the albany project - Recommended Diaries

Step away from the Slasher

AnswerLady — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:17:55 GMT

Antoine Thompson gets some excellent advice from Foghorn Leghorn

We've got to give credit where credit is due and NYS Senator Antoine Thompson's Bigger, Better Bottle Bill has really done a great job of getting a lot of pesky trash off the streets and out of the garbage stream (especially those water bottles).

But ...
Antoine, about your Hiram "The Slasher" Monserrate partnership, many of your constituents find your donations of cash and staff support abhorrent.

Disgraced former State Senator Hiram Monserrate, removed from office last month after being convicted of slashing his girlfriend's face with a broken wine glass, declared that he would seek to reclaim his seat in the special election slated to fill the vacancy next week. What's that have to do with Buffalo? Well, a couple weeks ago, the Buffalo News reported that State Senator Antoine Thompson has sent a donation to Monserrate's re-election campaign. We're now told that Thompson has also been donating manpower: He's been sending his staff to help in Monserrate's re-election bid. Artvoice

Henery Hawk also has some good advice for Antoine.

We're not too happy with your friendship with Bad Bird Dude (Steve Pigeon) either.

Oh, and folks associated with Steve Pigeon, in particular Hormos Mansouri, who, individually and through his companies, lead the pack with $8,500 in contributions.
Gary Parenti, also tight with Pigeon, gave Thompson $1,900 as an individual and through his company. New Yorkers for Pedro Espada, the state senator who happens to employ Pigeon as his chief counsel, gave another $2,000.
Add it all up, and there's at least $12,400 of Pigeon-related money.
Jim Heaney, Outrages & Insights

Antoine, why back losers? Why not support Jose Peralta instead?

Representative Scott Murphy: Listen to us, not the insurance companies

Jason Rosenbaum — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:36:21 GMT

The health reform vote is coming in the House. Representative Scott Murphy (NY-20) needs to listen to us, not the insurance companies.

In Murphy's district, the House's improvements to the Senate health reform bill will [pdf]:

Improve coverage for 459,000 residents with health insurance.
Give tax credits and other assistance to up to 151,000 families and 15,500 small businesses to help them afford coverage.
Improve Medicare for 117,000 beneficiaries, including closing the donut hole.
Extend coverage to 29,000 uninsured residents.
Guarantee that 8,600 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage.
Protect 1,200 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.
Allow 51,000 young adults to obtain coverage on their parents' insurance plans.
Provide millions of dollars in new funding for 25 community health centers.
Reduce the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and other health care providers by $26 million annually.

A vote for health reform is a vote to stand with these people. A vote against health reform is a vote for the status quo, where insurance companies make record profits by raising rates by double digits (29% in New York in the last few months) and dropping millions of customers from their rolls.

The House may vote on health reform as early as this weekend. When the vote comes, Representative Murphy has a chance to show us that he's on our side.

Click here to call Representative Murphy and everyone else in the House and tell them to vote YES on health reform.

I'm proud to work for Health Care for America Now

Must See TV - Hiram The Slasher Driven Away From Peralta HQ

ActionJax — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:08:47 GMT

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.

What a tool.

It's the homestretch! Volunteer, Donate and help elect Jose Peralta to the state senate SD-13!

Pedro Espada's Coup is Costing Us $7.4 million

Jackbx — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:51:47 GMT

See the story here:

http://www.wgrz.com/news/local...

Bottom line--Espada and his Republican co-coup leaders cut a deal for increased staff and more office space in return for ending the coup. The coup related increases will cost taxpayers $7.4 million.

Pedro's payoff alone will cost NY taxpayers $700,000 in additional dollars. For example- we are paying for two "district" offices within a relatively small geographic area. One of the offices is actually outside the district in one of the most expensive office buildings in the Bronx. See report on his "swanky" digs -- http://www.bronxnewsnetwork.or...

Time to support his Primary Challenger, Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, a real Democrat with integrity.
Here's one way to do it:
http://www.actblue.com/page/ch...