Fractured Factions

Former Senate Democratic Deputy Majority Leader Jeff Klein is preparing to announce the creation of his own independent Senate caucus. This comes after Klein publicly declared that he would neither take the role of Deputy Minority Leader or vote for Senator John Sampson as Minority Leader.

Today’s announcement comes just hours before the State of the State where Governor Andrew Cuomo will announce his plans for the upcoming legislative session. It is anticipated that Klein has the support of other like-minded democratic members who are fed up with “business as usual” and Sampson’s thuggish acts as leader.

Possible members include Senator David J. Valesky of Syracuse. He sponsors comprehensive independent redistricting reform and has abstained from voting for Sampson as Minority leader in a back room stick vote. Valesky has consistently voted for reform and is a likely candidate to caucus with Klein. Freshmen Senator David Carlucci also is anticipated to join the allegiance. Carlucci was left out in the cold during the back room stick vote, unaware it was even taking place until it was too late. Lastly, Senator Diane Savino is expected to join the caucus. Savino is a close ally of Klein’s and is unlikely to break with him.

So what does this all mean for the upcoming session? At the moment not much because all the members who are anticipated to caucus with the new alliance are democrats. Without a republican willing to join the independent caucus not much will change. Senator John Sampson still has enough votes to be Minority Leader and Dean Skelos has enough votes to be Majority Leader. However, this does not mean that the caucus will not grow. If it can include other Senators, including Majority members, it would give this “third-party” significant sway on close legislative matters such as, gay marriage, redistricting, ethics reform, medicinal marijuana and others matters.

Looks like another tenuous year in Albany. Get ready, the fun is just beginning.

State of The State 2011 (Pre-Game)

Get your burgers on the grill and a six-pack of the nastiest, cheapest beer you can find…It is time for New York State’s State of the State Address! Kick off will be taking place around 1:00 pm tomorrow and since it always coincides with football BCS games, it will be treated as such.

Keys to the Speech:

This is the Governor Cuomo’s first opportunity to set the pace for the legislative session. Traditionally, the Governor goes out and outlines their legislative agenda for the next year. Therefore, tone is incredibly important. Coming across too strong usually results in a notoriously combative legislature and strained relations throughout the budget. Cuomo, who ran on a change agenda, will have to strike the perfect note to keep the ear of the public and not anger the legislature too early on.

That being said, Cuomo can not come out soft. He ran a campaign focused on change. I would anticipate a large section of his speech to be about redistricting reform, campaign finance reform, and other fundamental reforms in order to create a more honest and accountable government.

Power Plays

Cuomo has some serious power in his corner as we move into the legislative session. He was elected with mandate worthy numbers and, as we saw in the election, New Yorkers are willing to vote people out who do not do what they want. Cuomo’s four-year term is to his advantage. He has four full years to accomplish his plans to rebuild New York. The Assembly and Senate members will be put up on the chopping block again in two years. They MUST accomplish something before then or risk being voted out in close races.

Republicans also have some power to play with this year as well. They were put back in power on the coat tails of the “tea party movement” (aka pissed off voter block). This gives them some ability to negotiate with the Governor on budget matters. However, many republicans, especially new ones, were put into office promising to reform New York. So, they will have to hold to that promise of face the backlash.

Stars of the Speech:

1. Reform
2. Deficit Reduction
3. Small Business Development
4. Property Taxes/ Taxes in General
5. “Bailouts”

For those playing the home game…everytime one of these terms comes up do a shot of something. I promise you will be drinking ALOT! Have fun and the Post-Game will be put up promptly.

Quit Breaking the Law Asshole(s)!

Today, the New York State Government had two prominent figures charged with serious allegations of misconduct.

First, Governor David Paterson received his official fine for accepting five tickets to the 2009 New York Yankees Game 1 World Series Game. Paterson has been charged with a fine of 62,125 dollars by the New York State Commission on Public Integrity. According to the commission, Paterson accepted five tickets to the game without paying for them and without performing any official gubernatorial function. A few days after the game, Paterson is reported to have paid for four of the tickets. However, it does not change that fact that the Governor accepted a gift from the New York Yankees, which is absolutely and blatantly illegal.

Secondly, Former State Fair Director Peter Cappuccilli Jr. has been arrested on charges of Grand Larceny, Defrauding the Government, and Official Misconduct. This comes after a lengthy investigation into the State Fairgrounds hosting two separate weddings for his daughters at far less than market average by Attorney General, and Governor-elect, Andrew Cuomo.

According to the report, Cappuccilli received excessive discounts from “catering with a flair” for both of the weddings, which has a state contract to cater fair events. Also, at one of the weddings he allegedly ordered state workers to help with the weddings events and ordered the fairgrounds to be closed, costing the fairgrounds a potential earning of 46,000 dollars. To add insult to injury, Cappuccilli also attempted to cover his tracks by destroying invoices and documentation of his illegal activities. Cappuccilli served as State Fair Director under former Governor Pataki and resigned in 2005.

All of this comes only days after the Pedro Espada federal indictment last week. Fun times in New York State, fun times.

