The SEIU is putting a full-page version of this ad in tomorrow's Staten Island Advance to pressure S.I. congressman McMahon to vote for the final HCR bill. The implicit message is a threat to leave McMahon out in the cold in future elections if he votes against HCR. Let us double-down on this threat. Don't expect to find any love from the NY progressive blogosphere in the form of funds or boots on the ground this November if you vote nay on health care.
No results yet, but I will post them as soon as I get them!
Peralta: 9,563 66%
Beltrani: 1,051 7%
Slasher: 3,953 27%
151 of 158 precincts reporting.
Looking good, people!
Update! The NY1 site is slow reporting the numbers but Liz Benjamin says Peralta wins in a "landslide!"
With about 15,000 votes cast and roughly 100 pecent of the vote in - unofficially, that is - Assemblyman Jose Peralta had won the 13th SD special election in a landslide, according to his campaign, netting 66 percent of the vote to Hiram Monserrate's 27 percent and Republican Robert Beltrani's 7 percent.
Bye Bye, Hiram!
Update 2: Thanks so much to all the people who came out to Queens to help us get rid of the Slasher. I sure hope Hiram doesn't want to be my Assemblyman and we have to do it all over again.
Harold Ford Jr and wife look on as Iggy Pop performs up close and personal at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria, March 15 2010
The incongruity of Iggy Pop and the Stooges performing "I Wanna Be Your Dog" to a black tie crowd at the Waldorf is just too funny (to me anyway) not to pass along. The crowd sat stone faced throughout, perhaps stunned and/or appalled at what they were witnessing. Doubtless Harold chief among them.
The Child Victims Act (A.2596) was pulled from the legislative calendar on June 23, 2009 as Assembly leaders found they did not have enough votes to pass it. This bill would have extended the statute of limitations from 5 to 10 years for childhood sexual-abuse victims to bring cases against their abusers. A.2596 would have also created a one year window from the time the bill was enacted that would have allowed anyone to file a claim alleging sex abuse, no matter how old the victim now was or how long ago the alleged act occurred. After the one year period ended, the statute of limitations period would have reverted to the expanded 10 year period.
In the past few weeks, more and more information is coming to light about the role the leaders of the Catholic Church have played in their efforts to conceal abuse by pedophile priests and protect them from prosecution, thus maintaining the Church's reputation and good standing.
In light of these new revelations, it is time for the NY state legislature to revisit A.2596 and finally give the victims of the sexual abuse and systematic cover-up their day in court to face their abusers.
How bad must it get for an 85-year-old former mayor of the City of New York - not an easy job, that - to leave retirement and start rattling the cage?
Pretty bad.
The following is an op-ed that went out by email to the mayor's list.
The New York Uprising Begins
Last Friday, at the New York City offices of my law firm, Bryan Cave LLP, for a group of us, the New York Uprising began.
A hundred men and women came together to commit themselves to the overhaul of the New York State legislature, which the Brennan Center for Justice appropriately called "dysfunctional" six years ago, and which has alarmingly deteriorated since. The legislature in Albany is an abysmal failure and a disgrace to the Empire State.
The New York Uprising was convened by Dick Dadey of the Citizens Union, Henry Stern of New York Civic and myself. The purpose for the meeting was a brainstorming session aimed at developing a strategy for reforming the state legislature, both the Assembly and Senate.
Compounding New York's government problem is its non-functional governor who is beset with allegations that he may have committed a crime by swearing falsely before the New York State Commission on Public Integrity, as well as allegations of possible obstruction of justice now being investigated by the New York State Attorney General. The latter recused himself from the investigation -- he is a perceived candidate for the office of governor in the November election -- and selected Judith Kaye, retired Chief Justice of the New York Court of Appeals, to oversee the investigation by the Attorney General's staff.
Attending the March 12th meeting were Frank Baraff and Brian Keeler, leaders of a coalition of New Yorkers called Reboot New York, who are organizing upstate and Long Island citizens to push for reform in Albany. Other citizen-based organizations are being established around the city and state, including Unshackle Upstate, headed by Brian Sampson, as well as various reform-minded groups of business people. Five respected good government groups - the Brennan Center for Justice, Citizens Union, Common Cause NY, League of Women Voters/NYS and N.Y. Public Interest Research Group - have organized to address Albany reform. The Westchester County Association, led by former Lieutenant Governor Al Del Bello and Bill Mooney, is taking up the effort in Westchester.
