP chairs.



 Nonsense One Liners That Tell the Voter Nothing About What the Candidates Will Do As Mayor
Today's Candidate Snaps
Quinn pushes back against de Blasio's "tale of two cities" line. Says NY is united.* tells “Ignoring the inequalities that scar our city will not bring us together or address our problems."

., taking aim at , says "the elites at City Hall & their apologists have failed" to help middle/working-class NYers

Bloomberg In Albany:UFT Is Obstructionist. UFT: Mayor's Testimony Embarrassing (For Him)(NYDN)
 


. drops bid, paving the way for via
Recchia (D-Coney Island) now plans to challenge embattled Republican Rep. Michael Grimm, several friends told the News





"[] said it was 'factually true' that he had helped get elected" via

 
Can't be denied that he did help


Andrew Breitbart Rolling Over
Rummer has it that Weiner is seriously considering a run against Stringer for Comptroller...* Weiner probing possibility of political run(NYP)  * Anthony Weiner Might Be Making His Political Comeback Even More Difficult (NY Mag)


Madam Mayor: The Fantastic Quest of "ManhattanMadam" Kristin Davis, Freedom Fighter(Huff Post)






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Koch Back in the Hospital

back in hospital, after returning home over the weekend
Former Mayor Koch Returns To Hospital, Two Days After Release (NY1)
Mayor Koch is in the hospital again. Longtime friend says he "struggling to talk" (NYT)

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NYS Government
Some GOP Senators Want To Go Back to An Era Gone
State Senate Republicans are growing disillusioned with Majority Leader Dean Skelos, who they see as bowing too much to Gov. Cuomo’s liberal agenda, but have not yet seriously discussed replacing him as leader, the New York Daily News’ Ken Lovett * At the Conservative Party’s political action conference, party members voiced their displeasure with state Senate Republicans for compromising too easily on major legislation, the Times-Union reports: *Freshmen Receive Ranking Posts(YNN) * The Senate Democrats released their full list of committee assignments.* The Right to Lifers are very angry with Cuomo.
Minimum Wage
Insiders say that a compromise deal on a minimum wage increase is already in the works to pave the way for passage in the divided state Senate. 

Diaz: Was It Ignorance, Greed Or Revenge?(YNN) Diaz speculates that Adams accepted the top post at the Senate Committee Aging either because it could ingratiate him with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, because of the so-called “lulu” or stipend for committee chairs, or out of revenge for his ally Sen. John Sampson losing his position of minority leader.
 

Backdoor Assembly Pay Raises
Despite the Legislature failing to bump their pay before the legislative session began, several Western New York lawmakers will receive pay increases thanks to leadership and task force appointments given to them by Silver, The Buffalo News writes:

Looking At Cuomo's Budget
In the News, Cuomo’s secretary Larry Schwartz praises the work that the governor has done to reduce the costs of pensions and provide mandate relief to local governments: * In the Post, EJ McMahon, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, analyzes Cuomo’s budget: * Some are calling Cuomo’s new budget proposal to rework the state’s existing tax breaks for renovating historic commercial structures a “game changer” for historic renovation – particularly in aging upstate cities.  * Assembly Democrats are strongly opposed to Cuomo’s decision to impose a second strings-attached deadline on the city to approve a teacher evaluation plan. (As Silver told our sister station, NY1, last week).* Bloomberg: Pension Smoothing ‘Bad Policy’ In General(YNN) * DiNapoli: Fiscal Stress System Ready To Go(YNN) * Miner Blames Press For Exaggerating Story(YNN) * Nearly 40 local government leaders endorse Cuomo's pension smoothing plan: The stable rate pension contribution ...
DiNapoli Opposes Pension Plans
DiNapoli Attacks Plan to Let Local Government Defer Pension Costs


Illegal Cigarettes Killing NY Tax Collection
Smoke gets in their eyes(NYP Ed) Why are Michael Bloomberg and Andrew Cuomo so determined to send tax revenues New York badly needs to other states? In a new study, the Michigan-based Mackinac Center reckons that three out of every five cigarettes smoked by New Yorkers were bought in other states. Some are then resold here illegally.Either way, it means the market is finding a way around state and city taxes. Simple arithmetic explains why. As the Mackinac study points out, New York has the nation’s highest cigarette tax at $4.35 per pack. The city slaps another $1.50 on top of that, for a total tax of $5.85 per pack.* Anti-smoking groups sent a letter to Cuomo over the weekend, urging him not to cut anti-smoking programs from the state budget by consolidating 89 health awareness and prevention programs into six pools to compete for funds, the Associated Press reports: * New York’s top anti-smoking groups are assailing Cuomo’s budget proposal as the latest cut to effective programs aimed at saving lives and keeping teenagers from smoking. 

