2010 « SUFFOLK COUNTY LIBERTY REPORT Frank Seabrook

RINO Rick Lazio refuses to meet with State GOP leaders.

In Rick Lazio, Steve Levy on March 10, 2010 at 1:50 am

(03-10-2010) In what could be the biggest night of his lackluster political comeback, RINO Rick Lazio refused to meet with State GOP leaders.

According to Newsday, GOP officials tried to call their putative candidate, Rick Lazio, to express concerns about the state of his campaign last night. But Lazio’s campaign said he couldn’t fit the last-minute meeting into his schedule.

Say goodbye Rick. Nothing personal. We’re just looking for a leader.

Meanwhile;

The following is from Newsday

By ELIZABETH MOORE AND JAMES T. MADORE

Levy pitches case for governor to GOP leaders

Levy, a Democrat who has yet to officially declare himself a candidate, had his first-ever encounter with top Republican brass.

ALBANY – Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy’s visit with top Republican leaders Tuesday resulted in a split decision, with some excited at the prospect of the Democrat at the top of their 2010 ticket and others wondering what state GOP chairman Edward Cox was thinking in even inviting him.

“They wanted to see whether I was the real deal,” Levy said after the two-hour session at the Fort Orange Club, adding that leaders seemed “psyched up” by his presentation.

Depending which leader you ask, Levy’s pitch was met either “very warmly” or “very politely.”

“I’m convinced he [Levy] has the kind of background and credentials that it will take to change the tenor of government in New York State,” said Albany County Republican Chairman John Graziano, who has not endorsed the only declared Republican candidate, former Brightwaters Rep. Rick Lazio. “There are tougher times ahead.”

Ontario County GOP chairman Jay Dutcher says he is “receptive” to both Levy and Lazio, but would like to see both of them campaign awhile. “If I didn’t know he was a registered Democrat, I’d think he was a conservative Republican,” Dutcher said of Levy.

Lazio’s camp claims backing from two-thirds of the state party. Tioga County chairman Don Leonard said he is “firm” for Lazio, though he agreed to set up a meeting between Levy and other county chairs, because “this is America.”

But Leonard believes it would be a “horrifying insult” to party regulars if Levy received the GOP line without renouncing the Democratic Party, an issue on which Graziano said leaders do not agree.

“A lot of people are disturbed by this,” said Monroe County GOP chair William Reillich, a Lazio backer who did not attend the session. “I don’t know why we’re even talking to him.”

Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos of Rockville Centre Tuesday said he backs Lazio, but added, “Sometimes competition within the party is good.” He praised Levy’s “great record.”

But Levy’s failure to declare his entry into the race has worn out the patience of State Conservative Chairman Mike Long, who said he is now “of the strong belief” that Levy won’t run for governor, but must be simply milking press attention or trying to hobble Lazio’s candidacy.

The Conservatives meet to endorse a candidate on March 20. “For the life of me, I don’t know what the Republican Party is doing,” Long said.

Special Elections

Brookhaven’s Dan Panico Wins!

In Brookhaven Republican Committee, Southampton Republican Committee on March 10, 2010 at 1:48 am

(03-10-2010) From Newsday

By PATRICK WHITTLE. AND MITCHELL FREEDMAN

Dems, GOP split wins in town board elections

The two major political parties split the spoils last night, with Republicans maintaining a Town Board seat in Brookhaven and Democrats winning a board seat in Southampton, according to election results.

In Brookhaven, Republican Daniel Panico, 31, handily beat Democrat Douglas Dittko, 58, for the 6th District seat left vacant by the death of Keith Romaine.

Panico’s win means Republican and Conservative members have a 4-3 edge on the town board.

However, Republican Kathy Walsh has been voting with the Democrats for several months, effectively giving Democratic Supervisor Mark Lesko and his supporters a 4-3 edge.

In Southampton, Democrat Bridget Fleming, 49, had third-party help in easily beating Republican William Hughes, 59, for the seat that became open when Anna Throne-Holst was elected town supervisor.

Her victory gives Throne-Holst, who sits on the board, another Democrat on a five-member board that has two Republicans and one Conservative. Fleming won by about 11 percentage points and her margin of victory was provided by the 636 votes she got on the Independence Party line.

Both Dittko and Panico are Manorville residents and members of the town’s planning board.

Panico, a senior deputy Suffolk County clerk, has said he will push for a townwide vote on a Brookhaven property tax cap and propose a local anti-nepotism law. He has also pledged to slash “patronage positions” from Town Hall.

Panico graduated from Stony Brook University and earned a law degree from Touro Law Center. He grew up in the 6th District and graduated from William Floyd High School in 1996.

In Southampton, Fleming and her opponent had a lot of common background. Both are Irish Catholics from large families, with backgrounds in law enforcement. And, neither had held elected office before.

Fleming, of Noyack, is an attorney who worked for former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, and who ended up running his welfare fraud unit. She is in private practice, and also serves on the Noyack Citizen Advisory Committee.

She said she won by identifying voters who vote regularly and getting them to turn out. “There was a lot of shaking hands, a lot of shoe leather,” she said when her victory became apparent about 9:30 p.m.

Fleming ran on both the Democratic and Independence lines, and was supported by Throne-Holst, a political independent who ran for office on the Democratic line.

In some cases, Throne-Holst could not even get someone to second a resolution she wanted to introduce.

But the other members of the town board did not always agree, and Throne-Holst has been able to put together a three or even four-vote majority on occasion.

In January, when she wanted to reappoint Comptroller Tamara Wright, the vote failed when two board members abstained.

But, the resolution passed when it was reintroduced a few weeks later.

Steve Levy to meet with Long Island 9-12 Project

In Steve Levy on March 9, 2010 at 12:48 pm

(03-09-2010) The following is an update from Rosetta Malvese, Nassau County 9-12 Project

Suffolk County Executive

Steve Levy

is to meet with

members of the

Nassau and Suffolk

9-12 Project

An update to our fellow Patriots,

We would like to take this opportunity to bring you up to date on the efforts of your organizers, Judy and Steve Morris and Rosetta Malvese. About 3 weeks ago, Steve Levy, Suffolk County Executive, reached out to Judy Morris and expressed a strong interest in connecting with Tea Party Patriots regarding a possible run for NYS Governor. We were extremely excited at the prospect of being able to voice our concerns and opinions on the various issues facing our great state. We decided that the best way to maximize this meeting with Steve Levy and to make it as productive as possible would be to invite Tea Party leaders from across the entire State of NY. We also thought that this meeting could serve as a great opportunity for state Tea Party organizers to meet and network with one another. We felt that this would better enable all NYS Tea Party organizations to better coordinate their efforts for the 2010 elections as well as other issues of mutual interest and concern.

This meeting has been scheduled for this Saturday, March 13th. In addition to having this face-to-face meeting with Steve Levy, we have also arranged for video conferencing for those members who cannot attend in person. We will be sending you a website address that will enable you to access the meeting, as well as an email address and/or telephone number you will be able to use to ask your questions of Steve Levy. We view this as an exciting opportunity for Tea Party Patriots to participate and have their voices heard in the electoral process.

Steve Levy is a graduate of Sachem High School, Stony Brook, and St John’s University Law School. In 1985, Steve Levy was elected to the Suffolk County Legislature at age 26- the beginning of 15 year tenure as a member of that body. During this time he served as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and as Deputy Presiding Officer. He left the Suffolk Legislature after 2000, when he was elected member of the New York State Assembly. In November 2003, Steve Levy was elected as Suffolk County’s seventh County Executive. In 2007, he was cross endorsed by four political parties and was re-elected with 96 percent of the vote.

Upon taking office as County Executive, Steve Levy pulled out of a $238 million projected deficit, crafting the largest budget restructuring plan in the county’s history and cut his own salary. Steve Levy has presented six consecutive budgets, each with a General Fund tax freeze or tax cut-including three budget budgets with lower spending than the previous year’s budget. Under his leadership, the county has had six bond rating upgrades. Recognized for providing efficient government, Suffolk County has received fifty Innovation Awards by the National Association of Counties.
Steve Levy will address the following topics; fiscal crisis facing Albany and America, his philosophy on the role of government, and his reform agenda. For more information concerning Steve Levy’s background and positions on the various issues, please go to www.levyforny.com.

This email is for informational purposes only and is not an endorsement of Steve Levy for Governor.

Steve Levy’s Plan to Save New York State

In Steve Levy on March 9, 2010 at 12:47 pm

(03-09-2010) The following is Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy’s plan to save NY State.

A PLAN TO SAVE OUR STATE

New York State is on the precipice of fiscal disaster. We are in the midst of the worst economic hardships since the Great Depression of the 1930s. We are in extraordinary times that require extraordinary measures.

The state’s economic problems did not suddenly occur as a result of the national recession. Its budget process was already out of control before the bubble burst. Spending has increased at an alarming 70% over the last decade. Suffolk County, on the other hand, has actually cut spending from the previous year’s budget in three of the last six years.

New York State increased taxes by a whopping $8 billion this past year, despite being in this economic recession. Suffolk, which lost over $100 million in sales tax revenue due to the recession, still balanced its budget, cut spending and County Executive Steve Levy submitted a tax-freeze budget in 2010.

The insatiable appetite of the State Legislature to spend, spend, spend must be brought under control. Only a proven financial expert such as Steve Levy – who inherited a $238 million budget shortfall and converted it into a balanced budget and six straight years of budgets with no General Fund tax increases – has the skill set and the plan to get this job done.

Steve Levy’s Plan to Save Our State

1. LEVY WILL DECLARE A FISCAL STATE OF EMERGENCY
Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. Declaring a fiscal emergency – akin to what the state did to New York City when it was on the brink of bankruptcy in the 1970s – is what is needed for New York State today.

The fiscal emergency declaration would permit the state government to control wage and benefit growth, and implement other measures that would not be possible without such a declaration. This is the same tough medicine that was employed when the state created financial review boards for faltering counties, including Erie and Nassau. The state needs its own type of review board that can force the tough decisions to be made by a government that has been resistant to do so over the last several years.

A legislature that has politically been unable and unwilling to make the tough choices can create a commission, similar to the federal government’s Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC), which was developed to achieve the government’s goal of closing and restructuring military bases despite the political gridlock that arises when bases face reduction or elimination.

Under this model, the commission would provide objective, non-partisan recommendations that are automatically implemented, unless both houses of the Legislature separately reject the plan in its entirety. In 2005, the state formed a similar commission to reduce the excess capacity that plagues our hospital and nursing home systems.

While you can argue that the cuts that were ultimately implemented were not perfect, it proves that a BRAC-type commission can help force needed change through our dysfunctional legislative process.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

Redlich Condemns Atlantic Yards Eminent Domain Decision

In Warren Redlich on March 9, 2010 at 12:46 pm

(03-08-2010) The following is from Warren Redlich, NY Gubernatorial Candidate

Albany, NY -3/8/10:

Redlich Condemns Atlantic Yards Decision

Governor candidate Warren Redlich condemned the latest Atlantic Yards court decision. Justice Abraham Gerges upheld the seizure of homes and businesses so that developer Bruce Ratner can build apartments, office space and a sports arena in Brooklyn.

In Redlich’s view, Atlantic Yards is a symptom of the state’s problems: “Politicians reward and protect insiders, like we keep seeing in the Capitol. Eminent domain can be used, sparingly, when government takes private property for public purposes such as a road. But the Kelo decision and projects like Atlantic Yards grossly abuse eminent domain to benefit private developers connected with political leaders.”

While other states have acted to curb eminent domain abuse, New York’s legislators and governors have done nothing. New York taxpayers fund the violation of property rights in such cases as Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn and West Harlem in Manhattan, for the benefit of developers. Redlich would amend eminent domain laws to protect property owners.

Redlich also calls for abolishing the involved state agencies, including the Empire State Development Corporation and others. Eliminating “economic development” spending would save approximately $3 billion in the state budget.

ForestCityRatner has announced that it will begin groundbreaking on Thursday, March 11th. Public officials who have supported the project such as Governor Paterson, NYC Mayor Bloomberg, Brooklyn Borough President Markowitz, and others are expected. There will be a protest rally and Libertarians will participate.

Warren Redlich, a Republican member of the Guilderland Town Board, is seeking the Republican and Libertarian nominations for Governor. His position statement on eminent domain can be found at: http://wredlich.com/ny/issues/eminent-domain/

Battle for GOP governor candidate heats up, but there’s much more in this story!

In 2010 NY Gov Election on March 9, 2010 at 12:03 am

(03-08-2010) Things are starting to heat up as another round of GOP meetings are scheduled for Lazio and Levy.

In this Newsday story, don’t miss the disturbing, “(Newsday) Sources said Long prefers Republican Randy Altschuler for the House seat.”

Wait a second, NYS Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long prefers The Outsourcing former Green Party Member Randy Altschuler for NY CD1 ?!?

One more time.

The NYS Conservative Party Chairman prefers Randy Altschuler for congress? Over Berntsen, Cox, and Demos? Something is really rotten folks.

We will definately follow this emerging story. And so should you!

The following is from Newsday

By RICK BRAND. AND DAN JANISON

Battle for GOP governor candidate heats up

Suffolk Executive Steve Levy, a Democrat exploring a run for governor, is to meet Tuesday in Albany with Republican leaders, sources said Saturday – though Rick Lazio already has lined up endorsements from most GOP county bosses.

Meanwhile, in the Conservative Party, whose ballot line is considered crucial to Republican candidates, state chairman Michael Long said he is getting ready to back Lazio. But the party’s Long Island leaders are promoting a Levy candidacy.

In a meeting Saturday, local Conservative leaders tried to persuade Levy to change parties and announce his candidacy immediately, which he declined to do, sources said. Lazio and Levy are expected at a Conservative fundraiser in Albany Monday.

Anger spread Friday among Lazio supporters as word leaked out that the Republican State Committee, under new chairman Ed Cox, was setting up separate meetings between its leaders and Levy and Lazio. A local Lazio backer who declined to be identified said: “This is an attempt by Cox to spin Lazio out and get Republicans to go with Levy.”

Lazio spokesman Barney Keller said Levy will not “have a spot on our statewide ticket. . . . It’s ridiculous and an insult to all those who believe in responsible, efficient and effective government.”

Levy on Friday declined to criticize Lazio but said his own county executive experience made him uniquely qualified to be governor. Levy’s campaign did not respond to calls seeking comment Saturday.

Nine days ago, Gov. David A. Paterson quit the race – clearing the way for Democrats to nominate Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who outpolls Lazio and whose $16-million war chest far eclipsed Lazio’s $647,000 as of mid-January.

Levy’s backers say his name on the ballot – which would require authorization from party officials – could lift Republicans.

But a prominent Lazio backer questioned Cox’s motive, noting his son Christopher is running for Congress in Suffolk. County GOP chairman John Jay LaValle, who backs the younger Cox, supports his party’s scheduling separate meetings with Lazio and Levy.

Sources said Long prefers Republican Randy Altschuler for the House seat.

LaValle was the first GOP leader to endorse Lazio. Last Monday, at a meeting of Republican county lawmakers, LaValle cited a “real possibility” Levy could replace Lazio on the party ticket, sources said.

State GOP spokesman Thomas Basile said the Levy-Lazio meetings were part of an effort to keep party leaders updated on campaign developments. “Suggestions that these meetings are anything other than that is a mischaracterization of their intent.”

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy says he’s “fired up”

In 2010 NY Gov Election on March 9, 2010 at 12:02 am

(03-09-2010) The following is from Newsday

By ELIZABETH MOORE

Levy, Lazio woo state Conservative Party bigwigs

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy says he’s “fired up” and ready to deliver a sales pitch to the state Republican Party leadership Tuesday morning on how he has the best plan to save New York’s finances as governor.

Meanwhile, state GOP officials tried to call their putative candidate, Rick Lazio, in to express concerns about the state of his campaign last night. But Lazio’s campaign said he couldn’t fit the last-minute meeting into his schedule.

Both Long Island pols wooed Conservative Party bigs at a reception here last night.

“I’m a fired-up voice to speak on behalf of the New York taxpayer who’s fed up with the corruption permeating Albany,” Levy said Monday, as he made the rounds of Capitol news outlets. Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice, who wants to be attorney general, was in town for a session on Medicaid fraud and then held private meetings elsewhere.

Levy, a conservative Democrat who’s warred with his unions and made national headlines for his stands on illegal immigration, argues this could be the year that his long-shot campaign for governor catches fire, Tea Party style, for a David vs. Goliath win over the likely Democratic candidate, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

That vision draws snorts from more than a few Democrats, some of whom privately say they would be happy to see him wipe out his campaign funds in a hopeless contest with Cuomo.

Lazio, who pitched small-business owners here Monday, told reporters he wasn’t worried about Levy because he’s already got endorsements from county chairmen representing most of the state.

“It’s a free country, so everybody can meet with anybody they want, but I’m totally confident,” he said.

Still, Republicans worry about Lazio’s fundraising. He had just $659,032 as of January, according to campaign filings, while Levy had $4.1 million and Cuomo $16.1 million.

“There’s a lot riding on this,” said longtime Albany lobbyist Desmond Ryan, noting that control of the State Senate and reapportionment for the next 10 years are at stake. “If money is the mother’s milk of politics, then Rick Lazio needs a Dairy Barn.”

Is Tuesday’s meeting with Levy intended to put a scare into Lazio to shape up his campaign, as some suggest, or is the Suffolk County executive getting a serious look?

“It’s more than a scare at this point,” responded one senior Republican. “This is very reminiscent of the Hillary Clinton debacle [when Lazio lost badly to her]. Is there an inherent problem with the candidate or just with the people who advise the candidate? . . . We can’t have the top of the ticket staggering along.”

Suffolk County Republican chairman John Jay LaValle, who has endorsed Lazio, insists that the party wouldn’t even consider Levy unless he officially became a Republican. Tioga County chairman Don Leonard went further, saying voters had sent a strong anti-Democratic message in recent elections, so the GOP should be running Republicans.

“Of course I’m going to listen,” to Levy at the meeting Tuesday, Leonard said. “But if he’s such a conservative, why isn’t he registered as one?”

Levy won’t say whether he would switch parties, but said his outreach is driven by shared principle, not opportunism; in his last race, he noted, he was endorsed by the Republicans, Conservatives and the Independence Party.

“I have an indisputable record as one of the most ardent fiscal watchdogs in the state,” said Levy.

Steve Levy meets with Steve Flanagan, CSA

In CSA, Steve Levy on March 9, 2010 at 12:01 am

(03-09-2010) The following is a message from Steve Flanagan, Founder Conservative Society for Action

I met this week with Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy. We discussed his interest in running for Governor. He said he is serious in his intension to pursue nominations on the Republican and Conservative lines, though he is a registered Democrat.

Levy has been a fiscal conservative and has been pretty tough on illegal immigration. I asked him about his plan to save New York State. I received a copy of that plan today and have attached it to this email. Please review it.

I have invited Steve to screen before the Conservative Society for Action at a date to be announced. He will be glad to do so. When I have that date, I will let you know. Below is some information from the front page of Levy’s website. Please review this and the attached plan.

This is NOT an endorsement or an indication of support. This is for informational purposes only.

Thanks!

Sincerely,

Stephen Flanagan, Founder

Conservative Society for Action

CSA Membership Meeting – Tuesday

March 9, 2010

Plainview

There will be lots to discuss and plan at this meeting.

We will be discussing CSA’s Plans for the 2010 elections, including:

NYS Senate Races against Brian Foley and Craig Johnson;
Congressional Races against Steve Israel, Carolyn McCarthy, Gary Ackerman and Tim Bishop;
The race for Governor as it affects candidates Rick Lazio, Steve Levy and Andrew Cuomo;

We will discuss the current situation on the ground in the war to fight the health care bill. This remains a very real threat that’s likely to pass unless we can exert more pressure. Maybe we’ll run some ads.

TAKE OUR SCHOOLS BACK CAMPAIGN:

Also high priority at this time of year are up-and-coming school budget and Board elections. CSA is launching a “take Our Schools Back” Campaign and is seeking members who will run for their local school board. A special meeting for school board candidates is set for Thursday March 11 in West Islip. Click Here for Details.

Progress reports on membership activities will be discussed.

New members are welcome and urged to participate!

We hope you can attend this meeting. If you would like to add an item to the agenda, please reply to this email.

We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday night!

Details:

Date: March 9, 2009

Place: Plainview Public Library

999 East Old Country Road, Plainview, NY

Time: 7:00pm

Riverhead Town Board

Riverhead’s Giglio and Gabrielson reject tax hike

In Riverhead, Riverhead Republican Committee, Uncategorized on March 8, 2010 at 9:04 am

(03-06-2010) Riverhead Town Council Members George Gabrielson and Jodi Giglio reject tax hike!

Giglio – “This is not acceptable.”

Gabrielson – “We’re committed to downsizing and shrinking the government, period.”

I say, Amen to that!

Everyone raise a Conservative glass; here’s to George, here’s to Jodi! Keep up the great work! Keep up the fight! We need the Town Board to stay committed to conservative principals.

And remember, the only time decisions become difficult in life is when you stray from your principals. Stick to your principals!

All of this reminds me of one of my personal favorites.

“I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them.” Those were the immortal words of Barry Goldwater.

Sorry for getting side tracked. Please read the below article by the Riverhead News Review.

BY TIM GANNON

Two Town Board members reject tax hike plans

Say staff cuts are necessary

With Riverhead Town now staring at a budget deficit of $7.3 million, its citizens could see taxes jump by either 27.5 or 15.5 percent next year — depending on how officials go about tackling the problem.

But two Town Board members say they don’t favor either of the two scenarios that were floated in Town Hall last Thursday by town finance administrator William Rothaar. They want to see the town start cutting positions and reducing the size of government.

Riverhead’s 2010 budget gap of $5.2 million is projected to grow to $7.3 million by 2011, it was revealed last week.

“This is not acceptable,” Councilwoman Jodi Giglio told a reporter Monday, referring to the tax hikes proposed by Mr. Rothaar.

“Scenario one and scenario two,” Councilman George Gabrielsen added. “Neither one is acceptable for George Gabrielsen and Jodi Giglio. So now we’re giving our scenario. We’re committed to downsizing and shrinking the government, period. We can’t depend on revenue. Even if revenue even came in … we’d still want to shrink the government.”

The town’s current $5.2 million budget deficit is due largely to the economic downtown and mandates concerning the town’s former landfill site on Youngs Avenue, Mr. Rothaar said.

Town revenues were down by $1.3 million in 2009 due to reductions in mortgage tax revenues, interest income and town fees, he said.

The town’s abandoned landfill reclamation project, and the subsequent decision to cap the landfill, cost a total of $51.5 million, $9 million of which was authorized to be bonded in 2009, Mr. Rothaar said.

He presented the Town Board will the two scenarios for eliminating that deficit during a public presentation last Thursday.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

School Boards

CSA: TAKE BACK OUR SCHOOLS CAMPAIGN!

In CSA on March 8, 2010 at 9:03 am

(03-06-2010) The following is from Steve Flanagan, Founder and Director CSA

Urgent Appeal…

TAKE BACK

School Board Candidates Night

Thursday March 11

We need YOU to run for your local School Board!

The Conservative Society for Action is holding a school board candidates night to assist CSA members that want to run for their local school board.

We have often said that all politics is local - School Boards are as local as it gets!

We all know that the PTA and Teachers Unions run our schools. They take our children for the day to teach them math and science. But we too often find that our kids are also learning about Washington’s liberal agenda and not enough about history and common sense.

By becoming a school board member you get a chance to not only set, review and approve the budget; but you get a chance to review and approve texts books, curriculum, AND approve teacher’s contracts!

This meeting is an opportunity to learn how and what you need to do to save the children in your local district.

There will be several experts there to help you become prepared to TAKE BACK OUR SCHOOLS.

DATE: Thursday, March 11

TIME: 7:30

LOCATION: American Legion Hall

340 Union Blvd.

West Islip, NY 11795

MAP

PLEASE RSVP by replying to this email if you plan on attending. Please attend even if you are just interested in further information on the workings of your school board.

Hope you can make it. We need you!

Sincerely,

Stephen Flanagan, Founder & Director

Conservative Society for Action

www.csa-1776.org

srfspc@yahoo.com

CSA on Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/CSA-1776-Meetup-Group/

OUR SCHOOLS CAMPAIGN!

2nd Congressional District

Sean Hannity link raises profile of GOP hopeful

In John Gomez on March 8, 2010 at 9:02 am

(03-08-10) The following is from Newsday

Sean Hannity link raises profile of GOP hopeful

Ex-local radio talk show host John Gomez concedes he has never been active in local politics, only registered as a Republican six weeks ago and has not raised a nickel for a political campaign.

Yet Gomez, 47, is among the GOP front-runners to take on five-term Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) because he has an 800-pound gorilla in his corner: megastar radio and Fox TV conservative pundit Sean Hannity.

“When he first mentioned it, I thought he was name-dropping,” said John Jay LaValle, Suffolk GOP chairman. “But anytime someone with Sean Hannity’s stature vouches for your credibility, it’s very significant.” Hannity’s role, LaValle added, could “absolutely be a game-changer.”

Gomez wowed Suffolk GOP leaders by bringing in Hannity for a meeting two weeks ago and another with county Conservative chairman Edward Walsh. GOP sources say Hannity touted his boyhood friend as a conservative who can win, vowing “to do all he could” to promote Gomez, help fundraise and bring in headliners for events. Hannity last week even tried to coax an on-air endorsement from Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford). Hannity declined to comment.

The ties between the men go back to third grade at Sacred Heart School in Hempstead and later St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary. They were in each other’s wedding parties. Gomez even bought Hannity’s house when he moved out of Bayport.

But the recession and President Barack Obama’s slide in polls have created a stampede of nine GOP hopefuls ready to challenge Israel, who won by a 2-to-1 margin just two years ago. He has $1.7 million in his coffers and a 38,000-Democratic-voter enrollment edge. Party leaders say a final screening and decision is likely within two weeks.

Despite the crowd, Richard Schaffer, Suffolk Democratic chairman, said none have Israel’s record. “It might be a nice show,” he said, “but it doesn’t put food on the table. Steve has delivered for the district.” Israel declined to comment.

GOP sources say beyond Gomez, other top contenders include Sal Ferro, 46, of Huntington, owner of Alure, a home improvement firm, who has vowed to spend $300,000 to $500,000 of his own money.

The Huntington GOP is backing former congressional aide and lawyer Josh Price, 38, of Commack, who says he has commitments for at least $100,000 as soon as he gets the party nod. There’s also Tea Party organizer Steve Labate, 42, of Deer Park, an Iraq vet Army reserve officer with 200 grassroots backers.

Some say Hannity is unfairly using his star power. “I think it’s very unfortunate that Sean Hannity would inject himself into the screening process,” said Labate, who describes himself as a fan. “National exposure will not put boots on the ground . . . It will backfire on Gomez because people don’t like that.” Ferro agreed: “I have a lot of respect for Sean Hannity . . . but Republican leaders should be making the decision, not a radio host.”

While the process has been fair, Ferro wouldn’t rule out a primary. “If they make a choice and I feel it’s not the right choice, I’d have to consider my options.”

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

Like Sleeping Beauty, Lazy Lazio finally wakes up

In Rick Lazio on March 6, 2010 at 12:23 am

(03-06-2010) Rick Lazio, in a last ditch effort to save his campaign, wrote a letter to GOP county leaders stating Steve Levy shouldn’t pretend to be a Republican if he wants to run for governor.

“I want you to know that there is no chance that I would allow or support Steve Levy. . .” Lazio wrote.

And you should know Rick that there’s no way conservative Republicans are supporting you. To date, you have ran a failed campaign. You have inspired no one. The current course of events originated from your lackluster performance and your poor plan of action. You have shown the taxpayers of New York State that you do not have the leadership or the ability to command the epic battle that lies ahead. You have not earned our nomination, and let me remind you that is not owed to you.

Sorry to say that your campaign can best be described as that of Sleeping Beauty.

But in this case, you didn’t wake up until after the story ended.

Below is the story from Newsday.

By ANDREW SMITH AND RICK BRAND

Lazio says Levy shouldn’t pretend to be Republican

Rick Lazio wrote a letter to GOP county leaders stating Steve Levy shouldn’t pretend to be a Republican if he wants to run for governor.

If Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy wants to run for governor, he shouldn’t pretend to be a Republican to do it, candidate Rick Lazio said Friday in a letter to GOP county leaders.

Levy, a Democrat who’s attracted Republican votes with his eagerness to cut spending and fight illegal immigration, has more than $4 million in campaign money and has explored a run for governor – leaving unanswered the question of which party he would represent.

Lazio, the former Republican congressman from Brightwaters, lost the U.S. Senate race to Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2000. He wrote Friday that Levy has no place in the GOP, particularly after his years as a Democrat in the state Assembly under Speaker Sheldon Silver.

“I want you to know that there is no chance that I would allow or support Steve Levy, a Shelly Silver Democrat, to have any nomination on our statewide party ticket . . .” Lazio wrote. “A true conservative would not have voted for the largest tax increase in New York history . . . and certainly would not have called the Obama stimulus package ‘manna from heaven’ that would ’save lives.’ But Steve Levy did.”

Lazio spokesman Barney Keller said the campaign sent the letter in response to Levy’s recent visibility. “We wanted to make Rick’s position known,” Keller said.

Levy said in a prepared statement: “Rather than disparage Rick, I’ll stress that I’m the only one who has been [an] executive, cut taxes and has a specific plan to save our state from bankruptcy.”

Levy aides also pointed out that the taxes that Lazio mentioned came in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attack, had the support of State Senate Republicans and have all expired.

Mike Dawidziak, a Levy campaign consultant who worked for Lazio’s Senate campaign, said he was “disappointed” by Lazio’s letter.

“When a candidate does this, it shows they are fearful of other challengers and it makes them look weaker,” Dawidziak said.

Southampton’s Bill Hughes in final push

In Southampton Republican Committee on March 6, 2010 at 12:21 am

(03-05-2010) The following is a message from Hughes for Southampton Town Council

Hughes For Southampton Town Council

Hughes For Southampton
38 Yale Drive, Hampton Bays, NY 11946 1-(631)-728-2754

Hughes Southampton Town Board Campaign enters final weekend

The campaign to elect William “Bill” Hughes to the Southampton Town Board in the Special Election on Tuesday March 9 is entering its final weekend full steam ahead with all efforts focused on getting out the vote.

Said a campaign spokesman, “Bill Hughes alongside volunteers will be canvassing the town carrying the message of this election, that it is a chance to put the common sense voice of the everyday working person on the Southampton Town Board.”

William “Bill” Hughes is a Viet Nam vet, founding member of the 106^th Air Rescue Wing, and had a distinguished career in the Southampton Police Department rising to level of Lieutenant before filing for retirement to run for the Town Board. “I heard yet another call to serve”, said Bill, “and felt this was the best way I could continue to give back to my community”.

According to a spokesman, “we feel good about the campaign so far but it has not been easy. We are facing a well funded opponent who is the establishment candidate and the favorite of long time incumbent Congressman Tim Bishop who is lending intense aid and comfort to her campaign. From photo opps to endorsements the establishment is pulling out all the stops, all the while her supporters are disparaging Bill’s volunteers as mindless teabaggers every chance they get.”

William “Bill” Hughes is running an issue based campaign with three central ideas. As a fiscal conservative Bill believes government needs to balance its checkbook just like everyone else has to at their kitchen table. To strengthen our local economy Bill wants to look beyond our traditional industries of building and tourism to help build sustainable environmentally friendly job growth thru the use of enterprise parks and expanding aquaculture. And finally Bill will use his back ground in law enforcement to strengthen code enforcement to protect our neighborhoods from illegal over crowded housing and the other associated problems it brings.

“While much has been done”, said the spokesman, “there is always so much more to do. We need all the volunteers we can take to reach out to their friends and family in Southampton and urge they come out and vote for Bill on Tuesday. Special elections are tough because even the most regular voters don’t always realize the importance and get caught up in everyday life and forget to come out that day”.

Anyone interest in volunteering for the final days of the campaign is asked to call (631)-728-2754.

William “Bill” Hughes name will appear on Row B for Southampton Town Board.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dan-Panico-for-Town-Council/251640699271
http://www.votepanico.com/index.html

LAST PUSH FOR PANICO

In Brookhaven Republican Committee on March 6, 2010 at 12:21 am

(03-06-2010) A special message by Catherine Tenek of the Suffolk 9-12.

Special Election – Dan Panico

FINAL Weekend Rally, Caravan & Blitz

The Special Election is this coming Tuesday, March 9, 2010.

Dan Panico is running for the 6th Town District seat in Brookhaven Town.

Dan will be attending the Tea Party/Caravan March 6, at 11:00 AM at: Kohl’s Dept Store, Southport Shopping Center, 999 Montauk Hwy, Shirley. The rally will last until 12:30pm then the group will caravan through the community and return to Campaign Headquarters around 2 pm. Lunch will be offered by the Panico Campaign.

After lunch those who can stay and volunteer for door-to-door canvassing and literature drops in the shopping centers would be greatly appreciated. Once again I thank you personally for your continued support

Sunday, March 7, 11:00 am
Monday, March 8, 11:00 am

Campaign Headquarters:
King Kullen Shopping Center
512B Main Street
Center Moriches, NY
King Kullen Shopping center is between the Blockbuster and the Chinese Buffet.

The campaign office will be open throughout the day. IF you cannot arrive early, the office will still be open till 6:00 PM. Your help is needed and appreciated.

Dan can use ALL the help you can offer! Please make time to come down and help Dan with the FINAL PUSH to get him elected.

Let’s continue to send Governor Patterson, Brian Foley, Mark Lesko & ALL the Tax & Spend Democrats that we are Taking BACK OUR TOWN by Electing Dan Panico to the Town Board!

If you would like a sign placed on your property please contact the office 631-909-4931.

The 6th Town District of Brookhaven needs Dan Panico. Please come out and help him in his final weekend push before the Tuesday Special Election.

Get out the vote for Dan Panico!

Facing Jersey’s budget devils

New Jersey Gov a hero, New York Gov wannabe a zero

In Rick Lazio on March 5, 2010 at 1:55 pm

(03-05-2010) As a life long registered Republican, I am absolutely disgusted at the progress, or lack of, of lackluster Rick Lazio’s gubernatorial campaign. Rhino Rick has offered to date an uninspiring campaign filled with a meaningless moderate campaign platform.

The problems facing New York are epic. Lazio is not the man for the job at hand. It’s time to find somone else.

Look across the Hudson at a true leader.

The following is from the NY Post

By CHRIS CHRISTIE

‘We have no choice’

Adapted from Gov. Chris Christie’s remarks to about 200 mayors at a meeting of the New Jersey League of Municipalities.

When I started in office, I had to close a $2.3 billion shortfall in the $29 bil lion annual budget — and only $14 billion was left. Of that $14 billion, $8 billion could not be touched — because of contracts with public-worker unions, bond covenants and commitments the state made in accepting federal stimulus money.

We had to find a way to save $2.3 billion in a $6 billion pool of money. The treasurer’s office presented me with 378 possible freezes and lapses to balance the budget; I accepted 375 of them.

There’s a great deal of discussion about me doing that by executive action. Every day that went by was a day where money was going out the door such that the $6 billion pool was getting less and less. Something needed to be done — and the people didn’t send me here to talk; they sent me here to do.

As we look ahead three weeks to my fiscal year 2011 budget address, you all need to understand the context from which we operate.

Our citizens are already the most overtaxed in America. You mayors know that the public appetite for ever-increasing taxes has reached an end.

So we’re going to reduce spending at the state level — because we have no choice.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

Levy testing gubernatorial waters in Hudson Valley

In 2010 NY Gov Election on March 5, 2010 at 1:54 pm

(03-04-2010) The following is from the Mid Hudson News

Levy tests gubernatorial waters in Hudson Valley

Levy discussed his 10 point plan in the Mid-Hudson News Network headquarters

MIDDLETOWN – Suffolk County Executive Steven Levy, a possible candidate for governor, says “New York State government is broken”, and needs a spending cap and a Burger-type commission to once and for all curb spending.

Levy, a Democrat, spent the last couple of days in the Mid-Hudson Valley, meeting with political leaders and the media, as he tests the waters for a potential gubernatorial run.

“I see this state on the precipice of fiscal disaster. I really think they are just centimeters from falling off a cliff and going into bankruptcy,” he told MidHudsonNews.com. While he hadn’t planned on running for higher office, Levy said he had to “step in and think about doing this because I am the only one there with the executive experience.”

Levy has a 10 point plan, “A Contract for New York,” that he believes could turn the state around.

If he decides to run, Levy would expect to make an announcement in April.

While he is a Democrat, Levy said he had support from the Republican, Conservative and Independence parties on the local level and he would seek similar support statewide.

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is expected to run for the Democratic nomination for governor. Levy, who said he would take the line to a primary, labeled himself “post-partisan.”

Chris Cox on unemployment numbers

In Chris Cox on March 5, 2010 at 1:53 pm

(03-05-2010) The following is a statement by Chris Cox, NY CD1 Candidate

STATEMENT FROM CHRIS COX ON TODAY’S UNEMPLOYMENT NUMBERS

Smithtown, NY – Chris Cox (R), candidate for Congress in New York’s First Congressional District, issued the following statement:

“Today, we learned that 36,000 more Americans lost their jobs in the last month and with the recent news of unemployment numbers on Long Island soaring to the highest point since 1992, it’s time for Congress to get its house in order. We need leaders in Washington and Albany who will fight for those Long Islanders who need more jobs and less government. Additionally, we must empower our small businesses and protect them from burdensome regulations and excessive taxation because they are the chief job creators right here in our communities. Working men and women in Long Island deserve to have an elected representative in Congress who speaks for them. Tim Bishop has stood with the establishment in Washington that has taxed more and spent more and the end result has hurt Long Island families and produced one thing, lost jobs.”

Steve Levy making rounds in Hudson Valley, still hasn’t decided

In 2010 NY Gov Election on March 5, 2010 at 7:29 am

(03-04-10) Suffolk County Executve Steve Levy is making news in the Hudson Valley.

By Chris Mckenna

Suffolk exec Levy might run for governor

MIDDLETOWN — He hasn’t decided whether he’ll run. And he if he does run for governor, there is no telling which ballot line might bear his name.

But in this time of Tea Party activism and political flux, Steve Levy, the Democratic Suffolk County executive, is betting that his budget-cutting record on Long Island and his big plans to rein in state spending are the credentials that would matter most to voters.

“This is all about the state budget, the economy and whether this state is going into bankruptcy,” Levy says, dismissing other political issues as “irrelevant” in the governor’s race this year.

Levy, who has been officially mulling over a run since January, stopped at the Times Herald-Record on Tuesday as part of a recent media blitz. He has his “waist in the water at this point,” he said, but he must still decide if he could be a viable candidate, probably within the next six weeks.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

Nuzzi and Schneiderman consider congressional campaigns

In Uncategorized on March 5, 2010 at 7:27 am

(03-04-2010) The following is from the Southampton Press

By Jessica DiNapoli

Local politicians consider congressional campaign

Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman of Montauk might throw his hat into the ring for the 1st Congressional District seat occupied by U.S. Representative Tim Bishop of Southampton, and he’s not the only potential East End challenger.

Mr. Schneiderman, an Independent who served as East Hampton Town supervisor before joining the County Legislature six years ago, said this week that he is planning to tap a handful of people to form an exploratory committee. He is one of nine, and possibly 10, potential challengers lining up to take on Mr. Bishop, the Democratic incumbent. The 10th candidate might be Southampton Town Councilman Chris Nuzzi, who said this week that he too might run.

Mr. Bishop is the presumptive Democratic candidate for the seat. He has publicly confirmed his intent to run again, and no other Democrat has announced a bid to try to unseat him.

But eight Republicans are now contending for the GOP nomination, according to John Jay LaValle, the chairman of the Suffolk County Republican Committee. They are Richard Blumenthal, Christopher Cox, George Demos, Jim Staudenraus, Fred Meyer, Randy Altschuler, Gary Berntsen and New York State Assemblyman Mike Fitzpatrick.

The latest name in the mix is Mr. Nuzzi’s. The Republican said Tuesday that he too is thinking about taking a run at Mr. Bishop’s seat and that he’s been “approached by people in the community to think about getting into the race.”

CHRIS COX CALLS ON TIM BISHOP TO GIVE BACK CHARLIE RANGEL’S MONEY

In Chris Cox on March 5, 2010 at 7:26 am

(03-04-2010) The following is a statement by Chris Cox, NY CD1 Candidate

CHRIS COX CALLS ON TIM BISHOP TO GIVE BACK CHARLIE RANGEL’S MONEY

Smithtown, NY - Chris Cox (R), candidate for Congress in New York’s First Congressional District, issued the following statement:

“New Yorkers – like most Americans – feel let down by many of their elected officials both in Washington and in Albany. That is certainly the case with Congressman Charlie Rangel who has been mired in ethical inquiry after inquiry. It is disappointing to see that Tim Bishop has yet to return any of the contributions he received from Rangel as many others from his own party have already done. Voters in the First Congressional District want someone who will represent them, not partisan agendas or special interests. Tim Bishop should follow other members of his own party and immediately give Charlie Rangel back his money.”

THE FACTSTim Bishop has received $15,000 in political contributions from Charlie Rangel since running for office:

CONTRIBUTION FROM	DATE	AMOUNT
Rangel for Congress	9/15/2004	$1,000
Rangel for Congress	6/17/2003	$1,000
Rangel for Congress	9/25/2002	$1,000
National Leadership PAC	8/26/2004	$2,000
National Leadership PAC	9/15/2004	$5,000
National Leadership PAC	9/25/2002	$5,000

Suffolk Tea Party is gearing up for November elections

In CSA, The 9-12 Project on March 4, 2010 at 12:04 pm

(03-04-2010) An excellent report by Michael White and the Riverhead News Review

BY MICHAEL WHITE, Editor

Eastern Long Island’s

Tea Party movement

is gaining momentum, and national attention

But will it last?

Robert and Mary Meyer were headed to Digger O’Dell’s restaurant in downtown Riverhead last March when Mr. Meyer felt a rush of anxiety. He had planned the gathering, but the self-described “large utility company” employee was no public speaker.

“Do you think people will expect me to say something?” his wife, a teacher, recalled him asking as they headed south from their Baiting Hollow home. In a lighthearted attempt to comfort her husband, Ms. Meyer assured him they would likely be dining alone that night.

“He wrote a few things down, but we were thinking we would probably be the only ones to show up,” she said of the minutes before the Glenn Beck viewing party they had arranged over the Internet.

“P.S. We ended up having 45 people come,” Ms. Meyer said of what would become the first meeting of the Suffolk 9/12 Project political action group. “People waiting to be seated were actually peeking their heads in. They were saying, ‘We overheard you talking. We feel the same way. We’re fed up and we don’t know what to do. Can we join you?’ “

Meanwhile, in West Islip, trade magazine publisher Stephen Flanagan, 55, had already started to organize a group of his own.

While the Meyers, both 44, were happy just to be meeting with like-minded people, the focus of Mr. Flanagan’s Conservative Society for Action had already taken shape. He and his members wanted to oust incumbent lawmakers they felt weren’t representing their constituents’ conservative values, namely congressmen Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) and Steve Israel (D-Huntington).

“We wanted to educate the electorate on the disconnect between their elected leaders’ extremely liberal voting record and the perception that somehow they were moderates,” Mr. Flanagan said.

Then came tax day, April 15. The Meyers and Mr. Flanagan found themselves doing the same thing at the same time, in different parts of Suffolk County.

The Meyers were in downtown Riverhead with other members of their group, some dressed in Revolutionary garb, at one of hundreds of TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Parties held across the U.S. Mr. Flanagan and his CSA sponsored an even larger and more raucous TEA Party outside county government offices in Hauppauge. People attending these events told reporters they were rallying against Wall Street bailouts, government involvement in private enterprise, socialized medicine and, above all, high taxes.

From then on, members of both organizations became known as “tea-partyers.” It wasn’t long before the groups, which now count almost 4,700 members between them, began collaborating. They’ve since arranged dozens of joint protests and rallies across Suffolk and elsewhere.

“Every step of the way, we’ve been working together,” Mr. Flanagan said. “We’re brothers in arms as far as I’m concerned.”

Now, aside from different meeting halls, they’re virtually the same group, with the same goals and objectives: To get conservative-minded people elected to local, state and federal offices, while working against perceived liberal incumbents — chief among them, Congressman Bishop.

TEA PARTY POWER

Eastern Long Island’s tea-partyers already appear to be enjoying political success. Although there’s no definitive evidence, tea-partyers here believe their rowdy showing outside a Tim Bishop Town Hall meeting in Setauket last year helped spark similar health care protests across the U.S. Mr. Bishop for a time cancelled Town Hall appearances.

“Essentially, we fired the shot that was heard across the country,” Mr. Meyer said of the June rally, from which a four-minute video clip went viral through YouTube. “Within two, three weeks you started seeing similar protests all across the country. That all started right here in Setauket.”

“Obviously, the rallies worked,” Mr. Flanagan said. “That health care bill was supposed to be passed before Aug. 1. But we scared enough of the entrenched elected incumbents that they started to think twice.”

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

Osama Bin Laden

Looking more and more like Vietnam

In War on Terror on March 4, 2010 at 12:03 pm

(03-03-2010) This is looking more and more like Vietnam folks. How long does it take to capture a 6′-4″ bearded camel jockey on kidney dialysis?

The following is from Politics Daily

by David Wood

U.S. Casualties in Afghan War Soar Toward 15,000 Dead and Injured

Americans have their eyes on the rising death toll of U.S. military men and women in Afghanistan, now nearing 1,000.officers have warned that because of the growing number of troops in Afghanistan and their increasingly aggressive and risky tactics, the toll of dead and wounded will accelerate in the year ahead.

But the casualty toll from that eight-year-old war also includes the less visible, silent ranks of those wounded and evacuated for injuries, a number that has reached at least 13,775 mostly young Americans. In many cases, their wounds will impose a lifelong burden on them and their families.

Altogether, the human cost of the Afghan war has reached 14,381 dead and wounded as of Monday morning, and senior U.S.

These casualties, together with those killed or injured in Iraq, have pushed the human cost of what the Bush administration called the Global War on Terrorism beyond 88,000 casualties.Pentagon announces the names, ages and hometowns of those who have died in military operations. Since 2001, that number has reached 921 American deaths in Afghanistan and neighboring regions of Pakistan and Uzbekistan. (According to the Pentagon’s definitions, 999 Americans have died in Operating Enduring Freedom, including those serving in Afghanistan and its border regions as well as in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Djibouti; Eritrea; Jordan; Kenya; the Philippines; and elsewhere.)traumatic brain injury and other wounds from an improvised explosive device, told me not long ago. Her son, Jason Ehrhart, has a full-time caregiver and attends daily sessions for physical, occupational, cognitive and speech therapy — all paid for by the Department of Veterans Affairs. “It’s definitely a life-changing thing,” Estes said with some understatement.“The Good Soldiers,” David Finkel writes of a soldier in Iraq, Patrick Hanley, a truck commander leading a convoy down a road studded with IEDs, one of which would detonate beneath Hanley’s vehicle. Hanley, Finkel writes, “was about to give his entire left arm to the cause of freedom, as well as part of the left temporal lobe of his brain, which would leave him unconscious and nearly dead for five weeks, and with long-term memory loss, and dizziness so severe that for the next eight months he would throw up whenever he moved his head, and weight loss that would take him from 203 pounds down to 128.”Polytrauma Centers, where highly specialized teams of physicians, physical, occupational and behavioral therapists, social workers, dietitians, wound specialists and others work to enable them to live as normal lives as possible.

The

In contrast to these announced deaths, the wounded come home anonymously, many of them for months of surgeries and painful rehab at Washington’s Walter Reed Army Medical Center or Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland or Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

“We let him enlist in the Army and he came back very damaged,” Pam Estes, the mother of a soldier who suffered

In his recent book,

The wounded and injured are difficult for even the Pentagon and the VA to track because some are treated and returned to duty, some remain on active duty while undergoing treatment, some are separated from military service because of their injuries, some are treated by the VA and some are unable to get treatment.

Missing from most official accounts of casualties are those who are medically evacuated from the war zone for injury or disease. Such cases range from severe malaria to eye infections from blowing sand. The Defense Department does not publicly acknowledge these medical evacuees, but the Veterans for Common Sense, a Washington-based veteran’s advocacy group, pried the number from the Pentagon with a Freedom of Information request. As of Jan. 2, that number stood at 37,732 from Iraq and 8,712 from Afghanistan.

The wounded also include some who are so badly wounded, with a combination of burns, traumatic amputations, spinal cord injuries, shattered limbs and faces, severe internal injuries, and deep psychological trauma, that they are beyond even the advanced care of Walter Reed and its sister institutions. These patients are sent to one of four Veterans Administration

I discussed one of these cases with Dr. Shane McNamee, medical director for polytrauma at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Va. A soldier was under McNamee’s care for eight or nine months; he was horribly wounded with both legs blown off, a shattered pelvis, a deep arm gash, an open abdomen, severe head wounds, spinal cord injuries and acute anxiety. “One of the most gruesome things I’ve seen in medicine,” McNamee said.

This case had a good outcome, McNamee said. After seven months of intensive care and rehabilitation, the soldier was transferred home, where he has daily visits from medical and rehab specialists and is learning to dress and feed himself. But he will not advance much beyond that ability, doctors said.

“How do you fix a guy like that? You can’t,” McNamee said. “We strive for perfect care every day [but] there’s so much loss, so much despair.” Trying to help an individual and the family back after such a catastrophe “is a matter of resetting expectations,” he said.

Local Economy

Casino coming to Suffolk

In Casino on March 4, 2010 at 12:02 pm

(03-03-2010) The followng is from Newsday

By MARK HARRINGTON

4 potential Shinnecock casino sites identified

A task force studying potential locations for a Shinnecock casino has begun to narrow the field to four sites, including a parcel near Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, according to people familiar with the process.

The Suffolk Legislature task force’s work is extremely preliminary and had not yet been formally presented to the Shinnecock tribe, which will make the ultimate decision, sources said.

Randy King, tribal chairman, said the Shinnecocks are primarily focused on finalizing federal recognition, which is expected in months, and in meeting with Gov. David A. Paterson to negotiate state terms for a casino. Numerous distractions in Albany have postponed the meetings.

“You’ve got to get to first base before second base,” King said. “I want to get the recognition done.” Meanwhile, day-to-day issues like snow removal have been higher on his to-do list.

Sources familiar with the sites say the task force will propose county-owned property in Yaphank in a Suffolk-planned development known as Leisure Village, and on Riverhead town-owned property at the EPCAL site in Calverton. The Gabreski site is on or near a 55-acre parcel leased to private developer, Rechler Equity Partners.

The fourth site is on unspecified town-owned land in Suffolk, a source said.

A spokeswoman for Rechler didn’t return a phone call, and task force members declined to discuss sites. King said he has heard the Gabreski site mentioned by officials previously, and stressed that political and community feedback will be part of any final decision.

Suffolk Legis. Wayne Horsley, who sits on the task force as chairman of the county committee on economic development, higher education and energy, said Suffolk feels confident that whatever offer it presents to the tribe will benefit the county and the Shinnecocks. He said that’s particularly true now that the state has awarded a contract to the Aqueduct Entertainment Group to open a racino of video lottery terminals at Aqueduct raceway, which is seven miles from a site many considered a prime location for the tribe at the Belmont race track.

“All bets are off – the odds are on Suffolk,” said Horsley, who declined to discuss sites.

Observers stressed that the task force’s plan represents one small step in a series of hurdles the tribe and its backers must complete before plans for a casino can move forward. First, the tribe’s application for federal recognition, which was preliminarily approved in December, must be finalized. That is expected to happen in coming months.

Second, the tribe must work out a compact with New York State that includes settling on a location and revenue sharing.

In addition to getting federal recognition status, the tribe also must negotiate a land-in-trust agreement with the federal government if, as expected, a casino will be located off its Southampton reservation.

Lazio part of the problem?

In Rick Lazio on March 4, 2010 at 12:59 am

(03-04-2010) The following is from the Albany Times Union

Mr. Lazio’s other job

A series of laws took effect this week that offer new protections to the consumers who hold 1.4 billion credit cards in this country. No longer, for example, can credit card companies raise interest rates on new accounts during the first year they are open, or raise interest rates on existing balances unless the customer is 60 days late paying a bill.

That’s progress, however modest. Imagine, though, if the laws went further, to ban charging interest on bills paid on time and in full. Or to put even a reasonable limit on how much interest rates could be raised as a penalty on delinquent borrowers.

Legislation to regulate the credit card industry more aggressively died in the Senate three years ago, For that, you can thank the big Wall Street banks — and lobbyists like Rick Lazio.

That was Mr. Lazio’s job from 2004 through 2008, a few years after leaving Congress and before returning to politics as the leading Republican candidate for New York governor. He worked as an executive vice president for J.P. Morgan Chase, in a job that included trying to prevail upon the legislative body in which he previously served to pass bills favorable to his company and defeat those that weren’t.

Regulation of the credit card industry was among J.P. Morgan’s concerns. In addition to lobbying against limits on interest and penalties, Mr. Lazio also opposed, on his company’s behalf, a bill that would have prevented banks from enrolling their customers in potentially costly overdraft protection plans without their consent. That bill never made it out of a House committee.

J.P. Morgan also was concerned about regulation of the mortgage industry after the real estate market collapsed. Mr. Lazio lobbied against a bill to prohibit lenders from steering potential borrowers toward loans they had no demonstrable ability to repay. He also actively opposed, again on his company’s behalf, legislation to take away some of the big banks’ share of the student loans business and have the government provide those loans instead.

Mr. Lazio was compensated handsomely for such work, with salaries and bonuses that ran well into the six figures and on one occasion exceeded $1 million. It’s work he says he’s proud of — defending the interests of J.P. Morgan and the rest of the financial services industry — even as his re-entry into New York politics comes at a time when many Americans have a much more critical view of Wall Street.

“I have a lot of confidence in people,” he says. “I think they can distinguish and understand roles and I think they understand that we’re not better off as a state if we destroy the financial sector. Somebody who has got an understanding of that sector is in the best place to make that a reality.”

A discussion of how best to regulate one of the dominant industries in New York should be part of the campaign for governor, surely. But it might be more contentious than Mr. Lazio seems inclined to expect. What will he say, for instance, when someone asks him how a law to stop interest payments on up-to-date credit card payments would not be in the interests of all New Yorkers — even the ones who don’t work on Wall Street?

The issue:

The aspiring governor was a Wall Street lobbyist after leaving Congress.

The stakes:

His opposition to more stringent regulation of the credit card industry is a valid campaign issue.

After 10 years with Paterson, will his top aide turn canary?

In David Patterson on March 4, 2010 at 12:59 am

(03-03-2010) The following is from the NY Post

by Michael Goodwn

Oath oaf Paterson

The common view of Gov. Paterson is that he’s a slacker, far more interested in the trappings and symbolism of the job than the actual work.

No more. The latest news from Albany shows a different side of Paterson. It shows a man rolling up his sleeves and working hard into the night.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t working on the budget. It looks as though he was working to cover up a possible crime.

Just when you thought Albany couldn’t get any worse, it does. In a flash, he goes from toast to no escape.

He can resign but he can’t hide. He’d better get himself a very good lawyer.

And fast. As one Albany vet put it, “He’s like a 5-foot man in six feet of water.”

Reports in The Post and elsewhere that Paterson directed attempts to silence a woman who accused a top aide of assault put the case in a whole new light. It’s no longer just about what the State Police did or whether aide David Johnson likes to beat up women.

Assuming the reports are correct, it means Paterson was guilty of a baldfaced lie last Friday when he raised his right hand in oath fashion and declared, “I have never abused my office — not now, not ever.”

He had abused his office, and had ordered innocent government employees, from his press secretary to the State Police, to help him. That makes him corrupt, and a corrupter of others, too.

It also means Paterson repeated the mistake that has tripped up so many crooked pols before him: The cover-up is worse than the crime.

It was extra stupid this time, because the alleged assault might not have been a crime at all. The NYPD officers responding to the 911 call saw no injuries to the woman, Sherr-una Booker, and an order of protection was probably the most that would come of her complaint.