Today is the big day. Peralta v. Monserrate. Consider this the official open thread for reporting any election-related news, anecdotes, or other input of import.
On the latest election news, it appears the Slasher has also broken election law- twice:
Around 11:30 a.m., he strutted into a senior center on Roosevelt Avenue in Corona that also held a polling station, violating election laws that require candidates and their supporters to stay at least 100 feet away.
(snip)
About a half hour later, Mr. Monserrate's sound truck arrived outside another polling site at Public School 89 in Jackson Heights followed by two vans with his name on them.
The vehicles parked in front of the school and Mr. Monserrate stepped out to talk to voters.
A poll worker requested that the vans be moved. Mr. Monserrate denied that their vans were working on his behalf and continued to speak with voters.
When the poll worker confronted Mr. Monserrate, he said angrily, "Buzz off, man. Buzz off. Go shave, get a haircut and get lost. Who are you to tell me who I can and can't talk to?"
Indeed. Who is a poll worker to tell a candidate about violating election law? Who has the right to tell the Slasher about any law, since no law applies to him? I think we have Stephen Colbert's latest alpha-dog of the week right here.
Koch, 85, is at the forefront of a new effort to clean up the dysfunctional cesspool of state government that is Albany World.
The former "How-Am-I-Doing?" mayor of New York City is organizing a coalition to plan the electoral takedown of incumbent state legislators who block reform. The idea is to elevate candidates who are committed to reform.
Koch correctly sees the entire state Legislature as the problem. Reading his comments to The New York Times, one comes away with the impression that he'd be happy to cashier the whole lot of them if only one could.
"I don't believe the good ones are good enough and the bad ones are evil," Koch told the Times.
Riverdale Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz certainly isn't alone in the constant Albany game of cutting MTA funding or denying it new sources of revenue year after year and then grabbing a pitchfork when his constituents express anger at the service cuts that come as a necessity because of his anti-transit votes, but he is among the most shameless:
"The people who live in the outer boroughs, especially the outer edges of the outer boroughs" are always the hardest hit, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz told the MTA officials. "There are people who work hours other than nine to five, Monday to Friday."
Rather than threatening to cut service and hike fares, which Mr. Dinowitz referred to as "scare tactics," he suggested that the MTA work with city and state officials to find additional funding, such as from last year's federal stimulus, and come up with a more reasonable budget for future years.
"You're picking on the elderly, the disabled and students," Mr. Dinowitz said. "This is not the way to improve the city."
Nice pitchfork, Assemblyman. However, your voting record and loud soapbox against congestion pricing denied the MTA of a badly-needed annual infusion of some $500 million dollars. That's on you and every other elected official in Albany who decided to side with the wealthy suburban car commuter over the vast majority of metro-area residents who take transit to work. So either put away your completely disingenuous pitchfork and start doing something about the MTA's long-term fiscal outlook or just shut the hell up.
The huevos on this guy. Not only is he trying to get back the seat his colleagues just voted 53-8 to kick him out of, not only is he brazenly stealing President Obama's logo and slogan, now he decides he's going to just show up outside Jose Peralta's campaign HQ and try to do some politicking. What happened next was both hilarious and heartening for those of us in the district.
Saturday, March 13th, 2010, isn't quite St. Patrick's Day. This matters not to the people of the City of Albany. They hold not two parades each year.
As luck would have it, the parade coincided with the Coffee Party's National Kickoff this year. I don't doubt them for not seeing this one coming. In fact, nobody saw this movement coming. From a single Facebook comment in to nearly 150,000 members in just a month, the Coffee Party was kicking off in over 300 meetings yesterday thanks to dedicated grassroots organizers...
...such as myself. I organized the Albany County Coffee Party that met at Uncommon Grounds nearby the SUNY Albany campus. Navigating the parade traffic from the Noon meeting of the Downtown Coffee Party meeting earlier, I found that luck was on my side...on our side as the Coffee Party kicked off in our state's historic capital.
Below the fold, this edition of Soundpolitic Sundays gives the whole scoop for those of you who wish to go beyond the media coverage of National Coffee House Day and get to story straight from the horses mouth...
The New York Times posted a story today that explores every angle of Mayor Mike Bloomberg's antipathy to the excellent Senator Kirsten Gillibrand except one.
Nowhere does the story mention Caroline Kennedy, Bloomberg's very public candidate for the Senate appointment last January.
But there's lots of good stuff in there about how the richest and most powerful person in New York City has been not so quietly campaigning against Gillibrand for more than a year.