how can anyone say they're for transparency in govt & rush gun law w/o debate, asks . cc:


Learning from Bloomberg Ticket Blitzing
The Times-Union criticizes Cuomo for his plan to crack down on plea bargaining against speeding tickets, calling it a “money grab”:


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NYC Economic Dangers

The Daily News Misses That the Council Past Unemployment Discrimination Because It Cannot Solve the City's High Jobless Number 8.8%
Hire truths (NYDN Ed) City Council pursues a foolish ban on discrimination against the unemployed





NYP Dumps Wall Street High Rollers Move to Flordia In Response to de Blasio Entering the Race
Bloomberg says you better believe that people will ditch a high-tax state for a low-tax one (like Florida).* Bloomberg: 5,000 NYC residents pay 50% of its income taxes.Mayor Bloomberg said he is leaving his successor with a pension system that is going to cost "more and more each year." * Bloomberg says NYC negotiates salaries it can afford for employees, "then they go to Albany, and Albany pays them again" with pensions.
Will New York's Millionares Move to Flordia?
Hedge-fund firms can easily pick up and move out of the New York region because technology allows them to do their work anywhere
‘Wall ST.’ flees NY for tax-free Fla. (NYP) The city’s hedge-fund executives are flying south — and it’s not for vacation.  An increasing number of financial firms, especially private equity and hedge funds, are fed up with New York’s sky-high city and state tax rates and are relocating to he business-friendly climate in Florida’s Palm Beach County. There’s no need to drag people down here. It’s a zero-income-tax jurisdiction.”* Uniting for Food Aid(WSJ)

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NYC Government

When Savino mentions this is Bloomberg's last budget hearing, Bloomberg cracks, "They said that four years ago."

City to Launch Pet-Adoption Push(WSJ)* NYC stray animal adoption center to open(Fox 5)*
NYC to launch pet adoption department(SI Advance)

Renewed Call to Improve the G Train(WSJ)

 Mayor Bloomberg’s Final NYC Budget Limited by Revenue Disputes
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Bloomberg
Mayor Bloomberg tells a journalist to "look at the ass on her."(Gawker) * Mayor Bloomberg has made it official: He is an ass man.(Fishbowl) * Bloomberg admires gal's behind with crude comment: report(NYP)









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Forest City Ratner


Bruce Ratner to step down as Forest City CEO(CrainsNY)

CM James Questions AY Modular Development At City Council Oversight Hearing

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Gun Control

Only 2% of the People Arrested For Guns in NYC Had Assault Weapons . . .1400 Shooting Last Year Only 3 With Assault Guns

PC Kelly on CBS Face the Nation: 60% of NYC murders caused by handguns
Kelly the ‘piece’ keeper (NYP) The nation’s looming assault-weapons ban is plain common sense, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said yesterday — but the city’s real enemy is illegal handguns.* Kelly says assault weapons not main issue in NYC crime(NYP) * NYPD Commissioner Presses For Universal Background Checks For Gun Sales (NY1)* Jim Messina, Obama’s ex-campaign manager who will chair the relaunched, tax-exempt version called “Organizing for Action,” visited Bloomberg’s office at City Hall last week to coordinate the fight for gun control legislation.* Ray Kelly: Handguns In NYC Pose A Greater Danger Than Assault Weapons(Huff Post)* Brady Campaign Says Washington Should Follow New York’s Lead on Guns(NYO) * Sandy Hook Parents’ Testimony to Legislature Reflects Divide on Guns(NYT)


Chicago Mother Loses 4th Child to Gun Violence
Ronnie Chambers Death: Mother Loses Fourth Child To Gun Violence, 6 Others Killed In Chicago(Huff Post)


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WTC


Security
Christie, Cuomo, and Bloomberg Find a New Reason to Fight Over the W.T.C. Site(NY Mag)
Police war over WTC patrol (NYP) Officials at the Port Authority, which controls the 16-acre World Trade Center site, are planning to tear up a 4-year-old deal to allow the NYPD to run security at Ground Zero


WTC Racist Statement All Over
TOWER OF HATE: Racist and sexist slur-filled graffiti covers inside of new World Trade Center(NYDN)EXCLUSIVE: The soaring symbol of American resilience now bears the markings of lowlifes. The graffiti looms over the 16-acre site in lower Manhattan where more than 2,800 people of all colors and creeds died — victims of an attack directed at the heart of American ideals.