So why would Paterson get involved and risk everything to protect Johnson? I see three basic options.

The first is that he acted out of friendship. It’s the least likely explanation, because Paterson had to know he was way out of line to get involved. It carried too much potential downside for a mere favor.

The second option is political expediency, with Paterson trying to make a bad story go away as he was launching an already long-shot campaign. This is certainly possible, though he could have more easily protected himself politically by dumping Johnson when he heard of the alleged assault. That also would have been the right thing to do, given earlier reports about Johnson’s propensity for violence against women.

Option No. 3 is by far the worst scenario for Paterson, but it is the most complete explanation for all his actions. It is that Johnson, who has been glued to Paterson’s side for a decade and grown very powerful, knows more about him than anyone else. And some of what he knows is so unsavory that he could sink his boss if he talks.

It’s a theory, nothing more, but it suggests Paterson concluded the only way to protect himself was to protect Johnson. That meant the domestic-violence case had to go away, and the only way to do that was to get Booker either to retract her claim or simply skip court.

In fact, she did skip court after Paterson and others talked to her, and the case went away. Mission accomplished — until it all unraveled.

Too cynical? Maybe.

Then again, given Paterson’s reckless behavior lately, believing the worst about him is the safest bet. It’s where I’m putting my money.

A Tea Party take over?

In 32304521 on March 4, 2010 at 12:58 am

(03-04-2010) Change is coming.

The following is from the Hill.com

By Ben Goddard

Tea Party to take over

Most political analysts have been speculating over the imminent death of the Democratic Party. They cite the similarities to 1994, when Whitewater, Paula Jones and the contentious six-month battle over healthcare had dragged the popularity of the Democratic president and his party to historic lows — on a par with the Republicans for the first time since 1962.

Under the leadership of Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kan.) and Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), Republicans had discovered that they gained points by attacking the president and his programs. Voters perceived that Republicans had something to offer, and Democrats did little to counter that perception. They were fighting a defensive battle, trying to argue things were not as bad as they seemed.

Today’s Republican Party does not seem to be able to pull that off. The ranting about President Barack Obama’s secret socialist agenda and the rise of spokesmen like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck — obvious ideologues appealing to a narrow segment of the party — have served to define the party as right-wing. What started as a tax protest, the Tea Party, seems to be evolving into a legitimate movement within the party, with well-organized and -financed candidates challenging mainstream Republicans in primary races around the country.

Just this past week, two political analysts have weighed in with differing historical views about the state of the parties — but come largely to the same conclusion. Democrat pollster Stan Greenberg writes in the New Republic about the panic he began to feel looking at the numbers in the spring of 1994.

He convened a meeting of top political scientists to divine what the diverging lines of support for Republicans and Democrats meant. Their conclusion was a loss of 15 to 18 seats — a dire scenario, but nothing quite like what actually happened, which was a loss of 54 House seats and eight in the Senate. At the time, the president’s approval rating held at 50 percent. Following the disastrous defeat of his crime bill by his own party in the House, his positive numbers had fallen to 39 percent.

Are we in the same situation today? Greenberg thinks not. “Republicans have remained amazingly unredeemed,” he says. Unlike Gingrich and Dole, who gained stature with every battle, Republicans today look like a cult.

Ken Feltman surprisingly shares this view, comparing where the party is today to the Whigs in the 1850s. More recently, he recalls the “loyalty test” votes of Tom DeLay that affirmed leadership’s positions without regard for the needs of moderate constituents. He cites Rep. Jack Quinn (R-N.Y.) resigning because DeLay had no idea what it took for a Republican to win in Buffalo. Moderates need not apply.

In reading Feltman’s newsletter, Radnor Reports, I was reminded of a paper I wrote in college on how F. Clifton White and his cohorts seized control of the Republican Party from the “Rockefeller Republicans” and nominated Barry Goldwater for president. Radnor believes the pattern will repeat. The Tea Partiers will take over more party positions now held by the old guard. “Some of those Tea Partiers will be kooky, others will be single-issue ideologues. A few will be anti-immigrant, a smattering will be paranoid. Others will be very like the Republicans they beat.”

Whether the movement will be a short-lived adjustment in GOP philosophy or a wholesale shifting of the political foundation in this country will take some time to sort out. But the message from two very political observers from opposite ends of the spectrum is that change is coming. And it may not be the change many suspect.

If Obama is able to make the case that he and the Democrats are making a better life for real people while Republicans simply want to stop any change that affects the status quo, they may be able to weave a positive economic narrative. Communicating that message just might trigger the same kind of realignment that eventually created the Republican Party some 160 years ago.

Goddard is a founding partner of political consultants Goddard Claussen. E-mail: ben@gcsa.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Lobbyist Lazio got millions

In Rick Lazio on March 3, 2010 at 5:27 pm

(03-03-2010) The following is from the Albany Times Union

Lobbyist Lazio got millions

JIMMY VIELKIND Capitol bureau

Republican hopeful for governor earned fortune at top Wall Street bank

ALBANY — During his eight-year hiatus from public life, Rick Lazio earned millions of dollars from one of Wall Street’s biggest banks, in part for lobbying against restrictions on credit card and student lending practices.

Lazio, a former Long Island congressman and the presumptive Republican candidate for governor, oversaw lobbying for J.P. Morgan Chase as an executive vice president between 2004 and 2008. A Times Union review of public records found he worked for the firm to “educate (congressional) members and staff” about several bills pushed by consumer advocates but opposed by the financial giant.

In a recent interview with the Times Union, Lazio said he was proud of his work for J.P. Morgan.

“There is always tension between businesses that are set up to make a profit and advocacy groups that see their job very differently, obviously,” Lazio said. “They’re not in the business to extend credit or price risk or any of these other things. J.P. Morgan is a for-profit company. … It expects to have good, legitimate business practices, but also to make money.”

Lazio said his role at J.P. Morgan “was to be somebody on the inside and outside that would explain these policies and practices to people, and protect them. … And when I’m governor that will be my job, too: to advocate for and protect the people of New York.”

Lazio took a partial leave from J.P. Morgan in May 2009 and left the firm in September when he formally declared his candidacy for governor, said Barney Keller, a Lazio spokesman.

The Times Union requested information on Lazio’s compensation during his time at J.P. Morgan, which during the interview the candidate expressed a willingness to provide. (Lazio would be required to disclose his 2009 income and stock holdings within a week of receiving the Republican nomination.)

A week after the Times Union request, Keller said Lazio was paid a $325,000 base salary and $1.3 million bonus for his work in 2008, as well as $260,000 in salary and a $300,000 bonus — received this year — for his work in 2009. Salary information from the previous years was not immediately available, Keller said.

Records show J.P. Morgan spent $5.44 million lobbying in Washington during 2007 and $1.43 million in the first three months of 2008, after which Lazio left its government relations arm for another division.

Congress had begun to show interest in bank regulation over that period as the economic boom — fueled by cheap money and what many critics describe as reckless lending practices — began to slow. The eventual downturn caused institutions to curtail lending and, after two marquee Wall Street banks collapsed, required intervention by the federal government.

J.P. Morgan’s lobbying efforts were broad, and included a push to raise the quota on visas for foreign workers and a crackdown on practices that enable the financing of terrorists. But according to Travis Plunkett, legislative director for the Consumer Federation of America, it also fought attempts to restrict credit card practices “designed to trip up consumers and trap them in debt.”

Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union supported a bill introduced by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., that would have limited credit card interest and penalties. J.P. Morgan and others lobbied against the bill, which never became law.

“We’ve struggled against enormous financial-industry pressure to bring these abusive practices under control,” said Chuck Bell, programs director for Consumers Union. He said the banks “have strongly opposed fair rules to eliminate tricks and traps in credit cards, and American consumers have suffered as a result.”

Records list Lazio as a member of the lobbying team that worked against Levin’s bill, though Lazio couldn’t remember specifically meeting with members about it.

“If people presented a credit risk, J.P. Morgan’s view was that … the bank ought to be able to price for the risk — so the people who had less risk could get the benefit of stronger credit,” Lazio said.

Student lending was another area in which Lazio was active lobbying. A 2007 investigation by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo — now a potential 2010 gubernatorial challenger — found conflicts of interest among student loan officers at many colleges, which would recommend “preferred lenders” to students for arbitrary reasons. The attorney general’s investigation, which was picked up in Congress by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., found banks were wooing the loan officers and, in some cases, offering a slice of their profits. J.P. Morgan was found to have spent over $70,000 for a 2005 cruise around New York harbor for more than 200 college financial aid officers.

Lazio said he knew nothing about the cruise. Amid pressure from Cuomo, J.P. Morgan signed on to a voluntary code of conduct in 2007 and supported Miller’s bill to make it federal law.

But the company lobbied against other legislation pushed by Miller in the wake of the scandal that would have shifted $20 billion of subsidies from private student lending to direct federal lending.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

Gov. Paterson could face criminal charges

In David Patterson on March 3, 2010 at 5:25 pm

(03-04-10) The following is from the NY Post

By MAGGIE HABERMAN

Experts: Gov raps are looming

Gov. Paterson could face criminal charges over asking two state workers to contact a senior adviser’s girlfriend, who was claiming domestic violence against him, at a time when she was pushing for court-ordered protection, experts say.

The reports that Paterson asked a spokeswoman, Marissa Shorenstein, and Housing and Community Renewal official Deneane Brown to reach out to Sherr-una Booker are the first clear sign of the governor’s involvement in the scandal.

“There is a real issue about whether he crossed the line,” said one former federal prosecutor, who asked not to be identified.

Potential charges could be “witness tampering, obstruction of governmental administration, or some similar charge,” the former prosecutor added.

Equally troubling for the governor is the phone conversation Paterson had with Booker, which she made to him after Brown told her the governor wanted to speak to her, according to sources.

“A key issue for me is what, if anything, did the governor know or do prior to taking that prearranged call,” a legal expert said.

Criminal-defense lawyer Joe Tacopina said that prosecutors “don’t need to be too creative” with charges when someone like Booker is allegedly being asked to change her story.

“I’ve seen prosecutions for much less, especially the position that he’s in,” he said.

Obama vs. the 10th Amendment

In New York State Sovereignty on March 3, 2010 at 5:24 pm

(03-02-2010) 56 percent of Americans think the federal government has become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to their rights and freedoms.

by Chuck Norris

Obama vs. the 10th Amendment

Not surprisingly, a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released last Friday revealed that 56 percent of Americans think the federal government has become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to their rights and freedoms.

Particularly apropos here is the feds’ health care violation of the 10th Amendment, which is part of our Bill of Rights and was ratified Dec. 15, 1791. The amendment says, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Thomas Jefferson explained the pre-eminence of this amendment in 1791: “I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground: That ‘all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people.’ To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition.”

The point is that based on the 10th Amendment, when it comes to legislating and controlling our health care, the federal government doesn’t have a constitutional leg to stand on. And even its past violations of the 10th Amendment by implementing government health care services have proved to break more national legs than they have to mend them. The proof is in the pudding. How many times does it have to be pointed out to Washington? Medicare is going bankrupt. Medicaid is going bankrupt. Case closed.

The government is inept to run America’s health care system. And now it wants to expand its programs (its health care business) to oversee what equates to one-sixth of the gross national product? What rational board anywhere in the world would rightly appoint a CEO who had a string of miserable business failures and major corporate bankruptcies in his dossier?

I agree with Dr. Scott W. Atlas, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor at Stanford University Medical Center, and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who put it best in their article a few months back, titled “Alternatives to government health takeover.” They said this: “We think it’s critical that power shifts to the American consumer and away from government, employers and insurers, as evidence shows medical care prices come down when patients pay directly. Government should offer tax relief, such as refundable tax credits, to encourage private health insurance purchasing — especially for low-income families. Similar ideas, like those in the Patients’ Choice Act … are important for Americans to consider. We would do well also to consider creative ideas such as changing federal payments to state-based medicaid plans to individual vouchers or expanding health savings accounts, as has been done in South Carolina.”

Returning the onus of solving health care issues to families, local communities and states would not only return a balance of power to our federal government but also help with America’s economic recovery and build up communities at the same time.

The abuse of federal political power to intervene in areas such as Americans’ private health care could exist only in a nation that no longer holds its leaders accountable to its constitution and that has governmental leadership that regards itself as above its people and its constitution. Sadly, I was listening to an interview the other day in which President Barack Obama described the U.S. Constitution as “an imperfect document … a document that reflects some deep flaws … (and) an enormous blind spot.” He also said, “The Framers had that same blind spot.”

In so doing, the president established a rationale and justification for disregarding the Constitution. Even worse, he placed himself above the Constitution and those “blind Framers,” who just couldn’t see the big picture as he does today. After all, he’s the constitutional scholar, and the Framers were just, well, the creators of the document!

Our 44th president would do well to learn from America’s third president, Thomas Jefferson, himself a source greater than any living constitutional lawyer. Imagine Jefferson sitting there at the health care summit, a ripe sage at roughly 80 years of age. After listening to all the clamoring of both Republicans and Democrats, he politely but sternly utters these words, which he also wrote to Supreme Court Justice William Johnson in 1823: “The States supposed that by their tenth amendment, they had secured themselves against constructive powers. They (did not learn from the past), nor (were they) aware of the slipperiness of the eels of the law. I ask for no straining of words against the General Government, nor yet against the States. I believe the States can best govern our home concerns, and the General Government our foreign ones. I wish, therefore, to see maintained that wholesome distribution of powers established by the constitution for the limitation of both; and never to see all offices transferred to Washington, where, further withdrawn from the eyes of the people, they may more secretly be bought and sold as at market.”

It couldn’t be any clearer or wiser than that.

I encourage you to go to TenthAmendmentCenter.com and learn more about your 10th Amendment rights, and then fight for those rights by holding all your representatives accountable to them.

Lazio the lamb sending himself to slaughter

In 2010 NY Gov Election on March 3, 2010 at 12:47 am

(03-03-2010) While NJ Governor Chris Christie is slashing spending and pushing for tax cuts, the best NY Gubernatorial Candidate Rick Lazio has to offer is a 2.5% tax cap.

Christie is a bold leader and a shepard that people follow, Lazio is a lamb sending himself to slaughter.

Save yourself Rick, look across the Hudson and learn a thing or two.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

By Steve Forbes, Forbes

March 01, 2010

The Shape of Things to Come

Debt-plagued Greece dominates the headlines, along with such other troubled countries as Portugal, Italy and Spain. Here at home several states–led by profligate California–and numerous municipalities are also teetering on the edge of insolvency. In all of these cases the problem is excessive spending. True, revenues are down because of the recession, and markets are skittish about financing suspect debtors, in part because of the lack of transparency concerning these borrowers’ using possibly explosive derivatives to paper over budget shortfalls. But ever more obese budgets have put many governments on the brink of bankruptcy.

Disaster, however, is not inevitable: A bracing and, indeed, inspiring example of what must be done is rising in New Jersey. Newly minted Republican Governor Chris Christie, facing a fiscal disaster, is doing the unthinkable: slashing spending and pushing for tax cuts as a way to revive New Jersey’s moribund economy.

Last month Christie told the Democrat-dominated legislature that he was impounding more than $2 billion of this year’s budget. The scythe is wide-sweeping. “I am cutting spending in 375 different state programs, from every corner of state government. I will use my executive authority to implement [these cuts] now. [They] will eliminate our $2 billion budget gap,” Christie asserted to stunned lawmakers. His cuts are even bigger than they sound. “Upon arrival my administration had $6 billion of balances from which to find $2 billion of savings. We had to cut one-third of our available funds with only four and a half months to go in the fiscal year.”

While the reductions are huge, Christie was careful to use the scalpel, not the meat axe. In education, for example, he does not take “one penny from an approved school instructional budget. Not one dime out of the classroom. Not one textbook left unbought. Not one teacher laid off. Not one child’s education compromised for one minute. Not one dollar of new property taxes will be needed.”

But the governor made it clear that ever more drastic surgery is needed in next year’s budget, which he will submit this month. The howls will then be truly deafening.

New Jersey’s 566 cities and municipalities will also urgently do what they should have done years ago–consolidate services across municipal lines.

The biggest push will be on pensions. “Pensions and benefits are the major drivers of our spending increases at all levels of government–state, county, municipal and school board,” the governor declared. “The special interests have already begun to scream their favorite word–which, coincidentally, is my 9-year-old son’s favorite word when we are making him do something he knows is right but does not want to do–’unfair.’ One state retiree, 49 years old, paid, over the course of his entire career, a total of $124,000 toward his retirement pension and health benefits. What will we pay him? $3.3 million in pension payments over his life and nearly $500,000 for health care benefits–a total of $3.8 million on a $120,000 investment. Is that fair?

“A retired teacher paid $62,000 toward her pension and nothing, yes nothing, for full family medical, dental and vision coverage over her entire career. What will we pay her? $1.4 million in pension benefits and another $215,000 in health care benefit premiums over her lifetime. Is it ‘fair’ for all of us and our children to have to pay for this excess?”

The governor is also sweeping away all make-believe assumptions on revenue projections. “In June of 2009, was there anyone in New Jersey, other than in the Department of Treasury, who actually believed any revenues would grow in 2009–10? With spiraling unemployment heading over 10%, with a financial system in crisis and with consumers petrified to spend, only Trenton treasury officials could certify that kind of growth. Today, the days of Alice in Wonderland budgeting in Trenton end.”

Tax increases? Forget ‘em. “We already have higher taxes than any other state in the union. What have they given us? 10.1% unemployment, a dormant economy and a failure of hope for growth in our future. Higher taxes are the road to ruin. We must, and we will, shrink our government.”

In fact, Christie refused to extend New Jersey’s sky-high 10.75% top income tax rate, letting it revert to 8.97%, which is still too high. Because that rate still drives people in high brackets out of the state, Christie will try to whack it down before he leaves office.

While the focus is on budgets, the governor will also be pushing for substantial educational reforms. Christie has noted, with relish, that there are no caps on the creation of charter schools in the Garden State. He will also advocate fundamental reforms in regulations governing New Jersey’s health insurance. The state has just about the most expensive health insurance rates in the country.

As governor, Christie has powers that none of his peers in other states possess. Even so, he plans to aggressively promote his policies around the state. New Jersey citizens, along with growing numbers of Americans around the country, are beginning to understand that uncontrolled local government spending–particularly for pensions and Medicaid–has become utterly untenable. At the moment Christie is virtually alone in the boldness of his reform policies, but as the public sours on bailouts he will have more and more company.

Presidential Leadership, Bipartisanship and the Way Forward on Healthcare Reform

In Gary Berntsen on March 3, 2010 at 12:46 am

(03-02-2010) The following is an OP-ED by Gary Berntsen, NY CD1 Candidate

By Gary Berntsen

Presidential Leadership, Bipartisanship and the Way Forward on Healthcare Reform

President Obama hosted a healthcare reform summit on Thursday, Feb. 25 at Blair House. The stated purpose of this summit was to bring Democrats and Republicans together in the same room to move the process of healthcare reform forward in a bipartisan way. Although the politicians in Washington did a good job at playing to the cameras, the political interests discussed clearly outweighed any discussion about the interests of the ordinary American. It was clear from the start that the true purpose of this summit was to score political points in order to force a piece of legislation onto the American public that they overwhelmingly oppose.

The president immediately established a defensive tone to the conversation that unfolded. This tone serves only to undermine the process. True leadership does not defend the indefensible, deflect legitimate concerns as ”talking points,” or resort to carefully prepared political remarks in order to dismiss viable solutions to a growing problem. True leadership engages the issues by setting aside emotional reactions while retaining empathy, listening carefully to all those involved, and working within the boundaries of reason and principle in order to accomplish a goal. The president failed to demonstrate an understanding of the inherent problems that a 2200+ page bill presents, the problems it seeks to address, the appropriate role the federal government may play, or how to move forward as a leader instead of an agitator. Frankly, President Obama is in over his head.

It is obvious by the ways in which the president and the politicians have approached the issue of healthcare reform that they are more concerned with satisfying the urgent needs of labor unions and other special interests than they are in addressing the needs of those they represent. The bill the president is stubbornly campaigning for is a bailout for unions, a payoff to special interests and it inserts the federal government in yet one more aspect of our lives. This healthcare bill is a tax and spend package and nothing more.

Many reasonable alternatives to this bill were presented yesterday. ”Portability,” tort reform, fighting fraud and abuse, allowing small business to engage their trade organizations to buy group policies and addressing the “defense medicine” practitioners often engage in are just a few of those alternatives. President Obama addressed many of these reasonable and common-sense alternatives by indicating that they were already included in the legislation. Setting aside the fact that their inclusion in the current legislation is as “token gestures” only and far from complete, the people must put the president on notice that the major issue with this current legislation is the simple fact that it does include everything under the sun, and then some. The best approach to healthcare reform is not a “one-size-fits-all” bill where we have no hope in assessing its consequences with any reasonable degree of certainty. The best approach to reform is a step-by-step series of bills that we can modify as needed to focus their combined consequences to affect real and lasting reform.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) made some very good points that are worth repeating. Everyone agrees that our financial and healthcare status quos are unsustainable, and healthcare reform is budget reform. This bill does not reform healthcare, and it accounts for six years of spending but ten years of tax increases and medicare cuts thus increasing spending over time to the tune of $2.3 trillion. This bill is smoke and mirrors, replete with examples of “double counting” dollars and other gimmicks. This bill increases – not decreases - healthcare spending in the United States. Rep. Ryan said it well, “…ignoring these costs does not remove them from the backs of taxpayers. Hiding spending does not reduce spending.”

The American people learned a lot about the process on Thursday. But one thing they learned in droves was that the Republicans are far from being the “party of no” that the president and Democrats have sought to frame them as for the past year. Many reasonable solutions were proposed by the Republicans, and it is now clear that the lack of bipartisanship in Washington has much more to do with the unwillingness of President Obama and the Democrat Party to address meaningful reform that is free from any other influences but reason and principle then it does with a Republican caucus just saying “no.”

The way forward is clear. We must start over. We must take the best ideas of reform from both sides of the aisle and craft meaningful legislation that has a chance to reduce healthcare costs and increase access. We must do this not with a single 2000 page bill, but with several small bills so that we can measure their effects and adjust as needed. We cannot confuse this approach with something that will be easy or with a simple attempt to address a vast and growing problem. The solution will be tough and it will require a quality of leadership that Washington currently lacks.

We can accomplish reform only if there is the political will to keep addressing these issues after the immediate crisis is behind us. We must recognize that these small bills are band-aids for the system, and that means that our task is not complete simply by stopping the bleeding. We need true leadership in Washington, DC that understands the issues and that has the proven ability to see a job through to completion.

Gary Berntsen is currently seeking the Republican Nomination for NY CD-1.

The Libertarian Republican Report

Case of the Fort Jackson Five suspected Muslim agents gets even wierder

In War on Terror on March 3, 2010 at 12:43 am

(03-03-2010) Excellent coverage from the Libertarian Republican Blog continues on this undereported national security story. Please bookmark this website!

Case of the Fort Jackson Five suspected suspected Muslim agents gets even wierder

Libertarian Republican FOLLOW-UP

From Eric Dondero:

Three weeks ago CBN broke the story of 5 Muslim US Army troops suspected of an attempt to poison the food supply at Ft. Jackson base in South Carolina. The 5 were translators in a special division of the Army for strictly Middle Eastern recruits.

Now an update from CBN.com:

Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said the soldiers’ laptops had been seized and were being analyzed. Congressional officials with knowledge of the case said cell phones and Arabic writings had been confiscated as well.

Wilson said the soldiers were discharged because of unrelated incidents of minor theft.

Four of the five have been discharged from the Army with “administrative separation,” (military lingo for less-than-honorable).

Erick Stakelbeck, CBN News Terrorism Analyst advances the story, noting that the five now ex-soldiers are all from the metro-Washington DC area. His source indicates that there’s reason to believe that they were allegedly in touch with another group of Washington, D.C. area Muslims “that traveled to Pakistan to wage jihad against U.S. troops in December. That group was arrested by Pakistani authorities, also just before Christmas.”

Chris Cox calls for removal of Governor Paterson

In Chris Cox on March 2, 2010 at 4:53 pm

(03-02-2010) Chris Cox, NY CD1 Candidate calls for the removal ofGovernor Paterson. “The Governors actions are an affront to every victim of domestic violence.”

CHRIS COX: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, PATERSON MUST GO

Smithtown, NY – Chris Cox (R), candidate for Congress in New York’s First Congressional District, issued the following statement:

“For days, New Yorkers of every political persuasion have called on Governor Paterson to step down. It has now come to light that the Governor had State employees engage in his despicable and abhorrent effort to cover up domestic violence. The Governor’s actions are an affront to every victim of domestic violence and cannot be tolerated. It is truly a dark day for our state and if Paterson doesn’t have the common sense or decency to leave office, state officials should begin proceedings to have him removed. Clearly, a full investigation should be conducted concerning this matter and anyone in violation of the law should be prosecuted to its fullest extent. The time for discussion has ended, Paterson must go.”

NJ Gov Chris Christie making exciting news, NY Gov challenger Rick Lazio putting people to sleep

In 2010 NY Gov Election on March 2, 2010 at 4:52 pm

(03-02-2010) New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie making news all the way in Texas. All while NY Gunbernatorial Candidate Republican Rick Lazio is putting people to sleep.

by Paul Jacob

New Jersey: One state where “Change” is really making a difference

Seems the recent gubernatorial election made a difference in New Jersey. There’s change there. Also hope.

Last November, running on a platform of fiscal sanity, Republican challenger Chris Christie defeated the Democratic Governor Jon Corzine. And it seems that, unlike a certain U.S. president, Christie has every intention of following through.

In early February, Christie told lawmakers that the state’s finances remain a mess and that the budget passed eight months ago is full of “all of the same worn out tricks of the trade” that have driven New Jersey to the edge of bankruptcy.

He said that the legacy of “irresponsible budgeting of the past, coupled with failed tax policies which lie like a heavy, wet blanket suffocating tax revenues and job growth” require extraordinary steps to bring the budget back into balance.

So on his own initiative, Christie is freezing spending across an array of programs. For example, he is cutting the subsidy to New Jersey Transit and urging managers of public transportation to “improve efficiency . . . revisit its rich union contracts,” be more fiscally responsible and efficient. He’s also targeting bloated government pensions and education funding.

Can Governor Christie complete the pivot to fiscal common sense despite the hurricane of opposition he faces? Time will tell. But it would be hard to imagine a better start.

Editor’s Note – Paul Jacob is the former National Director for the Libertarian Party, and former longtime President of US Term Limits. His blog is ThisisCommonSense.

Schneiderman complicates NY CD1 with Independence Party line

In Independence Party on March 2, 2010 at 4:51 pm

(03-02-2010) Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman is reportedly looking to seek the Independence Party line — and not a major-party line in the race for NY CD1

By Aaron Blake

Third-party lines complicating GOP efforts in N.Y.

Republican efforts to take down Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) could be hitting a snag.

Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman is reportedly looking to seek the Independence Party line — and not a major-party line — for the race.

Because of New York’s balloting rules, a candidacy like Schneiderman’s could steal serious votes from Republicans. Those seeking evidence should look no further than Doug Hoffman’s effort in November’s upstate special election while running on the Conservative line.

Schneiderman is a former Republican who defected to the Independence Party last year and won reelection without opposition.

“My intention is not to seek a major party backing,” he told Newsday. “l’m floating the idea to see the kind of response I get from voters. This is a race an Independent can win. You could see the first member of the Independence Party in Congress.”

Businessman Randy Altschuler, attorney George Demos and Chris Cox, the grandson of former President Richard Nixon, are all seeking the GOP nomination to face Bishop.

Newsletter from Southold GOP

In Southold Republican Committee on March 2, 2010 at 1:27 am

(03-02-2010) The following is a newsletter from Denis Noncarrow, Chairman Southold GOP

Upcoming Events…

March 13th, Teamed Up for a Great night of Celebration - Southold Republican Committe and the Southold Republican Club are hosting a cocktail party fundraiser to continue their efforts on Saturday, 5:00 – 7:30 pm, Osprey’s Dominion Vineyards, Main Road, Peconic. Wine and Hors D’oeuvres, live music by Sahara $30 per person.

National Deficits: the Path to Ruin

Deficit spending in Washington is the greatest long-term threat to our National and our State economies.

For at least a decade, fiscal hawks and economists have warned that Federal entitlement programs alone will generate crippling deficits in the years ahead.

The Obama Administration’s unprecedented spending on Bailouts and the so-called “stimulus” program, have resulted in skyrocketing deficits.

Today’s fiscal crisis in Washington is without precedent. Deficits are headed towards 85 percent of GDP and they never reach a sustainable level in future years. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) will soon report that in the 10th year of Obama’s deficit-ridden budget, our Federal government will spend almost a trillion dollars a year on interest alone!

Solving our Federal deficit crisis is not an easy task. Nor will it be a painless process. There are obvious spending cuts to be made such as in foreign aid. We can start shrinking the bloated Federal payroll through attrition, when employees retire they are not replaced. Not one dollar of the remaining money for the so-called “stimulus” money should be spent. The big challenge of entitlement reform is complex, and requires honesty and political courage.

Democrats have cleverly built up their constituency for decades by expanding the welfare state to more and more of the middle class.

Republicans must make sure that reformed Federal programs continue to help the poor, while encouraging the middle class with bold new incentives to take more personal responsibility.

Democrat’s attempt to socialize health care in the name of “reform” has been a wake up call. Now, it is time for a serious discussion of spending and an approach to deficit spending that is courageous and pragmatic.

Sincerely,

Denis Noncarrow

Chairman

Thank God for Barack Obama

That is right – I will say it “THANK BARACK OBAMA”

WHY?

He destroyed the Clinton Political Machine – Driving a stake thru the heart of Hillary’s Presidential aspirations – something no Republican was ever able to do. Remember when a Hillary Presidency scared the daylights out of you!

He killed off the Kennedy Dynasty – No more Kennedy’s trolling Washington looking for booze and women wanting rides home. American women and Freedom are safer tonight!

He is destroying the Democratic Party before our eyes!

Dennis Moore had never lost a race – quit.

Evan Bayh had never lost a race – quit.

Byron Dorgan – had never lost a race – quit.

Harry Reed – Soon to be GONE.

These are just a handful of the Democrats that whose political careers Obama has destroyed! By the end of 2010 dozens more will be!

In December of 2008 the Democrats were on the rise. In the last two election cycles they had picked up 14 senate seats and 52 house seats. The press was touting the death of the Conservative Movement and the Republican Party.

In one year Obama put a stop to all of this and will probably give the house, if not the senate back to the Republicans.

He has completely exposed liberals and progressives for what they are. Every Generation seems to need to relearn the lesson on why they should never actually put liberals in charge. He is bringing home the lesson very well!

Liberals tax, borrow and spend – check.

Liberals won’t bring themselves to protect America – check.

Liberals want to take over the economy – check.

Liberals think they know what is best for everyone – check.

Liberals aren’t happy till they are running YOUR life – check.

He has brought more Americans back to conservatism than anyone since Reagan.

In One year he rejuvenated the Conservative movement and brought out to the streets millions of Freedom Loving Americans.

Name me one other time in your life that you saw your friends and neighbors this interested in taking back America !

The Next American Tax Rebellion Has Begun

In Taxes on March 2, 2010 at 1:26 am

(03-02-2010) The following is from TownHall.com

by Michael Reagan

The Next American Tax Rebellion Has Begun

My father, Ronald Reagan, battled successfully to simplify the tax code but his work has been largely undone. The arrogance of those who use the tax code to manipulate citizen behavior and Congressional ambitions for personal advancement have again corrupted the already destructive income tax system. It will fall to the American people to once again reject unfair taxation that favors the mighty at the expense of the public.

These 237 years after the Boston Tea Party and 31 years after the tax revolt that contributed to the election of my father as President, America is again rejecting “taxation without representation” and the rule of new American aristocrats. This time, the digital world is joining the physical world so even home-bound Americans can voice their dissatisfaction with our corrupted tax system.

With a new online technology that brings the future to Uncle Sam, a hundred thousand people have already chosen graphic avatars to begin an online tax revolt march on Washington. Arriving April 15th, hundreds of thousands of Americans will digitally join those who can afford the time and expense of physically traveling to Washington for what may be the most powerful tax protest since Boston Harbor.

My father said, “Our federal tax system is, in short, utterly impossible, utterly unjust and completely counterproductive, it reeks with injustice and is fundamentally un-American… it has earned a rebellion and it’s time we rebelled.” That second great tax rebellion is now underway at www.onlinetaxrevolt.com.

Tea Party patriots, FairTaxers, Flat Taxers, and most Americans of every political persuasion understand that the federal tax system fuels unchecked government spending, hides the cost of government from the American taxpayer and has become corrupted into indecipherability by Congressional profits and power. Citizens are coming together from across the political spectrum and across the nation to wake Washington up to the voice of the American people.

Citizens are rejecting the idea that huge government borrowing and debt has been secured by pledging the future earnings of generations of Americans not yet born. Such irresponsible and immoral taxation of future American generations is intergenerational theft that reeks of taxation without representation all over again. The angry reaction of everyday citizens is not a sign that government is broken but that the American people are remembering what Washington has largely forgotten, the rightful role of the citizen in directing government policy.

After almost 100 years, the income tax system has become a caricature of responsible public policy. With more than 67,500 pages of income tax regulations and an annual tax compliance cost of more than $300 billion, the federal tax system is increasingly being seen as something that is very good for those in Washington and very bad for all the rest of us.

It is rich pickings in “Gucci Gulch” outside the House Ways and Means Committee room where well-heeled, former tax committee staffers and former Members of Congress seek income tax favors for wealthy and powerful clients. Meanwhile, small businesses, the engines of our economy suffer tax preparation costs as high as $700 for every $100 of taxes paid. And, more and more Americans will soon learn that even the Congressional mistake of failing to index the Alternative Minimum Tax is a growing quicksand, like the tax code itself, which threatens to define working class Americans as “wealthy.”

The fact that the original modest proposal to “soak the rich” with an income tax has grown into a federal monster that affects every business and personal financial decision in America is increasingly being seen as downright un-American and corrupted to the core. Married people pay more than singles living together, we are double and tripled taxed on the same income, Warren Buffett pays a lower rate than his salary-earning secretary and every step up the economic ladder is greeted with a penalty by our federal government. Even death is a taxable event.

Whatever other differences we may have—and we have a few—nearly everyone except those in Washington, D.C. agrees that our federal tax system is badly broken and must be ripped out by the roots. Those who ignore the tidal wave of citizen passion coming to Washington on April 15th may want to start looking for life jackets—or new jobs.

Tea Partiers on ‘Alert’

In Health Care on March 2, 2010 at 1:24 am

(03-02-2010) The following is from Fox News

Tea Partiers on ‘Alert’ as Democrats Lay Groundwork for Health Care Passage

Democrats appear to be gambling that a perceived lull in Tea Party activism, combined with an eight-month window to the November midterm election, is going to buy them enough time to muster the simple majorities they need in the Senate and House to give President Obama at least partial victory in his push to remake the nation’s health care system.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday that Obama will have a proposal on the table “in a matter of days.”

“Time is up,” she said in an interview Sunday.

But conservative activists, particularly the Tea Party groups, are gearing up for a fight to the last vote, even if political judgment day may seem far off.

“Health care is right now our first priority because we know … it’s so close to passing, and if we look away for one second, it will,” said Shelby Blakely, a leader with Tea Party Patriots and executive director of its media arm, New Patriot Journal.

The all-fronts push for health care reform by top Democrats in Washington is a sharp turnaround from late January, when President Obama declared in his State of the Union address that “jobs must be our number-one focus in 2010″ while burying the section on health care. But Blakely argued that Obama was “intentionally” playing down the issue to make the debate less toxic.

“I think they created the lull on purpose,” she said. “Just because it’s not front-and-center in the news cycle does not mean it’s gone away.”

The third Tea Party Express tour — a road show of anti-tax, anti-spending activists — is set to start March 27 in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s home turf of Nevada and wend its way toward Washington, holding rallies at dozens of stops along the way. More than 1,000 Tea Party rallies are planned nationwide for the April 15 tax day demonstration. Both the tour and the tax day rallies are expected to focus heavily on health care reform.

Blakely said April 15 is “the next big thing” in the health care reform battle, but that the Tea Party groups will be watching the debate carefully, ready to jump in with carefully applied pressure to key lawmakers.

Tea Party Express spokesman Levi Russell said the group, and the 400,000 people on its mailing list, will be on a “high degree of alert” in the coming weeks.

Pelosi, in an interview Sunday with ABC’s “This Week,” appeared to be trying to mollify the Tea Party movement by appealing to its anti-establishment instincts.

“We share some of the views of the Tea Partiers in terms of the role of special interest in Washington, D.C.,” she said, adding that the Republican Party was “hijacking the good intentions” of those in the movement who “share some of our concerns” about special interests.

While Tea Party groups say they’re no fans of a number of Republicans in Congress, it’s highly unlikely they’d see a friend in the Democratic leadership team either.

Republicans say that if Democrats go through with plans to pass the health care reform bill without major revisions, they can kiss their majority goodbye.

“It is my belief that the Democrats will lose their majority in November if they ram this thing through without any bipartisan support,” House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., told Fox News on Monday.

But top Democrats are signaling that that may be the price to pay for a historic piece of legislation that could fundamentally reshape the health care industry.

Asked Sunday what she says to members afraid of losing their seats in November, Pelosi said, “We’re not here just to self-perpetuate our service in Congress. We’re here to do the job for the American people.”

Obama concluded his daylong White House summit on health care reform Thursday by telling Republicans that his party may have to “go ahead and make some decisions,” and if so, “then, that’s what elections are for.”

FoxNews.com’s Judson Berger contributed to this report.

Cuomo needs a challenge

In 2010 NY Gov Election on March 1, 2010 at 7:36 pm

(03-01-2010) The following is from John Faso, and appeared in todays NY Daily News

BY JOHN FASO

Cuomo needs a challenge

And Rick Lazio, has yet to offer any significant, substantive plans on how to fix New York

Eliot Spitzer promised that on Day One, everything would change – and did it ever. In 2006, during my candidacy for governor, I vainly tried to get the public to look beyond Spitzer’s rhetoric and truly examine his positions on the issues. I charged that Spitzer was “temperamentally unsuited” to be governor because of his history of bullying citizens and litigants who crossed him as attorney general.

The media and the public looked the other way. They treated Spitzer’s election as a mere formality, and even traditional Republican supporters sidled up to Spitzer. His victory was not so much an election, but a coronation. With Gov. Paterson’s administration now dying with a whimper, we’re not through paying the price of that coronation.

With another election approaching, we’d better be smart enough not to let it happen again. New York needs, deserves and ought to demand a real contest for governor. That goes for both the general election and the primaries. Yet at this point, neither party is laying out real prescriptions to fix New York.

As if we needed a reminder, the last four years have proven that elections have profound consequences. Overlooked in Spitzer’s surge to the governor’s chair four years ago was his selection of then-state Senate minority leader David Paterson as lieutenant governor. Paterson, though generally well-liked during his 22-year legislative tenure, was never viewed as a serious player.

As we all now know, Spitzer wasn’t a savior or a steamroller. His short tenure was marked by unnecessary fights with the Legislature. He attempted to manipulate the state Public Integrity Commission and the New York State Police in an effort to undermine a political opponent, former Senate Majority leader Joseph Bruno.

Of course, his political end came when tawdry revelations came to light about his frequenting prostitutes. But let’s not forget; long before that meltdown, Spitzer had squandered his leadership and thoroughly alienated all sides in Albany.

This, I submit, was largely because citizens and the media didn’t challenge the assumptions behind Spitzer’s candidacy.

We would soon enough discover that Spitzer’s second-in-command, Paterson, was probably never cut out to lead either. Faced with the most difficult economic crisis since the 1930s, he would issue clear warnings about the need to cut spending and not raise taxes. He would then capitulate to the public unions and other special interests clamoring for business as usual.

With plenty of paper cuts on our fingers, New Yorkers are finally set to turn the page on Paterson. But are they about to repeat the same mistake they made with Spitzer, with Andrew Cuomo?

Cuomo now has a clear path to the Democratic Party nomination for governor. And just like Spitzer, he is taking advantage of the fact that he seems to be the consensus choice to take over the big job – by revealing as little as possible about his positions on the issues facing the state. The people, and the Republican Party, cannot let him coast to power.

The state’s budget is over $20 billion out of balance between now and 2012. The public employee unions continue to demand that they be insulated from the impacts of the economic recession, regardless of impact on taxpayers.

The financial services industry – responsible for a large portion of New York’s tax revenue – is under constant political attack from populist demagogues, including Cuomo, seeking to score cheap political points. Employment in the city’s construction industry is at such a low ebb that unions recently agreed to lower their wages on private sector jobs.

If that weren’t bad enough, the New York State congressional delegation, almost entirely comprised of Democrats, seems clueless as to the impact of federal health care proposals on our heavily taxed state. The latest series of tax increases proposed by the President, especially those targeted at financial firms, will destroy a major sector of New York’s economy.

The likely GOP candidate for governor, Rick Lazio, has yet to offer any significant, substantive plans on how to fix New York. Andrew Cuomo hasn’t offered anything either.

After Spitzer and now Paterson, will New Yorkers simply accept another coronation? Or will new candidates, not now known to the voters, offer themselves and alternatives to fix this state?

If New York is to be saved, it needs to put its potential leaders through the wringer – and put their ideas to the test. The next few months will provide the answer.

Faso, who lost the race for governor to Eliot Spitzer in 2006, is a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP.

Assemblyman Dean Murray

Dean Murray; LI Cannot Afford A $324 Million LIRR Mandate – NOT HERE, NOT NOW

In Dean Murray on March 1, 2010 at 7:35 pm

(03-01-2010) The following is an OP-ED by NYS Assemblyman Dean Murray (R,C-East Patchogue)

NOT HERE, NOT NOW

LONG ISLAND CANNOT AFFORD

$324 MILLION LIRR MANDATE

At a time when Long Island families and businesses confront a struggling economy, they look to Albany and Washington for assistance. At the very least, they expect us to abide by the simple, though effective, motto: “Do no harm.” Unfortunately, we cannot be certain that the federal government’s mandate of control systems on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) will benefit Long Islanders when we do know it will cost them hundreds of millions of dollars at a time when they can least afford it. I recently brought this to the attention of our federal representatives, including Congressman Tim Bishop.

The Rail Safety Improvement Act, passed in 2008, requires commuter and many freight railroads to establish an automated Positive Train Control system to prevent collisions and derailments. While safety should be a prime concern, federal officials must also consider redundancies and excessive costs it imposes on Long Islanders during this recession.

This mandate will cost LIRR $324 million. Earlier this week, LIRR president Helena Williams said that her agency would struggle to pay the bill and that it would likely jeopardize capital improvement projects. This substantial sum will either be passed along to consumers, commuters who use the rail; or taxpayers, who have already been unfairly forced to bail out Wall Street, Detroit, and the MTA.

We should solicit the opinion of the Federal Railroad Administration to see if LIRR’s current cab signal system is a suitable alternative to the costly federally-mandated Positive Train Control. LIRR already operates a preventive train control system for 65 percent of its rail and through all of its high volume corridors, whereby a trigger automatically slows trains to 15 miles per hour when they pass certain signals.

The citizens of Suffolk County wonder how Albany and Washington can still be so detached from the economic hardships and overly-regulatory nature of our state and federal government. Long Islanders certainly cannot afford another mandate from Washington that costs hundreds of million of dollars.

Zeldin to Foley: Apologize for Selling Out Your Constituents

In NYS Senate on March 1, 2010 at 7:34 pm

(03-01-2010) The following is a statement by Lee Zeldin, candidate for NY State Senate

Statement by New York State Senate Candidate Lee Zeldin

on Paterson Announcement to Not Seek Reelection

Zeldin to Foley: Apologize for Selling Out Your Constituents

or Consider Following Paterson’s Fate

“During a fall 2008 Obama-Foley rally, my opponent stood with David Paterson and Malcolm Smith and pledged to ‘Change and reform the State of New York.’ He stated, ‘we are going to win this race because people are hungry for change.’

As Senator Malcolm Smith stood in support of Foley he introduced David Paterson as ‘one of the greatest governors that have ever been in the State of New York.’

Senator Smith pledged that by putting the Democrats in power in the New York State Senate, the 3rd Senatorial District would get more money for our schools, more jobs, and also property tax relief.

Foley went so far as to declare himself and the Senate Democrats as ‘The true guardian of the suburban agenda.’

Since then, Senator Foley cast the deciding votes in favor of:

- Creating the MTA Payroll Tax;

- Eliminating the STAR Rebate check program;

- Cut Long Island’s share of new school aid by over 62 percent;

- Increasing New York State spending last year by over 10%;

- Increasing our LIPA bills;

- Increasing our DMV fees;

- Requiring us to now get a license and pay a fee for saltwater fishing;

- and more…

My message to David Paterson, Malcolm Smith and Brian Foley… you have let us down. You promised us more money for our schools and we are getting less. You promised us more jobs but then unemployment rises. You promised property tax relief and did the exact opposite.

The 3rd Senatorial District is being misrepresented by its State Senator like New York State is being misrepresented by its Governor and on November 2nd the misrepresented will be Silent No More.”

Zeldin, 30, served as an aide to State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle. The Shirley resident studied at the University at Albany, graduated from Albany Law School, and earned his commission through Army ROTC. He was a paratrooper, prosecutor and magistrate with the 82nd Airborne Division and XVIII Airborne Corps. In the summer of 2006, he was deployed to Iraq with an infantry battalion of fellow paratroopers. Lee with his wife, Diana, have 3 year old identical twin daughters, Mikayla and Arianna.

TOWN COUNCIL SPECIAL ELECTION

LAST WEEKEND BLITZ!

PANICO FOR TOWN COUNCIL

Saturday & Sunday, March 6th and 7^th

Start Time:

Saturday – 10:30 AM

Sunday – 11:00 AM

Where: 512 B Main Street, Center Moriches

Help Take Dan’s Republican Message of Cutting Taxes, Slashing Wasteful Spending, Creating Jobs & Turning Brookhaven Around Directly to the Voters of District Six by Going Door to Door, Assisting with Shopping Center Literature Drops & Phone Banking!

If you are interested in helping PANICO FOR TOWN COUNCIL,

please e-mail or call us at: info@zeldinforsenate.com or 631-569-4848

Volunteers are also needed all day on Monday and Tuesday if you can help.

Zeldin for Senate

Where is Waldo, I mean Lazio?

In Rick Lazio on March 1, 2010 at 12:31 am

(03-01-2010) Where the heck is Rick Lazio?

After Elliot Spitzer resigns in shame, after David Paterson drops out in shame, how is Andrew Cuomo still the gubernatorial frontrunner? Better yet, how is Cuomo the only runner? Where the heck is Rick Lazio?

As Kyle Smith from NY Post opines, “No matter how bad things get for NY Dems, Republicans don’t step up.” What a shame.

What a shame that Rick Lazio, whose campaign has morphed into the children’s game Where is Waldo?, is the best the Republicans have to offer in this critical moment in state history.

Where is Waldo? Where is Rick Lazio? I’ll make it easy for you. Just click on this link and it’ll take you right to the Lazio website. I know that he’s been hard to find.

It’s high time somebody in the GOP finally steps in. For the good of the party, for the good of New York, even for the good of Lazio; someone grab an umbrella and yank him off the stage.

Because taxpayers in New York are aching to show their displeasure with Albany, and RINO Rick isn’t giving them a chance. It won’t be long before conservatives show their displeasure with him. Oh it’s coming. His campaign is a train wreck that hasn’t even left the station. Before it goes any further, stop it now!

It’s not just Lazio’s inability to fundraise that’s unsettling. It’s much more then that.

Blueprints for success have recently been laid out nearby with Massachusetts’ Scott Brown, New Jersey’s Chris Christie, and even New York’s Doug Hoffman (Hoffman had an incredible run for a 3^rd party candidate). And in spite of all the evidence of how important grassroots support is, Lazio has somehow still not even reached out to local conservative Tea Party groups. Better still, his campaign hasn’t even returned their phone calls or emails. Is it laziness, arrogance, or does he even have a clue?

So without money and without grass roots support, how does Lazio plan on winning?

Recently he stated, “All that matters in the end is whether you’re right on the issues.”

So I went to the Lazio website and the only definitive idea he offers is a 2.5% property tax cap. THAT’S IT??!!?? That’s the best you can do Rick? He also mentions something of a unicameral legislature. What the heck is that? The rest is typical clichéd campaign drivel.

Ben Stein, as the economics professor in "Ferris Buellers Day Off." Anyone.. Anyone?

The Lazio campaign has been about as exiting as watching paint dry. And he’s been garnering as much interest as a Ben Stein classroom lecture, i.e. “Anyone… Anyone?”

Um excuse me Rick, I think what matters most in the end is how many supporters you have.

NY taxpayers want to hear more then just property tax caps and campaign drivel.

NY taxpayers want to hear that heads in Albany are gonna roll.

Rick, you haven’t got a clue.

Somebody step in and replace this guy before the only supporters he has left are crickets.

Conservatives Across America

No matter how bad things get for NY Dems, Republicans don’t step up

In 2010 NY Gov Election on March 1, 2010 at 12:11 am

(03-01-2010) The following is from the NY Post

by Kyle Smith

For NY Dems, the party’s never over

Why won’t Republicans step up?

Spitzer resigned in shame, Paterson dropped out in shame, and still a Democrat is the gubernatorial frontrunner

“I have no plans to step down,” Gov. Paterson said at the end of his wacky week. He doesn’t have to have a plan, though, does he? A simple “I resign” should do the trick, and it seems as if it’ll be only days until we hear those words, now that his own criminal justice commissioner has stepped down as a rebuke to Paterson’s contact with a woman who had accused a crony of his of domestic violence.

After that news broke, even the ragged cohort of remaining Paterson pals (those scrappy few) started to whisper that he should pack his bags.

“Embattled?” No, Paterson’s more like the emperor in Act III of “Julius Caesar.” But unlike Caesar, he may not even make it to the Ides of March.

Asked what Paterson should do next, Assemblyman Darryl C. Towns “paused and sighed heavily,” according to a news report, before answering, “I don’t know. I don’t know.”

Towns’ words constituted pretty much the most robust statement of support for Paterson any reporter could dig up. You can almost hear Paterson, NJ, grumbling, “Dave, what have you done to our good name?”

So, what next? If Paterson steps down, his lieutenant governor, Richard Ravitch, takes over, but Andrew Cuomo can start printing his gubernatorial stationery. Cuomo probably would have beaten Paterson in this fall’s Democratic primary anyway, and if Rick Lazio is the only Republican Cuomo has to worry about in the general election in November, the attorney general won’t be losing much sleep.

Spitzer, Paterson, Ravich, Cuomo: That’ll be four governors in four years. Maybe Cuomo will turn out to be the savior of this state. He practically cut his teeth inside the puzzle palace, didn’t he? You have to be impressed by his resume: Wow, this guy was a top aide to the governor of New York when he was only 25!

But he sure seems an awful lot like just another party hack, a guy whose most notable accomplishment is using his 1990s fief of HUD to push people into taking on mortgages they couldn’t afford. Take away his last name, and Cuomo looks a lot like the next Mark Green. (I realize that’s a low blow.)

New York is practically a one-party state — but so was Massachusetts until Jan. 19. So is Illinois, where a Republican candidate is neck-and-neck with the Democratic nominee for President Obama’s old Senate seat. The voters are tiring of the complacency and corruption that comes with unchallenged rule.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Paterson appointee, has registered approval ratings as low as 24% this year and the image of her as a mediocrity is beginning to harden. Even Sen. Chuck Schumer managed to land below 50% approval in one recent poll, and his seat is as safe as any Democrat’s.

Empire State Republicans, what are you waiting for? You need to shake yourselves out of that funk (the one that carries a strong whiff of George Pataki) and find a Scott Brown to run for governor.

How about Steve Levy, the Suffolk County chief? Having served as a moderate Democrat shouldn’t particularly hurt him if he decides to switch to the GOP. On the other hand, he’s already taken a bashing from liberal news outlets because of his anti-illegal immigration stance. He’s popular on the Island, but when it comes to name recognition in the rest of the state, he makes Rick Lazio look like George Clooney.

Lazio, the former Long Island congressman, seems like a decent guy, but he didn’t much distinguish himself in his 2000 Senate run against Hillary Clinton, doesn’t have a whole lot of leadership or Albany experience, won’t be able to compete with Cuomo’s fundraising machine and is pushing a big idea — switching New York to a unicameral legislature — that sounds a little strange.

What’s depressing are that these are the only Republicans we’re even talking about. If voters are willing to punish Democrats in Massachusetts, New Jersey, possibly Illinois and (dare I mention it?) maybe even California, they are aching to show their displeasure with the Democratic machine in Albany.

Democrats have had enough — too many — chances to bring an end to the capital city follies.

Republicans can win the governor’s mansion in November if they can come up with a candidate who is moderate to liberal on social issues, has demonstrated leadership skills, who can win the votes of Democrats, who has a history of successfully fighting corruption, who is fiscally tough.

Rudy Giuliani has all of these qualities. All he lacks is the willingness to run, but if he’s thinking of resting up for another run for president, maybe he should discuss the idea with all of the delegates he won last time he ran for the White House. All one of them.

Of course, the ideal Republican candidate would also have something else in common with Scott Brown that worked very much to the newest senator’s advantage — being easy on the eyes.

Rudy, have you thought about a makeover?

Fitzpatrick for Congress

In Mike Fitzpatrick on March 1, 2010 at 12:10 am

(02-28-2010) The following is from the Times Beacon Record

By Joe Darrow

Fitzpatrick for Congress

Longtime Smithtown rep explores campaign against Bishop

For 22 years Mike Fitzpatrick has represented Smithtown residents, first on the Town Council and for the past eight years in the state Assembly, where he has advocated fiscal discipline and conservative social values.

Now the lawmaker and UBS investment associate from St. James is considering taking his battle for spending reform to Washington, D.C. The Republican assemblyman confirmed on Monday reports that he had formed a committee to explore his chances in New York’s 1st Congressional District race this November.

Response to his potential candidacy in the few days since he announced it has been “wonderful,” Fitzpatrick said.

The incumbent, four-term Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton), “is a gentleman,” Fitzpatrick said, but “much more liberal than this district.”

Bishop “meets regularly with his constituents in order to remain within the mainstream of the district,” his district director, Jon Schneider, responded, noting that the congressman has enjoyed bipartisan support from Smithtown officials, including Republican Supervisor Pat Vecchio. Bishop “has a record that is reflective of Eastern Long Island’s values and he is very proud of that,” Schneider added.

The 1st District is often cited for having more registered Republicans than Democrats, although it votes moderately and has elected Bishop with large majorities in recent years. But popular concern over high taxes and an inflating deficit may bring out conservative tendencies in local voters, Fitzpatrick reasons. His voting record has routinely been one of the Assembly’s most conservative, and he has recently promoted statewide a proposal to swap elected officials’ pensions for defined-contribution plans to dissuade office-seeking for personal economic gain.

“My conservative credentials are second to none,” Fitzpatrick said.

Of course, the congressional race is already chock full of candidates raising the conservative banner, with seven others reportedly seeking the GOP nomination. Fitzpatrick even endorsed one, businessman Randy Altschuler of St. James, last fall, but now says characteristics of Altschuler and his rivals have come to light that make them “unelectable.”

Many of the leading Republican candidates reportedly only recently moved to the district, including Altschuler, whose professional past includes creation of jobs overseas that critics have derided as out-sourcing. As a result, in the campaign against Bishop, “I believe they are going to be playing defense when we have to be on the offense,” Fitzpatrick said.

In contrast, Fitzpatrick has lived in the area his entire life and said he exemplifies the typical 1st District resident. “My summer home and my winter home are in St. James. I mow my own lawn and have 210,000 miles on my car” because he’s repaying his children’s college loans, Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick said his team aimed to raise between $300,000 and $500,000 by the April 1 campaign finance disclosure filing deadline. If the goal was met, it would be an indication that he could likely raise the $1 to $2 million necessary to compete against Bishop, the assemblyman said.