Blogger Colin Abele, aka Soundpolitic organizer of the Albany County Coffee Party is interviewed on the highest-rated morning radio show in the Capital Region
This morning, I appeared on the Don Weeks Show on News Talk Radio 810 WGY to talk a little bit about the Coffee Party. The movement has grown from a small Facebook comment to nearly 120,000 members as of tonight.
Tomorrow, the movement will have it's National Coffee House Day as the nationwide kick-off to reboot our democracy through citizen initiated civil discourse, with the mission of getting our democracy out of gridlock and back on track to express the collective will of the people.
But enough extra typing. You can listen to the interview right here in streaming MP3. Or, you can click below the fold to read the transcript.
Today, ten Democratic County Chairs announced their support for our campaign to succeed Andrew Cuomo as New York State's next Attorney General.
This is the first set of public endorsements from Democratic county leaders for any Attorney General candidate, and I am very grateful for and humbled by their words of support.
The Democratic County Chairs include: Mayor Shawn Hogan (Steuben), Bethany Schumann-McGhee (Montgomery), Keith Ahlstrom (Chautauqua), Judith Baker (Ontario), Mark Bellardini (St. Lawrence), Harold Bush, Jr. (Wyoming), Barbara Hetzel (Allegany), Judith Hunter (Livingston), Kate Lacey (Cayuga) and Carolyn Schaeffer (Yates).
These endorsements come from across New York - including the Southern Tier, Western New York, Central New York, the North Country, and the Capital District - as well as from a diverse set of Democratic leaders, including the longest-serving Mayor in New York State, and the youngest elected Democratic county chair. Next week, I will continue my travels to Upstate New York to discuss my rural agenda.
Our campaign is gaining momentum and we have no intention of slowing down. Having raised the most money during the last filing period, and having earned the first public support from county leaders - I feel we are well-positioned in the campaign for the Attorney General of New York.
First up, Hiram the Slasher got booed repeatedly last night at the debate. I had to work so I wasn't there, but it looks like things got ugly for Hiram.
Hiram Monserrate faced off against his chief political rival - and a boisterous audience - Thursday night during a Queens debate.
Monserrate, who's fighting to win back the state Senate seat he was booted from earlier this year, was booed as he introduced himself during the debate against Democratic Assemblyman Jose Peralta.
< snip >
A school safety officer even had to quiet one outspoken person interrupting Monserrate, who's running as an independent on the 'Yes We Can' ticket, as he touted his legislative achievements.
Then several others drew lipstick slash marks on their cheeks, a reference to Monserrate's misdemeanor conviction for cutting his girlfriend's face with a broken glass in December 2008.
Hiram's response:
MONSERRATE: We're not doing this. We're not doing this. Eject him. Disorderly conduct.
Take a listen. Hiram can dish it out plenty good when it's a single woman, but can't really take it from anyone else. Coward.
Today's Siena poll finds Assemblyman Jose Peralta with a 45 percentage point lead in the race for the Queens Senate seat from which his opponent, Hiram Monserrate, was expelled last month.
With just four days remaining until the March 16 special election in the 13th Senatorial District, Peralta has the support of 60 percent of voters, while Monserrate is at 15 percent and Republican Robert Beltrani is at nine.
Sixteen percent remain undecided.
< snip >
Monserrate performs best with Republicans (19 percent), but Peralta is leading in every area of the district among all voters, irrespective of race, religion, gender or age.
Peralta was given a favorable rating by 60 percent of those polled, while 56 percent viewed Monserrate unfavorably. Nearly three-quarters of voters said they followed the events surrounding Monserrate's conviction on a misdemeanor domestic abuse charge.
That sounds good, but we can't take any chances with a special election. Come join me in lovely Jackson Heights this weekend and let's get rid of Monster-Rat once and for all!
The search for a Republican challenger to the excellent Senator Kirsten Gillibrand who is known beyond his family/friends has apparently found Dan Senor, according to the New York Times.
Senor is best known as the neocon flack who worked for the Bush/Cheney campaign at the Coalition Provisional Authority in the war's first year.
In keeping with its serial promotion of Gillibrand opponents, the Times spends less than a sentence on Senor in Iraq -- most of the story is about all the GOP bigwigs (Rudy 9/11, John Cornyn, Lindsay Graham, etc.) who are desperate for someone other than the two no-names who've announced so far.
Desperate indeed, to support a guy with Senor's risky record just because he's been on Fox News a lot and can raise the requisite money from the Bush/neocon network.
