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.
The people of the 29th Congressional District are without a representative, thanks to Eric Massa. Massa's resignation leaves the district without a vote, and while this happens on occasion in the House of Representatives, it's not an ideal situation.
In response, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand made it known today that her office will be on hand to assist with any issues citizens of the 29th might be having.
From a press release:
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today assured families and businesses in New York's 29th District that while they wait for new representation in the House of Representatives, she will make it a top priority to make sure local communities in the district are getting their fair share of federal dollars, that all casework is being handled efficiently and effectively, and constituents receive all the help they need navigating federal bureaucracies.
"As I told Corning residents last week at Spencer's Restaurant, I will continue to fight tooth and nail to ensure the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes region receives its fair share from the federal resources and constituents get all the help they need," said Senator Gillibrand, who spent time meeting with local leaders, businesses and families in Corning, New York last week. "My number one priority is creating jobs and getting our economy back on track - that means securing the critical federal dollars for infrastructure, research, and job training programs. I will continue to work with local leaders and organizations throughout the 29th district to secure federal funding through grants, appropriations and the recovery act."
Voters in the 29th Congressional District will be able to select a new Representative if the Governor decides to call a special election in the next 45 days.
Senator Gillibrand's local staff is available to take questions and concerns from constituents in the area, and help them with issues they may be having with the federal government.
For those in the 29th, you can contact Gillibrand's Rochester office by calling (585) 263-6250 or at the following address:
Kenneth B. Keating Federal Office Building
100 State Street
Room 4195
Rochester, NY
Our junior Senator isn't without opposition from the left, but she's doing a good job of building alliances. Her latest move pits her against Senator Murkowski (R-AK) on the issue of emissions regulation for coal-fired power plants. So far so good - New Yorkers are generally good on global scorching issues.
But wait - who's that jumping in to support her in this battle? It's the New York Communities for Change, the largely poor and of color organization picking up where ACORN left off.
We shouldn't really be surprised. The impacts of climate change will be far more devastating to the poor, globally and in the U.S. But that hasn't stopped faux populists from portraying the issue as an Al Gore-ish diversion that tastes like wine and cheese.
Today, I had a Letter to the Editor appear in my local newspaper, the Altamont Enterprise regarding my organization of the Albany County Coffee Party as part of the National Coffee Party Kickoff to take place this Saturday, March 13.
I feel compelled to re-post the the letter in its entirety here for two reasons. First, because the Enterprise never puts its Letters to the Editor on it's website.
Second, because the final few paragraphs of my 1,776 word letter were cut off, along with any byline to attribute the letter to me. You can discern it was written by me in a small story deeper in the paper. I don't hold it against them; the Enterprise is a top-notch, independently owned local paper that gives a huge forum to letter writers every week, so a mistake here and there is forgivable.
Without further adieu, here's what I wrote, along with the headline:
"This logo is similar to the slogan that they used, but slightly different, because the logo actually is a 'Q,' which stands for the great borough of Queens," Monserrate told reporters. "If folks had really analyzed it, they would have seen it."
Whatever, dude. It's time went him packing once again.
The Weekly Standard ran a cover story this week called, "In Denial: The Meltdown of the Climate Campaign." Despite the cute play on words about who is denying what, the article got it all wrong. Climate change legislation is not dead--not as long as publications like this keep putting it on its cover.
Don't know if anyone here was at Scott Murphy's telephone town hall meeting. Here are my impressions.
I was told there 8300 people on the call. After Murphy gave an overview of what he was doing, there was a Q&A session. Questioners were lined up by the order in which they queued up.
Most important question - HCR. Murphy still says he'll vote against it because he's concerned about how the government is going to pay for the reform. He's especially concerned about its impact on small business.
He's more supportive of the Senate bill because it has less mandates for small business, making it more affordable for them. He's still reading the Senate Bill - he's half-way through the 2000 pages.
The rest of the questions were interesting - unless they were screened out by Murphy's staff, we didn't have any looming crazies on the call.
One caller liked Gillibrand so much that he called Paterson to thank him for appointing her. Now he's unhappy because she's become too liberal.
Other questions were about Rural Broadband access (Murphy says we're getting federal funds for that); standard deficit worries, pro DADT.
There were some conservative leaning questions, but not regurgitated Conservative talking points. Questions on Tort reform, too much government interference.
I thought it was a useful experience. Murphy is very well prepared for the questions and could respond with specifics for each question.
I'm not happy about his not supporting health care. But I wouldn't be surprised if he is getting a pass on this being a freshman rep in a district that just flipped to Dem 2 election cycles ago.
It seems like everywhere you look these days, someone's trying to spread...The Fear.
All around us...in every town...on every corner...a massive Army Of Fear is standing by, according to the Messengers, ready at a moment's notice to obey the dictates of some unappointed Czar or another.
Just ask Glenn Beck: concentration camps for the white people, jackbooted stormtroopers ready to snatch the guns from your cold dead fingers...Socialist Government-Controlled Healthcare That Threatens Your Not Socialist Medicare...it's all coming, my friends-and unless we organize, as a community, to return to the values of the Founding Fathers, The Government, meaning that awful Obama and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and George Soros and all the other Evil Community Organizers, will win.
There's no government, we're told, like no government.
You know who would find all of this fear of self-government just entirely bizarre?
The Founding Fathers.
In today's conversation we'll consider the fundamentals of American patriotism, we'll ask one of those Founding Fathers how he saw the role of Government-and we'll toss in a few words from Abraham Lincoln, just for good measure.