Meanwhile, he is meeting with local party leaders. Fitzpatrick may appear to be coming late to the game, as town Republican executive committees have already conducted their candidate screenings and issued their endorsements, but the Suffolk GOP nominating convention won’t be held until May and the general election is nine months away, leaving plenty of time to win support, he argued. Plus, his experience in local politics provides him a head start over his GOP rivals, who “are people who have no name recognition and no history in this district,” Fitzpatrick said.

In addition, former SEC prosecutor George Demos of Brookhaven, attorney Christopher Cox of Westhampton Beach — former President Richard Nixon’s grandson — former CIA officer Gary Bernsten of Smithtown, school counselor Richard Blumenthal of Westhampton Beach, attorney Fred Meyer of Riverhead and business owner and consultant James Staudenraus of Shelter Island have been reported in various publications to be pursuing the Republican nomination.

NYS Fiscal Mess

Blueprint for a Better Budget: A Plan of Action for NYS

In New York State on February 28, 2010 at 1:23 pm

(02-28-2010) NYS is in a fiscal mess. It’s broke.

The following is from the Empire Center for NY State Policy

Blueprint for a Better Budget

A Plan of Action for New York State

By: E.J. McMahon and Josh Barro, January 04, 2010

INTRODUCTION

This document represents an effort to develop a fiscally practical, comprehensive approach to putting New York State’s budgetary house in order.

It explains why and how the state developed such massive budget deficits.

It identifies programmatic changes to begin closing the gaps and to put the state’s finances on a more stable footing.

It explains how privatization and competitive contracting can help produce more efficient and affordable public services.

It proposes structural reforms to improve the state budget process and to reduce costs at every level of government in New York.

Finally, it outlines tax policy goals to promote renewed economic growth.

OVERVIEW

New York State is broke. After decades of growing reliance on taxes generated by Wall Street, the revenue side of the state budget has collapsed to a level from which it will only slowly recover. Yet state spending has continued to rise, fed by old reserve funds, new gimmicks, tax and fee increases, and temporary federal aid. Like a runaway train, New York’s budget is in danger of running completely off the rails. It needs to be brought under control—before it’s too late.

New York’s fiscal crisis is not confined to state government. Counties, municipalities and school districts all have been affected by the economic downturn and its aftermath. All levels of government will feel the impact of actions needed to close unprecedented state budget gaps over the next several years. New York State faces a comprehensive, multi-year challenge demanding comprehensive long-term solutions—including:

structural reforms and mandate relief to help every level of government cope with the recession and its aftermath, and
state budget-making reforms to promote better long-term financial planning and instill more transparency and accountability into the process of spending taxpayers’ money.

New York has been out-spending and out-taxing most of the country for many years—and has also experienced a mass exodus of taxpayers[1] and slower than average economic growth[2]. Reversing those trends is the ultimate goal of the Blueprint for Better Budgeting. The plan is organized as follows:

I. The Collapse and Its Cause
How and why the state’s budget gaps developed, and where the budget stood as of the end of 2009

II. Rightsizing State Government
A 30-point budget savings and reduction plan worth almost $14 billion annually when fully implemented, plus privatization and outsourcing options potentially worth billions more.

III. A Framework for Reform
Strategies for making state and local government more efficient and affordable-starting with a public-sector pay freeze

IV. Better Budget-Making
How to instill more discipline, transparency and accountability into the state budget process

V. A Template for Tax Reform
Tax policy changes to promote a lasting economic recovery

I. THE COLLAPSE AND ITS CAUSE

The size and scope of New York State’s budget problem is primarily a result of excessive and unsustainable spending.

TO READ MORE CLICK THE THIS LINK

http://www.empirecenter.org/Reports/2010/01/blueprint2010410.cfm

Can Lazio win against Cuomo and his $16 million?

In 2010 NY Gov Election on February 28, 2010 at 1:23 pm

(02-28-2010) The following is from Newsday

By RICK BRAND

Now Steve Levy’s hope is that Rick Lazio, the GOP front-runner, falls on his face.

Levy will have to use Plan B if he decides to run

Under a banner trumpeting “Levy for New York,” emcee Richard Schaffer, the Suffolk Democratic chair, paused last week while praising his hometown county executive at a $500-a-head fundraiser.

“Steve, you still are a Democrat, right?” Schaffer said at the event, which added $200,000 to Levy’s $4.1-million coffer.

But Schaffer’s question took on new meaning Friday after Gov. David A. Paterson withdrew from the gubernatorial race. Paterson’s exit all but erases Levy’s prospects for a Democratic primary. Always a long shot, Levy’s only chance was a crowded primary, not a mano-a-mano contest against Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Now Levy’s hope is that Rick Lazio, the GOP front-runner, falls on his face. “As long as David was in the race, Lazio had the face of being the loyal opposition,” said Albany lobbyist Desmond Ryan. “Now, scrutiny will shift more to Lazio and whether he can win against Cuomo and his $16 million.

“Some people say . . . Rick’s cow has run dry,” he added.

However, Barney Keller, Lazio’s spokesman, laughed when asked of Levy’s chances. “In America, people are free to do what they want,” he said. He added Lazio is fundraising at a brisk pace, but gave no numbers.

Levy backers paint Lazio, who reported only $647,000 in campaign cash last month and took a $1.3-million Wall Street bonus, as a replay of Pierre Rinfret, the 1990 GOP gubernatorial loser who got only 21 percent of the vote. It is the last thing the GOP wants while trying to retake the State Senate.

Levy is also trolling for minor-party support. He is seeking a meeting with Independence Party founder Thomas Golisano, and some Conservative Party sources say state chairman Michael Long is getting heat within his own ranks over Lazio for fear the party will not draw enough votes to regain ballot Row C. (Conservatives lost it to the Independence Party in the last gubernatorial election and now are on Row D.) Long said the party is “leaning to backing Lazio,” but said, “it’s a long way between now and June,” referring to party conventions.

Levy forecloses nothing, including an independent run. Some insiders say he has little chance for the GOP or Conservative line. But Levy says it is too late to legally change parties in time for Election Day.

He is packaging himself as the only one who has proved he can make tough decisions to rescue the state from the abyss. “This is not the time to elect someone because it’s their turn,” said Levy in a veiled swipe at Lazio and Cuomo. “I’m talking specifics because I’m the only one not afraid of ticking off special interests.”

Those specifics include calling for declaring a state fiscal emergency, impounding state agency funds, barring public unions from step increases after a contract expires, and ending binding arbitration for police.

Critics say Levy’s proposals are DOA in Albany and his prospects are pipe dreams. Lazio has locked up 67 percent of state GOP chairs and his Conservative supporters include Tom Long, the state leader’s brother. Lazio also does not have to file his next financial report until July, six weeks after the GOP convention.

But Levy is creating a buzz. Mallory Factor, a co-founder of the Monday Meeting, a right-leaning city coalition, said Levy “stole the show” at a Conservative conclave last month: “The guy’s a star and a new face.”

He has also enlisted new donors such as Gale Brophy, owner of 1991 Kentucky Derby winner Strike the Gold, who says she’ll do Levy fundraisers. “I like that he’s squeaky clean,” she said.

State Independence Party chairman Frank MacKay said no one should underestimate Levy. “I have tremendous respect for his political instincts,” he said. But he noted a down side to losing to Cuomo and remaining county executive: “It’s not the best way to start off a relationship with a new governor.”

Privatize MTA

PRIVATIZE THE ATM, I MEAN THE MTA

In MTA Tax on February 28, 2010 at 1:22 pm

(02-28-2010) The following is from Brian Mills

Brian Mills moved to Wading River two years ago, where he established two businesses (The Mills Agency and The Mills Group), which specialize in providing insurance and financial services to middle income families. Brian is also an active committeeman with the Riverhead Republican Committee as well as being the Vice-President of the Riverhead Republican Club.

PRIVATIZE THE ATM, I MEAN THE MTA

“Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them”. Yet again, the wise words of President Regan continue to ring true during these times of economic turmoil. Our government in Albany, a true band of irresponsible hooligans which has spent this state to the brink of bankruptcy, yet is preoccupied with Shakespearian type theatrics of infidelities, domestic abuse, midnight meetings with prostitutes, and the blatant inability to cooperate with one another, have yet again been left standing on the platform as the out of control and abusive MTA blew right through the statehouse. With fare increases, MTA payroll taxes which bog the rational mind, toll increases on the Throgs Neck Bridge, Verrazano Bridge, Whitestone Bridge, Hudson River crossings and East River Crossings, the MTA has proven that it will continue to tap the public as their personal ATM machine to support their fat cat union cronies and out of control cost structure. Newly elected Assemblymen Dean Murray (R-East Patchogue) has stated that “It’s sadly ironic that this authority that has been so mismanaged, so bloated, right now is asking the private sector, the businesses who have to struggle every single day…to bail them out.” Enough is enough!

It is time to stop feeding this gluttonous monster. The time has arrived for a private sector organization, which must run efficiently in order to maintain profitability, to step in and remove the stranglehold that this failing organization has placed on the taxpayers of New York State. Though worse, is the fact that the MTA is attempting to cut service to the five east end towns and yet has no plans in the foreseeable future to suspend the bogus MTA Payroll Tax. So, the obvious question remains. What are we paying for? What are we paying for Brian Foley? What are we paying for Governor Patterson? What are we paying for Andrew Cuomo? What are paying for? What are we paying for? What are paying for? Did you hear that Albany? Or should I repeat it? WHAT ARE WE PAYING FOR? Anyone that keeps a seat warm in that statehouse and voted for that onerous tax ought to be ousted from office on the merits of stealing money from businesses at a time when they need it most. Let it be known, from this day forth, that the MTA will forever be the poster child of government inefficiency and the “business as usual” policies that, to this day, continue to blanket Albany politics.

We, on the East End, are hearing words of a potential East End Transit Authority, which seems like a brilliant concept and one which Suffolk County Legislator Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) is trumpeting on a daily basis. Mr. Romaine consistently fights for what is right for the east end towns, and this issue is clearly no exception. Though, if this proposal were to come to fruition, I would highly recommend that it be owned and operated by a private company, forced to work efficiently and provide stellar service at the risk of going out of business. After all, a private company could not, and would not, structure a budget that would result in a $400 million deficit. But for the MTA, that is merely business as usual.

In closing, I would like to point out that the MTA is just another government related organization, like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which makes decisions that result in no consequences to the organization itself. If the MTA were a private business, they would have gone out of business. The same is true of Fannie and Freddie. Though, being that they are considered an extension of the government, the consequences of their bad decisions are that there are no consequences. We, the common everyday taxpayer, are simply supposed to deal with it, pay more taxes, and remain silent. Well, let this be a harsh reality check for the politicians and bureaucrats, that we do not run our businesses and work in our jobs, to support their dysfunctional entitlement programs and failing companies. It’s time to cut off funding to the MTA, their life blood if you will, and allow for the formation of a new, private transportation company, which does right by their customers and will inevitably be held accountable for all decisions they may render.

GOPs must ‘walk among Tea Party patriots’

In Suffolk County Conservative Committee on February 28, 2010 at 12:26 am

(02-28-2010) The following is from The Hill

By Jordan Fabian

Boehner lauds Tea Party ‘great patriots,’ says GOPs must ‘walk among them’

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) praised Tea Party activists on the first anniversary of the movement.

Tea Partyers point to the middle of February 2009 as their founding date when some of them held protests against the $787 billion federal stimulus package and other Obama administration economic policies. The protests were amplified by an on-air tirade by CNBC’s Rick Santelli about the banking bailouts enacted by the Bush administration.

“The Tea Party movement has reminded us who’s really in charge of this country, and that’s the American people,” Boehner said in a statement. “These great patriots have been at the forefront of a growing political rebellion born from the American people’s opposition to greater government control over our economy and our lives.”

Although the loosely confederated Tea Party movement is largely filled with conservative activists, they have often chafed at pledging allegiance to the Republican Party because they say many party members have abandoned conservative principles.

Boehner said, “It’s not enough, however, for Republicans to simply voice respect for what the tea partiers are doing, praise their efforts, and participate in their rallies. Republicans must listen to them, stand with them, and walk among them.”

Some Republican candidates have distanced themselves from Tea Partyers but others have courted their support for the midterm elections this fall.

Dems to rally behind Cuomo

In 2010 NY Gov Election on February 28, 2010 at 12:25 am

(02-28-2010) The following is from Newsday

by Thomas Maier

Way cleared for Cuomo

The departure of Gov. David A. Paterson from the gubernatorial race turns Attorney General Andrew Cuomo into the odds-on-favorite to become the Democratic nominee, most experts agree, likely to face former Rep. Rick Lazio of Long Island, currently the GOP’s favorite to run against him.

“This means the party will coalesce around the candidacy of Andrew Cuomo very quickly,” state Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs said Friday, though Cuomo has yet to formally declare for the seat once held by his father.

But Paterson’s decision also makes a potential wild-card gubernatorial bid by Democratic Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy even wilder. Just what Levy might do – if anything – is likely to be determined in the next few weeks.

Before Paterson withdrew, it looked like Levy might jump into a Democratic Party primary against the incumbent governor and Cuomo, hoping to squeak out a victory as a maverick taking advantage of a Paterson-Cuomo split and voter discontent with incumbent Albany politics.

But while experts said Paterson’s departure has dashed that scenario, it may have opened the door for an even chancier prospect for Levy – seeking the Republican line against Cuomo.

“If I do it, it’ll be as a post-partisan candidate,” Levy said Friday. “People don’t care about parties, but more about who has the specific ideas to keep the state from unraveling.”

As a fiscal conservative fashioning himself as a maverick, Levy suggests he could be New York’s version of Scott Brown, who pulled off a huge upset in the U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts in November. Levy’s camp is expected to conduct a private poll in the next few weeks to test his viability – with his candidacy as a Republican as one scenario.

But Levy’s view of his chances are viewed by many in both parties as far-fetched. Jacobs says he certainly doesn’t want to see Levy run as a Republican.

“I think it’s just a tremendously difficult uphill lift for someone to jump into a gubernatorial race, a statewide race,” Jacobs said Friday. “I think that would be a mistake on his part, and I think there are things for him to look at some time later.”

But recently, some in the GOP have wondered about Lazio’s ability to raise enough money for a vigorous gubernatorial campaign. In January, he had only $637,356 in cash on hand – far from the $25 million or more that even his camp concedes is needed.

Lazio, however, says he’s attracted a lot more money recently with the endorsement of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and others.

“I’m confident we’ll get enough money. All that matters in the end is whether you’re right on the issues,” Lazio said Friday.

Cuomo vs. Lazio, a one man race

In Rick Lazio on February 28, 2010 at 12:24 am

(02-28-2010) The following is from the NY Post

By BRENDAN SCOTT

Andrew Cuomo is heavy fave in race for governor

ALBANY — A battle between equals this is not.

With David Paterson now a self-certified lame duck, Andrew Cuomo enters a two-man race for governor as the overwhelming favorite against lightly regarded Republican Rick Lazio.

As Paterson careened from one crisis to another, Cuomo built twin stockpiles of campaign cash and political good will.

The first-term state attorney general boasts not only a famed political surname but a string of populist victories over Wall Street and other moneyed interests.

Lazio, meanwhile, has struggled to raise enough funds to fuel his first campaign since then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton trounced him in the 2000 US Senate race.

“It’s Muhammad Ali versus Chuck Wepner, the Bayonne Bleeder,” Baruch College political science professor Doug Muzzio added. “I’m betting on Ali.”

The public has been betting on Cuomo for months.

His 66 percent favorability rating in a Siena poll this week made Cuomo the most popular statewide official.

In contrast, only 31 percent of voters held a favorable view of Lazio, while another 43 percent said they didn’t know enough about the former Long Island congressman.

Lazio continues to lag far behind Cuomo in a head-to-head matchup — 26 percent to 63 percent — although he’s gained a few points in recent weeks.

The attorney general’s campaign had $16.1 million on hand, compared with Lazio’s $637,357, as of the most recent filing in January.

If Lazio has any hope for an upset, it lies in the wave of anti-incumbency sweeping the nation.

“That’s his best chance — that’s his only chance,” Marist pollster Lee Miringoff said. “In what may otherwise not be a blockbuster Democratic year, [Cuomo] has a very wide lead on the morning line.”

Conservatives choose Redlich by 2-1 margin over Lazio

In Warren Redlich on February 27, 2010 at 7:04 am

(02-26-2010) The following is from Warren Redlich, NY Republican Candidate for Governor

Gov Paterson’s withdrawal is an important first step in cleaning up Albany. The next step is electing someone who isn’t a product of the “Albany bubble.” My candidacy alone stands for a new way of doing business that will truly cut spending.

The lesson from Paterson, Spitzer and Hevesi is that self-indulgent leaders harm New York. We have to focus on policies that help regular people rather than rewarding and protecting insiders.

Warren Redlich

wredlich.com/ny

Redlich Leads Lazio in Gov Poll

Conservatives choose Redlich by 2-1 margin

Albany – An online poll on a conservative organization’s website gives candidate Warren Redlich a significant lead in the race for Governor.

The poll is running on the New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms (NYCF) website.

As of 1 am on February 26^th, Redlich lead the poll with over 51%, nearly double the number supporting former congressman Rick Lazio. NYCF has been conducting the poll on its website since February 6^th.

The poll results, through 1 am, were:

Warren Redlich: 51.8%

Rick Lazio: 26.3%

Undecided: 13.9%

Andrew Cuomo: 5.1%

David Paterson: 2.2%

Steve Levy: 0.7%

Redlich was both encouraged and realistic about the results: “It’s early, small numbers, and online polls aren’t always reliable, but the news is certainly encouraging. I have more support than conventional wisdom might suggest.”

“I am the most conservative candidate in the race. No one else supports the 2^nd Amendment, and I’m the only one who will really cut spending,” Redlich said.

According to its website, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms is “a statewide, issues-oriented, political lobbying organization,” with a focus on “religious liberties and moral values in New York State.” It is headed by Rev. Jason McGuire and Rev. Duane Motley.

The poll web page is: http://www.nycf.info/component/poll/20-if-the-election-were-being-held-today-my-pick-for-new-yorks-next-governor-would-be

Governor Patterson resignation imminent

In David Patterson on February 27, 2010 at 7:04 am

(02-27-2010) The following is from the NY Post

by Fredric U. Dicker

“Deathwatch” pols give gov 4 weeks at best

ALBANY — Gov. Paterson bought four more weeks in office — at best — by asking Andrew Cuomo to probe his involvement in a scandalous effort to intimidate a battered single mom.

But when the AG’s pack of former federal prosecutors finishes with Troopergate II, it’ll be curtains for sure for our accidental governor.

That’s the view at the Capitol — even among Paterson’s fellow Democrats — where an informal political deathwatch is under way. Top state government officials are counting the days to when Richard Ravitch, the state’s accidental lieutenant governor, becomes New York’s third chief executive in as many years.

No such sense of imminent resignation greeted Troopergate I when it took place 2½ years ago, after it was revealed by another pack of aggressive Cuomo investigators that Gov. Eliot Spitzer used the State Police in an effort to destroy a political foe.

The offenses then were considered serious, potentially criminal, but not quite impeachable. This time it’s different.

The allegations against Paterson, top aide David Johnson and State Police Superintendent Harry Corbitt are so shocking that it’s considered likely that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate Democratic leader John Sampson (D-Brooklyn) would move to impeach the seriously unpopular governor if they’re true.

Without Cuomo’s probe, Paterson would have to step forward and answer questions about what he did, what he knew and the seeming contradictions in earlier comments.

Resignation would surely be at hand.

With the probe, Paterson can hide — as he did on the John Gambling radio show yesterday — behind the claim that he’d “better not discuss” the specifics of the charges for fear of interfering with Cuomo’s investigation, which is expected to last about a month.

Another key difference between Troopergate I and Troopergate II is that Paterson, perhaps in a state of shock, signed a formal legal “referral” giving Cuomo full subpoena, prosecutorial and even grand-jury power.

That’s something the savvy but satanic Spitzer wisely — from his point of view — refused to do in Troopergate I.

The referral means top aides to Paterson and Paterson himself will have to testify under oath to Cuomo’s investigators, or face being indicted.

“The attorney general has told his staff to push ahead aggressively and to let the chips fall where they may, ” said a source close to Cuomo.

Letting the chips fall where they may on the private goings-on in the Paterson administration is something likely to make even Gov. Ravitch wince.

Global Warming Fraud

Gore finding it inconvenient to testify before U.S. Senate

In Environment on February 27, 2010 at 7:03 am

(02-26-2010) The following is from Fox News

By Gene J. Koprowski

You Can Call Him Al … But Al Won’t Call You Back

Al Gore won a Nobel Prize and an Oscar for his film, An Inconvenient Truth. But in the last three months, as global warming has gone from a scientific near-certitude to the subject of satire, Gore — the public face of global warming — has been silent on the topic.

The former vice president apparently finds it inconvenient even to answer calls to testify before the U.S. Senate. You can call him Al . . . but he won’t call back.

On Tuesday, Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe — a prominent skeptic of global warming theory and the Republican leader of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee — issued a request for Gore to come testify on global warming. In an interview with FoxNews.com, Inhofe said he wants Gore to appear because “it will be interesting to ask him on what science he based his movie,” a film the senator considers “science fiction.”

Gore has yet to respond, but that didn’t prevent him from causing a stir at Apple’s shareholder meeting Thursday. According to CNET, Gore was seated in the first row while several stockholders bashed his high-profile views on climate change. One reportedly said Gore “has become a laughingstock. The glaciers have not melted.”

Gore did not reply, and he has not commented on his blog or Twitter feed.

Inhofe says he hopes Gore will address the recent Climate-gate scandals that have besmirched the science, scientists and politicians who back the theory of manmade climate change. Last fall, news outlets in the United Kingdom exposed a scandal in which leading global warming scientists conspired in e-mails to hide data that contradicted “proof” of manmade global warming. Then the world’s leaders failed to reach a deal on climate change policy in Copenhagen. And the U.N.’s climate change research body admitted flaws in its report that concluded that the Himalayan glaciers were melting, the Arctic ice cap was fading away, and the Amazon rainforest was in imminent danger.

Since his appearance at the Copenhagen climate summit in December, Gore has been reluctant to talk to the media, making only a handful of public appearances.

On Jan. 16, he spoke at the American Library Association conference at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, and he signed copies of his newest book, Our Choice: How We Can Solve the Climate Crisis.On Feb. 22, at the IBM Pulse Conference in Las Vegas, Gore commented on how the environment was a fantastic business opportunity.

“We are in the presence of one of the greatest opportunities in the history of business to become much more efficient and eliminate waste, pollution and losses all at the same time,” he said.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

Pack your dirty tricks & get the hell out

In David Patterson on February 27, 2010 at 7:02 am

(02-27-2010) The following is rom the NY Post

by Michael Goodwin

Pack your dirty tricks & get the hell out

He did it. He really did it.

Gov. Paterson pulled a Spitzer.

Like his disgraced patron, Paterson created a huge deficit of trust with the citizens of New York, then brazenly committed a firing offense.

Now the accidental Democratic governor must follow his predecessor out the door and into the Hall of Shame.

Thanks for nothing, gov. Goodbye and good riddance.

Paterson was on thin ice already, his stewardship suspiciously erratic even by Albany standards and his actions in the Aqueduct casino case provoking a criminal probe.

A sensible man would have tried to restore his reputation, especially because he aimed to win election in November. David Paterson, we can say with final certainty, is not a sensible man.

The outrageous intervention in a domestic-violence case by the governor and his State Police security detail proves he is unfit for the high office entrusted to him.

He knew the media was digging into the court case, which involved a close aide, and still his hand-picked team made a desperate bid to quash it.

That’s it, case closed, game over. The sooner Paterson hits the road, the better for New York.

The state faces an economic unraveling of historic proportions and New Yorkers deserve trustworthy leadership in this moment of peril.

They don’t deserve Paterson’s shady friends and his bellyaching about political enemies and the media.

He had his chance to govern and now should have the decency to step aside.

Richard Ravitch, his lieutenant governor, is more than capable of holding the fort until an elected governor takes office in January. Ravitch’s integrity and competence are unquestioned, which makes him a vast improvement over the last three years.

Paterson’s preposterous claims that he knew nothing about the brutal nature of the reported assault or that police officers who guard him were talking to the victim, both defy belief.

Let him tell his story under oath.

His admitted contact with the woman is alone cause for a criminal investigation. His assertion the woman called him is contradicted by her lawyer, who says the governor initiated the contact.

Whatever Paterson said to her, she skipped her next court appearance and the case was dropped — which was obviously the goal. We know this much thanks to dogged persistence by The New York Times, which has worked the story for months.

The governor’s false accusations that its reporters were on a “racialized” witch hunt are a further stain on him. He dealt the race card from the bottom of the deck.

Despite Paterson’s plea for time, there are signs he is getting ready to go. He might even have a political death wish.

His decision to ask Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate amounts to giving your enemy a knife, a rope and a gun.

Even more bizarre is that Paterson, except for the hookers, is repeating the pattern that brought Eliot Spitzer down.

No self-respecting novelist would dare concoct the similarities.

Spitzer also enlisted the State Police to play a political role, having it spy on a rival.

It was a dirty trick that ruined the careers of his crew when Cuomo, also asked by Spitzer to investigate, uncovered the plot.

Spitzer’s spiral ended only when he was identified as Client 9 in a prostitution scandal. It was almost two years ago when that story broke–also in the Times.

Spitzer handed the job to Paterson and, ominously, has been advising him. So here we are, again.

Yet to say Albany has merely come full circle does not do justice to the tumultuous state of affairs we face.

The Legislature has completely collapsed as a responsible branch of government. Its leaders have recklessly dodged the fiscal crisis.

A state senator guilty of domestic violence was booted by his colleagues, the first expulsion since the Civil War. Federal prosecutors busted several city and state lawmakers for official misconduct and are hunting for more.

Evidence suggests they have what the military calls a target-rich environment. In layman’s terms, the feds are shooting fish in a barrel.

Meanwhile, it is likely the Empire State will not make promised education aid payments in coming weeks. There is talk of delayed refunds to taxpayers and the MTA is handing out pink slips.

Now this.

Damn you, David Paterson.

Tea Party Seeks Recall of Dem. Senators

In U.S. Senate on February 27, 2010 at 7:01 am

(02-27-2010) The following is from Newsmax

By: Stephen Dinan

Tea Party Seeks Recall of Dem. Senators

Republicans’ chances to retake the Senate are limited by the fact that only a third of the chamber is up for re-election this year, but some conservative activists are pushing to force more Democrats onto the ballot in November by trying to recall them.

It’s a long-shot approach, the legal hurdles are tremendous – no member of Congress has ever been recalled – and it’s limited only to states with recall laws that are broad enough to include federal officeholders.

But the first test comes Tuesday, when a judge will hear oral arguments from the Sussex County Tea Party, which is trying to recall Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat.

“Nine states, including 12 Democratic senators who are not up for re-election otherwise, could all be on the ballot with a recall,” said Peter Ferrara, a lawyer for the conservative American Civil Rights Union, which is helping the tea partiers with their case. “Given what they’re doing on health care this year, that’s just going to be a huge boost to the recall effort.”

The legal obstacles are daunting.

A report by the Congressional Research Service, the advisory think tank for Congress, says the Constitution does not authorize a recall and says it’s never happened.

“The recall of members was considered during the time of the drafting of the federal Constitution in 1787, but no such provisions were included in the final version sent to the states for ratification, and the specific drafting and ratifying debates indicate an express understanding of the framers and ratifiers that no right or power to recall a senator or representative from the United States Congress exists under the Constitution,” Jack Maskell, the CRS report’s author, wrote.

In New Jersey, the secretary of state rejected the petition, saying there’s nothing in the Constitution that allows the recall of a federal official. In Louisiana, where a man named Ruben LeBlanc has started a recall petition for Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, a Democrat, the state’s attorney general has also said it’s not allowed.

But a New Jersey judge has expedited an appeal of that state’s decision, and oral arguments are scheduled for next week.

Mr. Ferrara argues the state should allow the recall petition to gather signatures, and fight over the constitutionality later.

Neither Mr. Menendez’s office nor Mrs. Landrieu’s office returned calls seeking comment, and Mr. LeBlanc said Mrs. Landrieu has tried to ignore the issue. But he said he’s convinced she saw him holding a sign urging a recall at a Jan. 15 appearance Mrs. Landrieu made.

“I’m an average citizen. I’ve done construction work, I’ve done oil field work, I’ve managed a Burger King. As a concerned citizen, I’d call in, I’d write, I’d send e-mail and I’d never get a response from Senator Landrieu’s office,” Mr. LeBlanc said. “Instead of holding up signs and doing the tea party protest, I decided somebody had to do something, and that somebody had to be me.”

His challenge is more than just legal. In order to get a recall on the ballot he must gather 900,000 signatures by early July. He said he wants to have them gathered by April 14, the day before federal tax returns are due, and estimated he has between 40,000 and 50,000 signatures now.

The other states which could try recalls of members of Congress are Colorado, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.

Mr. LeBlanc said recall supporters in those states are banding together to form Right2Recall and share tactics and legal strategy.

There are already 37 Senate seats up for election in November, with 18 of those seats held by Democrats.

Republicans are not immune from recall efforts.

Last year Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao, Louisiana Republican, faced a recall effort launched by several ministers who objected to his vote against the stimulus bill. But the state’s 180-day time limit ran out before that effort was successful.

CHRIS COX REITERATES CALL FOR GOVERNOR PATERSON TO RESIGN

In Chris Cox, NY Governor on February 26, 2010 at 3:46 pm

(02-26-2010) The following is from Chris Cox, NY CD1 Candidate

CHRIS COX REITERATES CALL FOR GOVERNOR PATERSON TO RESIGN

Smithtown, NY – Chris Cox (R), candidate for Congress in New York’s First Congressional District, issued the following statement:

“Governor Paterson has once again put himself first and the people of New York second. Not seeking re-election simply doesn’t cut it. The Governor has engaged in serious misconduct and should not remain in office. As I stated yesterday, domestic violence cannot be tolerated, condoned, covered up or explained away. Paterson should resign immediately so that New Yorkers can have someone with integrity in the highest office in our state.”

FREDRIC U. DICKER in Albany and MAGGIE HABERMAN in NY

Gov. Paterson drops election bid

A defiant Gov. Paterson announced this afternoon that he won’t run for a full term this November following a roiling scandal over whether he and his troopers intimidated a woman who’d reported domestic violence against one of his top aides.

“I am being realisatic about politcs … It has become increasingly clear to me that I cannt run for office and manage the state’s business at the same time,” he said during a news conference.

Paterson added that he has “never abused my office — not now, not ever!”

Before he made the announcement, Paterson touted his achievements over the past two years, saying he “laid the foundation for our fiscal and economic rescue.”

He said he also helped “eradicate” the tough Rockefeller drug laws and “introduced landmark legislation to reform” health insurance coverage and other measures to better the lives of New Yorkers.

Paterson first communicated his intentions to top advisers and supporters this morning, The Post report on its Web site this morning.

Paterson had told sources he understood he couldn’t run, several insiders said, but then went back and forth internally this morning — as he’s known to do.

He was supposed to have a big Harlem rally this weekend.

Paterson, who took over the state’s top spot when Eliot Spitzer resigned in 2008 after it was disclosed that he had sex with a prostitute, did not resign from his post.

Last night, Paterson had told his aides that he intended to continue his campaign, which he launched this past weekend. But he also said he would talk to fellow Democrats about his future.

Paterson was hit Thursday with a flurry of body blows following the disclosure that he called a woman who said aide David Johnson attacked her. In addition, the State Police may have intervened in the case.

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who likely will become the Democratic nominee for governor, is investigating what happened.

The resignation of Denise E. O’Donnell, Paterson’s deputy secretary for public safety, was the biggest jolt to the governor’s campaign.

“The fact that the governor and members of the State Police have acknowledged direct contact with a woman who had filed for an order of protection against a senior member of the Governor’s staff is a very serious matter,” she wrote in a statement released Thursday. “These actions are unacceptable regardless of their intent.”

Even friends began abandoning Paterson.

Rep. Steve Israel (D-LI) was the first prominent Democrat to call for the governor to ditch his campaign.

“It’s become apparent that he should not seek election, and should announce it soon,” Israel said. “Sometimes, friends have to speak unpleasant truths.”

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-Westchester), went so far as to say that the governor might be too damaged to serve out the remainder of his term.

“Aside from the allegations, the political reality is the governor cannot be an effective candidate or official for New York,” she said.

Conservatives Across America

Terrorism

Hamas-linked group has deep ties to White House

In War on Terror on February 26, 2010 at 3:45 pm

(02-26-2010) The following is from World Net Daily

By Aaron Klein

Hamas-linked group has deep ties to White House

‘One of the chief conduits’ for passing Saudi-style radical Islam into U.S.

JERUSALEM – A radical Muslim group that was an unindicted co-conspirator in a scheme to raise money for Hamas has an extensive relationship with the Obama administration, WND has learned.

Last week, President Obama’s top adviser on counter-terrorism, John Brennan, came under fire for controversial remarks he made in a speech to Muslim law students at New York University. The event was sponsored by the Islamic Society of North America, or ISNA.

ISNA is known for its enforcement of Saudi-style Islam in mosques throughout the U.S. It was named by the Justice Department as an unindicted co-conspirator in its case against the Holy Land Foundation in Texas, which was found guilty in 2008 of raising money for the Hamas terrorist organization. Last year, Holy Land founders were given life sentences for “funneling $12 million to Hamas.

The Obama White House has deep ties to ISNA.

The relationship began even before Obama took office. One week before last year’s presidential inauguration, Sayyid Syeed, national director of the ISNA Office for Interfaith and Community Alliances, was part of a delegation that met with the directors of Obama’s transition team. The delegation discussed a request for an executive order ending “torture.”

ISNA President Ingrid Mattson represented American Muslims at Obama’s inauguration, where she offered a prayer during the televised event.

Mattson also represented ISNA at Obama’s Ramadan dinner at the White House.

Last June, Obama’s top aide, Valerie Jarrett, invited Mattson to work on the White House Council on Women and Girls, which Jarrett leads.

In July, the Justice Department sponsored an information booth at an ISNA bazaar in Washington, D.C.

Also that month, Jarrett addressed ISNA’s 46th annual convention. According to the White House, Jarrett attended as part of Obama’s outreach to Muslims.

‘Burn down the master’s house’

Discover the Networks notes ISNA, through its affiliate, the North American Islamic Trust – a Saudi government-backed organization – reportedly holds the mortgages on 50 to 80 percent of all mosques in the U.S. and Canada.

“Thus the organization can freely exercise ultimate authority over these houses of worship and their teachings,” states DTN.

ISNA was founded in 1981 by the Saudi-funded Muslim Students’ Association. The two groups are still partners. WND previously attended an MSA event at which violence against the U.S. was urged by speakers.

“We are not Americans,” shouted one speaker, Muhammad Faheed at Queensborough Community College in 2003. “We are Muslims. [The U.S.] is going to deport and attack us! It is us versus them! Truth against falsehood! The colonizers and masters against the oppressed, and we will burn down the master’s house!”

ISNA was named in a May 1991 Muslim Brotherhood document – “An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America” – as one of the Brotherhood’s likeminded “organizations of our friends” who shared the common goal of destroying America and turning it into a Muslim nation, according to Discover the Networks.

Islam scholar Stephen Schwartz describes ISNA as “one of the chief conduits through which the radical Saudi form of Islam passes into the United States.”

According to terrorism expert Steven Emerson, ISNA “is a radical group hiding under a false veneer of moderation” that publishes a bi-monthly magazine, Islamic Horizons, that “often champions militant Islamist doctrine.” The group also “convenes annual conferences where Islamist militants have been given a platform to incite violence and promote hatred,” states Emerson. Emerson cites an ISNA conference in which al-Qaida supporter and PLO official Yusuf Al Qaradhawi was invited to speak.

Emerson further reports that in September 2002, a full year after 9/11, “speakers at ISNA’s annual conference still refused to acknowledge Bin Laden’s role in the terrorist attacks.”

Also, ISNA has held fundraisers for terrorists, notes Discover the Networks. After Hamas leader Mousa Marzook was arrested and eventually deported in 1997, ISNA raised money for his defense. The group also has condemned the U.S. government’s post-9/11 seizure of Hamas’ and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s financial assets.

Obamacare

Dems threatening to use “Nuclear Option” to ram thru health-care legislation

In Health Care on February 26, 2010 at 3:45 pm

(02-26-2010) The following is from the NY Post

By CHARLES HURT, DC Bureau Chief

Health-scare tactic - Dems vote threat

WASHINGTON — On the eve of today’s health-care summit, the White House and Democrats in Congress were threatening to skirt normal Senate rules requiring 60 votes in order to ram through their highly unpopular health-care legislation.

The saber-rattling added a new chill to the already frosty televised health-care meeting hosted today by President Obama.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said Republicans should “stop crying” about the threatened new tactics, and the White House press secretary has listed examples of when it was used in the past.

Meanwhile, a conservative video Web site compiled and released a devastating compilation of clips showing Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Reid and even Sen. Chuck Schumer warning of the devastation that would ensue if such a tactic were used.

Talking at a time when Republicans were in control and trying to get a final vote on former President Bush’s federal-court nominees, then-Sen. Biden called it “arrogance of power” and “a fundamental power grab” in the video.

The compilation was crafted by NakedEmperorNews.com.

He even said he prayed Democrats would never try such a thing.

Schumer called it a “temper tantrum.”

“We are on the precipice of a crisis, a constitutional crisis,” he said, glancing up to the press gallery.

“The checks and balances which have been at the core of this republic are about to be evaporated.”

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) warned, “This is the way democracy ends — not with a bomb, but with a gavel.”

Meanwhile, House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), widely admired for his ability to accurately count votes, said yesterday he’s not so sure the health-care bill will pass the House even if it is rammed through the Senate.

“House Democrats are farther away from securing the votes to pass a government health-care bill today than they have ever been,” he said in a memo yesterday.

Breitbart tv » Obama Dems in ‘05 51 Vote ‘Nuclear Option’ Is ‘Arrogant’ Power Grab Against the Founders’ Intent

Chris Cox calls on Governor to step down

In Chris Cox, New York State on February 26, 2010 at 1:18 am

(02-26-2010) The following is a statement from Chris Cox, NY CD1 Candidate

CHRIS COX CALLS ON GOVERNOR PATERSON TO STEP DOWN EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY

Smithtown, NY – Chris Cox (R), candidate for Congress in New York’s First Congressional District, issued the following statement:

“Today’s news concerning Governor Paterson and his aide David W. Johnson is deeply disturbing. The fact is, Paterson’s actions are inexcusable on a number of fronts. Domestic violence cannot be tolerated, condoned, covered up or explained away – at all – period. Our public officials are accountable to the people and must be held responsible for their conduct. Governor Paterson’s actions revealed today in The New York Times cross the line. I call on Paterson to resign – effective immediately – so someone else can work to restore confidence and integrity to the office of the governor.”

IN CASE YOU MISSED THE NY TIMES BREAKING STORY

Question of Influence in Abuse Case of Paterson Aide

This article is by William K. Rashbaum, Danny Hakim, David Kocieniewski and Serge F. Kovaleski.

Last fall, a woman went to court in the Bronx to testify that she had been violently assaulted by a top aide to Gov. David A. Paterson, and to seek a protective order against the man.

In the ensuing months, she returned to court twice to press her case, complaining that the State Police had been harassing her to drop it. The State Police, which had no jurisdiction in the matter, confirmed that the woman was visited by a member of the governor’s personal security detail.

Then, just before she was due to return to court to seek a final protective order, the woman got a phone call from the governor, according to her lawyer. She failed to appear for her next hearing on Feb. 8, and as a result her case was dismissed.

Many details of the governor’s role in this episode are unclear, but the accounts presented in court and police records and interviews with the woman’s lawyer and others portray a brutal encounter, a frightened woman and an effort to make a potential political embarrassment go away.

The case involved David W. Johnson, 37, who had risen from working as Mr. Paterson’s driver and scheduler to serving in the most senior ranks of the administration, but who also had a history of altercations with women.

On Wednesday night, in response to inquiries from The New York Times, Mr. Paterson said in a statement that he would request that Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo investigate his administration’s handling of the matter. The governor also said he would suspend Mr. Johnson without pay.

Through a spokesman, Mr. Paterson said the call actually took place the day before the scheduled court hearing and maintained that the woman had initiated it. He declined to answer further questions about his role in the matter.

The woman’s lawyer, Lawrence B. Saftler, said that the conversation lasted about a minute and that the governor asked how she was doing and if there was anything he could do for her. “If you need me,” he said, according to Mr. Saftler, “I’m here for you.”

Mr. Saftler said the governor never mentioned the court case, but he would not say if the call had influenced her decision not to return to court.

The call also came as The Times was examining the background of Mr. Johnson, whose increasing influence with the governor had disturbed some current and former senior aides to Mr. Paterson.

The woman’s lawyer asked that she not be identified by name because she feared retaliation, in part because she works at a public hospital.

The alleged assault happened shortly before 8 p.m. on Halloween in the apartment she had shared with Mr. Johnson and her 13-year-old son for about four years, according to police records.

She told the police that Mr. Johnson, who is 6-foot-7, had choked her, stripped her of much of her clothing, smashed her against a mirrored dresser and taken two telephones from her to prevent her from calling for help, according to police records.

The woman was twice granted a temporary order of protection against Mr. Johnson, according to the proceedings in Family Court in the Bronx.

“I’m scared he’s going to come back,” she said, according to the proceedings, in which a court referee at the initial hearing noted bruises on the woman’s arm.

“I’m glad you’re doing this,” the woman told the referee, “because I thought it was going to be swept under the table because he’s like a government official, and I have problems even calling the police because the state troopers kept calling me and harassing me to drop the charges, and I wouldn’t.”

She added, “I’ve never been through this before.”

Two days later, the woman was back in Family Court, and the order of protection was kept in place. And she again asserted that she had been pressured by the State Police.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

National Defense

Dems looking to establish criminal punishment for CIA

In National Defense on February 26, 2010 at 1:18 am

(02-26-2010) The following is from The Hill.

By Susan Crabtree

GOP cries foul over amendment to Intel bill

House Republicans are charging Democrats with trying to sneak a provision into the intelligence authorization bill that would establish criminal punishment for CIA agents and other intelligence officials who engage in “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment” during interrogations.

Democrats inserted an 11-page addition to the bill late Wednesday night during as the House Rules Committee considered the legislation.

The provision, previously not vetted in committee, applies to “any officer or employee of the intelligence community” who during interrogations engages in beatings, infliction of pain or forced sexual acts. The bill said the acts covered by the provision would include inducing hypothermia, conducting mock executions or “depriving the [detainee] of necessary food, water, sleep, or medical care.”

The language gives Congress the discretion to determine what the terms mean, and it would level punishments of up to 20 years in prison, and in some cases, life sentences if a detainee dies as a result of the interrogation.

Republicans are criticizing the language, and the way it which it was introduced.

“This will fundamentally change the nature of the intelligence community by creating a criminal statute governing interrogations,” said Rep. Pete Hoesktra (R-Mich.).

He added that it had appeared “out of nowhere” in a manager’s amendment.

“Would someone on the other side please explain the rationale behind this and why the majority was unwilling to have hearings on this issue,” he said.

Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) added the language, originally offered by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), to his manager’s amendment, which makes several changes to the bill passed by committee.

Reyes and other Democrats argued that the language simple underscores existing anti-torture laws.

“I’m hearing from Republicans that we are somehow sacrificing our national security” through this bill, said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). She said the language underscores existing law and enhances national security.

Republicans are trying to strike the language from the larger intelligence measure, and if that fails, will work to excise it during the House-Senate conference.

Congress has not passed an intelligence authorization bill since 2004. Usually, the House does not consider the bill so late in the fiscal year, but Democrats in the House and Senate have stressed the importance of passing one this year to address a host of intelligence issues that have arisen.

House members had submitted 77 amendments to the bill as of Wednesday, but the House Rules panel only allowed votes on a handful of them.

Reyes’ manager’s amendment also includes language that would change the rules governing executive branch notification to Congress about covert intelligence operations.

The issue of changing the notification process became a priority last year after a partisan fight over when and how Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was informed about the use of harsh interrogation techniques such as waterboarding. The media spotlight grew hotter after a briefing in June when CIA Director Leon Panetta informed lawmakers that the agency had failed to notify them about plans for an assassination program begun in 2001 that was designed to capture or kill al Qaeda leaders.

The White House last year threatened to veto initial changes to Congressional notification requirements that would have allowed the Intelligence Committee to write guidelines on when the administration could restrict briefings of Congressional leaders on sensitive covert operations.

Such briefings were limited to the so-called Gang of Eight, the Democratic and Republican leaders in both chambers and the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence panels.

Reyes has been working with the White House for months to write language that could avert a veto. The new language would allow the administration to limit the full committee’s access to information about sensitive operations only if the president submitted certification that an action met “extraordinary circumstances affecting vital interests of the United States.”

The Senate version of the bill also included congressional notification language that drew a White House veto. It would require the full committee to be briefed broadly about any more detailed briefings provided to the Gang of Eight. The two chambers now must hash out their differences in conference.

Republicans tried to add language denying any money from being spent on moving Guantanamo Bay detainees to the U.S., requiring the director of national intelligence to submit a report detailing any steps taken to fix problems identified in the president’s Fort Hood intelligence review before the Christmas Day bombing attempt.

Hoekstra, as well as Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), also tried to add language requiring the president to report to the congressional intelligence committees on the identities of U.S. citizens targeted for association by the CIA and others and establishing a process for authorization and notification of covert actions that could result in the death of a targeted citizen. Democrats did not allow votes on those amendments.

Economy

The ‘Stimulus’ Actually Raised Unemployment

In Economy on February 26, 2010 at 1:17 am

(02-26-2010) The following is from the CATO Institute.

by Alan Reynolds, Alan Reynolds is a senior fellow with the Cato Institute and the author of Income and Wealth. This article appeared on Investor’s Business Daily on February 19, 2010.

The ‘Stimulus’ Actually Raised Unemployment

President Obama seized on the one-year anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) as an opportunity to take credit for the belated and tenuous economic recovery.

But the economy always recovered from recessions, long before anyone imagined that government borrowing could “create jobs.” And we didn’t used to have to wait nearly two years for signs of recovery, as we did this time.

A famous 1999 study by Christina Romer, who now heads the Council of Economic Advisers, found the average length of recessions from 1887 to 1929 was only 10.3 months, with the longest lasting 16 months.

Recessions lasted longer during the supposedly enlightened postwar era, with three of them lasting 16 to 21 months.

Keynesian countercyclical schemes have never worked in this country, just as they never worked in Japan.

The issue of “fiscal stimulus” must not be confused with TARP or with the Federal Reserve slashing interest rates and pumping up bank reserves.

One might argue that those Treasury and Fed programs helped prevent a hypothetical depression, but it’s impossible to make that argument about ARRA.

The “fiscal stimulus” refers only to a deliberate $862 billion increase in budget deficits. Importantly, only 23% ($200 billion) was spent in 2009, with 47% in 2010 and 30% in later years (according to the Congressional Budget Office this January).

How could the initial $200 billion have possibly had anything to do with the 5.7% rise in fourth-quarter GDP?

The Keynesian fable presumes that faster federal spending and consumers spending their federal benefit checks were the driving forces in the rebound.

Yet the GDP report clearly said the gain “reflected an increase in private inventory investment, a deceleration of imports and an upturn in nonresidential, fixed investment that was partly offset by decelerations in federal government (defense) spending and in personal consumption expenditures.”

Since federal spending accounted for exactly zero of the only significant increase in GDP, how could such spending possibly have “created or saved” 2 million jobs?

The bill was launched last year amid grandiose promises of “shovel ready” make-work projects.

In reality, as the CBO explains, “five programs accounted for more than 80% of the outlays from ARRA in 2009: Medicaid, unemployment compensation, Social Security… grants to state and local governments… and student aid.”

In other words, what was labeled a “stimulus” bill was actually a stimulus to government transfer payments — cash and benefits that are primarily rewards for not working, or at least not working too hard.

Vice President Joe Biden suggested that much of the real stimulus will occur this year. Yet the new budget has a chapter called “Reviving Job Creation” that does not even mention the 2009 giveaway legislation.

In 2010, as in 2009, the ARRA is mainly a stimulus to government. Shovel-ready or not, highway programs will get only $10 billion of the borrowed booty, about 2%. “Nearly half of the outlays resulting from ARRA in 2010,” says the CBO, “will be for programs administered by Health and Human Services or the Department of Education.”

From the CBO figures, it appears that 39% to 44% of the $862 billion will be for increased transfer payments, including refundable tax credits (checks to people who don’t pay taxes).

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 had extended federally funded unemployment benefits by 53 weeks, and another bill in November added 20 more — bringing the total up to 99 weeks in states with high unemployment.

As the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee minutes for January noted: “The several extensions of emergency unemployment insurance benefits appeared to have raised the measured unemployment rate, relative to levels recorded in past downturns, by encouraging some who have lost their jobs to remain in the labor force…. Some estimates suggested it could account for 1 percentage point or more of the increase in the unemployment rate during this recession.”

My own estimate, in past articles available at cato.org, is that the stimulus act added about 2 percentage points to the unemployment rate.

The evidence that extended benefits have that effect is overwhelming, fully documented by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and by at least two economists in the Obama administration.

It turns out that raising the unemployment rate by a percentage point or two is the only clearly identifiable effect the stimulus act had on the jobs market. It stimulated unemployment.

school district taxes

School Payrolls Grew in 2008-09, On-Line Data Shows

In Education on February 25, 2010 at 12:04 pm

(02-25-2010) The following is from the Empire Center for New York State Policy

CONTACT: Lise Bang-Jensen, (518) 434-3100

School Payrolls Grew in 2008-09, On-Line Data Shows

Professional payrolls continued expanding in New York State school districts outside New York City last year, according to data posted today on www.SeeThroughNY.net, the government transparency website sponsored by the Empire Center for New York State Policy.

Total spending on teaching and administrative salaries by districts outside New York City increased 5 percent statewide to $14 billion–a $670 million annual increase–in the 2008-09 school year. This included a 19 percent jump in the number of teachers and administrators making $100,000 or more. An additional 5,022 school employees crossed the six-figure salary benchmark in 2008-09, raising the total number in that category to 32,064 from 27,042 in 2007-08.

The 2008-09 database includes the gross pay of 262,088 teachers and administrators, 8,501 more than the 253,587 listed during the 2007-08 school year. These numbers include tens of thousands of substitute teachers and other part-time employees.

The Empire Center obtained the data by filing a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request with New York State Teachers’ Retirement System, which administers pension benefits for public school teachers and administrators outside of New York City. The City’s public school employees are included in a separate fiscal 2008 city payroll on SeeThroughNY.

Not reflected in the data are costs of pensions, health insurance for employees and retirees, and other benefits. Employee salaries and benefits comprise about 70 percent of a typical school budget.

Users of SeeThroughNY can search or sort the database by name, school district and salary level. Search results can be downloaded on an Excel spreadsheet or CSV (Comma Separated Values) file. The site also includes payroll data for 121,961 school custodians, bus drivers, aides and other non-professional school employees, which was posted in October 2009. A chart with regional breakdowns of educators making $100,000 or more is here.

SeeThroughNY allows the public to examine government expenditures on the Internet. It includes the wages of more than 1.5 million employees of New York State government, public authorities, cities, counties, villages, towns and school districts. Also posted are teacher and school superintendent employment contracts for 733 school districts, state legislators’ office expenditures, pork barrel projects, and a benchmarking feature for comparing local government and school district spending. The site was launched July 31, 2008.

The Albany-based Empire Center is a project of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, one of the nation’s leading non-profit 501(c)3 think tanks.

Warren Redlich on sky rocketing public sector payroll

In Warren Redlich on February 25, 2010 at 12:03 pm

(02-25-2010) The following is a message from Warren Redlich, Republican Candidate for Governor

Hi. This is Warren Redlich, Republican Candidate for Governor.

Some of you may have seen this story from the Empire Center about school payrolls. The $100K+ payrolls is an issue I’ve been talking about in my campaign.

I have a specific campaign proposal to address the six-figure issue – A $100K cap on total pay for public officials, along with a $75K pension cap: http://wredlich.com/ny/issues/pay-and-pension-caps/

When I talk to regular people, they’re shocked to hear about sky-high payrolls in public sector jobs. The Empire Center’s recent report on school officials emphasizes the point. There more than 32,000 public school employees making over $100K, and 1800 of make over $150K.

Applying the pay cap just to schools would save roughly $600 million a year. Applying it to all public sector jobs in New York would save roughly $2 billion statewide. The pension caps would also save a tremendous amount of money.

Governor Paterson’s solution to the budget problems includes laying off teachers, closing parks, and increasing taxes. At least he’s proposing concrete answers. The other candidates and potential candidates offer no substance.

There is only one candidate for Governor who has real proposals to solve our state’s budget problems.

Find out more at wredlich.com/ny

Thanks,
Warren Redlich
wredlich.com/ny

0 – Pay and Pension Caps

Guess how much the head of the New York Public Library makes. I ask people this and they shoot off guesses they think are high. $150K? Nope. A quarter-million? Still low. Okay, okay, $500 thousand. Not there yet.

He made $688K in 2008. That’s down from when he made $800K in 2005. You’re probably thinking I’m making this up. Nope. Read about it in the New York Times. Do your own research on payrolls at SeeThroughNY.net.

The SUNY Albany President was reported to be making $280K, plus a $261K pension, and has a $100K consulting job with his old state job. Read about it in the Times Union.

They’re not alone. There are nearly 80,000 public employees in New York State who make over $100,000 a year. More than 32,000 of them make over $120K and over 8000 make over $150K. High-flying pensions are becoming a huge problem. Read more about at Pension Tsunami: New York.

Career politicians are proposing across the board pay freezes and cutting teachers. We can save more money for both the state and for local governments by bringing these high-flying salaries and pensions back down to earth.

Warren supports a cap on public sector pay at $100,000 per year, and a pension cap of $75,000.

Critics of this idea say that these jobs are too important and that you won’t be able to find quality people at $100K. They’re not living in the real world. There are plenty of highly qualified people in NY who make less than $100K. Public service is supposed to be about public service, not about getting rich.

The head of the Albany Parking Authority makes $130K. To run parking lots? We can find someone to do that for $100K – or less.

Global Warming Fraud

Global Warming; the greatest hoax in the history of mankind

In Environment on February 25, 2010 at 12:02 pm

(02-25-2010) The following is from TownHall.com

by Walter E. Williams

Global Warming Update

Private industry and governments around the world have spent trillions of dollars in the name of saving our planet from manmade global warming. Academic institutions, think tanks and schools have altered their curricula and agenda to accommodate what was seen as the global warming “consensus.”

Mounting evidence suggests that claims of manmade global warming might turn out to be the greatest hoax in mankind’s history. Immune and hostile to the evidence, President Barack Obama’s administration and most of the U.S. Congress sides with Climate Czar Carol Browner, who says, “I’m sticking with the 2,500 scientists. These people have been studying this issue for a very long time and agree this problem is real.”

The scientists whom Browner references are associated with the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Let’s look some of what they told us. The 2007 IPCC report, which won them a Nobel Peace Prize, said that the probability of Himalayan glaciers “disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high” as a result of manmade global warming. Recently, IPCC was forced to retract their glacier disappearance claim, which was made on the basis of a non-scientific magazine article. When critics initially questioned the prediction, Rajendra Pachauri, IPCC’s chairman, dismissed them as “voodoo scientists.”

The IPCC also had to retract its claim that up to 40 percent of the Amazonian forests were at risk from global warming and would likely be replaced by “tropical savannas” if temperatures continued to rise. The IPCC claim was based on a paper co-authored by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), two environmental activist groups.