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MTA

Sliding doors on subway platforms might be too costly, difficult to install: MTA head(NYP)

MTA considering alarm system to alert workers when someone has fallen or jumped onto the tracks(NYDN)*  Plan to replace MetroCard pushed back * M.T.A. Says Subway Platform Gates Could Cost $1 Billion

MTA Seeks Developers For Mobile Ticket App(NY1)

Pols call for 'full review' of G line(AMNY)


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Sandy Update

 BREAKING: Senate passes Hurricane Sandy relief bill 62-36; now goes to President’s desk for signature
!Unreal 2 c Sens from natl disaster prone states OK, FL, AL, MO, NE, KS vote no on Sandy relief ”
FEMA’s ‘fixes’ feeble! (NYP) On the heels of Mayor Bloomberg’s announcement that more than 10,000 homes damaged by Sandy were repaired by FEMA’s Rapid Repairs program, recipients are complaining that government-funded contractors performed shoddy work * Two months afterprivate landlords agreed to give priority to Superstorm Sandy victims for hundreds of market-rate apartments, only one apartment lease has been signed because the “affordable” apartments are too expensive, The Wall Street Journal writes: * The Rockaway Spirit Lives After Hurricane Sandy(NYT) * No Panacea for Sandy's Displaced(WSJ) 


35,000 more NYC-area buildings in flood zones(NYP)
* Schumer: Federal Sandy Aid Bill Funds Army Corps' Projects On City Coastlines(NY1) * Upcoming Sandy bill will aid storm-damage prevention(NYDN)* Displaced Sandy Victims Say City Housing Is An Unlivable, WCBS) * Two months after government officials struck a landmark deal with landlords to set aside 2,500 affordable units to house victims of superstorm Sandy, one apartment lease has been signed.* Network of Staten Island storm shelters urged(SI Advance)

Marketing Extreme ‘Fixer-Uppers’ in the Rockaways(NYT) * Senate To Take Up $50 Billion Sandy Aid Bill (NY1) * Areas where FEMA expanded # of homes impacted by flood maps, , , *. will release executive order this week detailing how homeowners should rebuild based on new flood maps * Many homeowners included in new FEMA maps houses will have to be raised three to six feet   * PATH to Resume Pre-Sandy Overnight Weekday Service  * Health Commissioner Farley & power of denial: No cause for 2nd thghts on Sandy and Nursing homes, even if near drowned:




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Education

Cuomo has tied an additional $224 million in state funding to a new deadline for an agreement on teacher evaluations between New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the teachers union, angering Assembly Democrats, the News reports:  * Sen. Liz Krueger is strongly opposed to the NYC Department of Education’s decision to share private student information with the Shared Learning Collaborative.



Bloomberg: Teachers unions exist to get best benefits and hours for their members; elected officials need to work for best education. NYC will lose 700 teachers through attrition this school year and 1800 next year, thanks to loss of state education aid: * Bloomberg: Don’t Punish NYC Schoolchildren For UFT(YNN) * Bloomberg: "I apologize for not making the schools perfect so that every kid goes to an Ivy League school."Bloombeg: "If you have a law that penalizes our children but doesn't penalize the union, what do you expect is going to happen?"* Mayor Blasts State Lawmakers On Teacher Evaluation Fallout(NY1) * VIDEO - Bloomberg and Cathy Nolan spar over education today at the joint budget hearing -


One in Six Philadelphia Public Schools Targeted For Closure(Nation)


Peppero-no! City’s students pizza pigs(NYP)  Mayor Bloomberg may hate soda — but apparently, it’s OK for schoolkids to gobble up plenty of pizza at city expense.  Despite the health kick City Hall wants New Yorkers to go on, the number of pizza orders placed by the Department of Education has...

 Is the NYT Hinting the Entitlement Era is Over . . . At Least for Bus Drivers?
Still on Strike, a Bus Union Sees a Threat to Its Culture(NYT) Decades of job protections are threatened as New York City moves to end some seniority-based job guarantees, which has led to a strike. *Bus Strike Tough on Parents(WSJ) * NYC school bus companies, union to meet Monday(SI Advance)


Catholic Schools Educate and Save the City Billions
The Archdiocese announced that 24 schools will be shuttered after this year, including Justice Sotomayor’s Catholic school
Catholic competition(NYP) Tim McNiff, schools superintendent for the New York Archdiocese, says the Catholic schools are “the best story in town.” He puts it this way: “As I told President Obama at the Al Smith dinner, 65 percent of our city’s students are on or below the poverty line, 97 percent go on to college — and taxpayers aren’t on the hook for a dime.” The average cost per pupil for an elementary student in a Catholic school is $6,800 per year. By contrast, taxpayers pay $6,900 just to bus a kid to public school. The Catholic schools are also a bargain for New York taxpayers. Multiply those 105,000 students by the city’s average spending per pupil, and the savings easily hit $2 billion a year.* A New Beginning for a Church Where Demolition Once Started(NYT) After 12 years and nearly $15 million, the St. Brigid’s Roman Catholic Church on the Lower East Side is once again a parish church. Worshipers gathered Sunday for the dedication of the renovated building.
.. 