England’s now-disgraced University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU) has been a leader in climate research data. Their data, collected and analyzed by them, have been used for years to bolster IPCC efforts to press governments to cut carbon dioxide emissions. Climatologists, including CRU’s disgraced former director Professor Phil Jones, have been accused of manipulating data and criminally withholding scientific information to prevent its disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

Professor Jones, considered to be the high priest of the manmade global warming movement, has been in the spotlight since he was forced to step down as CRU’s director after the leaking of e-mails that skeptics claim show scientists were manipulating data. In a recent interview with the BBC, he admitted that he did not believe that “the debate on climate change is over” and that he didn’t “believe the vast majority of climate scientists think this.”

Long denied by the warmers, Professor Jones admitted that the Medieval Warm Period (800 A.D. to 1300 A.D.) might well had been as warm as the Current Warm Period (1975-present), or warmer, and that if it was, “then obviously the late-20th century warmth would not be unprecedented.” That suggests global warming may not be a manmade phenomenon. In any case, Professor Jones said that for the past 15 years, there has been no “statistically significant” global warming.

During the BBC interview, Professor Jones dodged several questions: why he had asked a colleague to delete e-mails relating to the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report and ask others to do likewise; whether some of his handling of data had crossed the line of acceptable scientific practice; and what about his letter saying that he had used a “trick” to “hide the decline” in tree-ring temperature data?

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

2nd Congressional District

Hannity gives NY CD2 candidate a boost

In Suffolk County Conservative Committee on February 25, 2010 at 1:11 am

(02-25-2010) The following is from the NY Post

by MAGGIE HABERMAN

Fox News’ Hannity gives Rep. Steve Israel challenger a boost

Fox News host Sean Hannity is wading into Long Island politics — helping push for a longtime friend who is looking to challenge Rep. Steve Israel this fall, but needs help getting on the ballot.

Hannity sat down for two hours with his pal John Gomez, a Long Island local and his childhood pal, and Suffolk Conservative Party chairman Ed Walsh in Plainview this morning at the Sheraton Four Points.

Sources said Hannity pledged to be involved and help raise money for Gomez — who is a registered independent, meaning he needs permission from Walsh to run on the Conservative line. Sources said Gomez has already met with a few Republican leaders about getting permission to run on their line as well.

Walsh confirmed the meeting and praised Gomez, saying, “We just had a big conversation in terms of this guy running. Sean would be active…and Sean being maybe the biggest conservative on TV and radio (would help).”

“This race could be won, absolutely,” said Walsh, adding that he believed the combination of Gomez and Hannity could help bring in people from the Tea Party movement.

Israel is an established Democrat with a hefty warchest and well-known fundraising abilities – and it’s not clear that he is as ripe for a challenge as some incumbents generally have been thanks to anti-establishment fever nationally.

Aides to Gomez, Hannity and Israel couldn’t immediately be reached.

It’s unclear how far along a potential Gomez candidacy is; MIke Long, the state Conservative chairman, said he wasn’t aware of it when reached by The Post Sunday.

The National Security Cover-up

In War on Terror on February 25, 2010 at 1:10 am

(02-25-2010) The story continues.

After 3,000 innocent American civilians were murdered on Sept. 11, 2001, and while thousands of young American service men and women have been killed or wounded in the War on Terror, word now comes out that President of the United States Barrack Hussein Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder both have provided aid and comfort to the enemy.

Any definition of the word treason is as follows:

1. the offense of acting to overthrow one’s government.

2. a violation of allegiance to one’s sovereignty or to one’s state.

3. the betrayal of a trust or confidence; breach of faith; treachery.

Between the President’s usurping of the U.S. Constitution with his blatent attempt of a socialist coup,and the latest Gitmo admission (SEE BELOW STORY), all three definitions of TREASON can be applied to this sitting President.

All this, and not one elected official in all of Congress, not one Supreme Court Justice, and not one law enforcement officer in the entire nation; not one has honored their sworn oath to “faithfully defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Not one.

The following is from TownHall.com

by Michelle Malkin

Corruptocrat Eric Holder’s National Security Cover-Up

The White House wants to play Transparency Olympics with the Tea Party movement. President Obama’s Chief Technology Officer Andrew McLaughlin dared Tea Party activists and conservatives last week to “push the administration to make its policies more open” and make it a “political competition … to see who can be more radical in their openness,” The Hill reported. So, let’s start by knocking down Attorney General Eric Holder’s national security stonewall at the Department of Justice, shall we? Let the sun shine in.

For more than a year, I’ve been writing about the looming national security and conflict-of-interest problems posed by Holder’s status as a former partner at the prestigious law firm Covington and Burling. The company currently represents or has provided pro bono representation and sob-story media-relations campaigns in the past to more than a dozen Gitmo detainees from Yemen who are seeking civilian trials on American soil.

The firm wasn’t just a bit player. It led the charge, contributing more than 3,000 hours to Gitmo litigation in 2007, according to The American Lawyer. At least one known Covington big shot and fellow former Clintonite, Lanny Breuer, now works for Holder as head of the DOJ’s criminal division. Though he himself did not participate in the detainee cases, Holder’s celebrity undoubtedly boosted company-wide prestige.

How many of Holder’s former colleagues and associates are now on the DOJ payroll? How many like them, who worked at other law firms or for left-wing lobbying groups, now inhabit DOJ offices? How many of them have been allowed to work on government terrorism cases related to their past crusades for al-Qaida-tied clients? How many have had to recuse themselves — and have those recusals been full and forthcoming? How can the public judge whether these lawyers are representing America’s best interests — or those of the jihadis?

GOP Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa has been trying to get answers. DOJ information suppressors have snubbed him repeatedly. As the Washington Examiner’s Byron York reported on Friday, Holder has now acknowledged that “at least” nine Obama appointees in the Justice Department “have represented or advocated for terrorist detainees before joining the Justice Department.” But the tight-lipped, taxpayer-funded litigators at the agency won’t name names or cough up any relevant details.

Grassley asked for “the names of political appointees in the Department who represented detainees (or) worked for organizations advocating on behalf of detainees … the cases or projects that these appointees worked on with respect to detainees prior to joining the Justice Department … and the cases or projects relating to detainees that they have worked on since joining the Justice Department. …” Beyond two DOJ appointees whose work for jihadi defendants had already been made public, Holder gave up nothing. Zip. Zilch.

It’s not even clear that the Gitmo Nine are the end of the line. The list is not a comprehensive tally of DOJ appointees, Holder told Grassley and other GOP senators who pressed for public disclosure. Why not? What are they trying to hide? Who are they trying to spare?

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

Communist Van Jones

NAACP to Honor Communist Van Jones as “American Treasure”

In Socialism Growing on February 25, 2010 at 1:08 am

(02-25-2010) The following is from Fox News

NAACP to Honor Van Jones as ‘American Treasure’

White House green jobs adviser Van Jones quit the post last year after he was dogged by past remarks and associations, but that isn’t stopping the NAACP from awarding him one of its Image Awards — and even calling him a “American treasure.”

Jones, who served as an adviser to the White House Council on Environmental Quality, generated mounting criticism last summer, first for calling Republicans “assholes” during a videotaped address earlier in the year and then for signing a petition in 2004 supporting the “9/11 truther” movement, which believes the Bush administration may have been involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

The latter development, which came on top of several others, was perhaps the most devastating and led to calls for his resignation.

But Jones still has his share of outspoken supporters, and one of them is Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP.

“Van Jones is an American treasure,” Jealous writes in an opinion piece posted at CNN.com. “He is quite simply one of the few Americans in recent years to have generated powerful new ideas that are creating new jobs.”

Jealous cites Jones’ book “The Green Collar Economy,” his role in passing the 2007 Green Jobs Act and his work with low-income people in Oakland, Calif.

At the time of his resignation, Jones said the controversies had become an unceasing distraction, and he assailed his critics.

“On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me. They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide,” Jones said.

Jones is considered a rising star in environmental circles. In addition to writing “The Green Collar Economy,” he has co-founded and worked with several groups dedicated to helping low-income and minority communities — often through green jobs and better environmental policy. He got his start as a San Francisco-area activist.

Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, speaking last year on “Fox News Sunday,” called Jones’ resignation a “loss for the country.”

But critics raised questions about his fitness for a White House-level office, pointing to his radical activities a decade ago as well as more recent controversial stances.

Jones was a self-described “communist” during the 1990s and previously worked with a group dedicated to Marxist and Leninist philosophies. His comments, even in recent years, were often racially charged. He’s blamed “white polluters and white environmentalists” for “steering poison” to minority communities. In 2005, he drew a distinction between white and black youths involved in shooting incidents by referencing the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. “

You’ve never seen a Columbine done by a black child. Never,” Jones said. “They always say, ‘We can’t believe it happened here. We can’t believe it’s these suburban white kids.’ It’s only them!” he said. “Now, a black kid might shoot another black kid. He’s not going to shoot up the whole school.”

Such statements did not draw widespread attention until after a February video surfaced showing him calling Republicans “assholes” during an address in Berkeley, Calif. Jones apologized, but faced down his past again when it was discovered that he signed a 2004 statement calling on then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and others to launch an investigation into evidence that suggests “people within the current administration may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war.”

Jones afterward issued a blanket apology for his past statements and said the petition does not reflect his views. An aide said Jones didn’t carefully review the petition at the time.

But that claim was swiftly disputed by 911Truth.org. “He did agree with that statement and he did sign on to it,” 911Truth.org spokesman Mike Berger told Fox News in a telephone interview from St. Louis on Friday. Berger said the group’s “original board members individually confirmed all signatories that had signed on to the statement.”

The calls for resignation mounted. And lawmakers said the problems surrounding Jones spoke to the broader concern about so-called White House “czars,” top advisers and officials who do not need congressional approval.

Panico signs a “Taxpayers’ Protection Pledge

In Brookhaven Republican Committee on February 24, 2010 at 1:04 pm

(02-24-2010) The following is from Dan Panico for Brookhaven Town Council

PANICO

for

TOWN COUNCIL

B R O O K H A V E N

Panico Pledges to Cut Taxes, Cut Spending, Create Job Incentives & Enact Tax Cap

Republican/Conservative Candidate Signs ‘Taxpayers’ Protection Pledge’, Challenges Democrat to Do Same

Dan Panico, the Republican-Conservative candidate for Brookhaven’s Sixth Town District, today unveiled and signed the Brookhaven Town Taxpayers’ Protection Pledge which details a package of tax relief initiatives, including widespread cuts on both the Town General tax and Town spending, and, a voter referendum on a Town Property Tax Cap.

Panico challenged his Democrat opponent to join him in signing the Brookhaven Town Taxpayers’ Protection Pledge.

“From Washington to Albany to Brookhaven, politicians just aren’t getting it. They’re making it even tougher for the hardworking families of the Sixth District to make ends meet, raise their families and keep good paying jobs,” said Panico, “In these difficult times, families in the Sixth District just can’t afford more of the same failed proposals supported and enacted by Gov. Paterson, and his supporters like my opponent. We just can’t take another job killing MTA Bailout Payroll Tax or the loss of our STAR Rebate checks.”

The Brookhaven Town Taxpayers’ Protection Pledge consists of supporting the following tax relief proposals:

* Across the board Town General Property Tax Cut;

* New Incentives to Create New Jobs and Help Small Businesses;

* Voter Referendum on a Town Property Tax Cap;

* Across the board Cuts in Town Spending to pay for Tax Cuts and Incentives;

“We need to take action right now! That’s why I signed the Brookhaven Town Taxpayers’ Protection Pledge, and challenge my opponent to do the same,” said Panico, an attorney. “Over the course of this campaign, I have outlined a proactive property tax relief package that would cut town general taxes, create new jobs, and fight for a voter-approved Tax Cap paid for through an across the board cut in wasteful spending. My plan will finally turn Brookhaven around through lower taxes, less spending and new jobs.”

Legis. Ed Romaine, the author of the Suffolk County’s tax and spending caps and whose son, the late Councilman Keith Romaine, proposed a town tax cap that was rejected by the Lesko Democrat Team, said: “This is a point in our history where we need courage and leadership in our elected officials. When my son Keith was fighting for a town tax cap for the taxpayers, Doug Dittko was no where to be found; he remained silent.

“There is a time to stand up when it really counts, and a time when it’s merely politically expedient. That’s not what the people need in these difficult economic times. They need true leadership and Dan Panico has this very trait,” Legis. Romaine added.

Panico stated that when elected, he will immediately sponsor the resolutions of the Brookhaven Town Taxpayers’ Protection Pledge in an effort to slash wasteful town spending and patronage programs, and public hearings for a Tax Cap voter referendum and creative incentives to create new jobs. “These will lead to a town general tax cut and make new private sector jobs available to the people of the Sixth District,” said Panico.

Suffolk County Legislature

NEWS from Suffolk County Legislature Tom Cilmi

In Tom Cilmi on February 24, 2010 at 12:41 pm

(02-24-2010) The following is NEWS from Suffolk County Legislature Tom Cilmi:

Legislator Tom Cilmi

10^th Legislative District

The Best Way

to Create Jobs

is to Stop

Preventing Them

Legislator Tom Cilmi met with officials from the Suffolk County Health Department last week to discuss the need to significantly improve the response times in dealing with permit applications for new and expanding businesses. Cilmi believes the average length of time from permit submission to approval – estimated by the Health Department to be five months – is way too long.

Cilmi said, “The best way to create jobs is to stop preventing them.

This should be the philosophy by which every level of government should operate from now on. The days of governing based on what works best for government must end. The days of governing based on what’s best for the customer, in this case business permit applicants, must begin today.”

Legislator Cilmi said he is looking forward to working with the Levy administration to get results. He commended members of the Health Department for improvements that have been made, but said there is more work to be done. “It’s currently taking us four weeks to look at these applications for the first time. Can you imagine a business letting an order sit on the desk for a month before first looking at it? We need to do better. Every day that goes by that a business doesn’t open, is a day of lost sales tax revenue, lost jobs, lost income tax revenue, and wasted property taxes or rent for the business owner.”

Cilmi said the County should set a goal to get initial permit reviews done in one week. He said this is achievable through proper management practices. He also asked the Department to explore the idea of issuing temporary permits to establishments that meet certain minimum safety criteria. In addition, Cilmi said there needs to be much better communication between County, town and State agencies.

All of this would allow businesses to start generating economic activity much quicker.

“Many business owners and entrepreneurs when faced with the walls of bureaucracy are just giving up. They’re moving to other parts of the

Country where the regulatory and tax burdens are much less onerous.

We must commit to stem this tide. It’s not going to take another task force or blue ribbon panel. We just have to get it done.”

Zeldin for Senate Kick-Off Dinner

In NYS Senate on February 24, 2010 at 12:40 pm

(02-24-2010) The following is from Zeldin for Senate

ZELDIN FOR SENATE

Will be hosting our

Kick-off Dinner

Thursday, Feb 25, 2010

The Key Note Address

will be delivered by

The Honorable

Jim DeMint (R-SC)

U.S. Senator Jim DeMint: The Conservative Movement’s Effective Voice in the U.S. Senate

Elected as South Carolina’s 55th senator in 2004 after serving six years in the U.S House of Representatives, Jim DeMint has quickly established himself as one of the most effective conservative leaders in Washington. He was recently ranked as the Senate’s most conservative member by National Journal and as the number one senator voting for responsible tax and spending policies by the National Taxpayer Union.

In late 2006, he was elected by his colleagues as Chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, which is comprised of the majority of Republican senators and works to shape and advance conservative legislation. He also serves on the Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Energy and Natural Resources; Foreign Relations and Joint Economic Committees.

General Dinner: 7:00PM (prompt)

VIP Post-Dinner Reception: 9:00-10:00PM

Hamlet Wind Watch Country Club

1715 Motor Parkway

Hauppauge, NY

We are offering individual tickets for purchase:

$150 per person

$100 for Committee Members

Seats on the Host Committee and Event Sponsorships are also available

Host Committee: Raise/Donate – $10,000

Diamond Sponsor: $2,500

Platinum Sponsor: $1,000

Gold Sponsor: $500

Members of the Host Committee and Event Sponsors will receive 2 tickets to the General Dinner and are invited to attend the VIP Post-Dinner Reception with the U.S. Senator. Host Committee and Sponsors will also receive a photograph with the U.S. Senator.

To RSVP please call or send an e-mail:

Campaign Office: 631-569-4848

E-mail: michael@zeldinforsenate.com

Methods of Payment:

At the door– if paying at the door, we ask that you RSVP prior to the dinner

Online – zeldinforsenate.com – on the home page, click on the link for the Kick-Off Dinner. Details on how to RSVP and pay online are provided.

Mail – Please make checks payable to Zeldin for Senate:

Zeldin for Senate

P.O. Box 628

Shirley, NY 11967

If you should have any questions, please call or send an e-mail.

Campaign Office: 631-569-4848

E-mail: michael@zeldinforsenate.com

Zeldin for Senate

So at what point do we start using the “T” word? The “T” word as in T-R-E-A-S-O-N.

In War on Terror on February 24, 2010 at 12:29 am

(02-24-2010) While the following suggestion may sound like a story more suitable for Keifer Sutherland and the TV series 24, I ask you all to simply think about it.

So I ask you at what point do we start using the T word, as in T-R-E-A-S-O-N.

Because according to any definition of the word treason, the meaning is as follows:

1. the offense of acting to overthrow one’s government.

2. a violation of allegiance to one’s sovereign or to one’s state.

3. the betrayal of a trust or confidence; breach of faith; treachery.

Not one.

So the question is, can We the People bring forth such charges?

The following is from the NY Post

By JENNIFER FERMINO

In-Justice! Furor over O’s ‘Gitmo’ appointees

The Justice Department’s disclosure that nine of President Obama’s appointees had either represented or advocated for Guantanamo detainees has touched off a firestorm of criticism.

The surprising admission came three months after Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa asked Attorney General Eric Holder for a list of names of Obama DOJ appointees who had been involved in legal work for Gitmo prisoners.

Holder, in a letter to Grassley, admitted that nine of the agency’s appointees had done some kind of work on behalf of terror suspects.

“To the best of our knowledge, during their employment prior to joining the government, only five of the lawyers who serve as political appointees in those components represented detainees,” said Holder in the letter, which is dated Feb. 18.

”Four others either contributed to amicus briefs in detainee-related cases or were otherwise involved in advocacy on behalf of detainees.”

Holder refused to reveal the names of any of the DOJ lawyers who worked on behalf of terrorists or their positions in the department, except for two officials whose advocacy for Gitmo detainees had already been reported.

Neal Katyal, the department’s principal deputy solicitor general, was once the lawyer for Osama bin Laden’s driver. Jennifer Daskal, part of Obama’s Detention Policy Task Force, advocated for detainees at Human Rights Watch.

Holder insisted that there was nothing unusual about government counsel having once worked on the opposing side, and compared it to lawyers who represented tax cheats going to work for the agency’s tax division.

“A prosecutor of white-collar fraud cases may have previously represented defendants in such cases. This familiarity with and experience in the relevant area of law redounds to the government’s benefit,” he wrote.

But the revelation that the DOJ had staffers who had once backed America’s enemies left many critics fuming.

“It’s like they’re bringing al Qaeda lawyers inside the Department of Justice,” said Debra Burlingame, who lost her brother on 9/11 and a board member of the advocacy group Keep America Safe.

Long Island GOP Rep. Peter King said he was perplexed why Holder didn’t reveal the names of appointees who had worked for terrorists.

A DOJ rep reiterated that no ethics codes were broken.

“The department’s attorneys are subject to ethics and disclosure rules . . . which are the strongest in history,” said spokesman Matthew Miller.

NYGOP

NYGOP Debuts New Spokesman

In NYS GOP on February 24, 2010 at 12:28 am

(02-24-2010) The following is from Elizabeth Benjamin, NY Daily News

NYGOP Debuts New Spokesman

The state Republican Party today took the wraps of its latest hire – Alex Carey, spokesman for Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has assumed the role of the GOP’s new communications director.

Carey will “serve as the media’s point of contact…and will orchestrate the party’s new media and messaging campaign during the critical 2010 election cycle,” state GOP Chairman Ed Cox said in a press release.

“Alex is widely respected as a seasoned political operative and a creative communicator who is not afraid to think outside the box,” Cox added. “We are fortunate to have Alex back in his home state to fortify our party’s efforts to bring our message to the voters this year.”

This hire has been in the works for almost a month now. Carey, a former reporter and producer for Sky News, British Sky Broadcasting in London, is a Westchester County native, so he’s returning to his roots with this move.

There’s also a quote from Pawlenty, who is being talked of as a potential presidential contender in 2012. He lauded Carey’s “excellent communications skills” and said New York is “lucky to have” his now-former spokesman.

The release doesn’t mention the person who used to hold the job Carey is taking over, Matt Walter, a former aide to ex-Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno.

Walter ascended to the post of executive director at the state GOP under its former leader, Nassau County Republican Chairman Joe Mondello. He was bumped from that perch by Tom Basile when Cox took over, but was kept on the payroll – at least in the
interim.

UPDATE: Basile informs me that Walter is still on board, serving as director of strategic planning – “a very important role with the state committee.”

Climategate

Possible Criminal Probe of Scientists’ Climate Change E-Mails

In Environment on February 24, 2010 at 12:27 am

(02-24-2010) The following is from Fox News

Inhofe Weighs Criminal Probe of Scientists’ Climate Change E-Mails

The Senate’s top global warming skeptic on Tuesday said he would ask the EPA’s watchdog to investigate the data once used as the centerpiece of international climate change research and now bolstering an endangerment finding that gives the EPA authority to regulate greenhouse gases.

“The Obama administration is pressing ahead with a jobs-killing agenda,” Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said about Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson’s decision to rely on information from the U.N.’s International Panel on Climate Change to institute the endangerment finding.

At a Tuesday morning hearing, Inhofe said “global warming alarmism has been sold on the notion” that greenhouse gas emissions are causing catastrophe.

“Now we know there’s no basis for this,” he said.

Inhofe is also considering a request to the Department of Justice for a probe of scientists who he claims deliberately falsified data used by climate change advocates. He is also planning on grilling Jackson at Tuesday’s hearing.

Inhofe is releasing a 40-page report that will be used by Republicans to answer how she can continue to advocate for new global warming regulations even as the findings by the IPCC and the work of the East Anglia Climate Research Unit in Britain create doubt about climate science.

“The CRU controversy features e-mails from the world’s leading climate scientists — e-mails that show disturbing practices contrary to the practice of objective science and potentially federal law,” the report reads.

“The released CRU e-mails and documents display potentially unethical, and illegal, behavior,” it continues. “Moreover, there are e-mails discussing unjustified changes to data by federal employees and federal grantees. These and other issues raise questions about the lawful use of federal funds and potential ethical misconduct.”

Inhofe, whose family mocked Al Gore by building a snowman of the climate change advocate on the Capitol grounds earlier this month, said in a statement ahead of the hearing on the EPA’s 2011 proposed budget that the minority staff’s report covers e-mails and documents from 1996 through November 2009.

He said the research shows the world’s leading climate scientists discussing obstruction of contrary data, manipulation of data, threats of journalists who questioned “consensus” on the data and activism to influence the political process.

“We knew they were cooking the science to support the flawed UN IPCC agenda,” he said. “I suspect Climate-gate is only the beginning.”

Panico Signs ‘Taxpayers’ Protection Pledge’

In Brookhaven Republican Committee on February 24, 2010 at 12:27 am

(02-24-2010) The following is from Dan Panico for Brookhaven Town Council

PANICO for TOWN COUNCIL

B R O O K H A V E N

For Immediate Release: 23 February 2010

Contact:Panico HQs: 631-909-4931

Panico Pledges to Cut Taxes, Cut Spending, Create Job Incentives & Enact Tax Cap

Republican/Conservative Candidate Signs ‘Taxpayers’ Protection Pledge’, Challenges Democrat to Do Same

Panico challenged his Democrat opponent to join him in signing the Brookhaven Town Taxpayers’ Protection Pledge.

The Brookhaven Town Taxpayers’ Protection Pledge consists of supporting the following tax relief proposals:

* Across the board Town General Property Tax Cut;

* New Incentives to Create New Jobs and Help Small Businesses;

* Voter Referendum on a Town Property Tax Cap;

* Across the board Cuts in Town Spending to pay for Tax Cuts and Incentives;

Warren Redlich; NY Tea Party Candidate for Governor

In Warren Redlich on February 23, 2010 at 7:16 am

(02-23-2010) The following was submitted by Richard Cooper.

Warren Redlich for Governor

Please visit the Stop Wasting Money campaign for New York State. http://wredlich.com/ny/

Warren and the team will deliver real change by cutting spending, eliminating unnecessary programs, and capping public sector pay and pensions.

NY Tea Party Candidate for Governor

Warren Redlich is, for now at least, the only viable Tea Party candidate for Governor in New York.

But it’s important to be clear about what that means. Warren has long focused on a simple concept – we need to stop wasting money.

Warren has consistently fought to stop wasting money, and has a real plan to cut spending (see the Issues links on the left side).

The only other Republican candidate, Rick Lazio, worked at a bailed-out bank, got a million dollar bonus, and had a career D- from the NRA while he was in Congress. He couldn’t beat an unpopular carpetbagger when he had 50% more money.

If you support the Tea Party movement – the real one that rejects GOP insiders who waste our money like Democrat insiders – then please join us and support Warren Redlich for Governor.

From the Empire Page: http://www.empirepage.com/2010/2/5/warren-redlich

Interview with Warren Redlich, candidate for Governor

February 4th, 2010

Background: On February 1, Guilderland, NY businessman and two-time candidate for Congress, Warren Redlch announced his candidacy for Republican and Libertarian Party nominations for Governor of New York.

Empire Page: You have announced that you are seeking the Republican and Libertarian nominations for the Governor of New York. Some might view that as an odd combination. The Libertarian Party also does not traditionally cross-endorse candidates from other parties and no Republican since Nelson Rockefeller has won statewide office without the Conservative Party endorsement. Which are you a Republican or a Libertarian?

Redlich: Both. Since the LP is not a “ballot-line” party in NY, you can be a member of both parties. I see myself as a libertarian Republican or perhaps a “Ron Paul Republican.” In practice the GOP doesn’t really have much in the way of ideology, as the Scozzfava debacle showed all too well.

Empire Page: Are you not interested in the Conservative Party line? If not, where do your views diverge from the Conservative Party platform?

Redlich: I’m not interested in any of the three recognized third parties. The Independence Party is not really independent. The Conservatives pretend to be conservative but then they endorse someone like Pataki or Lazio. And don’t get me started on WFP.

Empire Page: What prompted you to run for Governor and why do you believe you would make a good governor?

Redlich: Friends in the LP asked me to run. I was vaguely thinking I might run for AG only on the LP line when they asked. Then I started thinking about the Governor’s race and the state budget. The more I saw, the more motivated I got.http://wredlich.com/ny.

I would make a good governor because I’m not afraid to do what really needs to be done. The Governor has to say “no” to people. To save our state we have to eliminate whole state agencies. That means people lose their jobs. I’ve done that in my own business, and I would do it as Governor.

The typical politicians, including Paterson and Lazio, say they will “control spending.” That means they take our money and spend it how they want to. I will cut spending. That means the government taking less of our money. I’m not afraid to tell people where I will cut spending – it’s on my website -

Empire Page: In his State of the State address Governor Paterson proposed a package of “ethics” reforms including campaign finance reform, a revised Ethics Commission and term limits for legislators. Where do you stand on the Governor’s “Reform Albany Plan”?

Redlich: I’m opposed to the campaign finance rules. They always make it harder for challengers to challenge incumbents. The Ethics Commission will be just as empty as the Commission on Public Integrity, which I would eliminate. I don’t have strong feelings on term limits one way or the other. But I would limit myself to only one term. There’s not enough oxygen inside the Albany bubble.

Empire Page: The Comptroller issued a report today that states that Governor Paterson’s budget proposal over-estimates projected revenues. What would you do today if you were governor to balance the state’s budget for 2010-2011?

Redlich: Eliminate a bunch of state agencies – see http://wredlich.com/ny/issues/cuts/. Cap public sector pay at $100K and pensions at $75K:
http://wredlich.com/ny/issues/pay-and-pension-caps/

There’s more, but those are the two big ideas. When the head of a library makes $688K, it’s time for things to change.

Empire Page: In his budget message Governor Paterson states that New York is facing $60 billion structural deficit. How would you address that long-term deficit?

Redlich: The proposals I mention would help a lot. I would also go through individual agencies and find more programs to eliminate. The key is finding programs that either do nothing, or very little for the amount they cost. There’s a lot that can be eliminated.

TO CONTINUE READING PLEASE CLICK BELOW

McCain team supporting Chris Cox

In Chris Cox on February 23, 2010 at 7:15 am

(02-23-2010) The following is from the NY Post

By MAGGIE HABERMAN

John McCain’s team supporting Long Island congressional hopeful Christopher Cox

The man known as Sen. John McCain’s alter ego and other players from his 2008 presidential bid are working on the Long Island congressional campaign of Christopher Cox, the son of the state GOP chair who’s waging his first campaign, The Post has learned.

Cox’s consultant list includes Mark Salter, who -wrote several of McCain’s books and was his chief of staff for years, his former adviser John Weaver, and others from his 2008 ; his ad-maker Fred Davis, finance adviser Jim McCray, and former presidential spokesman Danny Diaz and pollster Bill McInturff.

Chris’s father, Ed Cox, was McCain’s New York campaign chairman, and the younger Cox was the New York executive director.

“Our team is comprised of national high-profile leaders who all share a common belief – Chris Cox has the knowledge, experience and embodies the pragmatic leadership that we need from the next Congressman” from Suffolk County, which is currently represented by Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop, said communications director MIchael Levoff.

“Having worked with Chris previously during the 2008 presidential campaign, our team can first-handedly attest to Chris’ devotion to public service and the people of New York.”

Weaver, a years-long McCain adviser who along with Diaz split with the McCain campaign in a shuffle but desgined much of the strategy the senator used in the primary, is the general consultant, while Salter will be advising the candidate on policy. Salter is now mostly in academics, and this is his one race other than McCain’s this year.

Cox came relatively late to the crowded seven-way primary field, where some candidates had been raising money and working the field far in advance of this year.

Among Cox’s top rivals are former SEC lawyer George Demos, who raised a crush of campaign cash in the last quarter to rise to “on the radar” status with national Congressional Republicans.

He has ties to the Pataki administration and is being run by former Pataki adviser Rob Cole – of the Shawmut Group, which just ran the successful GOP Senate campaign of Scott Brown in Massachusetts for Ted Kennedy’s seat – and senior Giuliani adviser Jake Menges.

There’s also conservative businessman Randy Altschuler, who has adviser Rob Ryan and well-known pollster John McLaughlin advising him – veterans of the Doug Hoffman race in the 23rd Congressional District, where they successfully channeled the “Tea Party” activist anger into a near-win.

It’s a wave year of anti-incumbent sentiment – and there has been upset among some GOP insiders who believe the son of the state chair has the edge for the nod. Ed Cox, and Suffolk County GOP chair John LaValle, maintain they are taking a hands-off approach with the race.

▶ View 7 Comments

Steve Levy: I’d “turn this state upside down”

In New York State on February 23, 2010 at 7:15 am

(02-23-2010) Steve Levy continues to garner interest as the Governor race approaches. But what party?

The following is from Newsday:

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Levy to AP: I’d ‘turn this state upside down’

The feisty Suffolk County executive who’s considering a run for governor says he would do nothing less than “turn this state upside down and inside out.”

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The race for New York’s Democratic nomination for governor is already shaping up to be an all-in poker hand between incumbent Gov. David A. Paterson and the more popular and better financed Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

It may soon be dealt a wild card in conservative Democrat Steve Levy. The feisty Suffolk County executive who’s considering a run says he would do nothing less than “turn this state upside down and inside out.

“You really have to have a semi-revolution in the way things are conducted in Albany,” Levy told The Associated Press. “This is one year when people are going to be looking for that one person with a proven fiscally conservative background and no one tops me in that area.

“They don’t want on-the-job training, they don’t want promises,” Levy said. “They want a guy who has shown he has the guts to take on any entrenched special interest.”

It’s not the kind of talk that makes Levy popular with many Democratic bosses, whose candidates hold every statewide post and control both houses of the Legislature. As a result, Levy isn’t getting much encouragement to run from leaders, despite his 2007 win in which he carried the Democratic, Republican, Conservative, Independence and Working Families party lines.

But it’s not just Democrats who may have to deal with him.

“I would accept the endorsement of any other party,” Levy said. “I would not shun them. I like to think of myself as post-partisan … the party banner is less important than the underlying principles on which you run.”

It would be a most unconventional way to the governor’s mansion. But convention counts for little these days after Democrats were ousted by Republicans in local elections last fall, a Conservative sidelined a Republican in an upstate congressional race, and a Republican won Democratic icon Edward M. Kennedy’s Senate seat in Massachusetts.

If Levy runs, and he says he will decide by mid-April, he’ll be banking on such disillusioned and angry voters.

His credentials include suing his own county and winning back taxpayers’ money as a maverick county legislator, serving as a state assemblyman; and, as executive, cutting spending, balancing a historic deficit he inherited, and proposing six budgets without a tax increase.

His plans for Albany: Declare a fiscal state of emergency to freeze spending; create a financial control board to mandate hard fiscal decisions as was done for Buffalo, Nassau County and New York City in past decades; set a hard spending cap as in Suffolk County; and waive the capital gains tax for venture capitalists willing to invest in New York, especially in hard-hit upstate communities.

“You have to have the courage to say ‘no’ to the things you want so you have the capacity to say ‘yes’ to the things you need,” he said.

But as good as many say he looks on paper, he can draw cringes when he speaks. He quipped during a 2009 roast in Bay Shore about deporting kitchen workers, a joke he said was supposed to target his own previously controversial comments about Hispanics and which his staff said was twisted by political correctness. This year, he used “Shaniqua” at a Martin Luther King Day speech in referring to a hypothetical person who would benefit from his fight against housing discrimination, rankling some black leaders.

That’s red meat for the political interests that would line up against him.

As a Democrat, he could claim outsider status more cleanly than Paterson, who spent 20 years as a state senator, and Cuomo, a one-term attorney general who has run for governor and was a confidant and campaign manager for years for his father, Gov. Mario Cuomo.

Levy’s $4 million campaign account is also larger than Paterson’s or Republican Rick Lazio’s, although less than a quarter of Cuomo’s.

Running on the Republican line won’t be easy and may be impossible. He’d need to wow a lot Republican county chairman statewide and then bowl over delegates at the state GOP convention.

The problem for him is that, since September, Lazio has already done the former. The ex-congressman from Long Island who has been called the “presumptive nominee” by state Republican Chairman Ed Cox, currently has the support of 28 of 62 county chairmen representing 64 percent of the weighted vote.

“I think the train is running pretty fast down the track,” said state Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long. “The time for him to possibly do it was certainly much earlier than now.”

But Levy doesn’t stick to conventional political calendars any more than conventional politics.

To voters he says: “You deserve not to settle this election and if you’re going to be seeking change, put your vote behind someone who has proven himself to be an agent of change … I’ve got moxie.”

Obama’s Anti-Business Prejudice

In Economy on February 23, 2010 at 7:14 am

(02-23-2010) The following is from the Long Island Sentinel

by Ralph R. Reiland

Commentary: Obama’s Anti-Business Prejudice

Whatever happened to the Constitutional concept of equal protection under the law?

Whatever happened to the recognition that it’s overwhelmingly the nation’s private sector that delivers the jobs, goods and services, and our overall well-being? Or as Calvin Coolidge succinctly put it, “After all, the chief business of the American people is business.”

With his proposed change in forgiveness rules on student loans, President Obama, revealing his pro-statist biases and anti-business prejudices, is calling for the establishment of clearly unequal treatment.

“Let’s tell another 1 million students that when they graduate,” said Obama in his recent State of the Union address, “they will be required to pay only 10 percent of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will be forgiven after 20 years, and forgiven after 10 years if they choose a career in public service.”

Why the bias against business majors, against entrepreneurial students who choose to go into the private sector and create jobs?

“Jobs must be our No. 1 focus in 2010,” said Obama in the same speech, and “the true engine of job creation in this country will always be America’s businesses.”

So why is he calling for students who go into the job-creating private sector to pay back their loans for 20 years while students who end up on government payrolls get to shift the cost of their unpaid college loans onto the backs of the nation’s taxpayers after 10 years?

Given the exploding federal deficits, why encourage students to get a government job where they’ll be consuming more taxes than they pay? Why the corresponding disincentive for students to join the sector that’s “the true engine of job creation,” the sector that cuts the federal deficits by taking people off the tax-eating dependency rolls and turning them into taxpayers?

This proposed special payback break for government workers is surely not based on the notion that public sector workers are less secure in their employment, or work harder, or are paid less than their counterparts in the private sector.

“Federal workers are enjoying an extraordinary boom time — in pay and hiring — during a recession that has cost 7.3 million jobs in the private sector,” reported Dennis Cauchon recently in USA TODAY. “The number of federal workers earning six-figure salaries has exploded during the recession, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal salary data. The growth in six-figure salaries has pushed the average federal worker’s pay to $71,206, compared with $40,331 in the private sector.”

The double standard in this proposed loan forgiveness policy reveals the same anti-business, pro-government prejudices that both Barack Obama and Michelle Obama openly displayed during the presidential campaign.

“We left corporate America, which is a lot of what we’re asking young people to do,” Mrs. Obama told a group of women in Zanesville, Ohio. “Don’t go into corporate America. You know, become teachers. Work for the community. Be social workers. Be a nurse. Those are the careers that we need, and we’re encouraging young people to do that. But if you make that choice, as we did, to move out of money-making industry into the helping industry, then your salaries respond.”

By “respond,” Mrs. Obama was complaining about lower pays in the public sector, contrary to the facts. Note, too, that she defined the heavily unionized government workforce as the opposite of “money-making,” while describing the private sector as not “helping.”

Who does she think is “helping” to get those good steaks to the White House? Government cowboys?

Barack Obama displayed the same anti-business prejudice in his commencement speech at Wesleyan University in May 2008, advocating public service and telling students that they should not “take your diploma, walk off this stage, and chase only after the big house and the nice suits and all the other things that our money culture says you should buy.”

Instead, these students should walk off the stage and go into the allegedly non-money culture of government where there’s actually more money in the paychecks and where they can nevertheless pretend to be selfless instead of selfish, public “servants,” ethically superior to all that materialism, individualism, and money grubbing in the private sector?

Best of all, the student can walk off the stage, live off our labor, feel exceptionally altruistic, and still end up with “the big house and the nice suits” while looking down his nose at those who actually produce the houses and suits.

The Obama vision? All government, with blinders to the facts.

Obamacare

Obamacare: Socialism By Any Other Name

In Health Care on February 23, 2010 at 7:13 am

(02-23-2010) The following is from TownHall.com

by Matt Patterson

Obamacare: Socialism By Any Other Name

Recently, President Barack Obama addressed a gathering of House Republicans at their annual retreat in Baltimore. This effort at cross-party outreach was somewhat marred when Obama accused the gathered Republicans of maliciously poisoning the public against his health care plan, complaining that they had portrayed it as a “Bolshevik plot.”

Obama’s address to the GOP retreat was a philippic, an accusatory and condemnatory speech. Obama said in essence to his political adversaries:

“The public would like my plan and it would succeed – if only you would stop lying about it.” One common feature of these kinds of addresses is hyperbolism, the deliberate exaggeration of your opponent’s point of view so as to paint it with ridicule.

“Bolshevism” is an antiquated term almost exclusively associated with the events and persons surrounding the 1917 October Revolution in Russia.

However, the political and philosophical fellow travelers of Bolshevism, socialism and Communism, are still very much with us: the United States even has a self-described ’socialist’ serving in the Senate (Bernie Sanders of Vermont). And certainly, the President’s health care plan has come under criticism for being socialist in intent and scope.

And not for nothing, one might add. In 2003, then state senator Obama was videotaped telling an audience “I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health care program…A single-payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. That’s what I’d like to see.” Of course, now that he is president of a country half the population of which are virulently opposed to any such thing, Obama has wisely refrained from repeating such extreme sentiments.

“Single-payer” of course means “government payer.” Universal health care by definition can only be imposed by government fiat; in a free market, there will always be some segment of the population who are unable to afford or unwilling to purchase private health insurance. Only government can afford to be a ’single payer’ ¬ with public monies, of course. And it must be noted that the health system instituted by the Bolsheviks under the Soviet Union was a ’single payer,’ and like most such systems was a bureaucratic nightmare characterized by shortages, rationing, and substandard care.

So how do you get to a single-payer system in America? Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) was singularly honest when he confessed, “I think that if we get a good public option it could lead to single payer and that is the best way to reach single payer.” Both the House and Senate versions of ObamaCare contained a public option (though this was stripped from the Senate version at the insistence of moderates). Barney Frank knows, as the President surely must, that a public option would squeeze private insurance out of existence until government is the only game in town. ¬ Voila single-payer!

When discussing Obama’s health care plan, it is wise to recall the President’s economic philosophy as explained to Joe Wurzelbacher on the campaign trail in 2008: “When you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.” Obama here clearly revealed his belief that “wealth” is not private property earned and owned by individuals, but the government’s ¬ the collective’s ¬ to distribute as they deem fit and fair.

If this is not socialism, then what is?

A Bolshevik is an early 20th century Russian revolutionary; a plot is a plan hatched in secret. Obama is not the former and has not engaged in the latter. However, the President and his allies have openly strived to socialize significant aspects of American society through health care reform. By fabricating a bogus “Bolshevik” charge, Obama cleverly avoided addressing the actual – and legitimate – charge of socialism.

Huckabee slams CPAC, boosts Tea Party

In Mike Huckabee on February 23, 2010 at 7:13 am

(02-23-2010) The following is from The Hill.

By Eric Zimmermann

Huckabee slams CPAC, boosts Tea Party

Mike Huckabee slammed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last night as a corrupt organization that’s losing ground to Tea Party protesters.

Huckabee, who did not attend this year’s conference, said the annual gathering has focused too much on getting high-priced sponsors.

“I think that because of the way that it solicits sponsors, it’s almost become a pay-for-play,” he said on Fox News last night. “It’s kind of like, Who will pay money to be able to be a sponsor and get time on the program? That’s one of the things that has hurt its credibility in the last few years.”

The former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate said the Tea Party movement is a more authentic representation of grassroots action.

“The Tea Party has certainly taken all of the oxygen out of the room,” he said. “So where CPAC historically was the event, the Tea Parties now are having their own events all over the country and a lot more truly grassroots people are getting involved because of the Tea Parties.”

Huckabee also said the organization has become “more libertarian and less Republican,” which he cited as “one of the reasons I didn’t go this year.”

That analysis seems to be borne out in this year’s presidential straw poll results: Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) won with 31 percent of the vote.

Gary Berntsen makes it official

In Gary Berntsen on February 22, 2010 at 12:45 am

(02-22-2010) On Sunday, Feb. 21, in front of approximately 120 supporters at the Riverhead Polish Hall, retired CIA Station Chief Gary Berntsen made official his candidacy for the Republican nomination for New York’s 1st Congressional District.

In a rousing speech aimed right to the heart of his grass roots supporters, Berntsen delivered a patriotic declaration, “I run not for fame, nor fortune, but because I love my country.”

Much will be said of this speech. And much more will be asked.

In a telling sign of the direction that the GOP’s NY CD1 campaign is heading in, Berntsen declared, “It is clear that powerful interests within my own party are working to block my candidacy. I am not a member of the political establishment, nor am I controlled by any interest group.”

Stay tuned as the events unfold.

The following is Berntsen’s speech.

“Good Afternoon.

Thank you family, friends and supporters who have chosen to join me on this important day. I am here to announce my candidacy for the Republican nomination for New York’s First Congressional District. I run not for fame, nor fortune, but because I love my country. For 27 years I had the honor of serving our great nation in hotspots around the globe. Sadly, ego, greed, incompetence and failed leadership threaten the future of America. I cannot in good conscience stand by and watch the ruin of the greatest country in the history of mankind. Politicians from both of our major political parties have demonstrated elitism and arrogance. I am running in an effort to restore a dialogue between the Congress and the citizens whom they serve. I know – first hand – that this dialogue has broken down. After leaving government five years ago, I found it almost impossible to gain access to the political leadership of either party. This is particularly offensive considering the fact that it is the people of this country that sacrifice in blood and treasure, not our political leaders.

As a member of Congress, I will seek the views and ideas of my constituents to further the interests of our country. It is clear that powerful interests within my own party are working to block my candidacy. I am not a member of the political establishment, nor am I controlled by any interest group.

Niccolo Machiavelli once wrote, “There is nothing more difficult or dangerous then to try and change the order of things.”

But change the order of things we shall do.

I have led men and women under difficult and dangerous circumstances. I have prevailed against great odds. Those that believe in cronyism, nepotism or the use of governmental power for personal gain need to understand that with my arrival the game has now changed. I come not alone, but in the company of a force of citizens unwilling to simply sit and watch political elites deviate from the Constitution and bankrupt our nation. I am humbled by the passion, intellect and commitment of those who have reached out to support my campaign. I want to specifically thank the members of the Suffolk County 9-12 Project and the Conservative Society for Action who are supporting me. I invite citizens of New York’s First Congressional District that believe in the principles of our Constitution, support limited government and favor the free market to join my campaign. Please visit my campaign website at http://www.garyforny1.com to learn more about how to get involved in my campaign.

It is my sincere hope that the Republican, Conservative and Independence Parties will nominate me to represent them in the fall campaign. Should they not, I will contest the Republican Primary and seek permission from the Conservative Party leadership to do the same. I will fight to achieve these nominations and to prevail in the general election.

When Hernan Cortes, the Spanish Conquistador, arrived on the coast of Mexico in 1518, he unloaded his provisions and his men and then burned his boats on the beach. Some of his men wept. For Cortes the path was clear. He would fight to the end; there would be no withdrawal. I will pursue this political campaign with that same determination.

My supporters and I are prepared to fight for the future of our country.

God Bless America.”

http://boldprogressives.org/home.html

CSA Intel Memo

In CSA on February 22, 2010 at 12:44 am

(02-22-2010) The following is from Judy Pepenella, from the Conservative Society for Action and is a great heads up. Thanks Judy!

I feel we need to know what the other side (liberals, dems, progressives, whatever you wish to call them today) are up to. There is a lot of info in this note.. Please review all the links to see what is actually going on.

We all know about the upcoming Presidential Healthcare Summit … on 2/25/10 at the Blair House in DC. Here is some intel on some of counter actions being taken.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC). This is their goal: To elect bold progressive candidates to federal office and to help those candidates and their campaigns save money, work smarter, and win more often.

They are pushing a letter from Representatives Jared Polis and Chellie Pingree who are asking other members of Congress to join them in signing this urgent letter to Harry Reid:

Go to this site to see the letter http://boldprogressives.org/home.html

Go to this link to see the list of those that have signed on so far:
http://whipcongress.com/?source=bp

Strategy memo to Senate Chiefs of Staff by Adam Green
Fri Jan 22, 2010 at 11:39:07 AM PST

To push things in the right direction, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy for America, and Credo Action sent the below strategy memo to Senate Chiefs of Staff today.

Go to: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/1/22/828934/-Strategy-memo-to-Senate-Chiefs-of-Staff

DFA Democracy for America has a letter as well. Senator Michael Bennet (CO), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Jeff Merkley (OR), and Sherrod Brown (OH) are the orginal Healthcare Heroes who co-sponsored the Senate letter.

Go to this site to see the letter: http://www.democracyforamerica.com/activities/284

MoveOn, HCAN, SEIU join us for massive Feb. 24th 1,000,000 Voices for HCR mobilization
by nyceve
Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 05:42:50 AM PST

On February 24th, the day before the Presidential Healthcare Summit, we will deliver to Washington DC, a scream they will never, ever forget.

1,000,000 VOICES FOR HEALTHCARE REFORM: A VIRTUAL MARCH ON WASHINGTON

Read the entire text at: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/2/19/838452/-MoveOn,-HCAN,-SEIU-join-us-for-massive-Feb.-24th-1,000,000-Voices-for-HCR-mobilization

Go to Progressive Congress Action Fund for info: http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5921/t/5862/signUp.jsp?key=3134

With all that said, Americans For Prosperity are calling for a Critical Condition: The Patients’ Summit on February 25th, in Washington, DC.

On the same day that Obama will be discussing health care with members of Congress, join Americans for Prosperity and other freedom fighters in Washington, DC on Thursday, February 25th for CRITICAL CONDITION: THE PATIENTS’ SUMMIT.

Folks will rally outside the Blair House at 9:30am ET, and then proceed to the JW Marriott a couple blocks away to host a Summit for the citizens at 11:30am.

http://www.americansforprosperity.org/021910-critical-condition-patients-summit

Please take this info and act as you see fit.

I think calling our local Reps and informing them AGAIN of our thoughts on Healthcare and the upcoming elections would be a good idea.

SILENT NO MORE

Judy

http://libertarianrepublican.blogspot.com/

Libertarian Republican

The Libertarian Republican

In War on Terror on February 22, 2010 at 12:43 am

(02-22-2010) Please bookmark a great blog by Eric Dondero called the Libertarian Republican.

Libertarian Republican Beliefs

Less Taxes!, Cut Spending, Deregulation, Privatization, Protect Property Rights, Energy Independence, School Choice, Repeal Affirmative Action, Say No to the Nanny-State, End Victimless Crime Laws, Oppose Political Correctness, Protect our Gun Rights, Secure our Borders, Strong Military, & Support our Troops!

One of his latest reports is a story NOT picked up by mainstream media.

Five Muslim men charged with poisening food supply at Ft. Jackson, in South Carolina

Happened just weeks after Ft. Hood

“Our diversity, not only in our Army, but in our country, is a strength. And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse,” — Gen. George Casey, Army Chief of Staff.

The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) first broke this story early yesterday. It has now been reported by Fox News.

CBN News has learned exclusively that five Muslim soldiers at Fort Jackson in South Carolina were arrested just before Christmas and are in custody. The five men were part of the Arabic Translation program at the base.

The men are suspected of trying to poison the food supply at Fort Jackson.

A source with intimate knowledge of the investigation, which is ongoing, told CBN News investigators suspect the “Fort Jackson Five” may have been in contact with the group of five Washington, DC area Muslims that traveled to Pakistan to wage jihad against U.S. troops in December. That group was arrested by Pakistani authorities, also just before Christmas.

Coming as it does on the heels of November’s Fort Hood jihadist massacre, this news has major implications.The libertarian-oriented/Ayn Randian blog BeJohnGalt.com asks:

Muslim soldiers trying to poison Troops… If it is true and the five Muslim soldiers were arrested in December, why are we just hearing about it two months later?

Shades of Ft. Hood???

Photo hat tip Debbie Schlussel and H/t to BeJohnGalt for background.

UPDATE!

Numerous blog sources are now reporting that the 5 soldiers may have been assigned to a special unit of “non-US citizens.” The program was especially designed to recruit Arabic translators.

UPDATE!

According to AP and Breitbart (video), two of the soldiers, “are under investigation” by the Criminal Investigations Unit of the Army.

Homegrown GOP contender might join Bishop race

In Mike Fitzpatrick on February 20, 2010 at 11:59 pm

(02-21-2010) That’s right ladies and gentlemen, the Suffolk County Liberty Report broke this story last Friday.

The following is from Newsday

By Rick Brand

Homegrown GOP contender might join Bishop race

Assemb. Michael Fitzpatrick, 52, said late last week he is “seriously exploring” joining the 1st District race.

A homegrown elected Republican has finally sprouted among the imported contenders and returning sons elbowing each other for the right to take on Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) in November.

Assemb. Michael Fitzpatrick, 52, a 23-year electoral veteran, said late last week he is “seriously exploring” joining the 1st District race. He was to meet with town GOP leader William Ellis this weekend and Suffolk GOP chairman John Jay LaValle in the coming week.

“I have a record of standing up for the taxpayer and I’m a local person whose summer home and winter home is in St. James,” he said, in an indirect jibe at other contenders.

What makes Fitzpatrick’s name intriguing is that his family is a well-known political brand in Smithtown, where his late father was once supervisor. He also has Conservative cred – the minor party ranked him the Assembly’s most conservative lawmaker in two of the last three years. Fitzpatrick also has close ties to longtime Town Supervisor Patrick Vecchio, who might find it difficult to back Bishop, as he has in the past, if Fitzpatrick runs.

The downside for Fitzpatrick is that he’s so well established, he has never had to raise much money. The congressional race will cost at least $2 million. His state campaign fund has only $1,514, and in 2008 and 2006 Fitzpatrick raised just $23,170 and $27,780. Fitzpatrick is also jumping in late – another seven contenders have already been screened before town committees in Smithtown, Brookhaven and the East End. “It’s already the seventh inning,” said Ellis.

Fitzpatrick discounts such concerns. “Anyone new to the district may have to start earlier to build name recognition,” he said. “But I have not seen anyone in the field who has blown the doors off of anyone.”

“Mike’s very formidable,” said LaValle, saying Fitzpatrick will be weighed seriously. Conservative counterpart Edward Walsh also lauded him as “very very conservative . . . it adds a very talented guy into the mix.”

Ironically, Fitzpatrick last October endorsed fellow St. James resident Randy Altschuler, a millionaire who moved into the area last year, has raised than a $1 million, much of it self-funded, and has TV ads. But Altschuler is also in a pitched battle with LaValle, who claims moves by Altschuler’s former company, Office Tigers, to export jobs to Asia makes him unelectable. Fitzpatrick said he reconsidered because “it’s clear” Altschuler will not get party support.

Other foes include former Wall Street watchdog lawyer George Demos, who grew up in Shelter Island and returned to Ronkonkoma last fall. He has raised more than $300,000 and has also done a TV blitz.

Former CIA official George Berntsen, who grew up in Smithtown and only moved back last month, will officially announce his candidacy Sunday in Riverhead. The late President Richard Nixon’s grandson Christopher Cox is also in the hunt, using the family’s Westhampton summer home as his abode.

But Fitzpatrick already has a track record, winning by 2-to-1 ratios in his eight years in the Assembly and 15 as a Smithtown Town Board member. However, only two-thirds of Smithtown is in the 1st Congressional District, and he is far less known in Brookhaven and the East End, which makes up the bulk of the district. Still, the nearly 35,000 GOP voters of the lawmaker’s Assembly district could be a big edge in a crowded GOP primary.

The last time there was such a crowded field was in 1978, when ukelele-playing Rep. Otis Pike retired. Republicans and Democrats each had five-way primaries and Conservative Suffolk Legis. William Carney of Hauppauge emerged the winner after a GOP race where he got just 4,774 votes, or 30.7 percent. That primary contest drew a 13.6 percent GOP turnout.

Yet Fitzpatrick’s name is not scaring off anyone. Said Altschuler adviser Rob Ryan: “Republican primaries are good for the party and good for democracy.”

The Suffolk County Liberty Report asks all of you this. How much more can Randy Altschuler turn Republicans, Conservatives, and Tea Party people off ?

The movement arose spontaneously as ordinary Americas reacted to a rising tide of federal spending and debt, growing federal power, and the too-cozy relationship between Washington and corporate America.

Where the Tea Parties Should Go From Here, by Karl Rove

In CSA, The 9-12 Project on February 20, 2010 at 11:57 pm

(02-21-2010) The following is from the Wall Street Journal

By KARL ROVE

Where the Tea Parties Should Go From Here

The power of the movement is its independence from Democrats and the GOP.

There has been a lot of talk about combining the tea party movement with the Republican Party. And on a small scale, that seemed to happen last week in South Carolina after state GOP representatives agreed to create a “Tea Party Republicans” group to coordinate activities with tea partiers in Greenville and Spartanburg.

This week, however, those arrangements fell apart as some tea party groups dissented from the decision. Other attempts to draw tea party groups into formal alliances are running into similar difficulties. That is a good thing. The tea party movement will be more effective than it otherwise would be if it refuses to allow itself to become an appendage of either major political party.

The tea partiers have made an important splash because they are not yet another auxiliary to the Democratic or Republican parties. Like the pro-life and Second Amendment movements before it, the tea party movement will have a bigger impact if it holds the feet of politicians in both parties to its fire. Each party must know it can win or lose swing tea party voters.

The bank bailout in the fall of 2008 may have lit the fuse, but the tea party movement began in earnest last April 15 with protests after congressional Democrats and the Obama administration unleashed a torrent of spending: the stimulus package, a swollen omnibus appropriations bill, and auto company bailouts. Democrats also raised the specter of new energy taxes when the House passed a cap-and-trade bill.

The movement’s activity reached a fever pitch in August with raucous town hall meetings where senators and congressmen felt the burning-hot opposition of tea partiers to ObamaCare.

The tea parties have drawn into politics many Americans who were previously on the sidelines. In recent months, for example, I have met with local tea party leaders as varied as a grizzled Vietnam vet in his biker jacket, an oncology nurse from a small hospital, a woman at the car rental counter, scads of retired seniors (many of them war veterans), and a passel of a stay-at-home moms, including one who organized a tea party protest in front of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco office.

What these people have in common is a deep concern about the future of the country that their children and grandchildren will inherit. Many are also considering the next steps for their movement and often conflicted about its political course.

My advice to them is to keep their distance from any single party and instead influence both parties on debt, spending and an over-reaching federal government. Allowing third-party movements to co-opt the tea partiers’ good name, which is happening in Nevada, will only serve to elect opponents of the tea party philosophy of low-taxes and fiscal restraint. It could also discredit the tea party movement.

A small fraction of the tea partiers’ leadership are ambitious individuals who haven’t been able to hold office in either the GOP or Democratic Party. Some are from fringe groups like the John Birch Society or the remnants of the LaRouchies. Others see the tea party movement as a recruiting pool for volunteers for Ron Paul’s next presidential bid.

If tea party groups are to maximize their influence on policy, they must now begin the difficult task of disassociating themselves from cranks and conspiracy nuts. This includes 9/11 deniers, “birthers” who insist Barack Obama was not born in the U.S., and militia supporters espousing something vaguely close to armed rebellion.

The GOP is also better off if it foregoes any attempt to merge with the tea party movement. The GOP cannot possibly hope to control the dynamics of the highly decentralized galaxy of groups that make up the tea party movement. There will be troubling excesses and these will hurt Republicans if the party is formally associated with tea party groups.

We’ve seen the rugged populism akin to the tea party movement emerge in our nation’s history before, often as a force for good and sometimes for ill. This episode is likely to make a positive impact if its members keep their political choices private while making their policy demands public.

The Republican Party and the tea party movement have many common interests right now. But they are, and should remain, distinct from one another. This is one instance when, if they merged, the sum would be less than the parts.

Mr. Rove, the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush, is the author of the forthcoming book “Courage and Consequence” (Threshold Editions).

Glenn Beck Rips Republicans in CPAC Show-Stopper

In Glen Beck on February 20, 2010 at 11:57 pm

(02-21-2010) The following is from Politics Daily

By Patricia Murphy

Glenn Beck Rips Republicans in CPAC Show-Stopper

Glenn Beck, the Fox News personality and chalkboard scrawling libertarian hero, gave the marquee speech Saturday night at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

Swapping out a teleprompter for his famous chalkboard, Glenn Beck wowed the faithful with an hour-long presentation that defended conservatism, praised the Founding Fathers and lampooned Washington, D.C. as an addict in need of immediate treatment. He looked to history to predict that without an immediate course correction and reduction of the federal budget deficit, America is headed for “an economic holocaust.”

Beck began by praising Ronald Reagan, whose famous campaign ad “Morning in America” envisioned America’s best days as still being ahead of it. “It is still morning in America,” Beck said. “It just happens to be kind of a head-pounding, hung-over, vomiting for four hours kind of morning in America. And it’s shaping up to be kind of a nasty day, but it is still morning in America.”

Beck blamed Washington politicians for the country’s poor condition, and accused both parties of growing the size of government, spending beyond the country’s means, tolerating corruption, and embracing an array of liberal policy prescriptions that he equated with a cancer in American society.

Republicans, he said, are just as guilty as Democrats. “It’s not enough just to not suck as much as the other side,” he said. “The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. I have not heard people in the Republican Party admit they have a problem and when I did hear them say they have a problem, I don’t know if I believed them.”

The Republicans’ problem, he said, is the same as Democrats’ problem– an addiction to spending, a willingness to place the judgment of the government ahead of the rights of individuals, and an interest in picking winners and losers, with the winners being big banks and irresponsible corporations, and the losers being small businesses and individuals.

“As I read the Constitution, the only job the U.S. government has is to save us from bad guys,” he said. “And right now it seems to me the government looks at us as the bad guy.”

In addition to out-of-control spending and power-hungry politicians, Beck said the country’s lack of international competitiveness is endangering the future of the economy. “The rest of the world is about to kick our butts. Why? Because we’re not doing the things to make ourselves competitive,” he said. “Economic holocaust is coming. I’m trying to get you to save your money. The worst is still ahead of us, but no one has the spine in Washington to tell you that because they don’t think you can handle that.”

Finally, Beck said that the country can avoid calamity if it returns to its roots as a democracy that embraces individual freedoms, allows people to succeed and fail on their own, and finds a way to live within its means.

“It is a hard road. I know. I’ve walked it myself,” he said. “But we will make it. And when we put our head down on our pillow at night, we can be happy, because we know tomorrow it will be morning again in America.”

During the three-day gathering, conference attendees heard from other all-stars of the political right, and no fewer than five Republican presidential hopefuls for 2012. One of them, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.), won the CPAC straw poll with 31 percent of the vote. Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney came in second with 22 percent, and Sarah Palin came in a distant third, with 7 percent.

Also speaking to the 10,000-plus attendees: Dick Armey, Newt Gingrich, Ann Coulter, and Andrew Breitbart, the founder of BigGovernment.com, as well as congressional darlings of the conservative movement such as Reps. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Michele Bachmann, and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.).

Overall, CPAC 2010 showed that conservative activism is not only alive in America, but surging, as evidenced by the conference’s 20 percent spike in attendance, as well as the often unbridled enthusiasm of the people attending. Those at Beck’s presentation leapt to their feet in applause at many points during the program, including for the introduction of Beck’s famous chalk board. “It’s sick,” Beck joked. “When a chalkboard gets a standing ovation.”

NY Senate Race

END OF LIFE CARE FOR DEMOCRATS

In New York State Sovereignty on February 20, 2010 at 11:56 pm

(02-21-2010) The following was submited by Jacques Ditte

by Jacques Ditte

END OF LIFE CARE FOR DEMOCRATS

Whether it was Jim Jones’ Kool-Aid compound, the Hale-Bopp comet UFO, or the Japanese Zero pilots nose diving into Pearl Harbor, no one can ever claim any of them weren’t genuinely committed to their cause.

I think it’s time that we recognize the valiant efforts of the Democrat leadership for their for heroic efforts to sacrifice themselves, to give the rest of us healthcare, even though they won’t be around to see it bare it’s poisonous fruit.

Despite the recent loss of the 60th Senate seat to Republican Scott Brown, in a nearly 4 to one Democrat blue state or the recent additional Democrat election losses in local districts around the country, and despite record low Democrat approval numbers already lower than our double digit unemployment rate, Harry, Barry and Nancy want to bring back healthcare! And for their sake, I hope they really prepare the mother of all Healthcare bills!

By all means take your time. Don’t rush it. Spend the extra 24 hours and print out another 6,000 pages of legislation.

Make sure this time the bill, includes all the garnishments. Right upfront should be coverage for illegal aliens with guaranteed amnesty for all who receive treatment. Cap an Tax carbon reduction should be part of the plan, to capture and tax the non-poisonous emissions of carbon dioxide, which have no affect on climate change, since the revelation that global warming is undeniably now a hoax. And to really put the’ kick’ in the Kool-Aid, this ‘healthcare plan’ must include some sort of comprehensive gun ban.

You’ll be able to provide for the protection of our citizens, through the creation of a well armed citizen’s ‘defense’ force.

Take the firearms away from the dangerous radical NRA element, and give them to ACORN, so they can effectively accomplish their ‘community organizing’ endeavors.

Dear Barry, Harry and Nancy, sometimes it’s just best to gather all your followers, have them drink the Kool-Aid, and all fly-off on the UFO to meet the promised land!

Jacques Ditte
ditteforsenate.com

Ron Paul Wins Presidential Straw Poll at CPAC

In Ron Paul on February 20, 2010 at 11:55 pm

(02-21-2010) The following is from Fox News

Ron Paul Wins Presidential Straw Poll at CPAC

Ron Paul has ended Mitt Romney’s three-year run as conservatives’ favorite for president, taking 31 percent of the vote in the Conservative Political Action Conference’s annual straw poll.

Paul, a Republican congressman from Texas known for his libertarian views, ran for president in 2008 but was never a serious contender for the GOP nomination.

Romney, former Massachusetts governor and also a 2008 GOP candidate, has won the last three presidential straw polls at the annual conference. This year, he came in second, with 22 percent.

Sarah Palin, who didn’t attend the conference, was a distant third in the straw poll, with 7 percent, followed by Tim Pawlenty, the Minnesota governor, and Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana.

The straw poll is not binding — and not necessarily a good forecaster, given that in 2008, John McCain went on to take the party’s nomination over Romney.

Results of this year’s poll were announced just as the crowd prepared for the conference’s keynote speaker, Fox News host Glenn Beck.

Eminent Domain

How ‘eminent domain’ makes blight

In Architecture, Planning, and Preservation on February 20, 2010 at 11:54 pm

(02-21-2010) The following is from the NY Post

By Nicole Gelinas

How ‘eminent domain’ makes blight

In the 1930s, as Daniel Goldstein’s attorney, Matthew Brinckerhoff, points out, “substandard” and “unsanitary” meant “children dying from rampant fires and pestilence” in tuberculosis-ridden firetraps. In 2006, the consultants found “substandard” conditions in the likes of isolated graffiti and cracked sidewalks — plus “underutilization,” meaning that property owners weren’t generating the exact benefits the government desired.

“Underutilization” is a relatively new excuse for invoking eminent domain — and it may not hold up. Other consultants cited it in West Harlem, where the city wants to take land from private owners and hand it to Columbia University. A court recently struck that down, finding that the government’s studies were “bereft of facts.”

The blight designation was, the judge ruled, “mere sophistry. . . Virtually every neighborhood in the five boroughs will yield similar . . . disrepair.” The arbitrary process also violated due process, as “one is compelled to guess what subjective factors will be employed.”

But that’s a tenuous win. The Harlem case is on appeal with the state’s highest court, which recently decided against property owners besieged by the Ratner project.

Perkins’ bill is be a good first step in reining in all this abuse. But the state should go even further and eliminate blight as a justification for seizing private property. Since the 1960s, New York has learned that the remedy for “substandard” conditions is policing and infrastructure.

Indeed, New York’s real blights today are government’s fault — like the old Deutsche Bank building at Ground Zero, owned by the city and state since 9/11, whose “deconstruction” is still underway.

Eminent-domain abuse is a symptom of a deeper problem: The belief that central planning is superior to free-market competition. To cure yourself of this notion, stroll around Atlantic Yards, past three-story clapboard homes nestled near corniced row houses — “blighted” residences. You’ll peer up at Goldstein’s nearly empty apartment house, scheduled to be destroyed.

And you’ll see how Ratner’s wrecking balls have made the neighborhood gap-toothed. A vacant lot now sprawls where the historic Ward Bakery was.

Today, Prospect Heights displays what the state wants everyone to see: decay. But it’s isn’t the work of callous markets that left the neighborhood to perish. It’s the work of a developer wielding state power to press property owners to sell their land “voluntarily.” Meanwhile, true private investment has been choked off, since everyone knows the state’s aiming to hand everything to Ratner.

Free markets aren’t perfect, but they’re better than the blight of arbitrary government.

Nicole Gelinas, a Manhattan Institute fellow, is author of “After the Fall.” Adapted from the Winter City Journal.

Peconic Transit Authority coming soon?

In MTA Tax on February 20, 2010 at 1:11 am

(02-20-2010) The following is from the Riverhead News Review

BY VERA CHINESE

Crusade against MTA payroll tax rolls on in Riverhead

Sen. LaValle moves forward with plans for an East End transit authority

One cardboard sign may have best summed up the feelings of those who showed up in Riverhead Friday to protest what many perceive to be unfair treatment of the East End by the Metropolitan Transit Authority.

The sign, held by Long Island Wine Council president Chris Baiz and written in black marker, read “No Trax, No Tax.”

Mr. Baiz was one of a dozen people who spoke at the press event at Digger O’Dell’s on West Main Street. The speakers, mainly lawmakers and business representatives, expressed outrage that eastern Long Island governments, schools and businesses are being asked to pay an MTA payroll tax while the transit authority is proposing to virtually eliminate LIRR service east of Ronkonkoma.

State officials say they will fight to see the tax repealed.

“We want to mobilize all of the factions that are effected by this so we can continue to speak with one voice,” said state Senator Kenn LaValle (R-Port Jefferson), who organized the event.

Last month, the MTA proposed the service cuts to help it close a $400 million budget shortfall. That plan was unveiled just months after the state approved a tax that forces all businesses in New York City and surrounding counties, including Suffolk, to pay the MTA 34 cents for every $100 it spends on payroll.

“It’s sadly ironic that this authority that has been so mismanaged, so bloated, right now is asking the private sector, the businesses who have to struggle every single day…to bail them out,” said newly elected state Assemblyman Dean Murray (R-East Patchogue).

Governor David Paterson earlier this month proposed a 2010-11 budget amendment that would reduce the tax for businesses outside the city to .17 percent, while increasing it to .54 percent for New York City businesses.

Those present Friday morning said Mr. Paterson’s proposal does not go far enough.

“This is a fight about what is wrong in government,” said Assemblyman Marc Alessi (D-Shoreham.)

Talks of creating a Peconic Bay Regional Transit Authority, which local officials believe could be run cheaper and more efficiently than the MTA, also resumed during the event.

Creating a separate authority, and no longer paying taxes to the MTA, is the only solution to providing acceptable public transportation on the North and South forks, some lawmakers believe.

“We will provide the public transportation that the East End deserves,” vowed county Legislator Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches), whose district covers the North Fork and Shelter Island. “It is time to leave the MTA well behind.”

Earlier this month, Mr. LaValle introduced a bill in the Senate that would put a referendum on the November ballot asking residents of the five East End towns to consider the creation of a Peconic Bay Transit Authority. Mr. Alessi and Assemblyman Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor) cosponsored a similar bill in the Assembly.

The payroll tax could not have come at a worse economic time, officials agreed.

Many of Friday’s speakers echoed Mr. LaValle’s statement when he said the payroll tax was “a job-killing tax.”

“For every 18 jobs in agriculture, we could have two more without this tax,” Mr. Baiz said.

William Schoolman of the Hampton Luxury Liners, which provides bus service between the East End and New York City, filed a lawsuit against the MTA last year because he thought it unconstitutional to force his company to pay a tax to a direct competitor. Mr. Schoolman said that unfair taxes like the payroll tax were one of the reasons it is so difficult for small business to survive in New York.

“I had to write a check to subsidize my competitor,” he said. “The MTA is a bully.”

Environmental Boondoggle

NYS Association of Realtors Opposes Further Wetland Regulation

In Environment on February 20, 2010 at 12:46 am

(02-20-2010) The following is from the New York State Association of Realtors.

NYSAR Opposes Further Wetland Regulation

Please contact your State Legislators and tell them you oppose S.4956 by Senator Thompson.

Send this message to:

Your Assemblyperson (if you live in New York)
Your State Senator (if you live in New York)

Subject: Please Oppose S.4956 (Thompson)

Dear [ Decision Maker ],

As a constituent and REALTOR, I urge you to oppose S.4956(Thompson) which expands the authority of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to oversee and regulate wetlands of one acre or more. This legislation is burdensome, overbroad, unnecessary and will effectively stop residential and commercial development projects throughout New York at a time when investment and growth is desperately needed.

New York State has some of the most thorough environmental compliance laws in the country. There are already four governmental entities that regulate wetlands including the DEC, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, local municipalities and the Adirondack Park Agency. Expanding DEC oversight to wetlands of one acre or more will add an unnecessary and duplicative layer of bureaucracy to an already complex regulatory structure.

Currently it can take upwards of one year to obtain, or be denied, a building permit from the DEC. Under S.4956 these delays will only increase. The legislation does not provide funding for additional staff to handle the larger workload, nor does it mandate a response time within which the DEC must respond to permit requests. Ultimately this will result in a perfect storm of red tape, delays, lack of accountability and impediments to economic development.

Beyond delays, landowners stand to lose much of their property value if the DEC over-regulates wetlands in New York State. Real property located within a designated wetland is virtually unbuildable. This severely diminishes or eliminates the property owners ability to improve upon their home and land which then decreases the overall value of the property. This of course simultaneously decreases property tax revenues to the municipality. By prohibiting development, wetland regulations often discourage investment, a result that our local communities cannot afford.

Opposition to this legislation is broad in scope; even the DEC has expressed their opposition to this proposal as it would further strain their already over-burdened staff. Other opponents include the Business Council of New York, the New York State Farm Bureau, and the New York State Homebuilders Association.

There does not appear to be a need for more oversight of NYS wetlands and I do not believe that the scales are currently tipped in favor of development over conservation. I fear that such a significant expansion of the states regulatory authority will create severe and negative consequences for homebuyers, homeowners, businesses and New Yorks economy.

For the reasons stated above, I ask that you oppose S.4956(Thompson).

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]

Romney; “When it comes to pinning blame, pin the tail on the donkeys”

In Mitt Romney on February 20, 2010 at 12:46 am

(02-20-2010) The following is from Fox News.

Romney Says Obama, Dems ‘Failed’ America

Republican blisters President Obama for a squandered first year of policy failures and broken promises.

WASHINGTON — Republican Mitt Romney blistered President Barack Obama for a squandered first year of policy failures and broken promises on Thursday, informally auditioning before a key part of the GOP base for the chance to challenge the Democrat in 2012.

“President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and their team have failed the American people, and that is why their majority will be out the door,” Romney told a gathering of conservatives, a certain critical constituency in the upcoming Republican primary fight.

“When it comes to pinning blame, pin the tail on the donkeys,” Romney quipped — and this partisan crowd ate it up.

Conservatives attending the annual Conservative Political Action Conference also heartily cheered at several other points during Romney’s speech. And they went wild when newly elected Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., made a surprise appearance to introduce Romney, whose advisers helped orchestrate Brown’s upset victory last month.

“He was the only one behind pushing me along to try to make a difference,” Brown said of Romney, “one of the Republican Party’s bright lights.”

Brown, beloved by conservatives and “tea party” activists despite his moderate stances on social issues, brings Romney credibility with a constituency that had viewed the former governor skeptically during his failed 2008 bid for the GOP presidential nomination.

Noting as much, Romney said: “As a Massachusetts man, who, like my fellow Bay-staters, has over the years, been understandably regarded somewhat suspiciously in gatherings like this, let me take just a moment” to rejoice in Brown’s victory.

Romney hasn’t decided whether to run for president again but he’s laying the groundwork. He’s seen by observers as the most formidable Republican, given that he’s run before and the GOP has a history of nominating the loser of the last nomination fight. He withdrew from the GOP fight two years ago before the same audience he spoke to Thursday, effectively ceding the nomination to John McCain.

Other potential 2012 candidates speaking to the conservative gathering this week include: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Indiana Rep. Mike Pence and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

In his speech, Romney praised former President George W. Bush, saying history will judge him kindly. “He kept us safe,” Romney said.

He also blasted Obama for “his failure to re-ignite the economy” — even though there are signs of growth. “He has prolonged the recession, expanded the pain of unemployment, and added to the burden of debt we will leave future generations,” Romney said.

Romney argued that Obama broke his promises of transparency and a new kind of politics. And Romney charged Obama with “the most blatant and reprehensible manifestation of political payoff in modern memory” by cutting a health care deal with unions.

Pumping up the GOP, Romney said: “The people of America are looking to conservatives for leadership, and we must not fail them.”

He said conservatives would strengthen the economy, U.S. security, and the nation’s families, though he acknowledged that not everything on the agenda is popular.

Still, he said: “The American people have shown that they are ready for truth to trump hope. The truth is that government is not the solution to all our problems.”

END THE FED

Bernanke Has the Whole World in His Hands

In Economy on February 20, 2010 at 12:45 am

(02-19-2010) The following is from the Future of Freedom Foundation

by Sheldon Richman,

Bernanke Has the Whole World in His Hands

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has a big task ahead of him. He has to withdraw most of the $2.2 trillion the Fed created and pumped into the banking system since 2007 before a monster inflation strikes and robs of us our purchasing power. But he has do it without sending the economy back into a recession in the process.

There in a nutshell is a powerful argument for abolishing the Fed and turning the monetary system over to the free market: Today our economic fate — and more — rides on the judgment essentially of one man. If he gets it wrong, we are all in the soup.

Central banking is a form of central planning. To be sure, it is not the economywide planning that totalitarian regimes practice. But since money is one-half of every transaction in a modern economy, central monetary planning has more than a little in common with central economic planning. Through interest rates money emits signals that guide investors and entrepreneurs. In a free market, which would include free banking, interest rates emerge when people express the intensity of their preference for present goods over future goods (time preference) through decisions about consumption and saving. An abundance of savings and the resulting lower rates for loans tell investors and entrepreneurs that people are putting more emphasis on future rather than present consumption. Long-term projects, which won’t yield consumer goods for a long while, now appear worthwhile. On the other hand, when people reduce their saving and shift their emphasis to present consumption, interest rates rise, telling entrepreneurs to switch from longer-term to shorter-term projects.

Thus the market process coordinates decision-making by producers, investors, and consumer/savers over time. It’s not perfect, of course, and errors are always possible. But what accounts for its remarkable success — when it is permitted to work — is its high degree of decentralization. The decisions of countless people acting on their local and specialized knowledge drives the process. Errors, like a few drops in the ocean, are unlikely to have a big impact on the entire system. People can hedge against the misjudgments of others.

Contrast that to an economy with a central bank. Everyone is at the mercy of one man or a small group. While the chairman of the Fed can’t literally set interest rates — the international capital markets are huge and flexible — his policies can still have a huge impact on the economy. Policies to pump fiat money into the banking system can help push interest rates lower, changing the calculus of investors, entrepreneurs, and consumer/savers. Projects that were not feasible at the natural (market) rate can look attractive at a lower rate. But that lower rate is the result not of real savings but rather of arbitrary Fed policy. The Fed can create money out of thin air, but it cannot create real resources. Thus the seeds of boom and bust are sewn.

Since the current economic debacle began, the Fed has created trillions of dollars, in part by buying up banks’ mortgage-backed securities that may or may not have value — the so-called toxic assets. Because of skittishness about the future, most of that money has been idle. The Fed encouraged the banks not to lend it by paying interest on reserves kept in the banks’ Fed accounts. The problem now is that if confidence increases, and banks start lending the money, a new inflationary boom will erupt. If at that point the Fed starts selling assets to sop up the money, the apparent recovery would be thwarted and recession will return.

This is a sticky wicket for sure. The Fed put us in this mess, and now it has the job of getting us out unscathed. Why should anyone be confident that Bernanke and his colleagues know what they need to know to pull this off?

And when will we finally learn that when important matters are transferred from the marketplace to government, we foolishly trust our lives to a few fallible individuals? A false sense of security is worse than none at all.

Sheldon Richman is senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation, author of Tethered Citizens: Time to Repeal the Welfare State, and editor of The Freeman magazine.

ACORN

GOP Lawmakers Hit ACORN With New Report Alleging Misconduct

In National News on February 20, 2010 at 12:44 am

(02-20-2010) The following is from Fox News

GOP Lawmakers Hit ACORN With New Report Alleging Misconduct

The Republicans’ latest report contains documents that they say confirms previous findings that ACORN is responsible for thousands of fraudulent voter registrations across the country and has used taxpayer money to support a partisan political agenda

Republicans on a House oversight committee have launched a fresh set of accusations of political corruption against the scandal-plagued community organizing group ACORN — including claims that the group contributed to the risky mortgage lending that led to the collapse in the financial sector.

“Committee investigators have identified hundreds of ACORN bank accounts, shell organizations incorporated under different sections of the Internal Revenue code, and even an ACORN controlled accounting firm (Citizens Consulting Inc.) that helps ACORN obscure the true use of charitable donations and taxpayer funds,” reads the report, titled “Follow the Money: ACORN, SEIU and their Political Allies.”

“Documents and testimony from ACORN whistleblowers reveal that ACORN activities — despite contentions that they are intended to help the poor — fulfill a more self-serving and political purpose for ACORN.”

Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, released the report, which is a follow-up to one he released in July called, “Is ACORN Intentionally Structured as a Criminal Enterprise?”

“Perceptions that ACORN is a charitable organization are simply wrong, and part of ACORN’s efforts to deceive the American people,” Issa said in a written statement. “ACORN is a political machine that uses a complex corporate web, connections to the SEIU, and powerful political allies to break laws in pursuit of a partisan agenda.”

“This report shines more disinfecting sunlight on ACORN’s secretive methods of abusing taxpayer funds and charitable donations,” he added.

ACORN, a longtime target of Republicans, dismissed the report as “bogus rumors.”

“It is hardly news when Rep. Issa repeats bogus rumors to attack a community group that empowers low income and minority Americans,” ACORN spokesman Kevin Whelan said in a written statement to FoxNews.com. “ACORN’s efforts over the years to promote living wages, responsible homeownership and voter participation are not only legal, they have improved the lives of working families nationwide.”

The report alleges that ACORN, which stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, contributed to the risky lending that led to the financial collapse by intimidating banks into lowering mortgage lending standards, becoming one of the few entities to profit from the subsequent misery.

ACORN used the threat of jeopardizing bank mergers and acquisitions to force banks into lending agreements with its housing division, allowing the group to reap profits from more than a billion dollars in loans to low-income neighborhoods, according to the report.

Some of the largest banks and lenders in the country, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, CitiBank, provided ACORN Housing with a total of $39.9 million, along with address and bank account information of at-risk homeowners to provide free counseling services, but ACORN used the information to recruit the homeowners, bringing in $48 million a year for the group, the report says.

The report also alleges that ACORN has an illegal agreement with the union powerhouse SEIU — a partnership that Republicans say is criminal and has been used to target political candidates, pressure banks and to threaten public officials with litigation to extract political compromises at the expense of taxpayers.

For example, ACORN has issued membership letters showing which banks caved in to the group’s pressure, created political plans targeting congressional districts to get sympathetic candidates elected and sent e-mails and legal complaints reflecting ACORN’s ability to coerce and compel public officials to meet certain demands.

SEIU has provided ACORN with $5.6 million, the report states.

After the Republicans’ first report was released, some ACORN workers were caught on video offering advice to a undercover filmmakers posing as a pimp and prostitute on how to set up a brothel — a scandal that upended the group which has been the target of Republican attacks for years.

Following the public uproar over the undercover videos, Congress voted to strip ACORN of federal funding, a move that is being challenged in federal court.

Riverhead board passes sex-offender bill

In Riverhead on February 19, 2010 at 7:04 am

(02-19-2010) The following is from Newsday

By MITCHELL FREEDMAN

Riverhead board passes sex-offender bill

Escalating its two-year battle with Suffolk County over the county housing most of Suffolk’s homeless sex offenders in a trailer at the county jail, the Riverhead town board passed strict legislation putting most of the town’s residential properties off-limits to those offenders.

After a public hearing at a sparsely attended town board meeting Wednesday, Supervisor Sean Walter said the resolution would be voted on immediately – rather than waiting the customary two weeks for written comment – because it had to be on the books before the county took any further action to place homeless sex offenders in Riverhead.

Under the new town law, sex offenders are not permitted to live within a quarter-mile of any school, day care center, library, day camp, park, beach or playground.

It does not apply to registered sex offenders who moved to Riverhead before October 2005, or those who met less stringent residency limits – living beyond 1,000 feet of a school or 500 feet of a park, beach or playground – before the law was passed.

A landlord who illegally rents space to a registered sex offender can be fined $2,500, and faces an additional fine of $2,500 and six months imprisonment for a second offense.

If a registered sex offender stays in a Riverhead hotel or motel, the management must notify every guest in writing, each day, that a sex offender is staying there.

Riverhead has been feuding with the county over housing homeless sex offenders for two years, ever since Suffolk – saying it had no other options – moved about 20 of them to a trailer on the grounds of the county jail, a trailer that had beds but no shower or any cooking facilities.

Because the men had served their sentences, there was no legal way for the county to keep them confined on the jail property.

County officials say Riverhead’s new law is invalid, because the town cannot restrict the actions of a higher level of government and because some of the banned areas are outside the town line.

For several months, Suffolk has been looking for alternate housing for the 20 to 30 homeless registered sex offenders who seek emergency housing each night. By law, they cannot be turned away.

“This kind of law, like others proceeding it, creates homeless sex offenders,” Suffolk County director of Probation John Desmond said in a prepared statement. “It has the obvious effect of preventing sex offenders from living anywhere in town unless they buy a house.”

Brookhaven council hopeful accused of noncompliance

In Brookhaven Republican Committee on February 19, 2010 at 7:03 am

(02-19-2010) The following is from Newsday

by PATRICK WHITTLE

Brookhaven council hopeful accused of noncompliance

Brookhaven’s Republican leader has accused town council candidate Doug Dittko of failing to register a campaign finance committee with the state – an oversight that, Dittko says, has been fixed, while his GOP opponent has distanced himself from the charge.

Dittko and Dan Panico, both members of Brookhaven’s planning board, face each other in a March 9 special election for the town’s 6th District council seat. The seat was vacated in November when GOP Councilman Keith Romaine, 36, died.

Town GOP chairman Jesse Garcia recently called on the state Board of Elections to investigate Dittko for distributing mailings and brochures without setting up the committee or filing public reports. Garcia said voters “can’t expect [Dittko] to cut taxes” if he does not “follow the basic tenets of the campaign finance laws.”

Brookhaven Democratic chairman Jon Schneider said the party was “a little slow on the draw” to set up a campaign finance committee for Dittko, but the problem has since been fixed. Dittko said he considers the charge a nonissue.

State elections officials did not return phone calls.

A state elections Web site states that both Dittko and Panico have established fundraising committees, and that so far Panico has outraised Dittko, $21,036.81 to $3,396.38.

Panico declined to comment on the campaign finance allegations beyond saying that he is running “a positive campaign” and plans to stick to the issues.

Panico, 31, of Manorville, is a senior deputy county clerk who was hired by Romaine’s father, former county clerk and current county Legis. Edward Romaine (R-Center Moriches). Panico said he is running on promises to reduce taxes, target absentee landlords for violations and bring sewers to the Mastic-Shirley area.

Dittko, 58, of Manorville, publishes a monthly magazine for horse enthusiasts called Horse Directory. He, too, has pledged to crack down on slumlords and says he will work to revitalize the 6th District’s downtowns and increase park space.

Of Garcia’s claim that he failed to establish a campaign committee, Dittko said: “That’s all done.”

The town board includes Supervisor Mark Lesko, Deputy Supervisor and Councilwoman Kathleen Walsh, and four other council members, plus the open seat. The board has three Democrats, two Republicans and one Conservative member.

However, Walsh, a Republican, has voted with the Democrats after being named deputy supervisor in April, effectively giving the Democratic caucus a 4-2 edge.

GOP Would Suffer if the Tea Party Movement Endorsed Other Candidates

In Suffolk County Republican Committee on February 19, 2010 at 7:02 am

(02-18-2010) The following is from Politics Daily.

by Bruce Drake

GOP Would Suffer if the Tea Party Movement Endorsed Other Candidates

If the Tea Party endorsed third party candidates for office in this year’s congressional elections, 16 percent of registered voters say they would back them, while 45 percent would stick with the Democrats and 33 percent with the Republicans, according to a CNN/Opinion Resarch poll conducted Feb. 12-15.should pick an existing party. “Because the Tea Party movement is not a party, and we have a two-party system, they’re going to have to pick a party and run one or the other: ‘R’ or ‘D’,” she said.

That compares to how the Republicans fare on a generic congressional election if it’s just a two party contest: the GOP are preferred by 47 percent to 45 percent for the Democrats with 6 percent choosing neither and 2 percent undecided.

CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said, “”If the Tea Party runs its own candidates for U.S. House, virtually every vote the Tea Party candidate gets would be siphoned from the GOP candidate, potentially allowing the Democrats to win in districts that they might have otherwise lost.”

When CNN sampled those in the survey who had engaged in Tea Party activities, it found that 44 percent identified themselves as Republicans, 52 percent as independents and 4 percent as Democrats.

All this could be one reason that Sarah Palin, who was the star speaker at the Tea Party’s first national convention recently, said Tuesday night that those in the movement

Most voters are not high on the idea of a third party. Twenty-six percent would oppose a third party if, as Keating suggests, it might tip an election to a candidate with who they disagree on most issues that matter to them. Another 34 percent oppose a third party under any circumstances. Thirty-eight percent favor a third party even if it results in election of a candidate they don’t like.Mark Blumenthal’s column on the National Journal site. One of Mark’s conclusions: “While relatively few know a lot about it, the movement has made a strong general impression.”)

As in some other recent polls on the subject, a large number of voters — 45 percent — say they don’t know enough about the Tea Party movement to decide whether they support or oppose it. Of those who do have an opinion, 35 percent strongly or moderately support it while 19 percent oppose it.

A very small number of voters say they have participated in any Tea Party activities. Two percent have given money to an organization associated with the movement, 5 percent have attended a Tea Party-related rally, and 7 percent say that in person, via e=mail or on the Internet, they have taken steps to support the Tea Party.

(For an analysis of the recent polls on the Tea Party, which have varied in the way they have shaped their questions on the subject, see

The poll sampled 124 respondents who said they had participated in some Tea Party-related activity and found them to mostly be men (60 percent), white (80 percent), rural (50 percent) and conservative (77 percent).

▶ View 7 Comments

Hundreds of Long Island fishermen will protest federal fishery management policies

In Environment on February 19, 2010 at 7:01 am

(02-18-2010) The following is from Newsday.

By BILL BLEYER

Anglers to rally against federal catch limits

Hundreds of Long Island fishermen are expected to join thousands of East and Gulf Coast anglers in Washington next week at a rally to protest federal fishery management policies they say threaten commercial and recreational activities.

The fishermen say that while some species such as porgies and black sea bass are rebounding, the federal catch limits continue to decrease. They add that bad policy based on bad science threatens to put commercial captains out of business and curtail recreational fishing.

The rally outside the Capitol at noon Wednesday is being organized by a group called United We Fish, and local fishing groups are chartering buses. Speakers will include Sen. Charles Schumer, who is sponsoring legislation that would give federal fisheries managers more flexibility when rebuilding depleted fish stocks, and Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton.)

“We need to get federal fisheries law fixed because it’s broken,” said Jim Hutchinson Jr. of Forest Hills, managing director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, a lobbying group helping to organize the rally. “This is the first time in the history of fisheries management that recreational fishermen and the commercial fishermen are going to stand side-by-side in a unified effort.”

The fishermen are at odds with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration over their refusal to increase fishing quotas. Federal officials have said they will not boost quotas until the populations have increased to be sustainable. Currently, federal fish estimates are based primarily on dockside surveys and questionnaires sent to fishermen, which the anglers say are inefficient and outdated.

In fact, the amount of fish in Long Island waters has already increased even as strict federal catch limits are tightened, said Capt. Paul Forsberg, owner of Montauk’s Viking Fleet of fishing party boats. “The fish population is growing higher and higher and we are being allowed to catch less and less,” he said.

“We need better science and more flexibility in our fishing management regulations,” Schumer said.

Said Bishop, “We need to get an allocation in New York that is based on sound science and is equitable to the other states with which we share the Atlantic coast.”

Rick Cohen, 49, of Oceanside, who operates a recreational fishing boat out of Freeport, said he’ll attend the rally because the government’s quotas are based on “a guy walking around the dock asking people how many fish they caught. It’s completely arbitrary.”

Teri Frady, spokeswoman for NOAA, which administers fisheries regulations set by the Magnuson-Stevens Act, said, “NOAA is keenly interested in any way that we can make management more effective and in balancing what the stocks can and will produce and on the socio-economic side what’s going to work for communities.”

Congress

Three Major Firms Pull Out of Climate Change Alliance

In Environment on February 19, 2010 at 7:00 am

(02-19-2010) ConocoPhillips, BP America and Caterpillar’s announced Tuesday they will pull out of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, citing complaints that the bills now in Congress are unfair to American industry.

The following is from FoxNews.com

Three Major Firms Pull Out of Climate Change Alliance

ConocoPhillips, BP America and Caterpillar pulled out of a leading alliance of businesses and environmental groups pushing for climate change legislation on Tuesday, citing complaints that the bills under consideration are unfair to American industry.

The sudden pullout of three corporate giants from a leading alliance of businesses and environmental groups could be the death knell for climate change legislation languishing on Capitol Hill.

ConocoPhillips, BP America and Caterpillar’s announced Tuesday they will pull out of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, citing complaints that the bills now in Congress are unfair to American industry.

BP spokesman Ronnie Chappell said Tuesday’s announcements are not a statement on the likelihood that climate change legislation will fail.

“I would never speculate as to what would happen with a pending piece of legislation,” Chappell said.

But he said the bills on the table no longer “conform” with what USCAP envisioned for a climate change bill. He said the legislation — including one bill that passed the House but is stalled in the Senate — does not provide adequate protections to U.S. refineries.

If any bills are passed, they will result in more oil imports, the closure of U.S. refineries and the loss of U.S. jobs. Plus he said it’s too hard on the transportation sector.

“We do not believe that the bills now pending in Congress conform to the USCAP blueprint, in that a disproportionate share of the emissions reductions and disproportionate share of the cost fall on the transportation sector and on transportation consumers and motorists,” he said.

Both BP America and Caterpillar were founding members of the group.

ConocoPhillips CEO Jim Mulva also said in a statement that the House and Senate bills “disadvantaged the transportation sector and its consumers” and “unfairly penalized” domestic refineries that would have to face international competition on an unbalanced playing field.

“We believe greater attention and resources need to be dedicated to reversing these missed opportunities, and our actions today are part of that effort,” he said.

The companies described their withdrawal from the group as a way to advocate for climate change legislation in other ways.

“Our position on the need for comprehensive climate change legislation has not changed,” Chappell said. “We can be a more effective voice in the climate change debate if we participate as BP and not as part of a larger organization. … We will still be very active in the climate change discussions and we will still be advocating for legislation that conforms to the USCAP blueprint.”

USCAP released a brief statement Tuesday announcing that the member companies were leaving the organization. The group said the companies “provided invaluable assistance, expertise and significant commitments of time and resources” in pushing for a major climate bill.

The group reiterated its view that Congress should act on a climate bill this year.

“We believe that U.S. action on energy and climate legislation in 2010 will preserve and create American jobs, secure our energy future and generate new investment in the global clean energy economy,” the statement said.

The statement noted that while three companies were leaving, others have recently joined and USCAP “expects to add new members in the coming months.”

The push for climate change legislation has been hampered by more than just concern over its impact on the U.S. economy. The record snowfall this year in Washington, D.C., and other areas of the country has fueled skeptics who see the snow-covered capital as evidence that global warming is a myth, though scientists argue that temperatures have risen over the long term and that extreme weather — even snow — can be a symptom of climate change.

The U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December ended with a non-binding agreement. And that was preceded by controversy over leaked e-mails from a British climate research center that appeared to show scientists discussing ways to obscure certain climate data.

Add to that Republican Scott Brown’s election to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts in January — a win that broke the Democrats’ 60-vote filibuster-proof majority.

The conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute seized on the departure of the three companies from USCAP as a sign that “cap-and-trade legislation is dead in the U.S. Congress and that global warming alarmism is collapsing rapidly.”

FoxNews.com’s Judson Berger contributed to this report.

Breaking News: Fitzpatrick and Nuzzi to enter NY CD1 race

In Suffolk County Republican Committee on February 18, 2010 at 8:17 pm

(02-18-2010) Sources on the street indicate two new Republican names are entering the NY CD1 race.

Michael Fitzpatrick, NYS 7th Assembly District, and Chris Nuzzi, Southampton Town Council, both are very close to thowing their hats in the ring and challenge GOP front runners Gary Berntsen and Chris Cox for the Republican nomination.

Both Fitzpatrick and Nuzzi are rising stars in the Suffolk County Republican Party.

In what seems like a “late in the game” decision, this sudden interest by Fitzpatrick and Nuzzi speaks volumes of the Smithtown and Southampton sentiments. And both are the pride of their town committees.

NYS Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick (R, C, I), 7^th Assembly District

Michael J. Fitzpatrick was elected to the New York state Assembly representing the 7th Assembly District in November 2002. The Suffolk County district includes the town of Smithtown and parts of Islip and Brookhaven townships. Prior to his election to the Assembly, Mr. Fitzpatrick represented the residents of Smithtown as an elected member of the Smithtown Town Council for 15 years, from 1988 through 2003.

Assemblyman Fitzpatrick serves as the ranking minority member on the Assembly Housing Committee and holds memberships on the Assembly Local Governments, Small Business and Higher Education committees. Mr. Fitzpatrick is an active member of the New York State American-Irish Legislators Society.

Mr. Fitzpatrick is an investment associate with UBS Financial Services, Inc. in its Port Jefferson branch office. Active in the community, Assemblyman Fitzpatrick is a member and immediate past president of the board of trustees for the Cleary School for the Deaf in Nesconset. He is also a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the board of directors of the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame.

Mr. Fitzpatrick was a member of the Suffolk County Charter Revision Commission, Diocese of Rockville Centre, and was the major gifts chairman for the Smithtown YMCA’s capital campaign.

Assemblyman Fitzpatrick is a graduate of Hauppauge High School and received his B.A. in business administration from St. Michael’s College in Vermont.

Mr. Fitzpatrick was born in Jamaica, Queens and raised in Hauppauge, Long Island. He is married to the former Lorena Herrera of Chihuahua, Mexico, and the couple has two children, Corina and Michael. They reside in the hamlet of St. James in Smithtown.

Standing committee assignments in 2006: Housing, Higher Education, Local Governments, Small Business.

Chris Nuzzi (R, C) just began serving his second term as a Southampton Town Councilman.

Born in Southampton Hospital and raised on the east end of Long Island, he has extensive knowledge of local issues and truly appreciates the unique and natural beauty of this area. Councilman Nuzzi was first elected to office by a wide margin in 2005.

As an avid boater and fisherman, the condition of our environment is of great importance, and Councilman Nuzzi has been dedicated both personally and professionally to maintaining the pristine condition of our waterways, including advocating for the dredging and maintenance of the Shinnecock Inlet. He also heads up the Great East End Clean-Up, an annual event to remove garbage and debris from roadways, beaches and public areas throughout the Town of Southampton. This event proudly boasts increased attendance year after year.

Since taking office, Councilman Nuzzi has sponsored legislation pertaining to quality of life issues, green initiatives, and tax relief, to name a few. He was at the forefront of advocating for, and achieving, the 100% burial of the LIPA transmission lines that were installed along a scenic route from Southampton Village to Bridgehampton.

Other issues of importance to Councilman Nuzzi are affordable housing and sustainable economic development that keeps environmental sensitivities in mind while providing for the needs of Southampton’s working families. As a younger resident of the town, he recognizes the importance of maintaining an affordable housing stock for working families and jobs to allow them the ability to live in the community where they grew up. He spearheaded efforts last year on the state level to provide an exemption from the 2% Community Preservation Fund Transfer Tax for certain first-time homebuyers. This new law has allowed numerous individuals and families in the past year to make their home in the Town of Southampton.

Councilman Nuzzi is a member of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Long Island East End Advisory Board and the Friends of the 106th Rescue Wing Board of Directors. In addition, he is a member of the Southampton Bocce League, Southampton Business Alliance and the local Sons of Italy. He has participated with the Westhampton Beach High School’s Business Advisory Board, Vision LI, Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League, and the Youth Learning for Life program.

Councilman Nuzzi has a Masters Degree in Public Policy from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He currently resides in Westhampton Beach with his wife Sandy, and their three sons.

▶ View 8 Comments

Gary Berntsen to officially announce candidacy

In Gary Berntsen on February 18, 2010 at 8:16 pm

(02-18-2010) The following is a message from Gary Berntsen, NY CD1 Candidate.

On February 3rd, 2010, I filed my papers as a candidate for New York’s First Congressional District. I was born and raised in the district in Smithtown.

As I have indicated previously, I am deeply concerned with the direction of the country. Our president continues to pursue ideological left-wing domestic and foreign policies that are detrimental to our nation’s health. And we have a Congress that – if unchecked – will bankrupt us. The 14 trillion dollars of debt that we are now carrying is the result of failed leadership and cowardliness.

I have spent my entire adult life defending the United States from foreign enemies, serving for four years in the U.S. Air Force and then 23 years in the CIA’s Clandestine Service. Throughout this time I was blessed to serve alongside patriots. But as I look to the future, I recognize that there can be no rest for those committed to preserving the greatness of America. Those who have served on the front lines of our conflicts will now have to fight their way into the halls of power in order to restore a level of sanity to a Congress whose spending and public policies threaten our ability to pass along the blessings of Liberty to our children and grandchildren.

Please join me on Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 2pm at the Riverhead Polish Hall as I officially announce my candidacy for New York’s 1st Congressional District. I look forward to speaking to you on this day about why I feel compelled to run, and why I am best suited to represent our district in congress. I will not let the political elites in Washington, DC continue to mortgage our future and implement policies that are guaranteed to emperil our national and fiscal security. I will stand with the people of our district and I will uphold the Public Trust.

Your concerns about the direction of our country have not escaped my imagination. I share them with you. Those in Washington, DC have put us on a course destined to one day end in failure, but that day is not today. Today we stand as free people, with the opportunity to change our course while we still have the opportunity to do so. Today I ask you to stand with me on Sunday, February 21 at 2pm at the Riverhead Polish Hall as we begin to restore our values and principles.

Respectfully,

Gary Berntsen

Conservative Movement Unveils ‘Mount Vernon Statement’

In CSA, The 9-12 Project on February 18, 2010 at 8:15 pm

(02-18-2010) The following is from Fox News.

More than 80 of the most influential and respected conservative grass roots leaders in the country will recommit themselves to constitutional conservatism in an attempt to reunite and reground the movement.

By Carl Cameron, FOXNews.com

Who’s Who of Conservative Movement Unveils ‘Mount Vernon Statement’

WASHINGTON — What does it mean to be a conservative in the era of Obama?

Get ready to hear from the movement’s grassroots leaders.

More than 80 of the most influential and respected conservative grassroots leaders in the country plan to recommit themselves Wednesday to constitutional conservatism in an attempt to reunite and reground the movement, following a period when many thought conservatism was adrift.

They have named the document they will sign “The Mount Vernon Statement.” The signing ceremony is taking place at a library that was part of George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate.

“For those of us striving hard every day to defend our nation’s freedoms from liberalism’s belief that an ever-increasing government is the cure for every care, the Mount Vernon Statement is a breath of fresh air that reminds us that constitutional conservatism need not be reinvented or poll-tested in each new election cycle,” said Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., chairman of the House Republican Conference.

“It merely needs to be restated and practiced, as its principles are timeless,” he added. “I am therefore honored to be included as a signer of this proclamation.”

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., chairman of the Steering Committee, also announced he will sign the statement.

“America became the world’s greatest nation because of the freedom of our people to take risks and succeed without the heavy hand of government dragging them down,” DeMint said. “This didn’t happen by accident, our Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution to limit our federal government’s ability to interfere with our lives.

“Unfortunately, many of our elected leaders have forgotten this,” he added. “They see no limits and create new government programs to address every problem. This has led to crushing debt and crippling taxes that threaten to pass on to our children and grandchildren a nation that is weaker than the one we inherited. We must act boldly if we’re going to save freedom.”

The event comes on the eve of annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) which brings thousand of conservatives from around the country to Washington D.C. every year.

The long term goal at CPAC and of the Mount Vernon statement is reestablish First Principles of Constitutional Conservatism.

The more immediate goal is to galvanize — for maximum strength – the various factions of the movement in advance of the 2010 midterm elections.

The statement draws heavily on the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

It will speak directly to the three pillars of the modern movement: economic conservatives, social conservatives, and national security conservatives.

It will underscore the founding principle that constitutional self-government should be moral, responsible, and limited.

While some Republicans have suggested in recent years that the GOP moderate its social views, or be more tolerant of government growth, or even accept bellicose tyranny overseas, conservatives argue now is the time for more backbone, not less.

Conservatives, Republicans, right leaning independents, libertarians and Teapartiers are searching for direction and leadership…listen up… today the leadership of some of the biggest grass roots conservative groups are speaking out.

The best way to illustrate the importance of this event is to list some of the power players participating:

Becky Norton Dunlop, president of the Council for National Policy David McIntosh, co-founder of the Federalist Society Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform David Keene, president of the American Conservative Union Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America Former Attorney General Ed Meese Edwin Feulner, president of the Heritage Foundation Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center Richard Viguerie, Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com Alfred Regnery, publisher of the American Spectator T. Kenneth Cribb, former domestic policy adviser to President Reagan William Wilson, President, Americans for Limited Government Elaine Donnelly, Center for Military Readiness Kenneth Blackwell, Coalition for a Conservative Majority Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring and Kathryn J. Lopez, National Review.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

November’s Zeldin-Foley Showdown Takes Shape

In NYS Senate on February 18, 2010 at 2:00 am

(02-18-2010) The following is from Lee Zeldin, Candidate NY 3 SD

***Press Release***

November’s Zeldin-Foley Showdown Takes Shape as O’Hara Bows Out of GOP Primary

Lee Zeldin, candidate for New York State Senate’s 3rd SD, today released the following statement:

I am taking this opportunity to thank my fellow Republican, Tom O’Hara, for his tireless effort in pursuit of our party’s nomination for the 3rd Senatorial District of New York. Our friendly competition over the course of these past few months has been enjoyable. He is truly a class act in every aspect. This year, more than ever before, unity is necessary to achieve our mutual goal of unseating incumbent State Senator Brian Foley. I know Mr. O’Hara will continue to serve his community and Long Island as he has done for over 30 years. His passion to help others and produce results is inspiring.

Our ‘leader’, Brian Foley, has sold out his constituents in order to pander to his party brass from New York City. We have witnessed in New Jersey, Virginia, Massachusetts and last week in Suffolk County that people want effective, accountable leadership from the people they elect. We need leaders who will deliver results that will benefit their constituents. We need leaders who will stand true to our principles and values.

Defeating Brian Foley will take a dedicated and cooperative effort. Unfortunately for Foley, the Republican, Conservative and Independent movement stands united. I am most confident that effective leadership will soon be restored for the taxpayers of the 3rd Senatorial District of Islip and Brookhaven.

Congratulations to Assemblyman Elect

Dean Murray

who today was certified as the winner of the

Special Election for New York State Assembly’s 3rd AD

Bill Hughes for Southampton Town Council

In Southampton Republican Committee on February 18, 2010 at 2:00 am

(02-18-2010) On Tuesday, March 9th there will be a special election for Southampton Town Council. This is another important one folks!

The following was submitted by David Willmott, Jr.

Southampton Town Board candidate, William “Bill” Hughes begins a series of key “Meet the Candidates Nights” as well an important fundraiser in the coming days…

Debate #1: is February 18, 7:00 pm at the Southampton Town Community Center, 25 Ponquogue Av, HB, opposite the post office. Park in the rear (Rite Aid Drugstore lot) and enter from there.

Debate #2: is February 22, 7:00 pm at the Dave Crohan Community Center in Flanders, 655 Flanders Rd, Flanders (south of Rt 105).

Debate #3: is February 24, 7:30 pm, sponsored by the League of Women’s Voters at the Southampton Cultural Center, 25 Pond Lane, Southampton Village, (around corner from movie theater..by the park).

Fundraiser: February 27, 7-10 pm, at Oakland’s, 7 Dune Road, Hampton Bays ($125.00)…over the Ponquogue Bridge and left at traffic light to the end (about a mile east) to Oakland”s.

William “Bill” Hughes knows we need fiscally conservative financial management. As Town Councilman he would freeze all non-essential capital projects until we know where we stand with deficits and surpluses. His goal will be to reduce our debt service first and foremost.

Bill will focus on environmentally sustainable local job creation. He supports the development of the Enterprise Park at Gabreski, the Riverside Planned Development, and other programs to create jobs beyond our traditional work of tourism and building. Bill thinks we can look to work with the trustees to expand their efforts in aquaculture from beyond clams and oysters to include fin fish species.

Bill knows we need to strengthen code enforcement in our communities and make it a higher priority. One way to do this is by adding another investigator to the code enforcement division so that we can have stronger enforcement of the existing rental housing law.

William “Bill” Hughes experience has prepared him well for the Southampton Town Board. As a lieutenant, he managed and led over 80 police officers. He knows how local government works and how to make it work better. In his career he has been a consensus builder, bringing together different interests to solve our common problems.

William “Bill” Hughes fought for our country and helped fight crime in Southampton. Now he is ready to fight for you the taxpayer in town hall and he asks for your vote on Election Day, Tuesday March 9.

Economy

Chris Cox, “We must stop excessive bleeding of our tax dollars”

In Chris Cox on February 18, 2010 at 1:59 am

(02-17-2010) The following is a press release from Chris Cox, NY CD1 Candidate.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 17, 2010

CONTACT: Michael Levoff
(631) 599-1236

STATEMENT FROM CHRIS COX ON THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE RECOVERY ACT

Smithtown, NY – Chris Cox (R), candidate for Congress in New York’s First Congressional District, issued the following statement:

“On the first anniversary of the Obama Administration’s ‘stimulus’ bill, it is difficult, if not impossible, to consider the $787 billion bill a success for the millions of Americans who are out of work and still struggling to support their families. The fact is that we remain near double digit unemployment and in financial uncertainty. We have also seen that a large portion of these ‘stimulus’ funds have gone to wasteful projects, not into the hands of the small business owners and taxpayers who directly create jobs in our communities. Because of the lack of results from the ‘stimulus,’ the Administration is now calling for a ‘jobs’ bill, seeking an additional $100 billion in partisan fashion. We must stop the excessive bleeding of our tax dollars, the $14 trillion skyrocketing national debt and the recently proposed all-time high spending deficit. Today, we should ask what ‘change’ and ‘stimulus’ has actually occurred in Washington compared to what the American people were promised a year ago.”

NYS Fiscal Mess

Paterson considering delaying state income-tax refunds

In NYS GOP on February 17, 2010 at 3:03 pm

(02-17-2010) Maybe we should consider delaying filing?

The following is from the NY Post.

By VALERIE BAUMAN

Tax refunds could be a waity matter

ALBANY — Some New Yorkers could see a delay in the arrival of their state income-tax refunds if Gov. Paterson decides it’s the best way to make sure the state has enough cash.

The state limits the amount of tax refunds it pays in the first three months of the year to $1.75 billion.

Paterson is considering reducing that to $1.25 billion because the state must roll $1.4 billion into next year’s budget to close this year’s gap.

“The reason we have to consider delaying payments is that the Legislature has been unwilling to work with the governor and fully address our current-year deficit,” said Morgan Hook, a Paterson spokesman.

“We have heard shouting against the governor’s proposals, but not a whisper about where they would make reductions.”

The delay is still under consideration, said Matt Anderson, a spokesman for the state Division of the Budget. But Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb (R-Geneva) lambasted even the thought of postponing refund checks.

“It shouldn’t even be considered,” Kolb said.

“This is the people’s money . . . If we have to make other provisions to take care of our state budget, then we need to do that.”

Also under consideration is delaying $880 million in other payments.

No final decision has been made about exactly what to delay. It could be some combination of delayed tax refunds or school aid, health care or other assistance.

But budget officials say it’s certain that something will have to be delayed.

If the $880 million is delayed, the state would still make $20 billion in aid payments in March.

Kolb said Paterson has a tough decision to make, but said any other delayed payments would be preferable to delayed tax refunds.

“His decisions weren’t popular in some corners of the world in holding back money for school aid, and if that’s what he needs to do again, so be it,” Kolb said.

So far the state has paid out $293 million in tax refunds this year.

The state pays about $6 billion in personal income-tax refunds each year.

The state has until June to pay the refunds before they start accruing interest.

Paterson is expected to make a decision in the next few weeks.