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Helath Care

Paying Doctors for Performance(NYT Ed) New York City’s public hospital system is moving away from cost-of-living increases.* Questions Remain on Expanded Medicaid(WSJ) * ‘LICH saved my life’ say petition signers, hoping to rescue sinking Cobble Hill hospital. (Daily Eagle)

Exclusive: Long Island College Hospital losing money at  ‘excessive rate,’ SUNY official Carl McCall says (NYDN) In first interview McCall says SUNY Downstate's purchstate of LICH was not "a sound acquisition."*

Rescuer Appears for New York Downtown Hospital (NYT)


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Grand Cental 100 Years


Looking Out on Grand Central, and Looking Back on Saving It(NYT) Dinner with Kent L. Barwick inside Grand Central Terminal, which he and Jacqueline Onassis helped rescue in the 1970s.* Grand Central Terminal At 100: Station's Majestic Architecture Is Based On Human Scale(NY1) * Grand Central Terminal At 100: Station's Majestic Architecture Is Based On Human Scale(NY1) * MTA sergeant's 'dirty work' paved the way for Grand Central's (NYP) * Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal (JKO) – The Municipal Art ...



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Washington


‘Prez Hill’ eyed O for Cabinet(NYP) * Obama and Clinton Appear on ‘60 Minutes’(NYT) * Hillary and Barack, the “60 Minutes” interview. More here and here.* Kirsten Powers And Tucker Carlson Trash Obama/Hillary’s 60 Minutes ‘Propaganda’ Interview









Senators Offer a Bipartisan Blueprint for Immigration(NYT) * Immigration Plan Proposed by Bipartisan Senate Panel(WSJ) * A powerful group of senators from both parties has reached a deal on the outlines of a comprehensive immigration overhaul, which is expected to be announced today – one day before Obama heads to Las Vegas to outline his own plan.* Read the full "Bipartisan Framework for Reform" report: * Boehner noncommittal on bipartisan blueprint for immigration reform (Wash Post) * Senators unveil overhaulof immigration laws(Wash Post) * Senators announce immigration deal(Politico) * Rush Limbaugh: 'It's up to me and Fox News' to stop immigration reform


Cantor Is Looking Past Politics of Debt(NYT)
*Chiefs from mass-shooting towns to meet with Obama(Fox 5)
Bob Woodward on why Obama picked former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel to replace Clinton as secretary of state, even though his confirmation is an uphill battle with the Senate.  
Hands Off Our Guns - David Mamet, Newsweek
The Return of Liberalism - Hendrik Hertzberg, The New Yorker
Is Republican Reform Real, or Just Talk? - Byron York, DC Examiner
Geithner's Legacy: His Actions Have Been Vindicated - Steve Rattner, NYT
Why History May Be Unkind to Geithner - Arnold Kling, RealClearPolitics
The President and the Secretary of State - Steve Kroft, 60 Minutes
Hillary Clinton's Dodgy Testimony - Jonah Goldberg, Chicago Tribune
Scenes From the Conservative Bunker - Alec MacGillis, New Republic
Republican Annihilation Is Not Likely - Michael Barone, DC Examiner
Obama's Eyes Are on 2014--and Then His Legacy - Richard Benedetto, RCP
Makers, Takers, Fakers - Paul Krugman, New York Times
California Is Becoming Less Family-Friendly - Joel Kotkin, OC Register
Malloy May Face Tough Re-election Fight in Conn. - Scott Conroy, RCP
The Urgency of Growth - E.J. Dionne, Washington Post
Mickelson & the Sports Star Tax Migration - Allysia Finley, Wall St Journal
Confessions of a Liberal Gun Owner - Justin Cronin, New York Times
Is the U.S. In Decline? Wrong Question - Robert Samuelson, Washington Post