The governor is trying to close a budget gap projected to be at about $8.2 billion for the 2010-11 fiscal year with even wider gaps projected for the future.

Paterson has proposed closing the shortfall through spending cuts and a variety of other measures including, increasing taxes and fees on hospital stays, hiking the cigarette tax by a dollar to $3.75 per pack and instituting a 17 percent fat tax on sugary soda. AP, with Ed Robinson

Steele to Meet With Tea Party Leaders at RNC Headquarters

In New York State on February 17, 2010 at 3:02 pm

(02-16-2010) The following is from Fox News

Steele to Meet With Tea Party Leaders at RNC Headquarters

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele plans to sit down with about 50 Tea Party leaders Tuesday in the first such meeting of two wings of the conservative movement that could be either vital partners or bitter rivals.

The meeting is part of a broader effort by national Republicans to reach out to Tea Party activists rather than risk their hand-picked candidates being run over by the movement.

“The chairman believes it extremely important to listen to this significant grassroots movement and work to find common ground in order to elect officials that will protect these principles,” RNC spokeswoman Katie Wright said.

But one Tea Party activist who traveled hundreds of miles to attend the meeting at RNC headquarters in Washington, D.C., said sparks could fly.

“Steele wants to try to co-opt us, but we’re coming to tell him he doesn’t get it. We want to return the Republican Party to its roots. We’re expecting some fireworks,” the activist said.

Tea Party supporters identify far more with the Republican platform than the Democratic Party’s, but they have not been shy about voicing their discontent with elected Republicans and running against the party’s favored candidates. They threw an upstate New York congressional race into disarray last fall when they backed a third-party candidate over Republican Dede Scozzafava, forcing her out of the race. Democrat Bill Owens won the special election.

Tea Party activists have since targeted multiple Republicans they don’t feel are conservative enough, such as Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and Utah Sen. Bob Bennett.

There is no single Tea Party group or individual in charge of the activists, but the movement has been trying to become more organized and focused. Tea Party organizers from across the country attended a national convention two weeks ago in Nashville, where they discussed strategy for this year’s midterm elections.

Some Republican figures, including former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, view the movement as a major force in the upcoming elections that Republicans in some districts will have to court if they want to win.

Fox News’ Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

Terrorism

Obama’s Muslim Envoy a Terrorist Defender?

In War on Terror on February 17, 2010 at 3:02 pm

(02-17-2010) The following is from Fox News.

Obama’s Islamic Envoy Quoted Defending Man Charged With Aiding Terrorists

Rashad Hussain, President Obama's new envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference, and Sami al-Arian pleaded guilty in 2006 to conspiracy to aid Palestinian Islamic Jihad. (FNC/AP)

President Obama’s new envoy to the Organization of Islamic Conference, Rashad Hussain, is at the center of a controversy over remarks attributed to him defending a man who later pleaded guilty to conspiring to aid a terrorist group.

The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs quoted Hussain in 2004 as calling Sami al-Arian the victim of “politically motivated persecutions” after al-Arian, a university professor, was charged in 2003 with heading U.S. operations of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The United States has designated the Palestinian Islamic Jihad as a foreign terrorist group as far back as 1997. At the time of al-Arian’s arrest, then Attorney General John Ashcroft called it “one of the most violent terrorist organizations in the world.”

Al-Arian pleaded guilty in 2006 to conspiracy to aid Palestinian Islamic Jihad and was sentenced to more than four years in prison.

The White House says the controversial remarks defending al-Arian two years earlier were made by his daughter — not by Hussain. Both were part of a panel discussion at a Muslim Students Association conference, but the reporter covering the event told Fox News she stands by the quotes she attributed to Hussain, who was a Yale Law student and an editor of the Yale Law Journal.

After reporting the remarks, The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs later cut them out of its article on its Web site.

The magazine declined to comment on the sanitized article, but the editor, Delinda Hanley, told Politico that the comments should have been attributed to al-Arian’s daughter, Laila.

But the author of the piece, Shereen Kandil, told Fox News that she would never confuse the two people.

“If I quoted someone, it’s because they said it,” she said, adding that she no longer works for the magazine and was surprised to learn of the changes.

The White House also attributes the quotes to Laila al-Arian.

A White House official who talked with Hussain on Tuesday said he acknowledged attending the event to discuss civil rights in a post-9/11 world but has “no recollection” when it comes to the comments attributed to him.

Fox News’ Shannon Bream contributed to this report.

school district taxes

Miller Place taxpayers wary of school bond proposal

In Education on February 17, 2010 at 12:51 am

(02-16-2010) Now it’s the Miller Place School District.

The bond referendums will be voted on between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. March 2 at North Country Road Middle School on North Country Road. Prior to the vote, the school district will host a community information meeting at 7 p.m. Feb. 24 in the high school library. For more information on the two propositions, log on to millerplace.k12.ny.us and click on the link for Board of Education Bond Presentation.

The following is from the North Shore Sun.

BY PEGGY SPELLMAN

Some residents wary of bond proposal

Officials questioned on timing

Miller Place High SchoolMiller Place School District officials were met with some criticism as they pitched their latest bond proposal before the Sound Beach Civic Association’s membership Monday.

District officials are seeking voter approval next month for the construction of a new administration building and a synthetic turf football field with overhead lights.

The district currently leases space for its administrative staff in a building located in the North Country Plaza Shopping Center on Route 25A in Miller Place. But the space is cramped and officials believe they will be able to save money if they construct a new building rather than continue to pay rent, board trustee Michael Unger said.

Under the first proposition, Mr. Unger said, a one-story administration building would be constructed on the north side of the high school property to alleviate the overcrowding. The building would also likely contain attic space for storage of student records, he said.

Superintendent Agatha Kelly said the proposal would cost $3.3 million but would lead to an estimated savings of more than $530,000 over 15 years from what it would cost to continue renting.

“Over the time in 10 years we’ve been in that building, we’ve spent $1.2 million in rent,” Dr. Kelly said to about 20 residents in the Sound Beach Fire Department meeting room.

‘I think you are biting off too much.’ Mike Baselice of Sound BeachThe proposal would also include the renovation of a classroom at the high school into a multipurpose room, and the construction of extra parking spaces to alleviate congestion in the high school parking lot.
“I hate to use the word ‘no-brainer,’ ” Mr. Unger said of the proposition. “But it’s a no-brainer.”

Under the second proposition, a $2 million football field would be constructed outside the high school. It would include four 70-to-80-foot poles each with 18 1,500-Watt luminaries, according to district literature. The field would not only improve the athletic programs, Dr. Kelly said, but also allow students access to the sports fields for physical education classes.

“The concept is for community usage,” said Dr. Kelly, noting that the track and field at Rocky Point High School is used by the community during the summertime.

If the field is constructed, there would be a $49,294 budget impact over the life of the 15-year bond, costing the average homeowner about $50 per year, Dr. Kelly said.

Dr. Kelly said approval of the propositions would also lock in a rate of 72.4 percent in state building aid on all site work.

The field proposition can only pass if the administrative building proposal is approved by the voters.

Sound Beach resident Mike Baselice questioned whether the field proposal is a prudent one, given the state of the economy.

“I think you are biting off too much,” he said.

Arlynne Schatzkamer-Bleier took a similar stance on the issue.

“We were taught as children to go without,” Ms. Schatzkamer-Bleier said. “If it’s raining, you can’t go out and play. Life is not over.”

Still other residents believed the proposal might save the district some money.

Ann Moran said she thinks it’s the right thing to do considering the savings and the success seen in other districts, such as Rocky Point.

“Rent just disappears,” she said.

Democrats Are Dropping Like Flies

In National News on February 17, 2010 at 12:50 am

(02-16-2010) The following is from Dick Morris at Newsmax.

By: Dick Morris & Eileen McGann

Democrats Are Dropping Like Flies

Enter Coats. Exit Bayh. Bye, bye, Bayh!

The first time Evan Bayh gets a serious race for re-election, he quits!

The Scott Brown victory is still rippling through the House and the Senate, causing retirements among committed, dedicated, long-term liberal Democrats. Seeing voter anger, they are heading for the hills.

The process seems to work as follows:

a. Public anger manifests itself in the Brown victory

b. The improvement in Republican chances impels top notch, former statewide elected officials to jump into races against Democratic incumbents

c. The Democrat bows out in the face of likely defeat. Suddenly, he wants to spend more time with his family.

This process has run its course in Indiana and may shortly be manifest in Wisconsin where former Gov. Tommy Thompson is considering a run against Sen. Russ Feingold. It may yet play out in Arkansas where Sen. Blanche Lincoln now has a top tier opponent in Congressman John Boozman. And Sen. Patty Murray may hear footsteps behind her with the entry into the race of wealthy businessman Paul Akers and the possible entry of former almost-Governor Dino Rossi. Rossi lost the governorship of Washington State in a Franken-esque theft after initial counts showed him defeating Christine Gregoire by 261 votes. Now Governor Gregoire won in the recount.

In New York State, billionaire Mort Zuckerman may take on appointed Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and, if he doesn’t, former Governor George Pataki might jump into the race.

When we predicted a Republican win in the Senate in 2010, some laughed. But nobody’s laughing now.

On a less high profile level, the House is also swinging Republican. The death of Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha opens the way for a likely GOP pickup in a special election and the Republicans now stand to pick up ten more seats through Democratic retirements. One wonders if the likes of Texas Democrat Chip Edwards, South Carolina’s John Spratt, or Arkansas’ Mike Ross might not be far behind in the race into retirement.

It now looks more likely than ever that Congress will go Republican in the elections of 2010.

Local Economy

Bring the NY Islander’s to Riverhead!

In Riverhead on February 17, 2010 at 12:49 am

(02-16-2010) I said it before and I’ll say it again.

Bring the NY Islander’s to Riverhead’s EPCAL!!!!

By JIM BAUMBACH AND RANDI MARSHALL

NHL commish slams Hempstead over Lighthouse Project

Gary Bettman believes that some governing bodies can’t “get their act together.

Photo credit: Handout | Most recent rendering of a winter scene at the Coliseum, which would be the home of the Islanders hockey team. (October 2009)

National Hockey League Commissioner GaryBettman Monday criticized the Town of Hempstead in a radio interview, saying Charles Wang’s frustration over the pace of his Lighthouse project could ultimately lead him to move the Islanders elsewhere.

In his first public comments regarding potential landing spots for the team, Bettman questioned the viability of Brooklyn, while slightly opening the door to a move to Queens, saying the borough was home to Islanders‘ fans. Previously, sources have said the arena developer Bruce Ratner is planning in the Atlantic Yards area in Brooklyn could be a home for the Islanders.

“It’s unfortunate that, for whatever reason, the governing bodies on Long Island can’t seem to get their act together,” he said on WFAN. “At some point, I suppose Charles Wang is going to lose patience and decide . . . there has to be something he can do somewhere that will make sense.”

Last week, the Hempstead Town Board approved a plan for the town to pay a consulting firm to study different development proposals for the publicly owned land around the Nassau Coliseum, where Wang’s Islanders play their home games and where Wang has proposed a large-scale development project complete with high-rise buildings. At a news conference, Supervisor Kate Murray said the consultants would propose a “scaled-down” version of Wang’s plans by early summer.

In response to Bettman’s comments, Michael Deery, a spokesman for the town, said: “It was the Town of Hempstead that jump-started the Lighthouse Project, which was all but abandoned by the Lighthouse group, so if anybody is working to move this process forward, it’s the Town of Hempstead.”

Wang could not be reached for comment Monday. In a radio interview on Feb. 6, he said he has been exploring his options outside of Nassau County.

In his interview with WFAN, Bettman seemed to rule out Brooklyn as a home for the team.

“The bigger point is, does it make sense based on where the Islanders hockey fan base is to go to Brooklyn? . . . I don’t know the answer to it,” he said. “I think most [Islanders] hockey fans are based in either Queens or Nassau or Suffolk. . . . I think Charles‘ preference, and I know it is, would be to keep the Islanders in a place where Islanders’ fans – current Islanders’ fans – would be able to continue to go to the games.”

Enter Willets Point? The New York City’s Economic Development Corp. is expected to issue a Request for Proposals for a 62-acre tract of land sometime this year. On the surface, the site would seem to be an attractive alternative for Wang because it is large enough to fit most of the Lighthouse plans, including an arena for the Islanders.

A spokesman for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said neither the mayor nor other City Hall officials have spoken to Wang about moving the Islanders to the city. Jack Friedman, the executive vice president of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, who has been outspoken about his desire to bring the Islanders to Willets Point, said Monday that neither Wang nor his staff has returned his many phone messages.

Aside from Willets Point, a move to Kansas City remains an option because the city opened a new arena in 2007 and has been actively seeking an anchor tenant ever since. The arena, called Sprint Center, is operated by AEG, which also owns the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings.

Vaccinations and no parental consent is an outrage

In Health Care on February 16, 2010 at 12:19 pm

(02-16-2010) The following is an update on NYS Bill S4779/ A6702, the dangerous bill aiming to take away parental consent regarding child vaccinations. It was submitted by Dr. Michael Creta.

Dr. Michael Creta is a board certified Family Physician who has a private practice in Ronkonkoma. He has been a physician for 19 years and currently lives in Shoreham.

S4779/A6702, no parental consent an outrage

In the New York State Senate and Assembly there is a dangerous bill which is actually moving it’s way to the floor for a vote. The bill is S4779/A6702, and it has to do with allowing a “health care practitioner” to diagnose and treat your underage child for sexually transmitted diseases without the parent’s consent.. It also gives the “health care practitioner” the power to give your underage child the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine, sold under the brand name :”Gardasil”, also without your consent, as long as the child has the “capacity to consent”. Gardasil is currently approved to be given to girls age 9 to 26, and boys of approximately the same age.

I am a physician, and I am outraged that such a bill could even have gotten as far as it has through our legislature. Since when is it morally right to treat an underage child with any sort of medical treatment without the consent of, and in the presence of, their parent? As physicians, we are under a moral and legal obligation to provide our patients with information regarding the risks and benefits of any medical treatment we propose to our patients. With this information, you are then required to give informed consent. Since when can a 10 year old girl give consent? We don’t let 10 year old girls vote, or go to war, or enter into contracts, do we? Isn’t the legal age of majority 18? If a 50 year old man has sexual relations with your 12 year old daughter who “consented”, is this OK? No, because the child does not have the capacity to consent in the eyes of the community, as reflected through the law. So, what could possibly be going through the minds of these legislators who have approved this bill?

Never mind the fact that the “evidence” that Gardasil is of benefit amounts to “junk science” (that is the subject of another discussion), but picture this scenario. A common side effect of the Gardasil vaccine, reported by the manufacturer, is syncope, or “passing out” associated with “tonic-clonic movements” or seizures. This could lead to falls and injury. Another potential effect is “anaphylaxis”, a severe allergic reaction that can lead to death. So if your 11 year old daughter got the vaccine without your consent, and fell and broke her arm, or the bones in her beautiful face, or hit her head and developed a bleed which requires brain surgery, or if she developed anaphylaxis and stopped breathing, my question, as a physician, is this: When do you, the parent, get the call? Is it in the doctor’s office, when they have to call the ambulance to rush your dying daughter to the hospital? Is it on arrival to the Emergency room, where you NOW need to legally consent to have your daughter treated? Is it in the surgical suite where the neurosurgeon needs your consent to open her skull to save her life? Or in the ICU where they need your consent to put a plastic tube into her lungs and put her on a respirator? Or should we just do these without your consent as well? Similarly, appendicitis is a listed side effect of the vaccine. Why don’t we operate on her without your consent as well? Why should we need it? The state legislators seem to think that “health care practitioners” (not just doctors, but other health providers that did not graduate medical school) should be able to do what they want.These state legislators seem to think that you have no say in the care of your child, and that the state knows best. Sounds a little like the Soviet Union under Stalin, doesn’t it?

This bill is dangerous and should be voted down, and the legislators who sponsored it should be held accountable for their actions. Ask your state senator and assemblyman how they feel on this issue, and hold them accountable, too. And my fellow physicians and other “health care practitioners” should not even attempt to treat an underage girl or boy without the parent’s consent. It is ethically and morally wrong, and the legal implications of your actions can land you in prison.

Go to www.nysenate.gov and search the bill to get the names of the legislators who voted for this bill so far.

Dr. Michael Creta

Ronkonkoma

MTA

We won’t subsidize city dwellers

In Ed Romaine on February 16, 2010 at 12:17 pm

(02-16-2010) The following was an OP-ED from Suffolk County Legislature Ed Romaine and appeared in this week’s Riverhead News Review

BY ED ROMAINE

We won’t subsidize city dwellers

I have often said that in the eyes of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the East End is merely a cash cow to fund a system that mainly benefits New York City. Last year, Suffolk residents were burdened with over $127 million in new taxes and fees like the infamous payroll tax. This year, the MTA projects an additional $500 million budget shortfall. While no new taxes, fees or fare increases have been proposed, the MTA has announced deep service reductions across the system, including plans to all but eliminate railroad service on the North Fork.

After years of East End station closures and service reductions, we can no longer turn a blind eye to the inequitable treatment and mismanagement of the MTA. East End residents deserve adequate transit services.

Tax and fee revenue generated by Suffolk residents to operate the MTA is now in excess of half a billion dollars — or $347 for every man, woman, and child; North Fork residents alone account for more than $25 million. Yet the cost of proving the existing two-train daily rail service from Ronkonkoma to Greenport is estimated at just $991,000.

The MTA cites “lack of use” as the reason for eliminating daily service to the North Fork, but has made no effort to enhance service or promote its use. Traveling to and from the North Fork via the Long Island Rail Road is inconvenient and the schedule is neither user-friendly nor based in reality.

Consider this: The current LIRR timetable has just one train scheduled to arrive at Riverhead from Ronkonkoma during morning hours. The train, which arrives at 9:47, is too late for jurors, attorneys, court personnel and many others who commute to Riverhead from the west. Conversely, just one train is scheduled to depart Riverhead for Ronkonkoma in the afternoon. At 3:19, it is too early for most workers to complete their day.

Likewise, with just one morning departure available to commuters from Greenport, it is much more convenient for westbound travelers to drive to their final destination, take the Jitney, or drive to Ronkonkoma and take the train from there. If service were sufficient, many travelers would choose to take the train from their local station instead of driving.

Commissioner of Jurors Michael O’Dononhoe and I have repeatedly requested adjustments to the train schedule to accommodate commuters, but our requests have fallen on deaf ears.

Nevertheless, there are North Fork residents who use the train daily to commute to work and school in New York City and other points west. What will become of these steadfast commuters? How will they travel to their jobs or school? The MTA appears uninterested in offering a solution.

The LIRR is the only MTA service provided to Suffolk residents. Unlike Nassau County, Suffolk buses are not MTA operated. The residents of Shelter Island receive no MTA service at all, but pay almost $1 million in MTA taxes and fees.

With recurring half-billion dollar deficits, it is clear the MTA is unable to prudently manage its financial affairs. However, we cannot stand by idly as it attempts to balance its budget on the backs of East End residents. If the MTA refuses, or is unable, to provide adequate service to the East End, we should to take a serious look at seceding from the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District and establishing our own regional transit authority.

The notion of MTA secession is not new nor is it limited to the East End of Suffolk County. Some Hudson Valley towns are having similar discussions because of their own service and taxation issues. According to the East End Transportation Study performed by the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center and commissioned by all five East End towns, the annual operation cost of operating a regional transit authority on the East End is approximately $43 million, with startup capital expenses of between $117 and $150 million. Like the MTA, an East End regional transit authority would be eligible for state and federal grants to help offset the costs.

A public hearing on the proposed service reductions has been scheduled for 6 p.m. on March 8 at the County Center in Riverhead. Come down and let your voice be heard. The MTA must be put on notice that the East End will not be subject to what Southold Supervisor Scott Russell called “taxation without transportation.” Either provide adequate service or secession will be our only choice to ensure East End residents receive the quality transportation services we deserve.

Judeo Christian

Our country was founded on Judeo/Christian principles

In Southold Republican Committee on February 16, 2010 at 12:16 pm

(02-16-2010) The following is by Denis Noncarrow, Chairman Southold GOP

Our country was founded on Judeo/Christian principles and our value system was anchored on the words of the Bible. Our founding fathers openly prayed together and their relationship with the Lord steered our country to greatness. Did you know that out of 56 members that put together the Constitution, 54 of them were Christian ministers?

The fact is when you look at other countries that have been founded in Godly principles and have strayed; another word for their downfall is Socialism or Communism. It has happened time after time in history.

So, were does it start? Is it a leader or government body not happy with the competition that they feel take from their grip on people? Is it that Liberal base that feels their rights come before the way the Lord has asked us to live? Is it a people that don’t see the need to work hard, rest, and worship on a given day? Regardless, is we continue to let these principles be pushed out of our country, we will see our nation fall apart from the local level on up like so many nations in the bible.

“We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House, they Labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.” – Benjamin Franklin [Statement made at the Constitutional Convention, June 28, 1787]

Destruction comes to those that turn away. And let’s not forget the same with the family unit. Children learning this at an early age can be far better equipped for the storms of life. Don’t wait for the schools to do it. They are working toward changing history to their liking with this as their number one target to change.

But let us not be misled, we need to stay the course for our beliefs and God’s favor. As George Washington said:

“It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God, to obey His will. To be grateful for His benefits, and to humbly implore His protection and favor.”

George Washington October 3, 1789 – Proclaiming a National Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving (Which by the way, for the first time since, our current President, Barack Hussein Obama chose not to have the National Day of Prayer.)

For this is one of the most important principles that our forefathers wanted to instill in our government.

“Do not let anyone claim to be a true American if they ever attempt to remove religion from politics.” – George Washington

Amen

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/phantom_firm_got_in_re_elex_1nBYLdeQDepP6WPhaRujHK

Political Investigation

Frank Mackay & Independence Party under investigation

In Independence Party on February 14, 2010 at 11:28 pm

(02-15-2010) The following story is very important for us to keep our eyes on.

Frank Mackay, Chairman of the Independence Party is currently under investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance for a mysterious funneling of $750,000 from Mayor Mike Bloomberg, thru the Independence Party housekeeping account, to a shadowy private company.

Where this investigation leads to is anyone’s guess, but it looks like the Manhattan DA is leaving no stone unturned.

The completion of this investigation, which started last week, presents many plausible outcomes. None of which are any good to Frank Mackay or the Independence Party.

Who cares?

It is important to remember that the Independence Party’s platform is somewhat ambiguous. The party itself is designed to draw independent voters and allows nonaffiliated voters to vote in its primary elections, the only significant party in the state to do so.

Like other minor parties in New York, the Independence Party sometimes nominates its own candidates and sometimes endorses one of the major party candidates using electoral fusion.

So the Independence Party is devoid of any true political ideology. And critics have long argued that the way the Independence Party chooses candidates is arbitrary.

ARBITRARY!

Most often, the Independence Party nominates the candidate that is most likely to win.

So what does this have to do with the Manhattan DA’s investigation?

The Independence Party’s arbitrary nominating process already lacks political integrity. So is it possible that in the future, the outcome of this investigation could affect the outcome of their future nominations?

In other words, is it possible that the Independence Party would nominate candidates based upon a desired favorable outcome of the DA’s investigation?

You betcha.

In fact, doesn’t it appear that this missing $750,000 had everything to do with the Independence Party endorsing Bloomberg? And how does that look when pundits are already saying without the Independence Party, Bloomberg wouldn’t have won the election?

Ladies and gentleman, Frank Mackay and the Independence Party are in trouble.

Stay tuned.

Catch up now with this rapidly unfolding story.

‘Phantom’ firm got $$ in re-elex

January 29, 2010, By FREDRIC U. DICKER in Albany and DAVID SEIFMAN in NY

A $750,000 payment from Mayor Bloomberg’s campaign was delivered to a mysterious Albany company that wasn’t even created until one month after the November elections, The Post has learned.

Mike mystery money went to key elex aide

January 30, 2010, By DAVID SEIFMAN City Hall Bureau Chief

A $750,000 personal campaign contribution that Mayor Bloomberg channeled through the state Independence Party during last year’s mayoral election landed in the hands of a top aide, The Post has learned.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mike_mystery_money_went_to_key_elex_qgvOcML4cqW81ttJV1z03M

Bloomberg used political party to pay backer: Post

February 4, 2010, By Howard Koplowitz, TimesLedger Newspapers,

Mayor Michael Bloomberg used the state Independence Party as an intermediary to funnel a $750,000 payment to a high-profile Queens Republican backer of the mayor, according to campaign finance records and the New York Post.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/bloomberg_used_political_party_to_4MUhaDy355nbEAEcEiM97I

Independence Party big promises change after ’secret deal’ with Mike

February 8, 2010, David Seifman

The chairman of the state Independence Party is having second thoughts about teaming up with Mayor Bloomberg’s campaign to hire a secretive company that provided poll watchers in last year’s election. Party chairman Frank MacKay said that party leaders would carefully evaluate all such deals in the future.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/indy_big_promises_change_after_secret_U58HpaaZSX5EDHc2sOFt9I

Manhattan DA probing Bloomberg election cash: sources

February 9, 2010, By DAVID SEIFMAN

Sources confirmed to The Post that Haggerty Jr. of Special Election Operations LLC , and state Independence Party Chairman Frank MacKay are the focus of a probe launched last week by Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr.’s office. Both Haggerty and MacKay received subpoenas last Friday.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan_da_probing_bloomberg_election_CEMynLQX8cvHhGlSBUJSaP

DA probes Mike’s ’slippery’ poll $$

February 10, 2010, By DAVID SEIFMAN City Hall Bureau Chief

Manhattan DA Cy Vance Jr. has opened an investigation into a mysterious $750,000 poll-watching operation funded by Mayor Bloomberg last year through the state Independence Party, sources said yesterday.

Vance has subpoenaed records from Frank MacKay, the party chairman, and John Haggerty Jr., the Bloomberg campaign aide who hastily created a company that was supposed to monitor the polls on Election Day, according to the sources.

But the secretive firm, Special Election Operations LLC, didn’t register with the state secretary of state until a month after the election.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/da_probes_mike_slippery_poll_rXboEUzIdYlJxk6vPLbLEP

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

Read the rest of this entry »

Conservative Society for Action News

In CSA on February 14, 2010 at 11:27 pm

(02-15-2010) CSA Plainvew Meeting Introduces New Candidates; Reviews Goals; Details PAC Plans.

By James Soviero

The Conservative Society for Action held a general membership meeting at the Plainview Public Library on February 8th. There were 200 people in attendance including seven candidates running for either state or federal offices.

Dean Murray, a Republican small business owner, spoke about the need for change in Albany and his long commitment to bringing common sense solutions to the people’s problems. The following evening Mr. Murray won a special election to the New York State Assembly. This 3rd district seat had been previously held by Democrats for some 30 years. This race had been discussed by Fox News. National interest was drawn by the head-to- head match up of a “tea party organizer” vs. someone backed by big labor, the Long Island Progressive Coalition, and the Working Families Party. Fox commentators saw the outcome of this race as a possible indicator of things to come in the fall.

Also on election day, a $122 million bond proposal in the Riverhead School District — strongly opposed by the CSA — was defeated by a huge margin.

When conservative Republican pastor Michael Faulkner was introduced as a candidate running against Charlie Rangel he received a standing ovation. The former New York Jets defensive lineman gave a rousing address on love of country, the perils of welfare, and how we are all united by our passion for America. Mr. Faulkner drew laughter and applause when he said, “Liberal Republicans don’t want me any more than the Democrats do.” In a more serious vein he stated we had to “… keep this country…. from going over….the cliff of socialism.” Upon conclusion of his remarks he received his second, sustained, standing ovation.

James Milano, a practicing MD, announced his intention to run against Congressman Gary Ackerman. Dr. Milano described himself as a conservative Democrat who is seeking a place on the Republican, Conservative, and Independence Party lines. He believes Congress has been irresponsible with spending, that it is OUR money. Milano fears we have moved far away from the Constitution and his comment that we should “…look at it as an inheritance…”, and treat it as such was very well received.

Stephen Labate, a Lt. Colonel in the Army Reserve, is a Tea Party candidate seeking Republican support for a run against congressman Steve Israel. He is motivated by the idea of serving his country, not himself. Labate stated four principles that made up his platform. They were: 1) full support of the 2nd Amendment; 2) a strong national defense; 3) a pro-life position, and; 4) fiscal conservatism. Mr. Labate said it’s time we fight “generational theft”.

Financial consultant Anthony Tolda, also setting his sites on Israel as a Liberty candidate, spoke about three conditions that have, historically, led to the demise of countries. They were bad monetary policy, bad foreign policy, and losing the moral fabric of society.

Republican hopeful Dan Maloney is after Carolyn MaCarthy’s congressional seat and addressed the future using the term “perilous times”. He focused on the financial crises taking place in Europe. Serious debt problems in countries in Europe could threaten the collapse of the European Union. Mr. Maloney reminded his audience that, given such an unprecedented situation, it is more important than ever the United States remain strong. He asked, “If we falter, who would be left?”

Another candidate pitting himself against Ms. McCarthy is Rich Petrone. He has enjoyed a successful career in the financial sector and talked about the erosion of our freedoms. Mr. Petrone feels this undertaking is something he has to do for his kids. He stated the “…wealth of our children has been spent.”

Talks from the office seekers not withstanding, the agenda was filled with a number of informative updates and new pieces of information.

The meeting kicked off with a resoundingly applauded Ronald Reagan video. This was followed by a recounting of the CSA’s success in weakening Congressmen Tim Bishop and going forward with a similar plan targeting McCarthy, Israel, and Ackerman. As part of that discussion it was noted that Congress had recently raised the debt ceiling in the amount of $6000 for every man woman and child in America!

State senators Foley and Johnson will also have their very unpopular votes, most notably on MTA Payroll Tax, brought to the public’s attention. CSA’s Flip Flop Foley video was played and greatly enjoyed by all. Conservative Society for Action founder, Stephen Flanagan, then went on to read text for ads planning to be aired on cable TV in the not to distant future.

This brought the conversation to PAC fund raising. John Stevens (Free America), one of the organizers of the first Long Island Tea Party on April 4th in Northport, thanked Flanagan and CSA for their tireless efforts. He pointed out that CSA’s extraordinary successes have drawn great national interest from news outlets as well as other grassroots groups and that its strategies and methods are being copied throughout the United States.

Stevens then announced plans for a “pledge night” on Tuesday, February 16th at the Old Field Inn, in Greenlawn for the purpose of raising funds for CSA-PAC. He further stated that any money contributed should not carry with it an expectation of any future personal rewards. Mr. Flanagan thanked Stevens and said there were some significant dollar amounts being pledged and received but that everyone needs to help in this endeavor so that we can make our voices heard and be…Silent No More.

National Debt

US debt will keep growing even with recovery

In National Debt on February 14, 2010 at 11:26 pm

(02-15-2010) The following is from TownHall.com

By TOM RAUM

US debt will keep growing even with recovery

It’s bad enough that Greece’s debt problems have rattled global financial markets. In the world’s largest economic and military power, there’s a far more serious debt dilemma.

For the U.S., the crushing weight of its debt threatens to overwhelm everything the federal government does, even in the short-term, best-case financial scenario _ a full recovery and a return to prerecession employment levels.

The government already has made so many promises to so many expanding “mandatory” programs. Just keeping these commitments, without major changes in taxing and spending, will lead to deficits that cannot be sustained.

Take Social Security, Medicare and other benefits. Add in interest payments on a national debt that now exceeds $12.3 trillion. It all will gobble up 80 percent of all federal revenues by 2020, government economists project.

That doesn’t leave room for much else. What’s left is the entire rest of the government, including military and homeland security spending, which has been protected and nurtured by the White House and Congress, regardless of the party in power.

The U.S. debt crisis also raises the question of how long the world’s leading power can remain its largest borrower.

Moody’s Investors Service recently warned that Washington’s credit rating could be in jeopardy if the nation’s finances didn’t improve.

Despite election-year political pressure from voters for lawmakers to restrain spending, some recent votes suggests that Congress, left to its own devices, probably isn’t up to the task of trimming deficits.

Both the Obama administration and Democratic leaders have put job creation ahead of deficit reduction for now.

The Senate faces an important vote after it returns on Feb. 22 from its President’s Day recess on a bill intended to stimulate job growth. The legislation offers a $13 billion payroll tax credit for companies that hire unemployed workers, including an additional $1,000 tax credit for workers retained for a full year.

Proposed belt-tightening steps by President Barack Obama, including a freeze on some nondefense, nonentitlement spending, would make only a small dent in the mountain of debt.

The budget he submitted to Congress this month proposes record spending of $3.8 trillion for 2011. Taxes in next year’s budget will support only $2.5 trillion of that spending, leaving $1.3 trillion to be borrowed.

The president’s budget is a best-case outlook, from the administration’s vantage point.

It doesn’t take into account future liabilities from the growth of entitlement benefits and is based on projected economic growth that depends on a solid recovery. It assumes Congress will pass all of Obama’s initiatives, including spending cuts and tax increases previously rejected by Congress.

Congress already has rejected a bipartisan deficit commission that could have forced Congress to take painful steps on tax increases and entitlements.

The commission would have been modeled on one that makes military base-closing decisions, forcing Congress to take up or down votes. The Senate turned aside the legislation last month after some original Republican supporters jumped ship once Obama endorsed the plan.

Proponents say this type of commission is the only way to make painful debt decisions. Obama says he’ll create a bipartisan commission by presidential order instead.

“In the end, solving our fiscal challenge _ so many years in the making _ will take both parties coming together, putting politics aside, and making some hard choices about what we need to spend, and what we don’t,” Obama said in his weekly Saturday radio and internet address.

Still, his commission wouldn’t have the power to force a congressional vote.

Obama’s call for fiscal austerity came at the same time he signed legislation lifting the cap on government debt from $12.4 trillion _ which is close to being breached _ to $14.3 trillion to permit more borrowing.

The same law puts in place new budget rules praised by deficit hawks that would require future spending increases or tax cuts to be paid for with higher taxes or other spending cuts. “After a decade of profligacy, the American people are tired of politicians who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk when it comes to fiscal responsibility,” Obama said.

It’s not clear when the debt’s day of reckoning will arrive. But the overall national debt over the next few years will rise to 100 percent of the gross domestic product _ a level viewed as alarming by the International Monetary Fund and international economists.

The Social Security system, the biggest social spending program, has begun paying out more in benefits than it collects in payroll taxes. For the past quarter-century, Social Security had produced a surplus that helped finance the rest of the government.

Medicare, the health care program that now covers 45 million elderly and disabled people, is in worse shape. It’s been paying out more than it takes in since 2008 and its trust fund is projected to run out of money in 2017.

Carmen Reinhart, an economics professor at the University of Maryland and a former IMF official, suggested the nation’s fast-growing indebtedness may not have a visible impact at this point on ordinary Americans. But some day it will pounce.

“One thing we can say with a fair amount of certainty,” she said. “We never know when the wolf will be at our door. The wolf is very fickle and markets can turn very quickly. And a high debt level makes us very vulnerable to shifts in sentiment that we cannot predict.”

Riverhead Liberals

Riverhead Liberals just like all other Liberals

In Riverhead, school district taxes on February 14, 2010 at 9:50 am

(02-14-2010) The following is from Brian Mills.

Yes, these liberals ARE all the same

My favorite radio personality and leader in the conservative movement, Rush Limbaugh, always speaks of being right, and never wrong. So in the spirit of “El Rushbo”, I would like to state those famous three words, the words of a winner, them being, “I called it.”

Last week, in my op-ed entitled Liberal Scare Tactics at their Best (VOTE “NO” ON TUESDAY); I said “These Liberals are all the same. There are no compromises. It’s always an all or none approach with them.” And, as Rush would say, “I hate being right all the time.” In this weeks Riverhead News Review, in an article entitled “Resounding no for school’s overhaul”, when asked about putting up a smaller bond than the proposed monstrous $123 million bond, Riverhead School Board Vice-President, Chrissy Prete, said “I’m not putting it up again. There’s no way. This was it. This was the bottom line.” In an effort to echo the wise words of Chrissy Prete, Riverhead School Board member Tim Griffing chimed in with “I think that if this community really wants to get Main Street revitalized and turn the page and increase the value of the community, they need to wake up.”

So, my friends the message is clear. My interpretation of Mr. Griffing’s and Ms. Prete’s comments are that, if a Riverhead resident desires to increase their property value as well as that of the community, then they are to vote for massive spending bills during the “worst recession since the Great Depression”, that piles mounds of massive debt on our residents. Well, Mr. Griffing is just another elected official that just doesn’t get it.

What Mr. Griffing and Ms. Prete fail to understand is that the community does, in fact, not only want to revitalize the downtown area but also wants to improve and update the schools. We understand what Dr. Scricca is saying and we want nothing more than to put the Riverhead UFSD on the course to modernization. No one disputes the fact that the Middle and Senior High Schools are overcrowded and out of date. But what we, the residents of Riverhead, are saying is that we would like to do this in steps. For example, being that most are struggling at this point to make ends meet, why not consider a smaller bond that is focused on basic capital improvements. When those projects are completed then the School Board can go back to the drawing board, reassess, and see what needs to be done next.

Why is that difficult to understand?

Why does it have to be this bond or no bond?

If that’s the way that Mr. Griffing or Ms. Prete sees it then perhaps they ought to tender their resignation. Given the fact that they are acting as elected dictators, as opposed to elected representatives of the community, as is evident by both their comments and their actions, I would contend to you that they have lost touch with the priorities of the residents that live within the Riverhead School District. It’s time for people like Tim Griffing and Chrissy Peter, who have clearly lost touch with the residents of Riverhead, to step aside, and allow those that have a deeper understanding of the community to take the reigns and get the job done right.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

Property Rights

NYS Environmental Bill doubles permit and approval process

In Environment on February 14, 2010 at 9:49 am

(02-14-2010) The Suffolk County Liberty Report is among many property rights advocates in New York State that is urging the public to take action and strongly oppose a pending bill that doubles the regulation, permit, and approval process for developing in and around wetlands.

This NYS Bill, S.4956 (Thompson) is unnecessary, overbroad, burdensome and would bring housing and commercial real estate development to a grinding halt across New York State.

S.4956 (Thompson) expands the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) oversight and regulation of wetlands to include all wetlands of ONE acre or more. This is another example of the green movement gone wild that is killing the taxpayer and local economy.

I wrote about similar unnecessary environmental regulations last year in a published article, A Green Mountain of Debt and Regulation.

Currently the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) only regulates wetlands that are 12.4 acres or larger. One of the proposals before you (Bill S.4956) would, if enacted, increase the NYSDEC’s jurisdiction to include wetlands down to 1 acre in size. However, there would be no change to the regulated adjacent area, which is currently a 100 foot buffer around NYSDEC wetlands.

One notable feature of Bill S.4956 is that this 100 foot buffer would now be extended around these smaller wetlands. This increase is substantial: including a 100 foot adjacent area around a 1 acre wetland results in 4 acres of regulated area.

Any disturbance in that regulated area would require a permit from the NYSDEC. Most, if not all, of these wetlands that would fall under the new regulation that are currently regulated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE).

Bill S.4956 would create the need to obtain a permit from both the ACOE and the NYSDEC for any disturbances. This will double the regulation of the same resource — with no appreciable benefit to the State. Indeed, this would only add another layer of bureaucracy.

The New York State Assembly has already passed its version of this bill (Bill A6363), which, if also passed by the State Senate and signed into law by the Governor, would significantly increase the State’s wetland jurisdiction and would negatively impact future development in New York.

Another notable feature of Bill S.4956 is that, if passed into law, it would become “effective immediately”. There is no grandfathering language that would exempt pending projects from the need to comply — even though the regulatory scheme would change significantly.

Make your limited government voice heard and say NO to legislation which discourages investment and improvement in our local communities.

Please contact your local State Assemblyman and Senator and urge them to oppose S.4956 by Senator Antoine Thompson and help defeat this bill before it is too late.

The New York State Association of Realtors also opposes further wetland regulation.

Environmental Boondoggle

A Green Mountain of Debt and Regulation

In Environment on February 14, 2010 at 9:49 am

(02-14-2010) While reporting on the pending NYS Bill, S.4956 (Thompson), which if passed, will dramatically increase the amount of regulation in regard to developing in and around wetlands, I couldn’t help but take a walk down memory lane.

It was 18 months ago when I wrote of a “green of a green mountain of debt and regulation” which is killing the taxpayer, killing investment, and killing jobs.

Please read again,

A Green Mountain of Debt and Regulation

(Published 2008-08-07 Village Beacon)

“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.”
Thomas Paine

For a long time now the environment has been in a deadly war against the Long Island taxpayer. And the environment is winning. But the environment is not the real enemy. The real enemy is a green mountain of debt and regulation disguised as governmental righteousness.

The cost of this war is staggering. And as this green mountain of debt and regulation continues to plunder this once great people, the historical mass human exodus will carry on until nothing is left but salamanders, spotted owls, and northern harriers. This two pronged strategy, debt and regulation, have been highly successful in the attacks against the taxpayer and economic growth.

The agents of debt came as the environmentally self righteous. These self serving self righteous shams figured out a way to collect signatures, conduct press conferences, and hold rallies that were covered by the local news. This struck fear into the hearts of our elected officials. If only they would have watched the television screen until the very end of that news segment; they would have noticed that as the camera faded back, the only people at those press conferences were the self serving eco-right, his four unemployed friends, and five signs. But instead the people were feared into voting yes; and our leaders signed into law new programs, funds, bonds, and acts that were colossal in taxpayer cost. Programs that cost billions of dollars.

The agents of regulation came as elected officials that declared themselves environmental saviors. Many layers of regulations, reviews, and approvals were created. This process they created destroyed the development and building industries. These regulations and the approval process are enforced by tax funded agencies whose sole function is to impede growth. All of this is in the name of noble governmental watch dogging. All in the name of environmental righteousness.

This was an unnecessary war. The taxpayer and the environment could have lived together in a peaceful coexistence, and shared this once great island. But the staggering amount of money spent on this environmental boondoggle, denied the necessary improvements to our crumbling infrastructure. Like the widening of roads, the construction of sewers, and vital energy supply upgrades.

Is it too late? Too late to rethink this long habit of environmental righteousness? Too late to unwind these layers and layers of green debt and regulation? Long Island is dangerously close to flat lining. For the people choosing to stay here have an epic struggle in the years ahead. If the taxpayers want to win this struggle, then this green mountain needs to be bulldozed.

Right to Life

“I was born”

In Right to Life on February 13, 2010 at 1:48 am

(02-13-2010) The following video was filmed and produced by Franciscan University students, sharing the experience of some of the 750 person strong FUS representation at the 2010 March for Life in Washington, DC.

Ending comment by Most Reverend John D’Arcy, bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.

“I was born”

Produced by FUS senior Cory Heimann (See more of his work at his Likable Art site: http://www.likableart.com )

March for Life 2010 draws record crowd

(January 23, 2010) Terry Hurlbut, Essex County Conservative Examiner

The thirty-seventh annual March for Life took place yesterday in Washington, DC, with several northern and southern New Jersey contingents participating. Unofficial estimates of the crowd size vary from 250,000 to 400,000, which would be the largest crowd that the annual event has drawn.

New Jersey conservative activist Andrew P. Schlafly, founder of Conservapedia, led a 93-member contingent of home-school students, families, and older adults that traveled to Washington on two chartered buses to participate in the rally and march. Other New Jersey contingents were on hand, including several from multiple towns in North Jersey and at least one from Trenton.

Schlafly cited an on-air estimate reported by the Eternal Word Television Network as stating that 400,000 people were in attendance. After the march, he enthusiastically predicted that next year he would lead three buses, at 47 passengers each.

OneNewsNow correspondent Charlie Butts estimated that 250,000 people attended; Lillian Kwon of The Christian Post estimated 300,000. However, direct observation easily supports the 400,000-person estimate. The crowd was at least as dense as was the crowd for the 9/12 March on Washington last year, and filled 7th Street W, Constitution Avenue, and 1st Street E to the limit of visibility.

The participants varied in age from very young children to elderly people, including several in wheelchairs. (One of Schlafly’s marchers, apparently suffering from achondroplastic dwarfism, was still determined to participate, even if in a wheelchair.) Contrary to a report released before-the-fact by Newsweek, many young women were in attendance, and contributed some of the most enthusiastic voices in support of the pro-life position. As the march progressed, sympathetic onlookers lined both sides of Constitution Avenue, and even some office workers watched and waved to the marchers from the roof of an office building overlooking the Mall near the West Lawn.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

Tea Party Activists Target GOP Senator in Utah

In NYS GOP on February 13, 2010 at 1:47 am

(02-13-2010) The following is from Fox News

By Jake Gibson

Tea Party Activists Target GOP Senator in Utah

The Tea Party Movement, which has fueled the downward spiral of Gov. Charlie Crist’s Senate campaign in Florida, is now targeting Republican Sen. Bob Bennett in Utah.

Bennett, who is seeking a fourth term this year, is facing a long list of potential primary challengers, including businesswoman Cherilyn Eagar, millionaire entrepreneur Tim Bridgewater, businessman James Williams and Mike Lee, a former assistant U.S. attorney.

But Tea Party activists are seeking to torpedo Bennett’s re-election campaign because he supported the $700 billion financial bailout plan and has “missed a lot of the basic blocking and tackling,” a political operative with close ties to Tea Party activists told Fox News. “He’s just become too inside the beltway.”

Next Friday, some Tea Party activists will gather in Salt Lake City to discuss their options.

A candidate must win 60 percent of the delegate vote at the state Republican convention May 8 to secure the party’s nomination. If no candidate garners 60 percent, the top two finishers will face off in a primary election.

Tea Party activists note that because of the caucus nomination process in Utah, a group of committed activists can really “make a mess out there.”

Bennett has reportedly already spent more than $500,000 trying to reach out to potential delegates who will be selected at caucus meetings in March.

But Bennett apparently hasn’t spent nearly as much reaching out to Tea Partiers.

“Bennett hasn’t tried to work with us too much,” one activist said. “Maybe he’s tired and that is why he hasn’t tried to reach out any more to the Tea Party people.”

Obama’s tax betrayal

In Taxes on February 13, 2010 at 1:46 am

(02-12-2010) The following is from the NY Post

Bam’s tax betrayal

Remember Joe the Plumber?

He was the blue-collar dude who confronted Barack Obama late in the 2008 campaign with this challenge: “Your new tax plan’s going to tax me more, isn’t it?”

Nonsense, replied the candidate: “From 250 [thousand dollars a year] down, your taxes are going to stay the same.”

Indeed, he insisted, 95 percent of “working people” would see their taxes go down in his administration.

Well, think again.

A year into his presidency, Obama now says he’s “agnostic” on what was the principal plank in his economic platform: No tax hikes for individuals making $200,000 a year or less — or for households with a combined annual income under $250,000.

The president is about to appoint a task force (not another one!) to study reining in the national deficit — and, he says, “what I want to do is to be completely agnostic in terms of solutions.”

Meaning, says Obama, that he “can’t set the whole thing up where a whole bunch of things are off the table.”

Including his once-sacred tax pledge.

This, just six months after White House spokesman Robert Gibbs flatly rejected a suggestion by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and senior economic adviser Lawrence Summers that Obama might be willing to go back on that pledge.

Now, it seems, he’s willing to consider anything — including tax hikes on the middle class — in order to deal with the massive deficit ($1.56 trillion projected for 2010) he helped create.

Everything, that is, but what he and the Congress should be moving toward — spending restraint.

In fact, says the president, “The notion that somehow we can just cut our way out of this problem is just not true.”

Well, cutting runaway government spending may not solve the problem — but it’s the best place to start.

After all, as Obama acknowledged, “There is just a mismatch between the amount of money coming in and the amount of money going out.”

Yet the president seems to think that the right solution is to make sure that more money comes into the government’s coffers — by way of higher taxes.

He would do better to follow the example of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who yesterday declared a state of fiscal emergency across the Hudson and completely froze $1.6 billion in unspent government funds, including money for schools, higher education and hospitals.

That will set off howling, no doubt — but it will help close the Garden State’s $2.2 billion budget gap.

“Higher spending is the road to ruin,” Christie told Jersey’s Legislature. “Today, we come to terms with the fact that we cannot spend money on everything we want.”

Joe the Plumber knew that.

So does Barack Obama.

But he just doesn’t care.

Suffolk County GOP

Suffolk County GOP finally has a leader

In Suffolk County Republican Committee on February 12, 2010 at 10:05 am

(02-12-2010) The following is from the Shelter Island Reporter

BY KARL GROSSMAN

New life in Suffolk’s Grand Old Party

Suffolk County GOP Chairman John Jay LaValle speaking at a recent SC 9-12 Project membership meeting.

Suffolk County Republican Chairman John Jay LaValle is bullish about the GOP’s prospects in the coming election. After years of setbacks nationally, on a state level and in once Republican-dominated Suffolk, he sees the GOP as “on our way back.” 

The GOP “lost its way,” acknowledges Mr. LaValle, who took over as Suffolk leader in September. “We became like Democrats. We left the concept of smaller government and less taxes. We started to buy into a concept of all these programs — and government grew and grew.”  

This has been true under a series of recent Republican presidents and the last GOP New York governor, George Pataki, said Mr. LaValle, a 42-year-old attorney who was Brookhaven Town supervisor from 2000 to 2005. But the Democratic Party has “betrayed the trust” of voters and people “have very quickly become angry and upset” and are starting to translate that politically, said Mr. LaValle last week. “It’s a very exciting time for us.” 

The Democratic administration of Barack Obama has been a “disgrace.” The president’s “words sound good but there’s not been a whole lot of substance behind the words,” he said.  

He speaks of Obama having “broken more campaign promises than any president of the United States.” 

He regards the Democratic losses of the governorships of New Jersey and Virginia in November and, last month, of Democrat Ted Kennedy’s Massachusetts Senate seat, as reflecting a negative view a majority of voters now have of the Obama administration. 

The situation is “even more pathetic” in New York State with Democratic Governor David Paterson. Even if Mr. Paterson decides to drop out and not run in November or is dumped, Mr. LaValle doesn’t see his likely replacement, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, as salvaging the situation for Democrats. “Cuomo is extremely overrated,” commented Mr. LaValle. “He and David Paterson operate from the same playbook.” 

Mr. LaValle is supporting former U.S. Representative Rick Lazio of Brightwaters as the GOP nominee for governor in November. “I am certain he will be the Republican candidate. He is a fiscal conservative who knows the reality of our situation.” 

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, another Democratic hopeful for governor, has “reached out” to Mr. LaValle about GOP support, he said, and could “make a great comptroller or attorney general” candidate on the Republican ticket “but we’re behind Rick Lazio.” 

On a county level, he cites East Hampton as a “perfect example” of Democrats self-destructing locally. “The Democrats came into power and ran up deficits and tried to cover up the deficits with inappropriate fiscal behavior.” Thus in a town where there are more enrolled Democrats than Republicans, the GOP won big in East Hampton in November, he points out. 

A key target for Mr. LaValle is Democratic U.S. Representative Tim Bishop of Southampton who Mr. LaValle describes as the “poster child of betrayal” for supporting the Democratic plan for health care reform. “Virtually two-thirds of his constituents were opposed,” claims Mr. LaValle. Mr. Bishop should have reflected his constituents, he maintains. “This arrogance Tim Bishop possesses is exactly the Washington mentality that got us into trouble.” 

He speaks of “extraordinary” potential candidates seeking to run against Mr. Bishop including: Christopher Cox of Westhampton Beach, a grandson, he notes, of former President Richard Nixon; George Demos, originally of Shelter Island now of Holbrook, a former SEC enforcement attorney; and Gary Berntsen, a retired CIA operative and author, of Port Jefferson. 

Another major LaValle target: Brian Foley of Blue Point, who in 2008 ended a near-century-long GOP hold on all Suffolk seats in the State Senate. Mr. LaValle criticizes Democrat Foley’s vote on imposing a payroll tax to help finance the MTA.  

It is vital, meanwhile, says Mr. LaValle, that the GOP not just criticize Democrats but “espouse the principles and ideals of our party. The party has to stand for something: fighting to make government smaller and that will lead to lower taxes for residents. People are standing up and wanting to see something new. This is the reason for these tea parties. People are gravitating back to slightly right of center. It’s a process.” 

Is Mr. LaValle correct? There are many months between now and the November election. But, for sure, in Mr. LaValle of Mt. Sinai, cousin of State Senator Kenneth LaValle, the party now has a hard-charging leader.

▶ View 8 Comments

A WARNING TO THE TEA PARTY NATION

In NYS GOP on February 12, 2010 at 9:53 am

(02-12-2010) The following is from Chuck Baldwin, former Independent candidate for President

By Chuck Baldwin
February 12, 2010
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/

A WARNING TO THE TEA PARTY NATION

As far as grassroots activism goes, the surge in Tea Parties across America is one of the more encouraging developments to recently take place. It reminds me of the “Conservative Revolution” of 1994, when the GOP reclaimed both the US Senate and House of Representatives. At that time, it had been over 40 years since the Republican Party controlled both the US House and Senate. And, between the two, the House victories were the most significant.

Spurred mostly by the election of Bill Clinton in 1992, a host of young, energetic freshman Republicans marched into Washington, D.C., determined to return a burgeoning and out-of-control federal leviathan to the constitutional precepts of limited government. I’m talking about then-freshman House members such as Helen Chenoweth, Steve Largent, Bob Barr, Joe Scarborough, Sonny Bono, John Shadegg, J.C. Watts, etc. These young conservatives went to Washington, D.C., determined to reduce the growth and size of the federal government.

The vehicle used to transport these young conservatives from grassroots activism to US House and Senate seats was the highly touted “Contract with America” (CWA), which was orchestrated by House Speaker-to-be, Newt Gingrich. The CWA included a promise to the American people that if they would give the GOP a majority in Congress, they would eliminate up to 5 federal departments–such as the Departments of Energy and Education–and many federal agencies.

Obviously, not only did the GOP-controlled Congress not eliminate a single federal department or agency–or even shrink the size of the federal government at all–it expanded the size and scope of the federal government at every level. And there is one reason for it: Big Government neocons posing as champions of conservatism co-opted and destroyed the Conservative Revolution of 1994.

If one wants to put names to these treasonous wretches (and I do), I’m talking about charlatans such as Newt Gingrich and Trent Lott. Anyone who thinks that Newt Gingrich is a real conservative or that he will do anything to reduce the size and scope of the federal government needs to speak with any of those Republican members of the freshman class of 1994. (Sadly, too, some of the members of that great freshman class went on to become Big Government toadies themselves. Such is the power of that Putrid Province by the Potomac.)

The Tea Parties of 2010 remind me very much of the Conservative Revolution of 1994. And if the Tea Party Nation is not very careful, they will succumb to the same fate. The signs of a silent takeover of the movement are already appearing.

First of all, the Tea Parties were actually born during the Presidential campaign of Congressman Ron Paul of Texas in 2007 and 2008. For all intents and purposes, the Tea Parties and the Ron Paul Revolution were one and the same. These were (mostly) young people, who were sick and tired of the same old establishment Republican Party. They were tired of establishment Republicans selling out the principles of limited government; they were tired of the US Constitution being ignored and trampled by both Republicans and Democrats; they were tired of an incessant interventionist US foreign policy that keeps sending US forces overseas to advance a burgeoning New World Order (NWO); they were tired of perpetual war; they were tired of the bank bailouts; they were tired of the Federal Reserve; etc.

I know this because I met–and spoke before–the Tea Party Nation in State after State as I campaigned for Dr. Paul during the Republican primaries back in 2008. And I met them again all over America, as I was running as an Independent candidate for President–with Ron Paul’s endorsement, no less. I was with them in scores of meetings (big and small) from Washington, D.C., to Spokane, Washington, and all points in between.

But now many of the Tea Parties are distancing themselves from Dr. Paul and embracing establishment players such as Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck. Even Newt Gingrich is being courted. Watch out, Tea Party Nation: you’re in danger of losing your soul! Newt Gingrich is not one of you. He is not your friend. He is an imposter. He will destroy you just like he almost single-handedly destroyed the Conservative Revolution of 1994.

Plus, be careful about Sarah Palin and other establishment Republicans. Palin is currently playing both sides. She is promoting Big Government neocons such as John McCain on the one hand, and sincere conservative-libertarians such as Rand Paul on the other hand. But if one wants a real barometer of Palin’s true colors, look no further than her endorsement of Rick Perry in Texas.

Perry is the quintessential establishment Republican. Perry has been in office for some 9 years, and what has he done to thwart the NWO in Texas? Nothing! Perry is even a Bilderberg Group attendee. What has he done for State sovereignty in Texas? Nothing? In fact, he supports the North American Union and the NAFTA superhighway. What has he done to resist Obama’s universal health care proposals? Nothing! What has he done to protect the citizens of Texas against an emerging Police State? Nothing! What has he done to fight illegal immigration? Nothing!

As a result of both Rick Perry’s establishment business-as-usual politics in Texas and the proliferating grassroots Tea Party movement, counterattacking establishment politics, a Tea Partier herself has entered the race for Texas governor. Her name is Debra Medina. As the Tea Party Nation in Texas already knows, Medina is one of you.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

Global Warming Fraud

Liberals and scientific fraud

In Environment on February 12, 2010 at 9:52 am

(02-12-2010) The following is from TownHall.com

by Mona Charen

Liberals and Scientific Method

True to their mission as the organs of the liberal establishment, Time magazine and The New York Times ran stories in the midst of the great snowmaggeddon warning us against drawing any politically incorrect conclusions. “Skeptics of global warming,” cautioned The Times, “are using the record-setting snows to mock those who warn of dangerous human-driven climate change — this looks more like global cooling, they taunt. Most climate scientists respond that the ferocious storms are consistent with forecasts that a heating planet will produce more frequent and more intense weather events.” Time agrees: “There is some evidence that climate change could in fact make such massive snowstorms more common, even as the world continues to warm.”

Note how The Times contrasts “skeptics of global warming” with “climate scientists.” Bill Nye the Science Guy, appearing on MSNBC, used the same tactic, accusing skeptics about manmade global warming of “denying science.”

Those who now protest that any particular weather pattern should not be confused with global climate have short memories. Only yesterday, they were attributing every forest fire, drought, hurricane, and toad disease to global warming. Remember the “plight” of the polar bears? Turns out that polar bear populations have been increasing, not decreasing, for the past 30 years — though, yes, one photographer did manage to snap a picture of bears seemingly stranded on an ice floe. The alarmists are in no position to complain now that isolated weather events are being used to draw vast and unwarranted conclusions.

More preposterous is the conceit that only the warmists are actually taking account of hard science. In fact, the scandal of the past several months (which liberals have not digested) has been the long-term and systematic abuse of science in the name of politics.

As Jillian Kay Melchior notes in Commentary magazine, the Copenhagen conference — supposedly the summit of climatologists and policymakers — paid little to no attention to the revelation of scientific fraud. The “climategate” e-mails from Penn State and East Anglia University were not trivial revelations. They involved deception, intimidation, and manipulation of records by two of the leading research institutions whose data form the backbone of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Melchior writes: “Despite the drumbeat informing the public that science strongly supports the climate-change thesis, the hacked data paint a picture of a community of experts afraid of scrutiny, willing to use underhanded methods to silence doubters, and content to eliminate evidence that might undermine both their theories and their funding.”

Scientists who disputed the manmade global warming hypothesis were not surprised by what the East Anglia e-mails revealed. It’s an open secret that academic institutions have been inhospitable to heretics on this question for some time. Richard Lindzen, professor of atmospheric sciences at Harvard, told Commentary, “These are not ambiguous. They’re talking about suppressing other scientists. But there’s no surprise. Those of us who are in the field have seen this. The only surprise is that someone actually got hold and sorted these documents.”

Not only did scientists twist the peer review process, manipulate data, and attempt to suppress dissent, they also destroyed records — is this the scientific method for which liberals are going to the barricades?

The entire superstructure of climate alarmism rests on data that are doubtful and possibly fraudulent. The Science and Public Policy Institute has evaluated surface temperature records and found, among other things that 1) instrumental data from the pre-satellite era are virtually useless; 2) fewer than 25 percent of the 6,000 temperature stations that once existed are still operative; 3) comprehensive ocean data have been available only since 2003 and have shown no warming; and 4) higher-altitude, higher-latitude, and rural stations were the most likely to be lost, leading to a further serious overstatement of warming.

As John Hinderaker of the Power Line blog has reported, the U.N. IPCC report itself does not even accurately represent the views of the scientists who signed it. Key sections expressing caveats and acknowledging countervailing evidence were altered after the purported authors had put their names to it.

It isn’t the snow outside that has discredited global warming. It’s the chill the warmists have imposed on scientific inquiry. They are acting as enforcers of orthodoxy, not seekers of truth.

“What Others Are Saying”, Lee Zeldin

In Suffolk County Republican Committee on February 11, 2010 at 9:08 pm

(02-11-2010) The following is from Lee Zeldin for Senate

We need effective leadership from leaders who will stand up for the best interests of their constituents. These people believe Lee Zeldin is that leader.

“What Others Are Saying”

This video captures the frustrations and concerns affecting hardworking, middle class Long Island taxpayers. A representative cross section of local residents explains why Lee can breathe new life into the institution of elected politics. The grass roots movement can get behind a new breed of leader who will restore effective representation to the 3^rd Senatorial District of New York.

We have also updated our website, zeldinforsenate.com, with new information about our February 25^th Kick-Off Dinner. We are very excited that our Key Note Address will be delivered by a distinguished U.S. Senator. Please RSVP by February 19, 2010 if possible.

Additionally, we will be hosting our 2^nd round of Election District Captain Training the weekend of February 26^th-28^th. Your commitment to become an ED Captain is vitally important for all of us to defeat Brian Foley and end his liberal tax and spend ways.

For more information about our Kick-Off Dinner and our Election District Captain Training, please visit our website:

zeldinforsenate.com

If you have any questions or would like to RSVP for our upcoming events, please contact the Zeldin for Senate Team at our office (631-569-4848) or send us an e-mail: info@zeldinforsenate.com

S4779 Update! (mandated vaccines of our children without parental consent)

In Health Care on February 11, 2010 at 9:07 pm

(02-11-2010) Special thanks to Phyllis from the Conservative Society for Action for this important update.

To all those following the vote on S4779 (mandated vaccines of our children without parental consent) in the NY State Senate… here’s the latest info on it. And note our work is not yet done!!!

Most importantly it is anticipated that the vote will come up again Feb 23rd…. PLEASE READ info below and get ready to roll up your sleeves again

Dear All,
We just arrived home from Albany and here’s a recap of the day. We started off the day in Albany at the Senate Codes Committee meeting. The Bill S4779 that would remove parental consent and knowledge in regards to minors receiving STD vaccines was NOT voted on today. Prior to the meeting Senate Sponsor Liz Krueger asked the Committee to hold on voting for the bill.

That was good news for today, however when we met with Senator Krueger chief of staff, we were told that they stand behind the bill and it was clear that at this time they were not backing off of this bill. We clearly stated all of the points of opposition. We interpret the bill not being voted on as they did think it would pass in the Codes Committee and wanted to hold off until they addressed all of our opposition. The bill could come back up for a vote as early as Tuesday, February 23rd.

Many legislators in Albany received an overwhelming amount of calls and faxes. We definitely won this round, but we have to forge ahead and continue with the pressure. We will be sending out an alert tomorrow that will address the the next steps that we feel will continue the heat. The strategy will include continued contacting of Senators on the Codes Committee that were undecided or in support of the bill. We will ask everyone to contact Assemblywoman Amy Paulin who is the sponsor on the Assembly side of this bill and the Assembly Health Committee members where the bill is currently residing.

We met with several dozen offices on the Assembly and Senate sides and expressed New York’s opposition with A6702, A0778 and S4779.

Furthermore, we spoke about the need to move ahead with the bills that will reinforce the current religious and medical waivers. We also spoke personally to Assemblyman Marc Alessi (D, WF) who is the sponsor of the Philosophical bill and he wants to have an official meeting with his constituents regarding moving ahead in getting support of this bill.

Thank you for your patience in our update of today. Last but certainly not least thank you for all your letters and calls to the legislature and to all the folk who were able to sit in on the committee meeting today.

Best, Lisa Rudley and Rita Palma
New York Alliance for Vaccination Choice (NYAVC)

P.S. For those that are new to this list, the newly formed NY Alliance for Vaccination Choice (NYAVC) website will be launched soon.

Let Assemblyman

Marc Allesi (D, WF)

know how you feel!

Marc Alessi, NYS Assembly, AD1

District Office

4466 Route 25
Calverton, NY 11933
631-727-0204
Fax: 631-727-0426

Albany Office

LOB 419
Albany, NY 12248
518-455-5294

Republican Wave

The Empire State Republican surge

In NYS GOP on February 11, 2010 at 9:06 pm

(02-11-2010) The following is from the NY Post and is written by Edward F. Cox, Chairman of the NYS Republican Party

By EDWARD F. COX

The Empire State Republican surge

With the pickup of two state Assembly seats in Tuesday’s special elec tions in Westchester and Suffolk counties, New York Republicans are following up on Scott Brown’s historic win in “true blue” Massachusetts. Come November, one-party rule in Albany will be on the chopping block.

In fact, the return to relevance of core GOP principles — and a New York party dedicated to those principles — has been underway for most of a year.

In 2008, Democrats won complete control of government in both Washington and Albany for the first time since 1935. In Congress, they used this absolute power to arrogantly jam through costly big-government programs, seasoned with huge slices of pork. In New York, corruption of a magnitude shocking even by Albany’s standards, combined with out-of-control special interests, has yielded ever-bigger budgets and deficits, higher taxes and job-killing regulation.

Yet, while Democrats grew more partisan, the voters — suffering the extraordinary losses of the Great Recession — were focussing on kitchen-table issues. The tea-party movement is just the edge of the public’s anger.

Yes, Democrats still hold a large edge in registration in our state. But the core GOP message of fiscal responsibility and limited, efficient and clean government is resonating with New York voters — especially the independents who control the balance of the electorate.

Hence last fall’s wave of wins for fiscally conservative Republicans in counties across the state. In Westchester, where Democrats outnumber Republicans two to one, a Republican beat the personally popular, three-term Democratic county executive on a platform of efficient government, capping spending and reducing taxes.

And no, it wasn’t just an anti-incumbent wave: In Rockland (also two-to-one Democratic), the GOP county executive won a fifth term thanks to efficient governing and a fiscally conservative record.

Like most Americans in these economic times, New Yorkers want fiscally conservative governance. Long-suffering Empire State taxpayers are in full revolt against profligate government. Yet Albany’s Democratic leadership is wandering aimlessly in a desert of corruption, regulation, deficits, taxes and debt.

This year, the state GOP and its candidates will present a bold vision of a government that fosters job creation and relief for New York’s forgotten taxpayers.

A prior Republican administration in Albany created a high-tech nanotechnology industry in the upper Hudson Valley and one of the country’s best charter-school programs. The Democratic powers that now run Albany kill private-sector jobs — and passed on a chance for $700 million in federal aid because they didn’t want to boost charters.

In Pennsylvania, Marcellus Shale natural gas is a multibillion-dollar industry. The same should be true across the border in the Southern Tier of New York — but unemployment remains high there, as Democratic regulators smother the development of this low-carbon energy source.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

Chris Cox Congratulates Dean Murray on His Win!

In Chris Cox on February 11, 2010 at 11:02 am

(02-10-2010) The following is from Chris Cox, NY CD1 Candidate

Chris Cox Congratulates Dean Murray on His Win!

Just the Start of Things to Come…

After last night’s great victory for Dean Murray for the State Assembly in New Yok’s 3rd Assembly District, Chris Cox (Candidate for New York’s 1st Congressional District) issued the following statement:

“Today is a great day for Suffolk County and New York State. Dean’s win last night was an important step to bringing back accountability and conservative values to a government which New Yorkers hold little faith in currently. There is no doubt that Dean will fight for Suffolk County residents in the State Assembly and I was happy to assist his campaign. Today is also a reminder that we must keep up our momentum and not allow our government to continue to be plagued by wasteful spending and individual greed. On March 9th we must show our elected officials that we will not stand for politics as usual and send Dan Panico to Brookhaven’s Town Council to demand results and curb the Council’s excessive spending. This is just a start.”

For more information on Chris’ candidacy and platform, please visit the campaign’s website at www.ChrisCoxforCongress.com and follow him on Twitter and Facebook for the latest campaign updates.

Socialism

Teachers union recommends reading Marxist Saul Alinsky

In Education on February 11, 2010 at 11:00 am

(02-11-2010) This is not so much for my Tea Party friends as you all are aware of this story. The following is more for my GOP friends, to give them some insight into how deep the Liberal Socialist cancer has seeped into mainstream America.

I would like to turn your attention to the National Education Association (NEA).

The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest professional organization and largest labor union in the United States, representing public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become teachers.

On its website, the NEA describes itself as a “professional employee organization,” although it is often categorized as a labor union with strong leftist and liberal leanings, particularly by critics.

The mission of the NEA is “to advocate for education professionals and to unite our members and the nation to fulfill the promise of public education to prepare every student to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world,” as well as concerning itself with the wage and working condition issues common to other labor unions.

On the NEA recommended reading list is Saul Alinsky.

Who is Saul Alinsky?

Here’s the NEA romanticizing this Marxist on their website:

A Resource for Every Organizer & Anyone Contemplating Action in Their Community

NEA recommends the following Saul Alinsky books to those members of our Association who are involved in grassroots organizing, especially Association Representatives (ARs) — also known as building reps or shop stewards — and leaders at local affiliates.

Saul Alinsky is widely recognized as the father of, and pre-imminent expert in, grassroots organizing, which is why we recommend that ARs and local leaders become familiar with his theories & materials.

Alinsky’s writings have been called the “mother’s milk of the left,” however in an ironic homage, the conservative right has borrowed a page or two from the Alinsky playbook. Tea Party leader and self-described “conservative radical” Michael Patrick Leahy, for example, has authored a book based on Alinsky’s teachings: “Rules for Conservative Radicals.”

We hope that ARs and local leaders of all political stripes will discern from Alinsky’s books grassroots organizing strategies that will best help us bring our members together around the common goal of improving public education.

Reveille for Radicals

by Saul Alinsky
Vintage; Reissue edition (October 23, 1989)

Rules for Radicals

by Saul Alinsky
Vintage; Reissue edition (October 23, 1989)

Saul Alinsky wrote the book on American radicalism – two books, in fact: a 1945 best-seller, “Reveille for Radicals” and “Rules for Radicals” in 1971. The “Reveille” title page quotes Thomas Paine… “Let them call me rebel and welcome, I feel no concern from it; but I should suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul.”

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

Socialism

Saul Alinsky, a Marxist grassroots “organizer”

In Socialism Growing on February 11, 2010 at 11:00 am

(02-10-2010) The revoultion of Saul Alinsky.

Nikita Khrushchev – “We can’t expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism.” (1956)

Saul Alinsky died in 1972. He was a Marxist grassroots organizer who spent much of his life organizing rent strikes and protesting conditions of the poor in Chicago in the 1930s. However, unlike Christian socialist and activist for the poor Dorothy Day, Alinsky’s real claim to fame was as strategist for anti-establishment ’60s radicals and revolutionaries.

Indeed, Alinsky wrote the rule book for ’60s radicals like Bill and Hillary Clinton, George Miller and Nancy Pelosi. He considered Hillary Rodham to be one of his better students and asked her to join him in his efforts as an organizer of radical leftist causes.

Alinsky had a true genius for formulating tactical battle plans for the radical left. He wrote two books outlining his organizational principles and strategies: “Reveille for Radicals” (1946) and “Rules for Radicals” (1971).

“Rules for Radicals” begins with an unusual tribute: “From all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins – or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom – Lucifer.”

The devil challenged authority and got his own kingdom, and that goes to the heart of what left is really about. That of course is to get power any way you can, including lying, cheating and stealing. The ultimate rule is that the ends justify the means.

Alinsky asserted that he was more concerned with the acquisition of power than anything else: “My aim here is to suggest how to organize for power: how to get it and how to use it.” This is not to be done with assistance to the poor, nor even by organizing the poor to demand assistance: “Even if all the low-income parts of our population were organized … it would not be powerful enough to get significant, basic, needed changes.”

Alinsky advised his followers that the poor have no power and that the real target is the middle class.

Alinsky’s radicals found a perfect vehicle for their destruction of the American system and more particularly for taking and maintaining power.

That instrument was the Democratic Party.

We are now in a battle against a party that is filled with people that are followers of Saul Alinsky a Devout Marxist…this is the mentor and hero of Barack Obama.

The transition of the old Democratic Party to what exists today should not surprise or confound conservatives. Nor should Alinsky’s tactics seem foreign. After all, for nearly 40 years, Republicans and the conservative agenda have been getting hammered by the left through the successful use of Alinsky tactics.

In that cause, radicals and the liberal-left gravitated toward the print and electronic media, toward the university professorate and the law.

The left, consciously or unconsciously, adopted Alinsky’s rules.

The impact changed the nature of the Democratic Party and the direction of the United States. Increasingly, the left is succeeding in changing the nature of the Republican Party as well.

Suffice to say the greatest change has taken place in the relationship between the state and the individual. America is rapidly descending from a representative Constitutional Republic to a collectivist empire controlled by elites of one sort or another.

Alinsky’s influence on the modern Democratic Party indicates that the ends do indeed justify the means. As Alinsky states in “Rules for Radicals” it was foolish to believe that means are just as important as the ends. He states that “to believe in the immaculate conception of ends and principles … the practical revolutionary will understand … [that] in action, one does not always enjoy the luxury of a decision that is consistent both with one’s individual conscience and the good of mankind.”

Sadly, not enough Republicans and conservatives learned Alinsky’s rules until late in the game. A sign of hope is the fact that the new media, including talk radio and the Internet, are changing all that. One can hope it is not too late.

Berntsen for Congress launches website www.Garyforny1.com

In Gary Berntsen on February 10, 2010 at 4:47 pm

(02-10-2010) The following is a Press Release from Gary Berntsen, NY CD1 Candidate

10 Feb 2010 – Suffok County, NY

Berntsen for Congress launches website www.Garyforny1.com

Dear Friends and Supporters,

On February 3rd, 2010, I filed my papers as a candidate for New York’s First Congressional District. I was born and raised in the district in Smithtown.

I have spent my entire adult life in the service of defending the United States from foreign enemies, serving for four years in the U.S. Air Force and then 23 years in the CIA’s Clandestine Service. Throughout this time I was blessed to serve alongside patriots. But as I look to the future, I recognize that there can be no rest for those committed to preserving the greatness of America. Those who have served on the front lines of our conflicts will now have to fight their way into the halls of power in order to restore a level of sanity to a Congress whose representatives pass 2,000 page bills without having read them and pile debt upon debt.

I am pleased to announce the launch of my official campaign website, www.Garyforny1.com. Providing the public with direct access to my campaign is an important step as I work toward capturing the Republican nomination and defeating Rep. Timothy Bishop this November. Make no mistake, Rep. Bishop will fight hard to retain the office he currently holds. With your support, we will build the coalitions necessary to take back our seat in Congress and, as a result, begin to right our Ship of State.

I look forward to hearing from you and working with you. Please visit www.Garyforny1.com and please pass it along to your friends and family.

Sincerely,

Gary Berntsen

www.garyforny1.com

chairman@brookhavenrepublicans.com

A message from Jesse Garcia, Chairman Brookhaven Republicans

In Brookhaven Republican Committee, Dean Murray on February 10, 2010 at 4:47 pm

(02-10-2010) The following is a Press Release from Jesse Garcia, Chairman Brookhaven Republican Committee

Brookhaven Town Republican Committee

Historic Election of Dean Murray to the

Third State Assembly District, Feb. 9th

“Tuesday evening, with the election of Dean Murray to the New York State Assembly’s Third District, is not only a historic victory for the Brookhaven Town Republican Committee, but more importantly a great victory for the hardworking families of the district who now have a tax fighting advocate working for them in Albany!

“The Tax and spend Albany Democrats, with their failed urban agenda, received a wake up call and Dean Murray is just the individual to fight for suburban Brookhaven Town, Suffolk County and Long Island. Dean will fight for homeowners to get back the STAR Rebate checks; fight to create and save jobs; and once and for all eliminate the job-killing MTA Bailout Tax that burdens small businesses and leads to less jobs and lost services.

“Dean Murray’s victory at the ballot box, making him only the third Republican to ever be elected to the third district in 37 years is a testament to the complete TEAM VICTORY this special election was for the dedicated and committed members, volunteers and supporters of the Brookhaven Town Republican Committee!

“I want to personally thank our partners in the Conservative Party and dear friends – the Suffolk County TEA Party Patriots!

“I cannot say enough of the effort in the freezing cold my brothers and sisters of the Brookhaven Town Republican Committee, who proved once again that united and energized, there are no elections we can’t win!

“Dean Murray’s election is also a reminder that we must keep up our momentum and not allow our federal, state and local governments continue to be burdened by more wasteful spending and higher taxes and fees. As a Party organization, the Brookhaven Town Republican Committee will seize the momentum of Dean’s historic victory and focus on electing on March 9^th a Proven Tax Fighter, Dan Panico, to the Sixth Town Council District; a seat previously held by a great Republican, the late Keith Romaine.”

For Immediate Release: 10 February 2010

Contact: Jesse Garcia: 631-451-2320

Anti-Tea Party Web Site Part of Scheme to Funnel Funds

In CSA, The 9-12 Project on February 10, 2010 at 4:46 pm

(02-10-2010) The following is from Fox News

By Joseph Abrams

Anti-Tea Party Web Site Part of Scheme to Funnel Funds

A new Web site targeting the tea parties is a part of a complex network of money flowing from the mountainous coffers of the country’s biggest labor unions and trickling slowly into political slush funds for Democratic activists.

A seemingly grassroots organization that’s mounted an online campaign to counter the tea party movement is actually the front end of an elaborate scheme that funnels funds — including sizable labor union contributions — through the offices of a prominent Democratic party lawyer.

A Web site popped up in January dedicated to preventing the tea party’s “radical” and “dangerous” ideas from “gaining legislative traction,” targeting GOP candidates in Illinois for the firing squad.

“This movement is a fad,” proclaims TheTeaPartyIsOver.org, which was established by the American Public Policy Center (APPC), a D.C.-based campaign shop that few people have ever heard of.

But a close look reveals the APPC’s place in a complex network of money flowing from the mountainous coffers of the country’s biggest labor unions into political slush funds for Democratic activists.

Here’s how it works: What appears like a local groundswell is in fact the creation of two men — Craig Varoga and George Rakis, Democratic Party strategists who have set up a number of so-called 527 groups, the non-profit election organizations that hammer on contentious issues (think Swift Boats, for example).

Varoga and Rakis keep a central mailing address in Washington, pulling in soft money contributions from unions and other well-padded sources to engage in what amounts to a legal laundering system. The money — tens of millions of dollars — gets circulated around to different states by the 527s, which pay for TV ads, Internet campaigns and lobbyist salaries, all while keeping the hands of the unions clean — for the most part.

The system helps hide the true sources of funding, giving the appearance of locally bred opposition in states from Oklahoma to New Jersey, or in the case of the Tea Party Web site, in Illinois.

And this whitewash is entirely legal, say election law experts, who told FoxNews.com that this arrangement more or less the norm in Washington.

“It’s not illegal but it is, I think, dishonest on the part of the organizations,” said Paul Ryan, a legal counsel at the Campaign Legal Center. “And there’s a reason they do it: they know voters don’t like outsiders coming in to sway the vote.”

Calls and e-mails to the Maryland-based consultant firm Independent Strategies, run by Varoga and Rakis, were not returned.

Outside of that firm, the center of their activity appears to be a single office in Southeast D.C. — 300 M Street, Suite 1102 — which plays host to a sprawling political shell game they have established.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

US Senate

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Embraces Communist Van Jones

In CSA, The 9-12 Project on February 10, 2010 at 12:54 am

(02-10-2010) United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), will appear in NYC next month alongside Communist Van Jones.

By Jordan Fabian

Van Jones will appear alongside Sen. Gillibrand

Van Jones, the controversial former Obama administration official, will speak on the same panel as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) at a New York City forum next month, according to media reports this week.

Jones, who served as green jobs czar, resigned his advisory position last year after it was revealed he signed a petition that suggested the Bush administration deliberately allowed the 9/11 terrorist attacks to happen as a pretext for war.

Conservative lawmakers and activists had put pressure on Jones for weeks leading up to the revelation, arguing that his past remarks and political leanings made him unfit for office.

Jones and Gillibrand will speak on a panel sponsored by the Advocacy Project at the Harvard Club in New York. Jones is scheduled to speak about the Obama administration’s jobs agenda.

Gillibrand, who has suffered from low approval ratings, is running for reelection this year and could face a primary challenge from New York transplant and former Rep. Harold Ford (D-Tenn.) Republicans have yet to find a strong challenger to face the junior senator.

by Matthew Vadum

Ex-Moderate Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Embraces Communist Van Jones

Facing what could become a bruising primary battle, appointed U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is embracing one of President Obama’s best known communist appointees, former green jobs czar Van Jones.

The Hill reports Gillibrand will share the stage with Jones at a panel discussion sponsored by the Advocacy Project at the Harvard Club in New York. Jones, a self-described “communist,” was pushed out of the Obama administration five months ago following the embarrassing revelation that he was a 9/11 “truther” who had signed a petition accusing the U.S. government of orchestrating the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

For a time, Jones had been politically radioactive to Democrats but Gillibrand’s decision to work alongside him appears to bring Jones’s political exile to an end.

Gillibrand, who had a reputation as a moderate Democrat before entering the U.S. Senate, has been steadily tacking to the left since being appointed to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton so it’s no surprise that she is cozying up to her party’s radical left-wing.

Gillibrand was one of only seven senators who voted against de-funding the radical leftist group ACORN known for its decades of involvement in election fraud. At the time she defended her vote, telling the New York Post through a spokesperson, “The truth remains that thousands of New York families who are facing foreclosure depend on charitable organizations like ACORN for assistance.”

The panel-sponsoring Advocacy Project was founded by Democratic operative Erica Payne, who was a key figure in the founding of the George Soros-led Democracy Alliance, an ultra-secretive billionaires’ club that funds political projects aimed at turning America into socialist Europe.

“Van Jones is a globally recognized, award-winning pioneer in the green jobs movement. He also happens to be a super fun speaker so this will be a very lively conversation!” Payne wrote in an invitation to the March 8 event. Payne also describes Gillibrand and Jones as “two awesome leaders” and refers to Jones as a “Green Jobs legend.”

The Agenda Project was ”formed to help realize the promise of this pivotal moment in American history,” according to Payne. It will conduct “several by-invitation-only gatherings around policy and political strategy” over the next year, she is quoted as saying

Let’s take a walk down memory lane:

Senator Gillibrand must now answer to “We the People.”

Senator Gillibrand’s offices are:

Long Island Office
155 Pinelawn Road
Suite 250 North
Melville, NY 11747
Tel. (631) 249-2825
Fax (631) 249-2847

New York City Office
780 Third Avenue
Suite 2601
New York, New York 10017
Tel. (212) 688-6262
Fax (212) 688-7444

Washington, DC Office
478 Russell
Washington, DC 20510
Tel. (202) 224-4451
Fax (202) 228-0282

Politics, Smear, and Misdirection

In Gary Berntsen on February 10, 2010 at 12:53 am

(02-10-2010) The following is a letter from Gary Berntsen, NY CD1 Candidate

Politics, Smear, and Misdirection

By Gary Berntsen

On February 3^rd, my attorney filed my FEC forms—officially making me a candidate for New York’s 1st Congressional District. I will have a public kick-off of my campaign later in the month. “I am vying for the Republican nomination, the Conservative Party nomination and the Independence Party nomination in an effort to challenge the party of the left’s standard-bearer and incumbent, Timothy Bishop.”

On February 7^th, I was alerted by a blogger who runs a reputable website of an unusual entry that was submitted to his blog, but one he chose not to post. The article was a smear job on candidate Chris Cox. It made reference to a past obscure donation; slurred his grandfather, President Richard M. Nixon; and ended by endorsing me, Gary Berntsen, as the best candidate for the 1^st Congressional District. I believe this attempted smear was done by a third party in order to misdirect and bring Cox’s campaign into open conflict with my own.

First, I must reveal that I do not have an opposition research team nor am I posting negative ads against any of my opponents. My message is clear: I have more experience and have greater accomplishments than all of my major challengers combined. In a world of danger, I will help defend the lives of our citizens and our economy. It is a simple message that is powerful—and it is powerful because it is true.

Second, I would never slur former President Richard M. Nixon. Though President Nixon was forced to resign from the White House over the Watergate Affair, he was one of the most significant political forces of the last half-century. Despite his resignation, he was a brilliant and complex man and wrote some valuable books on history and leadership after leaving the Presidency. I am sorry I never got to meet him. I recall watching the funeral of his wife, Pat, on television and seeing him overcome with grief. I think even President Nixon’s most ardent opponents felt the sadness that overwhelmed him that day.

A final bit of business: the world is a large place, with tens of thousands of towns and cities. Interestingly, the IP address from where the malicious message was launched originated in Saint James, within our district. With the IP address in hand, we can easily make it public for all to see and check against other e-mails transmitted during the campaign. I will only do so if this nonsense continues.

Gentlemen, integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking.

Paid Advertisement

The Liberal cancer is slowly being exterminated.

In CSA, The 9-12 Project on February 10, 2010 at 12:52 am

(02-10-2010) Long Island Tea Party movement continues undefeated march toward retaking our government.

First it was the Islip and Riverhead Town elections. During those campaigns the Conservative Society for Action and Suffolk 9-12 Project were everywhere in the weeks leading up to those elections.

In Islip, that effort led to defeating the Liberal Lion of Long Island and the Infamous Sleeping Councilman.

In Riverhead, it was a clean sweep of Democrats which led to a unanimous Republican held Town Board.

Now, in the NY 3^rd Assembly District, with unbelievable support from the Conservative Society for Action, Republican Conservative Dean Murray WINS!!!

Dean Murray Wins NY 3rd Assembly District !!!!

Look at those results!

For any Republican still doubting the effectiveness and conservative activism of the CSA look at those results.

The margin of victory is only 186 votes. So imagine what those results could have been against this Working Family Acorn sponsored Thoden without the Tea Party support.

In an email to his Tea Party supporters, Brookhaven GOP Chairman graciously said, “Thank you my dear patriots!!”

Congratulations to Dean Murray!

Now back to Riverhead!

Thanks to the Suffolk County 9-12 Project

RIVERHEAD VOTERS OVERWHELMINGLY REJECT $123 MILLION SCHOOLS OVERHAUL

There were 2, 274 ‘no’ votes and 1,285 ‘yes’ votes.

I have never met Dr. Dianne Scricca, nor do I live in the Riverhead School District. And while I was not effected personally by either possible outcome of this referendum, it comes with great satisfaction that this $130 million school expansion project was defeated.Listening to Dr. Scricca a number of times on Bruce Tria’s WRIV radio show, I could not help but feel my blood pressure rise at the shear arrogance of this woman. This $130 million woman.

Just like all other big government liberals, Dr. Scricca would often say, “it’s only the price of your Starbucks coffee.” OOOOOH that would burn me.

When the economy was good, the government would take more then half of my income in one form of tax or another. Now there’s nothing left to take.

All I have to look forward to is my Starbucks! AND YOU AINT GETTIN IT!

Shame on Dr. Scricca for this outlandish proposal in the middle of this dreadful economy.

Shame on Dr. Scricca for her arrogance.

The days of taxing and spending are over.

And who could say it better then Brian Mills;

“These Liberals are all the same. There are no compromises. It’s always an all or none approach with them. Well, if the bond does not pass this week, then let it serve as a wake up call to the Diane Scricca’s of the world and all the other tax and spend Liberals. Unless there is a well developed plan as to how to pay for a public project and unless all those taxpayers who are funding it clearly understand where the money is being allocated, then the plan is not to even to be considered. No more mysteries. No more surprises.

At this point in our nations history people are scared of big numbers and massive debt, whether it is being employed at either a national or local level. The misguided and delusional school board, under Dr. Diane Scricca, would find themselves well served by asking the community for a more transparent and reasonable proposal, which addresses the immediate needs of the community, as opposed to a massive bond that places an additional burden on the taxpayers in their time of need, and lacks the transparency required of a public works project.”

Iran, President Obama

Playing Obama like a Fiddle

In Gary Berntsen on February 9, 2010 at 12:36 pm

(01-09-2010) The following OP-ED is by Gary Berntsen, NY CD1 Candidate

Playing Obama like a Fiddle

A little over a year ago, President Barack Obama and a chorus of Democrats denounced President George Bush’s tough handling of North Korea and Iran and crowed that their approach of engagement (i.e. a charm offensive) would restore American credibility in the world. Within the last year both North Korea and Iran have grabbed U.S. citizens who got too close to their border, dragged them in and imprisoned them. In the case of North Korea, two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were released only after an apology was made and a former U.S. president visited, bestowing greater credibility on that country’s warped leader. Today, the three American hikers grabbed along the Iraq-Iran border are being charged with espionage. The Iranians know they are not spies; they just enjoy exposing the U.S. administration as impotent.

This week, as a means of yet again taunting the Obama administration, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered his country’s atomic agency to begin the production of higher enriched uranium, a move that is linked to creating the fissile material needed for a nuclear weapons program. Prior to this announcement, the Obama administration had fielded diplomatic approach after diplomatic approach, searching for an arrangement that would allow Iran to hand over its uranium for processing outside the country. The first proposal called for having the work done in Russia, the latest proposal in Japan. Clearly, the Iranians are masters of the delay game—constantly providing the international community with some hope for a resolution. All the while, the Iranians move their weapons program forward.

Obama and his supporters see negotiations as a means to ultimately disarm Iran and bring Iran into the world’s community of nations. The Iranians see negotiations as a means to buy time, to achieve nuclear status, and to thereby achieve legitimacy as a world power. We can only pray that President Obama and his democratic supporters will come to understand the folly of coddling tyrants and killers. If not, Obama’s successor in 2012 will be forced to face enemies better armed and even more recalcitrant.

SEE RELATED STORY FROM TOWNHALL.COM

By NASSER KARIMI

Defiant Iran accelerates nuclear program

Iran began enriching uranium to a higher level on Tuesday over the vociferous objections of the U.S. and its allies who fear the process could eventually be used to give the Islamic republic nuclear weapons.

Even before the announcement U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he believed the U.N. should slap new sanctions on Iran in “weeks, not months,” according to his spokesman Tuesday.

France and the U.S. said Monday Iran’s action left no choice but to push harder for a fourth set of U.N. Security Council sanctions to punish Iran’s nuclear defiance. Russia, which has close ties to Iran and has opposed new sanctions, appeared to edge closer to Washington’s position, saying the new enrichment plans show the suspicions about Iran’s intentions are well-founded.

Iranian state television said that the process began in the presence of inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. Uranium has to be enriched to fuel nuclear power plants and Iran needs the 20 percent enriched fuel for a research reactor producing medical isotopes.

Enriching uranium to 90 percent, however, creates the material for nuclear weapons, which many countries are afraid Iran is seeking. Iran denies the charge.

In effort to defuse the crisis, the International Atomic Energy Agency brokered a deal last year in which Iran would ship out its low enriched uranium to be processed abroad and returned a year later.

Iran initially rejected the deal, then later said that if an acceptable alternative could be reached, it would not continue the high level enriching process.

Ali Akbar Salehi, a vice president as well as the head of the country’s nuclear program, said the further enrichment would be unnecessary if the West found a way to provide Iran with the needed fuel.

“Whenever they provide the fuel, we will halt production of 20 percent,” he told state TV late Monday.

Iran has so far enriched uranium to a level of 3.5 percent, which is suitable for use in fueling nuclear power plants.

On Tuesday, the spokesman of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast said any plan by the West to impose new Security Council resolutions would not be helpful.

“If they attempt another resolution, they are making a mistake. It is not helpful in resolving the nuclear dispute between Iran and the West,” he said. “They are completely wrong if they think our people will back down even a single step.”

Salehi said Iran has been trying to buy the higher enriched fuel for its research reactor for the past several months, but the West made providing the fuel conditional on Iran’s acceptance of the U.N.-drafted agreement to ship its uranium stockpile abroad first.

That plan would come with some safeguards, because the enriched fuel provided to Iran would be in a form that would be difficult to further process to make weapons.

According to the report on state TV, the higher level enrichment began after Iranian scientists injected 25 kilograms of 3.5 percent enriched UF6, or Uranium hexafluoride, gas into a cascade of 164 centrifuge machines at a laboratory in central town of Natanz, some 150 miles south of Tehran.

The machines are expected to produce some 2.5 kilograms of 20 percent enriched uranium out of 25 kilograms of gas every month, according to the report.

It said inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency were present during the injection.

When asked about the enrichment process, Gill Tudor of the IAEA only said that the agency had inspectors in the country already.

“The agency continues to have inspectors in Iran conducting normal safeguard operations,” Tudor said.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Gates believes a new U.N. resolution would lay the legal groundwork countries need to impose sanctions independently and pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear program.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, meanwhile, said Tuesday that Germany is “very concerned about the developments in Iran,” and that “if Iran insists on refusing to join negotiations, talks at the United Nations will be unavoidable and we will then have to talk about new measures.”

“There is also the possibility of widening the sanctions,” he told reporters in Berlin.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

NYS taking away parental rights! MUST ACT TODAY!

In Health Care on February 9, 2010 at 12:36 pm

(02-09-2010) The NYS Senate and Assembly acting in stealth fashion, with little advertising or marketing, today will vote Bill S4779/ A6702 and forcibly take away by law your parental rights.

The main issue is children being able to receive medical treatment under the age of 18 WITHOUT parental consent.

Vaccines are included!

In part 2 of the bill, it would LEGALLY FORCE vaccines of 6th grade school children. Some of which are having highly controversial side effects (Gardasil being one of them-that is used for HPV)

It just takes a few minutes to make a quick call or send an email opposing this legislation. It is the only way that these legislators listen and, it works. Please see the list below.

NOTE: The HPV vaccine is causing many side effects even death.

IF IT PASSES THE SENATE, IT WILL EASILY PASS THE ASSEMBLY- WE MUST ACT NOW!

OPPOSE BILL S4779/ A6702

Here is why:

Will your nine-year-old ask about the risks? Would a child know to ask?

Does the medical establishment support Gardasil? Could your child be pressured? How would they react without you there?

What do you do if your child has a bad reaction? How will you know what to do when you don’t even know it happened!

No age in the bill- your five year-old nods their head- that is consent?

GARDASIL IS DANGEROUS! Check the reports- 1000s of reactions, dozens of deaths.

DO YOU WANT TO TAKE THE CHANCE?

DO YOU WANT YOUR PARENTAL RIGHTS TAKEN AWAY!

AND THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATURE WANTS TO ADD GARDASIL TO THE MANDATORY LIST FOR SCHOOL- Bill A0778

WE OPPOSE THESE BILLS – LET YOUR LAWMAKERS KNOW
http://assembly.state...
http://www.nysenate.g...

Help Stop The Destruction of Parental Rights in New York Regarding Vaccines

Help DEFEAT Proposed Bills that Would:

1. Permit ALL Present and Future Vaccines and Drugs for Sexually Transmitted
Diseases to be Given to New York Children WITHOUT Parental Consent (S4779
<” target=_blankhttp://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=S04779> and A6702
<” target=_blankhttp://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A06702> )

2. Legally Force Controversial HPV Vaccine on 6th Grade New York Schoolchildren (A0778 <” target=_blankhttp://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A00778> )

Spending Just a Few Minutes Can Make a Difference:

1. IMMEDIATELY Forward this note to everyone you know in New York state

2. Ask your elected Senator and Assembly Member to OPPOSE S4779, A6702 and A0778!

Use the “Find My Senator” section on http://www.nysenate.gov/ and the “Member Search by Zip Code” on http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/

Use the contact information to CALL, EMAIL, and FAX to send the strongest message

3. Request members of the Senate Codes Committee vote AGAINST S4779 before the committee hearing on Tuesday 2/9/10

Chair: Sen. Eric T. Schneiderman, (518) 455-2041, schneide@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6847

Sen. John J. Bonacic, (518) 455-3181, bonacic@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6948

Sen. Neil D. Breslin, (518) 455-2225, breslin@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6807

Sen. John A. DeFrancisco , (518) 455-3511, jdefranc@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6952

Sen. Thomas K. Duane, (518) 455-2451, duane@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6846

Sen. John J. Flanagan, (518) 455-2071, flanagan@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6904

Sen. Martin J. Golden, (518) 455-2730, golden@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6910

Sen. Shirley L. Huntley, (518) 455-3531, shuntley@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6859

Sen. Jeffrey D. Klein, (518) 455-3595, jdklein@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6847

Sen. Andrew J Lanza, (518) 455-3215, lanza@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6852

Sen. Kevin S. Parker, (518) 455-2580, parker@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6843

Sen. Bill Perkins,( 518) 455-2441, perkins@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6809

Sen. Stephen M. Saland, (518) 455-2411, saland@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6920

Sen. John L. Sampson, (518) 455-2788, sampson@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6806

Sen. Daniel L. Squadron, (518) 455-2625, squadron@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6956

Sen. Dale M. Volker, (518) 455-3471, volker@senate.state.ny.us, fax (518) 426-6949

4. Please send a copy of your letter and any responses you receive to nyvaccinechoice@gmail.com

Key Talking Points:

We Oppose S4779 and A6702 which permit ALL present and future vaccines and drugs for sexually transmitted diseases to be given to New York children WITHOUT parental consent.

Above info provided by the Conservative Society for Action and the Suffok County 9-12 Project.

http://townhall.com/columnists/PhyllisSchlafly/2008/01/15/universal_child_care_poses_threat_to_parental_rights

Yet another attack on Parental Rights! Forced Immunization!

In Health Care on February 9, 2010 at 12:35 pm

(02-09-2010) I’m sorry for this story being late.

It wasn’t that long ago when in defense of 2^nd Amendment Rights, Charlton Heston declared, “From my cold dead hands!”

What will people declare when they are forced to defend their children’s rights or their parental rights?

Remember?

From my cold dead hands: http://frankseabrook.com/2009/10/20/from-my-cold-dead-hands/

SEE RELATED STORIES:

by Phyllis Schlafly

Universal Child Care Poses Threat to Parental Rights

Exerpt: State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey intimidated parents with what he called “legal action.” He arranged to have letters sent to all parents who were “out of compliance” demanding that they must attend a court hearing where they would receive a verbal reprimand and their children would be vaccinated, presumably forcibly.

The letter directly threatened parents: “Unexcused absences by your child may subject you to a criminal charge.” Few parents knew they could apply for medical or religious exemptions, and many believed they faced jail or heavy fines of $50 a day.

A decent respect for parental rights over medical treatment imposed on their own children should require that states allow vaccine exemptions for philosophical and conscientious reasons, in addition to medical and religious reasons.

2010 Needs a Fearless Conversation About Vaccination

Exerpt: As the second decade of the 21st century begins, it is clear that the first one saw big changes in the way Americans think about health and vaccination. A good example is the fact that a majority of Americans “just said no” to getting an H1N1 influenza shot last year. The truth is, most of us just didn’t buy the hype about swine flu. Perhaps it is because we are tired of constantly living in fear.

http://www.nvic.org/NVIC-Vaccine-News/January-2010/2010-Needs-Fearless-Conversation-About-Vaccination.aspx

Paid Advertisement

Thoden another Liberal cancerous dot

In Dean Murray on February 8, 2010 at 12:18 am

(02-08-2010) Conservative Republican Dean Murray must win!

It is vital for all patriots to realize that the liberal dots on the map of our once great country are not scattered indiscriminately without rhyme or reason. These liberal dots are connected from President Obama right down to Congressmen Tim Bishop and Steve Israel, straight thru the state and county offices, all the way down to local town halls.

These liberal dots starting at the local level, connect, and feed into a liberal cancer that has seeped into every nook and cranny of our United States.

Like any other cancer, Liberalism must be stopped dead in its tracks by cutting it out from the root. And the root of Liberalism lies in the local elected offices.

THESE ARE THE FLAGS AND BANNERS OF THE LIBERAL CANCER!

AND THEY ARE FLOWN BY THE PEOPLE THAT SUPPORT

LAUREN THODEN

STOP LAUREN THODEN

AND STOP THE LIBERAL CANCER

CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN

DEAN MURRAY MUST WIN!

EXCLUSIVE: Thoden Caught Lying

In Dean Murray on February 8, 2010 at 12:17 am

(02-08-2010) Thoden Campaign refuses to pull “false” ads

EAST PATCHOGUE, NY – The race to fill the 3^rd Assembly District seat on February 9 is heating up.

New commercials from Democrat Assembly candidate Lauren Thoden of Medford have come under fire for “lying” to Suffolk voters about local businessman and Republican candidate Dean Murray’s record.

Thoden’s television and radio advertisements claim Murray of East Patchogue ran for Assembly in 2006 and is a “career politician.”

The problem is Murray never ran for Assembly before this year’s special election and has never served in elected office or even been a paid political staffer.

“I never ran. I never filed petitions and was never a candidate for Assembly before this year,” said Murray.

Murray, noted his campaign has contacted the Thoden Campaign to “do the right thing” and pull the “deceptive and patently false” advertisements from the airwaves.

So far, Thoden has ignored the request and continued to air “the lie,” said Murray.

Meanwhile, Thoden has drawn fire for being too cozy with Albany political insiders and the “Albany politicians” who have voted for higher taxes, said a Suffolk County political operative.

According to Thoden’s bio, her only professional work experience was two years as a paid employee of the New York State Assembly in Albany.

“It’s ironic that for the first few weeks of the campaign, Ms. Thoden attacked my business experience,” said Murray, who is the is the President of D & S Advertising Inc, which publishes the Long Island Job Finder, Long Island Apartment & Rental Finder, Long Island Real Estate Finder, and the Long Island Fugitive Finder magazines and websites.

“Now, she’s done a complete 180 and falsely accused me of being a ‘career politician.’ These lies are the desperate actions of a desperate campaign,” said Murray.

Murray said he was disappointed that Thoden has engaged in “mean-spirited” personal negative campaigning.

“This campaign shouldn’t sink to this level. It should be about issues, issues, issues. Our state is in a crisis and people are hurting. Enough with the false name calling,” said Murray.

“We will continue running an upbeat, positive campaign focused on the real issues that matter. As a successful businessman, I’m the only candidate in this race with the real world experience to cap property taxes, repeal the MTA tax, create jobs and make Long Island affordable again,” said Murray.

Paid Advertisement

NYS Assembly, Tea Party Movement

NYS 3rd Assembly District: a “test for Tea Party Movement”

In CSA, Dean Murray on February 8, 2010 at 12:17 am

(02-08-2010) The following is from Steve Flanagan, Director and Founder Conservative Society for Action

Liberals Want to “Stop the Tea Baggers Here on Long Island”

This Race is a “test for Tea Party Movement”

That’s the headline from an email alert sent out by the Long Island Progressive Coalition on behalf of their liberal candidate Lauren Thoden. She has the full support of the Working Families Party, an ACORN affiliate. We fully expect ACORN workers from outside the district to work on Thoden’s campaign.

Conservative-Republican Dean Murray – a small businessman and CSA member – is running in a special election on February 9th to fill the NYS Assembly seat vacated by Patricia Eddington.

DEAN MURRAY MUST WIN!

Election this Tuesday

Feb. 9, 2010

If you have doubts about who to support, please read the following email alert sent out by the Long Island Progressive Coalition:

“Dear LIPC Member:

“The loss in Massachusetts shows progressives that who is elected matters and that special elections can send a powerful message that resonate well beyond state or district borders. On the federal level, health care and immigration reform has been slowed down, if not stopped.

‘We need to make sure this does not happen in New York State by protecting the Assembly and the Senate from being taken over by people who are against government. What happened in Massachusetts doesn’t have to happen on Long Island.

“You can make a difference. In Suffolk County there is a special election for the 3rd Assembly District, which is in Southwest Brookhaven, to replace Democratic Assemblywoman Pat Eddington. The Long Island Progressive Coalition supports Lauren Thoden, and a victory for her will demonstrate that Long Islanders care about health care, education reform, and equal protection for all New Yorkers.

“Lauren’s opponent, Dean Murray, is a tea party organizer. If he is elected to a seat held by a Democrat, it will only embolden the tea party right and hurt progressive causes throughout Long Island.

“The election is soon, February 9th, so we have a lot to do in a little time.”

CSA Supports Dean Murray for NYS Assembly

NEWS FLASH: Fox News Live has identified the Murray-Thoden race as “a test of the Tea Party Movement on Long Island”. So let’s get out and win this one.

NEWS FLASH: AFL-CIO Endorses Lauren Thoden for Assembly.

Make sure you tell all your friends and family in the 3rd Assembly district to vote for our own Dean Murray. The district is located in Southwest Brookhaven Town and include Patchogue, Coram and Medford.

Don’t forget to vote on Tuesday February 9th in the 3rd AD. If you don’t live there, please help spread the word!

Palin Brings Tea Party Convention to its Feet

In Sarah Palin on February 6, 2010 at 11:57 pm

(02-07-2010) The following is from TownHall.com

by Jillian Bandes

Palin Brings Tea Party Convention to its Feet

If Sarah Palin is the future of the conservative movement, then one thing can be certain: leadership isn’t going to suffer from a lack of support.

Her keynote speech at the Tea Party Convention brought the audience to their feet eight separate times, and every major point was followed with applause, whoops, and cheers. Palin talked about conservative activism, foreign policy, the economy, and a general political outlook, communicating her message with a personal touch and occasional jokes. It was what everyone had been waiting for.

“We know that we’ve got some big problems to solve… we want to look forward. But from here, it looks really good, because if there’s hope in Massachusetts, there’s hope anywhere,” she said.

One of Palin’s first jokes truly resonated with audience members.

“I’d like to give a special welcome to the CSPAN people. You may not be welcome in the health care debates, but you’re welcome here,” she said. Then she switched over to GOP primaries — a major issue in a Republican Party that has been wrestling with rowdy conservative tea partiers.

“A lot of common sense conservative candidates are going to be put on the line. There’s going to be some tough primaries. And I think that’s good,” she said. “Despite what the pundits want you to think, contested primaries aren’t civil wars. They’re democracy, and that’s beautiful.”

She said something similar about foreign policy.

“It’s not politicizing our security to discuss our concerns, because Americans deserve to know the extent of what they face,” she said, and touched on Middle East, Korea, and the terrorist threat, including President Obama’s treatment of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. She also launched sharp criticism at Obama for being unable to juggle both health care and the economy at the same time.

“As the saying goes, if you can’t ride two horses at once, you shouldn’t be in the circus,” she said.

After her brief remarks on the economy, she commended Rep. Bart Stupak for his work on the abortion amendment in the health care bill and then switched gears to speak about how she personally related to the tea party movement.

“The best of our country is not all gathered in Washington DC. It is here in our communities where our families live, and our children learn, and children with special needs are welcome in this world,” she said.

The excitement in the banquet hall was palpable. Little girls wearing glitter on their faces were shepherded into the room by their mother, and well-dressed couples from around the United States swooned over Palin’s performance while dining on lobster and tea.

Bright red roses served as centerpieces, but participants stuck “Palin 2012″ bumper stickers on top of them, right next to the copies of Palin’s that were on the tables.

“A year ago, if you would’ve told me what I’m doing tonight, I would’ve had two questions for you: what have you been drinking? And two, could I have some?” said Judson Phillips, the event’s organizer, in a speech before Palin came on. He called the event “the hottest political convention in 2010.”

Suffolk County Republicans

Suffolk Republicans that are making GOP proud

In Suffolk County Republican Committee on February 6, 2010 at 11:32 pm

Suffolk County Comptroller Joe Sawicki cited for National Accounting Award

Hauppauge, NY - Suffolk Comptroller Joseph Sawicki, Jr. announced today that Suffolk County has been awarded the “Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting” by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) for its 2008 Annual Financial Report. According to a statement from the GFOA, this represents the “highest form of recognition in the area of government accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.”

Said Comptroller Sawicki, “I am very pleased to receive this national award. This accomplishment speaks highly of our financial reporting and sends a strong message to Wall Street and financial institutions across the nation that our accounting practices are ranked #1.” Sawicki noted how
proud he was of the accounting department for their dedication to accurately reporting the County’s finances.

According to the GFOA, Suffolk’s 2008 financial statements were judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program including demonstrating a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read them. “National recognition like this earns us the confidence of Wall Street Bond Rating agencies which allows our county to borrow at lower interest rates,” Sawicki explained.

This award makes the 26th consecutive year that the Comptroller’s office has earned such national distinction.

The GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 16,000 government finance professions with offices in Chicago, IL and Washington, D.C.

Suffolk County Legislator Edward P. Romaine Honored

Riverhead, NY – Suffolk County Legislator Ed Romaine was recently honored as “2009 Person of the Year” by the Riverhead Chamber of Commerce.

“We wholeheartedly salute Ed Romaine as our Person-of-the-Year. He represents a rare combination of judgement, social imagination, immunity to pressure, and fidelity to truth,” said the chamber.

Paid Advertisement

Chris Cox featured on Libertarian Republican website

In Chris Cox on February 6, 2010 at 11:31 pm

(02-06-2010) Psssst. They even mention the Suffolk County Liberty Report!

by Eric Dondero from the Libertarian Republican website.

He’s back! Nixon grandson for Congress, New York’s 1st CD

(02-06-2010) Chris Cox at Brookhaven Town HQ, talking with Dean Murray supporters.

Not quite the former President, but his grandson, Christopher Nixon Cox had declared his candidacy for the Republican primary for US Congress, New York’s 1st CD (eastern Long Island). The junior Cox will face a field of 6 other candidates, but is already considered to be in the lead pack given his famous lineage.

Nixon Cox would face incumbent Democrat Rep. Tim Bishop. The District has a history of swinging back and forth from Democrat to Republican.

Of note, Cox is also the son of current NY Republican Party Chair Ed Cox. He’s a graduate of Princeton, and received his law degree from NYU. He also served as McCain for President E.D. for New York in 2008.

His bio states that he: “is a fiscal conservative who will fight for limited government and lower taxes and is committed to defending the values and liberties in our constitution.”

Frank Seabrook of the libertarian-leaning (Goldwater/Reagan/Ron Paul) Suffolk County Liberty Report wrote that Cox: “is a formidable candidate and has hit the ground running.” Seabrook, who has highlighed the Libertarian-Republican campaign of Warren Redlich for Governor, has also been featuring Cox’s campaign on his blog.

Nixon family photo above of young Christopher Nixon Cox - lower right.

There’s also video footage of Cox being a featured speaker at a Tea Party-like rally in Haupage, NY last July.

Ronald Reagan

Reagan Legacy Inspires New Generation of Politicians

In Suffolk County Republican Committee on February 6, 2010 at 11:30 pm

(01-06-2010) The following is from Fox News

By Anita Vogel

Reagan Legacy Inspires New Generation of Politicians

Five years after his death and 22 years after his presidency ended, President Reagan’s leadership style and policies are still influencing the political debate in 2010.

Ronald Reagan’s message to a nation mired deep in recession in 1982 still resonates, as another president facing a crippled economy looks for answers and strives to rally the country behind him.

President Obama echoed the iconic Republican, who wold have been 99 Saturday, in his State of the Union address last week.

“Again we are tested,” he said. “And again, we must answer history’s call.”

Five years after his death and 22 years after his presidency ended, President Reagan’s leadership style and policies are still influencing the political debate in 2010.

Many tea party activists say Reagan and his mantra of cutting taxes are part of the inspiration behind the rallies that have gripped the country in the past year.

And many Republican candidates in this year’s midterm elections are expected to rely on Reagan’s name and image to help them win back seats this fall.

In one case, Danny Tarkanian, one of three potential GOP challengers to an increasingly vulnerable Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, is using footage of the Gipper in one of his campaign videos.

The clip shows Reagan campaigning against Reid in 1986, chiding the Nevada Democrat for being a tax and spend liberal.