Treasury Gets a Citibanker - Wall Street Journal
Thaw in Congress May End Winter of Discontent - Bloomberg
Reform Moves Ahead in Wisconsin - Orange County Register
Women in Combat--the Controversy That Wasn't - Boston Globe
U.S. Plans to Establish Spy Drone Base in North Africa(NYT)
Senators Offer a Bipartisan Blueprint for Immigration(NYT)
Don't be scared, Dems: Most Americans support universal background checks, ban on assault weapons (Salon)
Obama's secret skeet shooting (Politico)
The Republicans’ primary problem(Wash Post)
Why Republicans want immigration reform in 1 chart(Wash Post)
The History Obama Needs to Make - Fred Hiatt, Washington Post
Why Not a Waiting Period for Laws? - Glenn Reynolds, New York Post
Republicans' Plan: Feint Left, Go Right - Jonathan Chait, NY Magazine
Is Obama Repeating Bush's Mistakes? - Miller & Stanton, BuzzFeed
Bobby Jindal's (Almost) Radical Reformism - Peter Suderman, Reason
A New Housing Boom? Don't Count on It - Robert Shiller, New York Times
Current Policies Are Leading to a Big(ger) Bust - Michael Pollaro, Forbes
Top 5 Reasons to Grow Up and Get Married - Steven Crowder, FOX News
From Beyonce to Lance: Contempt for the Public - Gary Younge, Guardian
Sarah Palin's Fall From Media Stardom - Howard Kurtz, CNN
The Terrifying Mindset of Hillary Clinton - Joseph Curl, Washington Times 
Eugene Robinson: Republicans lost in their own wilderness - The Washington Post


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Media

Chuck Schumer wants an apology from Beyonce for lip-syncing at inauguration(NYP) * Chuck Schumer listens to Beyonce songs on his ipod when he goes biking.(Buzzfeed) * A source close to Sen. Chuck Schumer insists he’s cool with Beyonce and thinks lip-syncgate is “a big nothingburger.”




Ann CurryAnn Curry's Relationship With NBC Reportedly Worsens


 palin_response-300x193 Cautionary Fail: People Didn't Kill Sarah Palin's Career, Guns Did *Scarborough On Palin’s Exit From Fox: ‘De Facto’ Leader Roger Ailes ‘Realized What Had Gone Wrong’ In GOP
 

Barnes & Noble Is Planning to Close a Lot of Stores, Again(NY Mag)






Bay Buchanan quits politics, calls cable TV dishonest...


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Space

1948? Iran shoots monkey into space...


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Law and Order
Hasidic big boosts bad rabbi (NYP) A Satmar holy man who stirred controversy in a scandalous sex-abuse case is publicly praying for leniency on behalf of a disgraced former city jail chaplain who helped scam tax-funded housing benefits. Grand Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum invoked God and the Bible in a letter to federal Judge Kevin Castel, who is weighing the fate of Rabbi Leib Glanz. Glanz was busted in 2011, about two years after a Post exposé about the six-hour bar mitzvah he arranged for a fraudster’s son inside The Tombs jail, the city’s downtown Manhattan lockup.

Brooklyn school crossing guard shot(NYDN)A Safety Officer Is Shot in Brooklyn(NYT) * Off-duty NYC safety agent shot(WSJ) * Off-Duty School Safety Agent Shot In Brooklyn(WCBS)*
Off-Duty School Safety Officer Shot in Brooklyn: Police(NBC)

A Prosecutor Loath to Say ‘Not Guilty’(NYT)







Video released of suspect in string of violent robberie (WABC)* NYPD IDs suspect in violent robberies(Fox5)

Suspect identified in attacks targeting Asian-Americans(NY Metro)

Prosecutors target builders on minority-hiring mandates | Crain's New York Business

Cops hunting for thug accused in string of eight attacks on Asians in East Harlem(NYDN)


Police: Man Tried To Lure Queens Teens Into SUV (NY1)

Drug raid snares woman and son on Staten Island(SI Advance)

Policeman Recounts In Court How Alleged Robbers Killed His Partner In 2011 (NY1)

Body of Man Found Bound, With a Bag Over His Head in Harlem, Sources Say(DNAINFO)

DNA Tool Yields Little Success for the Police(NYT) Investigators have used partial match DNA to locate criminals in more than two dozen cases in New York City, but law enforcement officials said they knew of no cases solved because of a lead generated by the technique. 
Mr. Cuomo’s Plan on Wrongful Convictions(NYT Ed) Gov. Andrew Cuomo should keep pressing for statewide standards on false confessions and witness misidentification. The Times writes that Cuomo’s plan to require police to videotape interrogations of people charged with serious crimes is a positive step towards curbing wrongful convictions

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Terrorism
Sept. 11 defendants delay hearing after pulling silent act on Gitmo judge(NYP)
Pretrial Hearings For Alleged 9/11 Mastermind, Co-Conspirators(NY1) * Accused 9/11 Conspirators Still Giving Silent Treatment in Court(NY Mag)