But Democrats have also used the “R word” if they think it can help them.

Obama and Reagan have little in common ideologically. But Obama predicted he would face an uphill political battle and expressed admiration for his predecessor’s ability to effect change.

“I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not,” Obama said in January 2008 on the presidential campaign trail. “He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it.”

Such praise for Reagan is uncommon among Democrats, but Republicans continue to invoke his name and legacy in seeking office.

Scott Brown, who recently shocked Democrats by winning Ted Kennedy’s longtime Senate seat, is said to have had a “Reagan moment” when he delivered a blistering and often replayed response during a critical debate.

“With all due respect…it’s not the Kennedy seat, and it’s not the Democrats’ seat,” he said. “It’s the people’s seat.”

On Saturday, there will be a party at the Reagan Library to commemorate the president’s birthday, replete with a band, 21-gun salute, a military fly-over and a keynote address by Elizabeth Dole, transportation secretary in the Reagan administration and a close friend.

Not everyone has fond memories of the nation’s 40th president, and they may be offended by any reminders of the Reagan era. But in the years that have passed since the president left office, his popularity ratings have gotten stronger.

In fact, he has appeared in the top 10 of the Gallup’s annual “Most Admired Man” list more than 30 times — more often than any other person, except for the Rev. Billy Graham.

Support Our Troops

Patriot Guard Riders see off courageous soldiers leaving for Afghanistan

In Patriot Guard Riders on February 6, 2010 at 11:25 pm

(02-07-2010) The following message is from Frank Bania, Patriot Guard Riders

To All Patriot Guard Riders,

This Sunday morning we have been asked to join the Families of the 455th Engineer Detachment as they see off these courageous soldiers who are leaving for Afghanistan.

Date: Sunday February 7th
Location: 600 Albany Ave, Amityville, NY
(located south of the Southern State Pkwy, exit 33 (proceed south on New Hwy from SSP, Albany Ave will be on your right)

We have been asked to form an honor guard & greet the families as they arrive at 0800 hrs

The ceremony will begin at 0900 hrs

Staging Area Details
Final Staging – 0750 hrs – The US Armed Forces Reserve Center @ 600 Albany Ave, Amityville

Suffolk Staging – 0730 hrs – Peter Pan Diner, Sunrise Hwy & Howells Road / Bayshore Rd (north side service road)

Nassau Staging – 0730 – Waldbaums Shopping Center, Hicksville, Rte 106/107, just south of the LIE & NSP, west side (please proceed at 0730 to Albany Ave wether or not if there is a RC)

Please dress appropriately and if you have flags please bring them

Thank you for all that you do

Frank Bania
*Patriot Guard Riders, Region 9 NY, Ride Captain
* US Veterans MC, National Chapter
frankebnyc@aol.com
631.294.5248

The Patriot Guard Riders of New York is a diverse amalgamation of riders from across the state. We have one thing in common besides motorcycles. We have an unwavering respect for Americas freedom and security. You don’t even have to ride. If you share this respect, please join us.

We don’t care what you ride of if you a ride, what your political views are, or whether you’re a hawk or a dove. It is not a requirement that you be a veteran. It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what your income is. The only prerequisite is Respect.

Our main mission is to attend the funeral services of fallen American heroes as invited guests of the family. Each mission we undertake has two basic objectives.

1. Show sincere respect for our fallen heroes, their families, and their communities.

2. Shield the mourning family and their friends from interruptions created by any protester or group of protesters.

The Patriot Guard Riders of New York will participate in activities, which honor and show respect for all military members and families of the military members, past and present. This may include financial assistance., for charitable reasons, which these military and veteran military families may need. In addition, organizations, which assist these military and veteran military families, may be included as long as they are 501(c)3 qualifying organizations.

We accomplish the latter through strictly legal and non-violent means.

To those of you who are currently serving and fighting for the freedoms of others, at home and abroad, please know hat we are backing you. We honor and support you with every mission we carry out, and are praying for a safe return home for all.

Get out the vote for Dean Murray!

In Dean Murray on February 6, 2010 at 3:29 pm

(02-06-2010)

Volunteers brave freezing temps for Dean Murray!

This morning, the Brookhaven Republican Party hosted a packed house — despite the weather — at their headquarters in Medford for a “get out the vote” rally for Dean Murray.

Murray is running for State Assembly and his special election is next Tuesday, February 9th. All are encouraged to help get out of the vote and get to the polls!

Jessie Garcia, Brookhaven town Republican Party Chairman, while holding a football, gave an incredibly rousing speech to the volunteers, community members and party officials who came out to show their support for Murray. The crowd was charged up and ready to spend the day going door to door and distributing campaign materials.

Members of the Conservative Society for Action (CSA) were present and out in force to see that Murray can bring some semblance of accountability in the State Assembly for Long Islanders. Patriot George Kelly and his flag waving truck could be seen for miles!

After what we witnessed this last summer in Albany, it is obvious that we need to send someone up there who will demand results.

Also in attendance was Chris Cox, candidate for New York’s 1st Congressional District who appeared. Chris greeted many of Murray’s supporters, getting them amped up for Tuesday, and even helped with the get out of the vote operation by taking campaign materials to go door-to-door himself.

Volunteers are needed to help get out the word for Murray and turn out people at the polls next Tuesday. All interested parties can contact Kevin Malloy at 451-2320 or 786-9521 or by e-mail at kevmolloy@aol.com.

And speaking of Kevin Malloy, what an incredible campaigner. Great job Kevin!

Paid Advertisement

Tea Party Convention Coverage

In CSA, The 9-12 Project on February 6, 2010 at 3:28 pm

(02-06-2010) The following is from TownHall.com

by Jillian Bandes

Sweet Tea for Convention Attendees

If you read any of the extensive coverage of the Tea Party Convention going on this weekend in Nashville, TN, be prepared for dramatic stories of rampant grassroots infighting, questionable convention finances, and radical convention-goers flocking after polarizing demagogues.

The real story? Much different.

Attendees are wildly enthusiastic, not just about speakers, but about ideas. Those ideas are focused almost exclusively on basic conservative principles like limited government and fiscal responsibility (not the Obama birther conspiracy). And attendees are barely aware of the criticism that has been launched at the Tea Party Convention by mainstream media outlets.

“It’s a good idea,” said one attendee, pithily, when asked why he drove in from Ohio to participate.

Attendees are mainly being informed about the manufactured scandals through convention speakers, who have taken every opportunity to punch back — like Mark Skoda, head of the Memphis tea party group.

“We’ve come so far in the world of socialist values that we’re now criticizing a for-profit event,” he said, during a morning briefing on Friday. “We’ve put six hundred thousand of our dollars into the Gaylord Hotel (where the event is being hosted). We didn’t ask for a tax benefit, a subsidy, or a stimulus.”

That point was echoed by several convention-goers, who questioned the media’s skepticism about their gathering.

“So what if the convention price is what it is?” one asked. “It just shows that tea partiers exist at all different income levels.”

In fact, it seems that the only people who are disappointed in the event are the media. A woman in Southern Baptist Pastor Rick Scarborough’s break-out session explained why critics were wrong.

“For those who don’t know why we’re here, I’ll tell them. You know what we’re here for? A little bit of R&R: revival and revolt,” she said.

Revival and revolt was a good way to sum up the opening night speech by Rep. Tom Tancredo, who got people so riled up that they jumped out of their chairs. Tancredo didn’t mince words, saying that not just Democrats, but everyone, is wrong about politics. He launched sharp barbs at Barack Obama just as quickly as he launched them at George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and John McCain—even thanking God that McCain didn’t win the 2008 election. Tancredo brought up his literacy test—a throwback to his failed 2008 presidential campaign—and insisted that the attendees were part of a counterrevolution.

Steve Milloy, science commentator for Fox News, gave a poignant talk on global warming. He took down everything from junk science to school indoctrination, and the faces in the after-breakfast crowd revealed that his words were a welcome morning jolt. Rick Scarborough gave a religiously-focused speech about why it was important to get pastors to preach politics in addition to bible verse. Not speaking about politics from the pulpit is not just “denying history, but the reality of God’s world.”

“I firmly believe that the Ten Commandments were not just God’s ten suggestions. There comes a time in a nation’s existence where if they forsake God long enough, God will start to forsake them,” he said.

School districts

Riverhead School District and the liberal scare tactics

In Riverhead on February 6, 2010 at 3:26 pm

(02-06-2010) The following article is from Brian Mills

Liberal Scare Tactics at their Best (VOTE “NO” ON TUESDAY)

For those readers that do not live within the confines of the Riverhead School District, you may or may not be aware, that this Tuesday, February 9, 2010, the residents of the Riverhead UFSD are being asked to vote on whether or not to allow the school board to pursue their proposed $123 million bond. This controversial issue has brought out passionate individuals on both sides of the aisle, but through researching the issue, I could not help but notice the similarities between this issue and some of the more controversial national issues (i.e. Healthcare, Cap and Trade, Financial Regulation, etc.)

But first, I would like to extend my gratitude to the Riverhead News-Review, which clearly leans to the left on most issues, for providing voters with a fairly balanced depiction of what seems to be brewing inside residents’ heads. While the News-Review obviously came out in support of the bond, which was no surprise to most readers, they blanketed this weeks issue with letters from concerned residents on both sides of the aisle. If only they would do this with all political issues then they may actually be seen as more of a news source, as opposed to a progressive brochure.

But, back to the issue at hand.

In speaking with taxpayers, it has become abundantly clear that most are in favor of improving the schools. In fact, many admit that some sort of a bond would be necessary to complete some vital capital improvements. For example, a portion of this monstrosity, specifically $22.8 million, would be used for “districtwide repairs and renovations…[such as] roof replacements at Riley Avenue, Aquebogue, Pulaski Street, the middle school, and Roanoke Avenue” (according to the News-Review). So my questions to school Superintendent Dr. Scricca would be as follows.

Why not start there?

Why not do one thing at a time?

When asked why the district must pursue a bond of this scope and magnitude, Dr Scricca’s response was that “We can’t put it off any more.” Which, to me, sounds like the same reason that President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Tim Bishop want to ram through a Healthcare overhaul, that being that “We can’t put it off anymore.”

It is no mystery that Dr. Scricca is a Liberal, but why she would resort to the same tactics being employed by other members of her party will remain a mystery to me. If the school board would reign in this bond and propose a smaller, perhaps more affordable bond aimed at capital improvements, they would be sure to find that they would have more success with the taxpayers of the Riverhead UFSD.

Also, the bond is apparently an alter to the god of “pork barreled spending projects”, as apparently, once passed it enables the school board to redirect funds as it wishes. Wow, it has to be done now, contains mysteries as to how the money may or may not be spent, and it’s an amount that the community can not afford. Does this not sound like both the “stimulus bill” and the “bank bailouts” rammed through Congress in 2008 and 2009?

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

▶ View 8 Comments

CHRIS COX ON TODAY’S UNEMPLOYMENT NUMBERS

In Chris Cox on February 5, 2010 at 3:41 pm

(01-05-2010) The following is a statement from Chris Cox, NY CD1 candidate

February 5, 2010

STATEMENT FROM CHRIS COX ON TODAY’S UNEMPLOYMENT NUMBERS

Smithtown, NY – Chris Cox (R), candidate for Congress in New York’s First Congressional District, issued the following statement:

“Today’s unemployment numbers are encouraging news for our economy, but there is still much work that has to be done in Washington so that jobs are gained, not lost. Today’s estimate of a loss of 20,000 jobs is not something to celebrate, but something to spur action. The people of Suffolk County need jobs, they need to feel secure in their workplaces. For some time, we have faced a difficult economic climate that will not be fixed by over regulating our businesses and overtaxing our working men and women. On the heels of President Obama’s massive Federal budget, it is obvious that Washington is not in tune with Americans across the country who are tightening their belts. We need leaders in Congress who will demand accountability and work to produce the one thing Americans desperately need most – jobs in the United States, not overseas.”

Paid Advertisement

TODAYS CARTOONS

Tea Party Convention Coverage

In CSA, The 9-12 Project on February 5, 2010 at 3:40 pm

(01-05-2010) The following is from Fox News

By Carl Cameron

Tea Party Convention Plans National Organizing Strategy for Elections

Volunteers at the Tea Party Convention intend to propose a series of broad “First Principles” which have already been generally embraced by most Tea Party chapters around the country. They include: fiscal responsibility, upholding the constitution, and national security.

NASHVILLE, TN – Fox News has learned Tea Party convention organizers plan a big news conference here Friday to propose the closest thing yet to a national organizing strategy for the upcoming 2010 midterm elections.

The first ever Tea Party Convention has attracted a sellout crowd of a thousand activists from as far away as Hawaii (and media from as far away as Japan) to the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center.

Volunteers here intend to propose a series of broad “First Principles” which have already been generally embraced by most Tea Party chapters around the country. They include: fiscal responsibility, upholding the constitution, and national security.

Prospective political candidates will be expected to support the Republican National Committee platform, though without any specific litmus or purity test.

If a particular candidate meets the proposed Tea Party criteria he or she would be eligible for fundraising and grassroots Tea Party support.

Once elected to office, members would be required to join a Congressional Tea Party Caucus, attend regular meetings and be held accountable for the votes they cast. Those who stray from the Tea Party path would risk losing it’s support and a likely re-election challenge.

These are simply proposals from activists in Tennessee who put this convention together and who say they recognize that disparate Tea Party groups nationwide have varied interests and ideas of their own.

Organizers suggest creating political action committees, a large scale fundraising apparatus, and starting the development of a national network of pro bono attorneys to deal with the myriad legal-political riddles that such undertakings face in campaigns and elections.

Thursday was mostly a meet and greet and setup.

The workshops and seminars on growing the grassroots and commonsense conservativism are mostly today and Saturday.

The following is from the NY Post

By Charles Hurt

Rebels with a cause

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — No body ever said tea parties have to be pretty.

At least, not the kind of tea party gathered here in the thumping heart of gaudy country music.

These people have come from all across the nation for the first National Tea Party Convention to denounce not just President Obama and the Democrats, but Republicans and all of Washington for getting infected with the same voracious and parasitic plague spawned by big-government liberalism.

Folks here are loud and they are proud.

Already, the infant organization called Tea Party Nation has been riven by infighting, dogged by accusations of impropriety and can, at best, point to just one successful candidate.

All of this has been catnip for the battalion of liberal reporters eagerly covering every disjointed mishap of this free-wheeling and unorganizable band of rebels.

But it would be wrong to think tea partiers have not had any successes.

Indeed, they alone are responsible for killing the Democratic government health-care scheme.

Tea partiers sounded the alarm and stormed town-hall meetings.

It was only after the spontaneous, rogue wave got rolling that Republicans woke up and answered the call.

Naturally, at a tea party like this, any fine china is going to get broken.

And if there is a party that has too much fine china, it’s the GOP.

Tea partiers have saved their most ferocious attacks for those in the Republican establishment for allowing the “conservative” party to fall under the spell of bigger government.

They are wrenching the mantle of conservatism from the undeserving hands of the GOP and making them earn it back.

LI School District Audits

School Districts continue wasteful spending

In Long Island Schools on February 5, 2010 at 3:40 pm

(01-05-2010) The following is from Newsday

February 4, 2010 By JOHN HILDEBRAND

Statewide audit of 733 school districts, BOCES wraps up

Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli vowed his office would continue its watchdog role, but with fewer audits focused more intently on preventing wasteful spending.

Six years after an outcry over an $11.2-million embezzlement of public funds in Roslyn, the state comptroller’s office has wrapped up a monumental auditing of all 733 school districts and BOCES statewide that found many instances of lax controls and wasteful spending.

The effort was capped Thursday with release of a report on cyber thieves who made off with more than $100,000 in Lindenhurst because of poor security.

At a Hauppauge news conference, Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli vowed his office would continue its watchdog role, but with fewer audits focused more intently on preventing wasteful spending. He added that auditors also would look for positive examples of schools that manage to save money in tough economic times.

“Educating our children – and stretching every taxpayer dollar to do it – is the prime objective for our schools,” said DiNapoli, 55, who began his public career as a Mineola school board trustee at age 18.

DiNapoli’s aides contend the $7-million-a-year auditing effort has proved highly successful in forcing schools to tighten financial controls and train board trustees to exercise fiscal oversight. One recent review of operations in 15 school districts, including five on Long Island, concluded that those districts had implemented 82 percent of state auditors’ recommendations for improvement.

Others are more skeptical. In Jericho, one of the first districts audited, local administrators acknowledge state recommendations were helpful in keeping closer track of fuel usage in district vehicles. But some question whether resulting savings come anywhere close to matching the cost of extra auditing.

“How much taxpayer money has been recovered with the expenditure of $7 [million] to $9 million a year?” asked Henry Grishman, Jericho schools superintendent and president of the Nassau Council of School Superintendents.

DiNapoli aides provided no overall answer Thursday, though they noted a Middle Country audit resulted in recovery of $42,500 from three teachers who were overpaid retirement incentives. His office plans to lay out its accomplishments and recommendations for improved school management in Albany next week.

The statewide monitoring effort was launched by a new state law in 2005, following the Roslyn revelations. Since then, one audit after another has stressed some common themes:

Many districts are accumulating excessive cash reserves, and should spend down those reserves to curb taxes.

Districts are giving too many employees access to financial accounts and other resources, and need to tighten controls.

Districts should require better documentation of employee expenses and eligibility for vacation and sick leave.

DiNapoli, appointed in 2007, will seek election in November. His hammering away at districts’ reserve funds has proved a hit with taxpayer groups.

“He’s been aware of the hundreds of millions of dollars – maybe billions – that are sitting in school districts’ accounts without educating a single child,” said Fred Gorman, a regional taxpayer advocate and Nesconset/Sachem Civic Association president. “The guy has really done a good job.”

Thursday, DiNapoli raised another issue: the need for improved cybersecurity. An audit released at the news conference reported six unauthorized wire transfers from July 2-5, 2007, from a bank account held by the Lindenhurst school district. Transfers totaled $601,577.

Auditors found the bank was able to block $496,590 in transfers and retrieve the money, but that $104,987 was lost. District officials said the missing money was reimbursed by an insurance company.

“We were very fortunate,” said Richard Nathan, the superintendent of Lindenhurst schools since July, who attended Thursday’s conference and noted adequate controls had been put in place.

The FBI investigated the Lindenhurst thefts but wasn’t able to find the culprits, state officials said.

Wantagh

Findings: Two school board trustees failed to disclose they ran nonprofit Wantagh Foundation for Educational Excellence, which received more than $500,000 from the district over two years. Allowed staffers to carry over year-to-year more sick days than allowed under labor contracts.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

Suffolk 9-12 meets Gary Berntsen

In Gary Berntsen, The 9-12 Project on February 5, 2010 at 12:03 am

(02-05-2010) On Wednesday night, Feb. 3^rd, the Suffolk County 9-12 Project gave a warm welcome to American hero Gary Berntsen.

Berntsen, a retired CIA Station Leader, was unable to attend the last SC 9-12 Meet the Candidates Night, because he was in Afghanistan acting as a consultant to the U.S. Armed Forces.

This new event was planned to give Berntsen an opportunity to speak to the entire 9-12 group for the first time.

It was a great night.

Funny thing, the event was great before Berntsen even got a chance to speak. First off was a great introduction by Bob Meyer, President Suffolk 9-12, and then a beautiful rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by Jeanette Vecchione.

Bob then introduced Suffolk County GOP Chairman John Jay LaValle who was in attendance. Chairman LaValle then congratulated the 9-12 Project for their activism and patriotism.

Mary Meyer gave a heart warming speech, as always, on family and common sense. How our nation, like our families, should return to common sense being the guide.

We also learned that SC 9-12 Executive Board Member Rich Burn is the new Director of Communications for Gary Berntsen.

Wow!

Not having had a chance to meet Berntsen before, there were a lot of expectations leading up to this night. I had heard so much of him, so much of the buzz, so much of the swagger. He didn’t disappoint.

He introduced himself and started by telling us who he was and talked of his career, which started in the Air Force, which led to a brief period with the United States Marine Corps, and then to the CIA’s Clandestine Service.

He talked briefly of the other CD1 candidates. How they were all good guys. How he wished they were all his neighbors. How every one of them could stand up there and talk about less government, less taxation, and promote the Constitution. These things are where they are all the same. But Berntsen said he was different. Different because he had EXPERIENCE.

The conversation then led back to his career with the CIA. And how we are living in a dangerous world. He gave us insight into the entire Middle East. From Afghanistan to Iran, from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia.

Then on to the drug wars of South America and Central America.

To the economic collapse of Argentina.

While the rest of the candidates were reading history, Berntsen said he lived it.

Berntsen then talked of policy and ideas.

Economic

America must become energy independent as well as energy exporters. Domestic oil, natural gas, and clean coal.

Corporate Tax Rate currently 2^nd highest in the world at 34%. Must be cut in half.

Capital Gains Tax must be 0%

Overhaul and review all federal regulations.

Foreign Policy

Utilizing American, Canadian, and British officers to train and command Afghan units to defend themselves.

Iran obtaining nuclear strike capabilities must be stopped. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard are the new Nazi’s.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

▶ View 9 Comments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC6rcXvkKVo

CSA Emergency Alert!

In CSA on February 5, 2010 at 12:03 am

(02-05-2010) The following is a message from Steve Flanagan, Founder and Director of the Conservative Society for Action.

CSA Supports Dean Murray for NYS Assembly

CSA Emergency Alert!

Liberals Want to “Stop the Tea Baggers Here on Long Island”.

That’s the headline from an email alert sent out by the Long Island Progressive Coalition on behalf of their liberal candidate Lauren Thoden. Thoden has the full support of the Working Families Party, an ACORN affiliate. We fully expect ACORN workers from outside the district to work on Thoden’s campaign.

Conservative-Republican Dean Murray – a small businessman and CSA member – is running in a special election on February 9th to fill the NYS Assembly seat vacated by Patricia Eddington.

DEAN MURRAY MUST WIN!

Election this Tuesday February 9

If you have doubts about who to support, please read the following email alert sent out by the Long Island Progressive Coalition:

“Dear LIPC Member:

“The loss in Massachusetts shows progressives that who is elected matters and that special elections can send a powerful message that resonate well beyond state or district borders. On the federal level, health care and immigration reform has been slowed down, if not stopped.

‘We need to make sure this does not happen in New York State by protecting the Assembly and the Senate from being taken over by people who are against government. What happened in Massachusetts doesn’t have to happen on Long Island.

“You can make a difference. In Suffolk County there is a special election for the 3rd Assembly District, which is in Southwest Brookhaven, to replace Democratic Assemblywoman Pat Eddington. The Long Island Progressive Coalition supports Lauren Thoden, and a victory for her will demonstrate that Long Islanders care about health care, education reform, and equal protection for all New Yorkers.

“Lauren’s opponent, Dean Murray, is a tea party organizer. If he is elected to a seat held by a Democrat, it will only embolden the tea party right and hurt progressive causes throughout Long Island.

“The election is soon, February 9th, so we have a lot to do in a little time.”

CSA Supports Dean Murray for NYS Assembly

Link to Dean Murray’s website now: www.votedeanmurray.com

NEWS FLASH: AFL-CIO Endorses Lauren Thoden for Assembly.

2nd Congressional District

Islip Republican Chairman opens screening process

In Islip Town Republican Committee on February 5, 2010 at 12:02 am

(02-05-2010) A message from Frank Tantone, Chairman, Islip Town Republican Committee

Dear Fellow Republican:

I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to the Islip Town Republican Committee Candidates Screening for the 2nd Congressional District this Tuesday, February 9 at Islip Republican Committee HQ 39 3^rd Avenue Bay Shore NY at 7:00 PM.

Before I became Chairman of the Islip Republican Committee, there were no open committee screenings. We have opened up the process to the entire Committee & Club members.

This is your chance to have a say in who gets nominated. You get to question each candidate who is seeking the Republican nomination.

If you ever wanted to be involved in the candidate selection process, this is your chance!

I look forward to seeing you on the 9th.

Best Regards,

Frank A. Tantone

Chairman, Islip Town Republican Committee

Paid Advertisement

A letter from John Jay LaValle

In Suffolk County Republican Committee on February 4, 2010 at 1:04 pm

(01-04-2010) The following is a letter from John Jay LaValle, Chairman Suffolk County Republicans

BOHEMIA, NY.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the leaders and members of the Suffolk County 9-12 Project for their continued friendship and support. Recently, one of the candidates seeking the nomination for the 1st Congressional District made false accusations against me and other political leaders regarding the fairness of the screening process. As the Chairman of the Suffolk County Republican Committee, I have made it a priority to seek out the most well qualified candidates for public office. I have encouraged all individuals who are interested in serving to come forward and make his or her case for the nomination.

Furthermore, early on in the process, I made it a priority to reach out to the members of Suffolk County’s Tea Party organizations and to include them in the process. As the leader of the Republican Party, I consider myself accountable to both the members of the Committee and to those in the general public that share our principles and ideals. Simply stated, we are a “team” and every member of the team has a place at the proverbial table.

Accordingly, we have seen record numbers of citizens come forward. This nomination process has provided for seven (7) prospective candidates in the 1st Congressional District and eleven (11) prospective candidates in the 2nd Congressional District. This has never before occurred.

In addition, I have given unlimited access to each of the prospective candidates and have given my honest opinion and advice to all who have sought it. Based upon the presentations that I have seen, I am certain that we have met Suffolk County’s next two new Congresspersons.

Unfortunately, we can choose only one individual to represent our party in each of these districts. That means that two (2) individuals will be happy and sixteen (16) individuals will be disappointed. The failure to obtain the nomination from the Republican Party is in no way a repudiation of the individual, but rather an understanding that, in our estimation, the persons chosen will put us in the best position to defeat Reps. Tim Bishop and Steve Israel.

As we are all aware, politics can be a “dirty” business. Jealousy and greed often rule the day. It is this exact behavior that we are collectively attempting to eradicate from the process. It is the root of the self dealing and betrayal by some of our elected representatives and the reason why our country is in the crises we currently face. For example, some individuals have tried to use the name and influence of your organization for their selfish purposes and endeavors. It is a compliment to what you have achieved. But beware of the wolf in sheep’s clothing. One Mike Forbes is enough for me; RINO’s and opportunists need not apply.

With that said, I am truly moved by the ability of average citizens to stand up and come together for a common purpose – to make our government more accountable to it’s people. You are truly Patriots and I am certain that one day, many years from now, our children and grandchildren will hear stories of the day that the people rose up and took their government back. I am equally certain that we, together, will tell the story of 2010 and do so in the first person. We may not wear wigs and long coats, but they will recognize us by the common flag we wave.

May God bless our families, our mission and this great Country!

Yours truly,

JOHN JAY LAVALLE

Chairman,

Suffolk County Republican Committee

US Senate

Larry Kudlow, Senator from NY?

In NYS GOP on February 4, 2010 at 12:16 pm

(02-04-2010) The following is from Elizabeth Benjamin, NY Daily News

Conservatives Endorse Draft Kudlow Movement

The state Conservative Party’s executive committee yesterday passed a unanimous resolution urging supply-side economist and TV commentator Larry Kudlow to challenge Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer this fall.

In a press release announcing this move, the party said Kudlow has “been the voice of fiscal sanity on CNBC and it is now the time for him to be out voice in Washington, DC,” adding:

“(T)he members of the State Executive Committee believe that all New Yorker’s will be better served with his fiscal insight standing firm for us in the United States Senate.”

“Senator Schumer is out of touch with New Yorkers; his vision of big government is wrong and is being rejected by the people who are forced to pay for his big government programs.”

This should come as no big surprise, since state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long called Kudlow his “soul mate” after meeting with him last week for dinner on the Upper East Side.

According to Long, Kudlow indicated that he is giving serious thought to a run, but has not timeline for making a decision.

No doubt the fact that Schumer’s approval rating is on a downward slide and, for the first time since 2001, has dipped below 50 percent, will have an effect on Kudlow’s decision – or the decision of anyone who might be considering a challenge to the powerful senior senator.

Kudlow also met with state GOP Chairman Ed Cox over the weekend, but turned down Long’s invitation to attend the party’s annual political action conference in Albany on Sunday and Monday.

Paid Advertisement

Suffolk County Legislature

“LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE”

In Ed Romaine on February 4, 2010 at 12:15 pm

(02-04-2010) The following is a Press Release from Edward P. Romaine, Suffolk County Legislator, First District

423 Griffing Avenue, Suite 2Riverhead, New York 11901(631)852-3200 / Fax: (631)852-3203

Serving Eastern Brookhaven, Riverhead, Southold, and Shelter Island

“LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE”

ROMAINE, CILMI, & MURATORE INTRODUCE LEGISLATION

TO AUTHORIZE REFERENDUM TO REPEAL ENERGY TAX

Today, Suffolk County Legislators Ed Romaine, Tom Cilmi, and Tom Muratore introduced legislation to authorize a referendum to let the voters decide to repeal the county’s residential energy tax. The tax, 2.5% on home energy fuels, is the only one of its type in New York.

At a news conference today, Romaine said, “let the people decide whether they want this nuisance tax. People are tired of their government spending too much, taxing too much, and going into debt too much.”

“Every additional fee, every additional tax, every additional surcharge from every level of government is killing our economy,” added Cilmi. “Individually, they may not seem like much, but added together, people just can’t afford to live here anymore.”

Cilmi continued, “The more folks leave, the more costly it is for those who remain. Giving taxpayers the opportunity to say ‘no’ to this regressive tax is the first step. People will have the chance to say ‘enough is enough.’”

The residential energy sales tax is one of the most regressive taxes imposed on residents as it is not related to an individuals “ability to pay” and taxes a necessity of life. It is applied to electricity, natural gas, propone, kerosene, even wood.

On the regressive nature of sales taxes, one report states, “On average, poor families pay more than six times as high a share of their income in these consumption taxes as do the best-off families, and middle-income families pay at four times the rate of the wealthy.”

Revenue generated by this tax is estimated to be $54 million in 2010, an almost three fold increase from when it was first imposed in 2001 after the economic uncertainties of the 9/11 attacks.

The cost of home heating fuels have skyrocketed since then, further increasing the burden on taxpayers and magnifying the inequities. The average national price of home heating oil in January 2002 was $1.16 cents; today it is $2.92. Repealing such a tax will provide a stimulus to the local economy by placing more disposable income in the pockets of consumers.

“Home heating fuels are not a luxury, they are necessities,” said Legislator Romaine. “Eliminating this tax will grant relief to the already overburdened Suffolk taxpayer, particularly those of low and moderate income.”

Former Legislator Cameron Alden repeatedly tried to repeal or even reduce this tax. However, his efforts were thwarted by the majority.

Unlike the Alden legislation, this bill does not repeal the tax outright; instead, it authorizes a referendum to be held in November, 2010. If approved, the tax would expire August 31, 2011.

“It’s time we let the people decide on taxes that are levied upon them, “said Legislator Tom Muratore. “Hopefully, taxpayers will voice their discontent for this nuisance tax and send government a message to stop spending.”

Romaine also intends to introduce a companion bill that would create a bi-partisan panel of government finance experts to review county tax and budget policy and determine the best methods to fund county government.

The energy tax referendum bill now goes before committee. A public hearing will be held on March 2^nd at 2:30 PM, at the Evans K. Griffing Building in Riverhead. A vote by the entire legislature could come as early as March 23^rd.

The real Randy Altschuler steps from behind the curtain

In Suffolk County Republican Committee on February 3, 2010 at 12:19 am

(02-03-2010) So the real Randy Altschuler finally steps out from behind the curtain. (A green curtain too I might add)

It is now confirmed. With his campaign hanging by a thread, this spoiled brat Altschuler is in a full fledged scorched earth traitorous attack.

After an attempted character assassination of George Demos, a whispering smear campaign against Chris Cox, and an open attack on the credibility and integrity of SC Chairman John Jay LaValle; Randy Altschuler now has rounded up seven committee members from Brookhaven and has them jumping on the kamikaze bandwagon.

In an open letter to the NY OBSERVER, Altschuler’s dimwitted seven actually cast the Altschuler Campaign as part of the grass roots movement. HA HA HA HA HA

Nothing could be further from the truth.

What’s in it for this Brookhaven 7?

Why would they abandon their Republican principals?

Do they know anything of the Tea Party Movement?

Do they know the real Randy Altschuler?

Will the Brookhaven Chairman weigh in on this?

Will the County Chairman respond?

Oh I promise you, there will be much much more to come.

And I also promise you that by 2012, Altschuler will be running for Congress in yet another NRCC “back room” chosen district, or he will finally decide to VOTE as a newly registered DEM. Either way, he’s finished in the Republican Party.

But for now, I will leave you with the letter from the traitorous seven.

By Azi Paybarah, February 2, 2010

GOP Fight in Suffolk

The fight to see which Republican takes on Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop on Long Island is heating up, and pitting tea partiers against more established party leaders.

Supporters of candidate Randy Altschuler released a letter today urging party leaders not to “slam the door” and “hijack” the nomination process.

“We must let it be known, that all candidates seeking our nomination will be given fair and equal treatment, whether they are newcomers to politics, or are individuals who been involved in GOP politics for decades,” wrote seven Suffolk County Republican officials. They also reference the “growth and power of the 9/12 and Tea Party movements,” trying to cast Altschuler’s candidacy as a grassroots effort.

Altschuler’s main opponent in the Republican primary is Chris Cox, son of the state chairman and grandson of former President Nixon.

Here’s the letter:

February 2, 2010

The Honorable John Jay LaValle, Chairman

The Honorable Anthony Pancella,III, Vice-Chairman

The Honorable Robert F. Neville, Treasurer

The Honorable Marietta M. Seaman, Secretary

Dear Fellow Republicans:

2010 is already unfolding as an exciting year to be a Republican. Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts, coupled with the dysfunction of government in both Albany and Washington, has set the stage for a Republican resurgence on both the state and national level.

The growth and power of the 9/12 and Tea Party movements have invigorated the electorate and by doing so have proved that there will be no such thing as a “safe seat” during primaries and in next November’s election. Their actions in Town Hall meetings, rallies across the nation, and at the voting booth have shown that the average American is sick and tired of the backroom deals and cronyism that fuels runaway spending, higher taxes, and a ballooning national deficit. The voters are mad as hell. They want transparency, accountability and reform. They will settle for nothing less.

As Republicans, we are in a natural position to benefit from this national trend; we are being given a once in a generation opportunity to rebuild our party, retake the state Senate and win back key seats in both houses of Congress.

Sadly, a handful of GOP leaders here in Suffolk County don’t seem to get it. Since the first of the year, they have made a less than subtle attempt to hijack the screening process to pick the candidate who will challenge Congressman Tim Bishop on Election Day.

Frankly, it seems like “the fix is in”, and that’s wrong.

The purpose of this letter is a call for transparency, accountability, and reform.

There needs to be accountability for the words and actions of those supposedly neutral party officials who find it necessary to verbally attack candidates in the media in a shameless attempt to force them out of the race.

And, moving forward, there needs to be reform in how the selection process of candidates is handled. We need input from all Republicans and not a selection process filled with cronyism, back room deals and an old boy’s network that closely resembles the dealings of a Democratic Party club house in Chicago.

If we are to grow and prosper as a party, we must open the process and let the sun shine in.

We must let it be known, that all candidates seeking our nomination will be given fair and equal treatment, whether they are newcomers to politics, or are individuals who been involved in GOP politics for decades.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

SC 9-12 responds to Altschuler letter

In The 9-12 Project on February 3, 2010 at 12:13 am

(02-03-2010) The following is a Press Release from the Suffolk County 9-12 Project

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Feb 3, 2010. 7:00 pm

RIVERHEAD, NY – The Suffolk County 9-12 Project that has erupted in NY CD-1 and the broader “tea party” movement that is sweeping the Republic are based on the values and principles established by our founders. The movement is the vehicle through which the people are finding their voice to tell all politicians – Republicans and Democrats alike – that the paradigm has shifted; those in government derive their power from the consent of the governed, not from a party process or a narrow voting block. We shall preserve Liberty for ourselves and our children by standing as an independent organization whose interests are influenced only by reason and principle.

Our goal for NY CD-1 is to defeat Rep. Bishop this November. Rep. Bishop has consistently demonstrated that he is not an independent thinker, nor does he understand or appreciate the concerns of his constituents. For all intents and purposes, Rep. Bishop is nothing more then a “rubber stamp” for House Speaker Pelosi and the agenda she supports. Rep. Bishop has failed the people of his district, and the people shall respond by voting him out of office this November.

It is important to note that the interests of the Suffolk County 9-12 Project and tea party movement is not to elect Republicans, nor should the Republican Party view the movement as something they may capitalize on for electoral success. It is foolish for any Republican to think that they may count on our support simply because the Democratic Party holds majorities in congress. Instead, our interests align with the idea that the US Constitution establishes the scope and authority of the federal government, and we shall support those individual candidates who we feel best represent the interests of the people whether they are Republican, Democratic or independent.

The campaign for the Republican nomination in our Congressional District is heating up. There are many well-qualified candidates who have reached out to us, but the process is not complete. Contrary to what has been implied by the Altschuler campaign in a letter dated Feb. 2, 2010 to the Suffolk GOP leadership, the Suffolk County 9-12 Project has not endorsed one candidate over another, and we are not being excluded from the process. Although it may seem to some that Suffolk GOP Chairman LaValle could be naive about the strength and credibility of the 9-12 Project, nothing could be further from the truth. Mr. LaValle has asked for our opinions, kept us in the loop about the process, and understands that the Suffolk County 9-12 Project represents the reasoned and principled concerns of the ordinary voter in our district.

Although the process is not complete, we commend Mr. La Valle for demonstrating a level of independence from the ”insider politics” that the Altschuler campaign has accused him of engaging in. The fix is not in, and all Republicans who seek the nomination are well advised to refrain from making assumptions about the 9-12 Project and the nomination process. Such assumptions and political maneuvering are precisely the kinds of behavior that the Suffolk County 9-12 Project stands against.

For the record, the Suffolk County 9-12 Project is a non-partisan organization. We appreciate and applaud Mr. La Valle for his continuing efforts to include us in the process, but we also invite the Democratic Party to field candidates who would uphold the public trust. Unfortunately, the Democratic Party has yet to meet its obligation to the people of CD-1.

Signed,

Bob Meyer

President, Suffolk County 9-12 Project

Mr. Bob Meyer – President

Mr. Joe Vullo – Vice-President

Mr. Richard Burns – Director

Long Island Secession

State of Long Island?

In Long Island State on February 3, 2010 at 12:13 am

Lindsay and Sawicki Renew Push for a State of Long Island

Urge new Nassau leadership to join them

HAUPPAUGE, NY – February 1, 2010 – Suffolk County Legislature Presiding Officer, William J. Lindsay (D-Holbrook) and Suffolk County Comptroller Joseph Sawicki, Jr. (R-Southold) – two ardent supporters of the State of Long Island movement – are renewing their efforts to press for legislation to study the feasibility of Nassau and Suffolk counties seceding from New York State and hold a Suffolk/Nassau referendum on the issue to allow voters to decide.

They sent a joint request to newly elected Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano (R), Nassau County Legislature Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa) and Minority Leader Diane Yatauro (D-Glen Cove) requesting that the Nassau legislature, like Suffolk, adopt a “Home Rule Message” for pending state legislation calling for the creation of a task force to study the feasibility of Nassau and Suffolk counties seceding from New York State to become the State of Long Island.

“We can’t keep this up,” Lindsay said. “We’re losing our jobs, we’re losing our youth, we’re losing our future. Someone has to stand up to the chaos that is in Albany , someone has to stand up for Long Islanders. We’re doing just that.”

“A unified voice from both Nassau and Suffolk counties would send a serious message to Albany that we reject their illegitimate taxes and fees upon Long Islanders,” said Sawicki who has long promoted the idea of secession as a way to solve Long Island ’s fiscal woes. “The Dowling college study has proven that we send over $3 billion more to Albany than we get back. That $3 billion can provide enormous tax relief for Long Islanders instead of being used to bail out the rest of the State.”

Last May, the Suffolk County Legislature approved Presiding Officer Lindsay’s Home Rule Message supporting this state effort to explore of the creation of a new State of Long Island . The Nassau County legislature did not sign on to the idea at that time.

Included with the letter was a copy of a report done by Martin Cantor, Director of the Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute at Dowling College, which outlines the economic injustice perpetrated on Long Island by the State of New York and shows that Long Island contributes $3 billion more in taxes to the state coffers than it gets back in state aid every year, and that’s nearly $4,000 annually for a family of four.

Said Sawicki, “The creation of this bi-county commission wherein both Counties will study the issue is the logical next step in forming the 51^st state so that Long Island voters can make an informed decision in a November referendum.”

State legislation (Senate Bill No. S.426-A and Assembly Bill No. A.1189-A) was filed by New York State Senator Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) and New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele, Jr. ( I-Sag Harbor ) last year.

Terrence Pearsall

Chief of Staff, Office of the Presiding Officer

Suffolk County Legislature

(631)853-4088 Fax: (631)853-4071

Paid Advertisement

Liberties of the People and Powers of Government

The Constitution Series – Part 2; Liberties of the People and Powers of Government, I

In Constitution on February 2, 2010 at 9:49 am

(01-30-2010) This is the second in a series of articles on the meaning of the U.S. Constitution.

The United States was founded on the principles of individual freedom, free markets, private property, and limited government. The time has come for us to reevaluate our relationship to our government, and to recapture our commitment to the founding principals of this great nation.

by Jacob G. Hornberger

Liberties of the People and Powers of Government, Part 1

The most radical experiment in history is the Constitution of the United States of America. Throughout history, people had accepted the commonly held notion that government’s powers over the citizenry were supreme. In 1787, however, for the first time ever, the American people announced to the world that the liberties of the people were supreme and that the powers of government were limited. Governments throughout the world were startled, stunned, and appalled at such an audacious suggestion.

To understand fully the thinking that formed the Constitution, however, it is necessary to go back 11 years — to the Declaration of Independence, which Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1776. The revolutionary nature of the thoughts expressed in that document would later be reflected in the Constitution.

Keep in mind that prior to July 4, 1776, there was no United States of America and there were no Americans. The people living in New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, and the other colonies in the New World were Englishmen. The British government was their government, just as the U.S. government today is the government of the American people. These were British citizens living abroad on lands under the jurisdiction of the English crown. In other words, men such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and Samuel Adams were as British as you and I are American.

Thus, on July 4, 1776, in the eyes of their own government officials, those men were not heroes. By taking up arms against their own government officials and waging war against British soldiers, the Founding Fathers were traitors to their own government. If the revolution had failed, they would have been hanged.

The revolutionary nature of what happened on July 4, however, was not the courage that our Founding Fathers displayed in taking on what was arguably the most powerful government on earth. Instead, the real revolution was reflected by the ideas that Jefferson expressed in the Declaration of Independence. It has been said that as far as the colonists were concerned, Jefferson did not express anything new or novel but rather the widely held sentiments of the populace.

The origin of rights

Throughout history, people believed that their rights came from government. The king had the power to conscript them and send them into war to fight for him and his government, even in faraway lands. The king had the power to confiscate their property and holdings. The king had the power to arrest and incarcerate them. Sometimes a king was kind and other times not. But everyone accepted the notion that the king could do with him as he wished. After all, he was the king, and they were his subjects.

In one fell swoop, Jefferson and the English colonists rejected that long-held notion. Jefferson said that rights preexist government and that government was simply a servant whose purpose was the protection of those preexisting rights.

This was a revolutionary notion and not one with which kings and governments would be enamored.

Where do the people’s rights come from? Jefferson said that they come from man’s Creator. In other words, my life was not created by government. It came into existence independent of government. I don’t have to be beholden or thankful to government for the fact that I exist.

As Jefferson pointed out, life is indeed one of these preexisting rights of man. Others include liberty and the pursuit of happiness. By using the word “among,” Jefferson was indicating that man’s fundamental rights were not limited to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” but included others as well. He had taken the phrase from the English philosopher John Locke, who had described “life, liberty, and property” as fundamental, God-given rights.

But what do they mean? They mean that your life is your life. You were born with certain talents, abilities, handicaps, and disabilities. As Roger Williams pointed out many years ago in his remarkable book, You Are Extraordinary, everything about you is different from everybody else. Not just fingeprints. Also hair texture, skin color, voice, personality, face, and figure. Even the shape of your kidneys is different from everyone else’s.

You use your talents as a way to sustain your life. If you are a person with farming abilities, you grow food that you can eat. But if you are a person with singing talents, you don’t grow your food; instead you sing in return for pay and use the proceeds to buy excess food from the farmer.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW

Armey tells House GOP: Win back the tea-partiers to win

In Suffolk County Republican Committee on February 2, 2010 at 9:42 am

(02-01-2010) The following is from theHill.com

By Molly K. Hooper

Armey tells House GOP: Win back the tea-partiers to win

Dick Armey left his former House GOP colleagues on Saturday with a sobering thought: They lost the tea-party activists in 2006, now go win ‘em back.

The former House GOP leader told the lawmakers gathered on the third day of the issues retreat that if they worked hard, it would be possible to win back the “small-government, grass-roots conservatives.”

Armey (R-Texas) explained in an interview that “in 1994 all we had to say to America was trust us, we aren’t them, and nobody ever remembered being disappointed in us in the majority. Now we have to say, ‘trust us, we’re not them and we’re not the guys that broke your hearts a few years ago.’ So they have a bigger task. But that’s not an insurmountable task.”

As president of the Freedom Forum, an organization that has coordinated many of the so-called Tea Party rallies and marches, Armey’s guidance was particularly important to Republicans.

Armey, who led House Republicans during the 1994 revolution, spent 90 minutes with GOP lawmakers on third and final day of the annual issues retreat. He had more time to take questions at the closed-door breakfast after the original final speaker, Virginia’s Gov. Bob McDonnell, canceled due to the winter storm wreaking havoc on the Commonwealth Saturday morning.

On Friday, House GOP lawmakers sparred with President Barack Obama for 90 minutes on television and listened to former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) at a closed-door breakfast.

Gingrich, Armey and House GOP Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) crafted the Contract with America in 1994 that helped propel their party to majority status in the House for the first time in 40 years.

According to Illinois Republican Rep. John Shimkus, Armey’s message was one of tough love.

“He said, you walked away from your core principles and values, that’s why you have an outside conservative movement because they have no home,” Shimkus said after the discussion ended.

Armey explained to reporters that Republicans could do it, but it would be a “tough sell.”

“This is not an easy sell job. When we did the Contract, we had a marvelous phrase: ‘If we don’t do this, throw us out.’ The fact is, they did that,” Armey said.

And so Republicans need to work hard to regain the trust lost after only 12 years in control of Congress, when the lawmakers that were propelled into power in 1994 in part on ending Washington corruption were ousted for high-profile, pay-to-play scandals involving jailed uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), he said.

But given the volatile political climate in a precarious economic situation, campaign prognosticators foresee major GOP congressional wins in November, perhaps the 40 seats needed to retake control of the lower chamber.

With all GOP lawmakers’ eyes focused on a potentially big victory this year, bolstered by the most recent unexpected GOP Senate win in Massachusetts, the members soaked up the advice and assessments offered by big-name guests including former Speaker Newt Gingrich and legendary Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz.

According to a source attending the breakfast, Armey echoed a point that Boehner emphasized repeatedly over the past three days: Republicans have to present a positive agenda, take time to meet with Tea Party activists, listen to them and “walk among them.”

Even Holtz made this point in his own folksy way at the banquet on Saturday night.

Hours after lawmakers held the Q&A with Obama that unfolded on national television, Holtz reminded GOP members that “even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat,” according to a source in the room.

Ultimately, though, lawmakers came away from the weekend with Armey’s cautionary warning in mind.

“This vision thing matters,” an aide quoted Armey as telling Republicans at breakfast. “You can only win if you can convince Americans that you have a national policy vision [for] America and that your purpose in office is to serve that mission.”

And GOP lawmakers feel more confident that they were able to make the point that they do have solutions to offer to the nation’s pressing problems.

“For us, just making sure the public understands that we have solutions and that they can go to gop.gov and they can see how our policies will hopefully provide for individual freedom, lower taxes and more power to the state” is important, Shimkus explained.

The Greatest Threat to Our Future; An OP-ED by Richard Blumenthal

In Richard Blumenthal on February 2, 2010 at 9:42 am

(02-01-2010) The follwing OP-ED is by

The Greatest Threat to Our Future

It is well known that the Federal Government is in debt up to its eyeballs. Over $12 trillion is owed. Since the yearly income of the Government is around $2 trillion, and they spent around $3.5 trillion last year, it’s easy to see that the free enterprise/free market portion of our economy, the part that creates wealth and jobs, will have a nearly impossible time growing out of this mess. And that’s if we’re left alone to work things out.

I hope that what I’m about to tell you will frighten you. Around $1 trillion of the debt is owned by the Chinese dictatorship. Because of the way things work in China, decisions made at the top instantly become the defacto law of the land. They can move pretty quickly when they want to, buying and selling at will. Right now, the Chinese economy is based largely on manufacturing for export, but as they become wealthier, the prediction is they will become more and more a consumer economy. The evidence of this is already appearing as China is now the world’s largest market for automobiles. At some point, the American consumer market will be less important to China than the competion America presents to their growth. Taking a $1 trillion dollar hit by selling US bonds at 10 cents on the dollar in order to destroy our credit and capital markets, will be a calculated effort for China to become the world’s economic superpower, at our expense. Do you doubt that these discussions have not already taken place? It was recently revealed by Henry Paulson, Treasury Secretary under G.W. Bush, that Russia attempted to convince China to sell all of it’s US mortgage backed securities in 2008. China said no, but the Russians sold their holdings anyway. China said no, this time.

The horrible economic mess our incumbent Representatives in NY1 and NY2 have given us, through their blind, robotic adherence to Speaker Pelosi’s agenda, has not only cost jobs and foreclosures, lowering our standard of living, but has placed us in a dangerously vulnerable position, at the mercy of a foreign dictatorship. This is not just an issue of prosperity; it’s our national security and our future.

DEAN MURRAY: “REPEALING MTA TAX WILL BE MY FIRST BILL”

In Suffolk County Republican Committee on February 1, 2010 at 11:31 pm

(02-02-2010) The following is a Press Release from Dean Murray, Republican Candidate for 3rd Assembly District

DEAN MURRAY: “REPEALING MTA TAX WILL BE MY FIRST BILL”

Local businessman and Third Assembly District candidate will champion legislation to put the brakes on job killing “MTA tax train”

“The MTA Payroll Tax is killing Long Island jobs. Even worse, it’s costing every Suffolk County resident $375 a year in new, higher taxes – whether they ride the train or not. It’s time we put the brakes on the MTA tax train,” said Murray.

The MTA Payroll Tax forces business owners, municipalities and school districts to pay over 34 cents for every $100 of payroll. The tax affects all businesses and municipalities including school districts, non-profit organizations and hospitals in Suffolk County that are serviced by the MTA. The next due date for collection of the MTA Payroll Tax is February 1.

“This tax is just the latest example of the Albany politicians refusing to tighten their belts and cut waste. Instead, they increase taxes and send us the bill—again! As Assemblyman, the first piece of legislation I will introduce will repeal the job-killing MTA Tax. It’s time Albany started living within its means and it’s time we started to make living on Long Island affordable again,” said Murray.

Murray is the President of D & S Advertising Inc, which publishes the Long Island Job Finder, Long Island Apartment & Rental Finder, Long Island Real Estate Finder, and the Long Island Fugitive Finder magazines and websites.

The Third Assembly District includes Bellport, Blue Point, Brookhaven Hamlet, Coram, Farmingville, Gordon Heights, Holtsville, Medford, Middle Island, Patchogue, and parts of, Mastic, Selden, Shirley and Yaphank.

NY State Assembly Candidate Dean Murray speaks with local business owners about the MTA payroll tax during a press conference Monday at the Long Island Railroad station in Patchogue Village.

BROOKHAVEN, NY

– Successful businessman and Third Assembly District candidate Dean Murray (R,C-East Patchogue) today called for the repeal of the MTA payroll tax passed into law last year. Murray was joined by a number of local small businessmen during the announcement at the Patchogue LIRR Station on the date that the MTA payroll tax payment is due.

STATEMENT FROM CHRIS COX ON 9/11 TERROR TRIALS

In Chris Cox on February 1, 2010 at 11:30 pm

(02-02-2010) The following is a Press Release from Chris Cox, NY CD1 Candidate

STATEMENT FROM CHRIS COX ON

THE OBAMA ADMINSTRATION’S PULL BACK FROM HOLDING TERROR TRIALS IN NEW YORK CITY AND THEIR OPPOSITION TO FUNDING FOR 9/11 VICTIMS

Smithtown, NY – Chris Cox (R), candidate for Congress in New York’s First Congressional District, issued the following statement:

“Finally, we have seen that Obama Administration has begun to come to their senses, directing the Attorney General’s office to look for an alternative venue to hold the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other accused terrorists. The fact is there should never have been a debate in the first place — these mass murderers should never have been placed on trial in New York City or even in a Federal court. As a New York State resident, and someone in the city on 9/11, the fact that we are awarding these individuals constitutional protections – the same as all Americans – deeply disturbs me. As the Justice Department seeks out a new venue for this trial, I am troubled that other Americans will be forced to be the hosts of these individuals and put at unnecessary risk.

“We have seen a major disconnect between the people making the decisions in Washington and those who are forced to live with the ramifications of those decisions. Today, we learned that Democrats will oppose long term funding a 9/11 health bill in Congress. Many people right here in Suffolk County worked in the Ground Zero area and have been plagued with health issues following that horrific day. To not take care of Americans in need, especially those who responded to provide aid after this attack on our country, is inconsistent with American values and tradition. I call on Congress and the President to promptly reconsider their position on this matter.”

Libertarian Republican Warren Redlich for NY GOV

In Libertarian on February 1, 2010 at 11:30 pm

(02-02-2010) The following are some updates regarding Libertarian Republican Warren Redlich.

Gubernatorial Candidate Challenges New York Establishment

by Richard Cooper

(About the author: Richard Cooper is an international trade executive with a manufacturing firm on Long Island, New York, USA. He is active in the Libertarian Party www.lp.org on eminent domain and other issues. He was chair of the Libertarian Party of New York http://ny.lp.org.)

Albany lawyer Warren Redlich anounced his candidacy for New York governor on Monday, Feb. 1st at 10am in the Legislative Correspondents Association Press Room in the Legislative Office Building. Currently serving on the Guilderland, NY Town Board, Redlich will seek the Republican and Libertarian Party http://ny.lp.org nominations. The theme of his campaign is “Stop Wasting Money.” His website is http://www.wredlich.com/ny. (Full disclosure: Eric Sundwall and I have been working for months to get Redlich to run).

Redlich was the Albany lawyer for Ron Paul’s presidential campaign and has waged two campaigns for Congress. He was the only elected Republican in New York to endorse Ron Paul.

He hopes to create a movement for regime change in New York uniting supporters of the Ron Paul and Tea Party movements with Greens, Democrats, independents and others who are likewise opposed to corporate welfare. He opposed the Wall Street bailouts.

Redlich calls for elimination of state government departments such as the Empire State Development Corporation which promote corporate welfare and eminent domain abuse. He opposes instances of eminent domain abuse such as Willets Point in Queens, Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn and Columbia’s scheme in West Harlem. Redlich blocked an eminent domain proposal before his town board.

He names specific agencies he would abolish on his website. Redlich believes voters should have a say on pay for elected officials and their political appointees. He advocates fewer and lower taxes. He would reform drug policy and protect the right to keep and bear arms.

Redlich received more than the usual Republican vote for Congress in heavily Democratic districts.

In order to participate in the Republican primary, he would have to contest their State Convention and receive 25% of the weighted vote of delegages or get 15,000 signatures from Republican voters. The Libertarian Party will nominate its candidate for governor and the other statewide races at its State Convention in Albany on April 24th. Then, the Libertarians will need to gather 15,000 signatures from voters. If the Libertarian candidate for governor receives 50,000 votes the Party obtains official ballot status for the next four years.

Redlich is married with two children. His wife, Heather, is in law practice with him.

TO READ MORE CLICK BELOW