Espada On The Ropes

Former New York State Senator Pedro Espada was officially indicted on federal embezzlement charges yesterday afternoon (I know I am excited too!) The former Majority Leader of the Senate Democrats has been accused of mis-using millions of dollars from his for-profit organizations. These charges include mis-using money from his Community Expansion Development Corporation (CEDC) for home repairs, legal fees, a Bentley (which he was denied because his credit score was too low), and a ghostwriter for an upcoming book (number one item on my holiday shopping list). The list of violations goes on and on, go here for a complete look.

Espada rose to power through the New York City political machine, and through back room deals in the Senate. It was Espada who formed the 3 amigos that caused the coup just a few years back (as if you could forget). In order to settle the coup dispute and go back to legislative work, Senate Democrats made Espada the quasi-majority leader with Malcolm Smith. Most recently, Espada was voted out of office in September when he lost in a primary challenge.

After the indictment was formalized by the US Attorney’s office, Senate Democrats immediately denounced his actions and removed him from his leadership position. I have no doubt in my mind that Pedro, and his Assembly member son Pedro Espada Jr. who is also being brought up in the indictment, are going to be found guilty of embezzlement. There is an overwhelming amount of evidence on both of them.

My question is this, how did we let this get so far? You are telling me that no one knew about this exceedingly unscrupulous individual and his blatant illegal actions? Come on, it is not even realistic to believe that this could not have been caught before now. After the coup, Senate Democrats should not have appeased him, they should have strung him up by his toe nails and nailed him to the wall for these very actions. Everyone who has ever listened to Espada talk, or for that matter remotely aware of any news regarding him, knew he was a power-hungry ass and should have been investigated and charged months ago. I suppose this is our consolation prize, lets hope they find him guilty and throw away the key…after a public flogging if possible.

The Frac’d Middle Ground

Sorry about not catching this sooner blog readers, my weekend was spent doing absolutely nothing with the most wonderful woman in the world.

That being said, on Saturday Governor David Paterson seems to have accomplished the impossible. He managed to get environmentalists and drilling companies to agree on a Hydrofracking Moratorium…and pigs didn’t even fly, I was so disappointed. Last week, the Assembly passed the Senate’s version of the Hydrofracking Moratorium bill that would ban all drilling (both vertical and horizontal) until May 11th 2011. Upon its passage the Governor had 10 days to sign or veto the legislation.

Since, vertical well drilling has been occurring safely in New York for some time, the legislation would have put more people out of work and would have slowed the progress of future vertical wells. So, over the weekend Paterson brought both groups together and decided to veto the legislative bill and instead execute an Executive Order that bans the practice of Horizontal Drilling, and only horizontal drilling, until July 1st, 2011.

Both environmentalists and Drilling companies applauded the compromise and agreed that this allows for more time to be spent investigating the issue in New York. However, this is just a stall in the end. Governor Elect Andrew Cuomo will be forced to deal with this issue, most likely from the moment he takes office, since upstate landowners are already selling their land to drilling companies in hopes of making some short-term returns on the process. Meanwhile, environmentalist organizations have been rambling across the state and Albany warning people of the potential hazards involved in the hydrofracking procedure.

High Speed Rail Gets a Boost

It would seem the federal government has decided to invest more in New York’s High Speed Rail interests, roughly 7 million more in fact. Earlier this year both Wisconsin and Ohio decided that they were not interested in utilizing federal dollars to build a new high-speed rail system and returned the money. Since then several other states, including New York, have been begging President Obama to re-release the money to states that are investing in the technology. Today they all got their wish.

According to the Capitol Tonight Blog California is the big winner receiving over 600 million dollars. Florida came in second with over 300 million and then the state of Washington with just over 100 million. In comparison, New York received a rather low portion of the money that was doled out. However, it was nowhere near the lowest.

This announcement of increased funds for the project comes right after State Senator Malcolm Smith attended a meeting in China with financial backers that are interested in the project. Across the state, the high-speed rail system has been viewed as a pipe dream that may never happen. This investment by the federal government suggests otherwise.

In all reality, the high-speed rail needs to be built-in New York. The fact is that New York has never been as segmented as we are now. Everything, be it political, economical or other, is viewed as downstate interests versus upstate interests. This is destroying our state slowly, ripping it apart at the seams. By building the high-speed rail we can replicate the success of the Erie Canal and once again make New York whole. Buffalo and New York City would only be a 3 -4 hours away from one another, rather than the 6 they are now. The rail system will get people traveling again and encourage them to visit our upstate urban cores, leading to massive economic development.

I believe the sooner this project gets off the ground the sooner we will see people move back into New York. Think about it, anywhere you live, you could be less than an hour away from a city….and less than 2-3 hours (except in Buffalo) away from the heart of New York City, one of the greatest cities in the world. The commercial practically writes itself.

Sampson: Parker Not Like Monserrate

Democratic Senate Leader John Sampson has come out and publicly stated that “there is no comparison” to the crimes committed by Senator Kevin Parker and Disgraced Senator Hiram Monserrate. Yesterday, Parker was found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief for attacking a NY Post photographer while he was taking pictures of Parker’s house. Previous to this event, the Senate voted 53-8 in favor of ousting Hiram Monserrate after he was found guilty of misdemeanor assault after slashing his girlfriend in the face with a piece of glass.

Sampson says that until all of the information is available about Parker’s crime no action will be taken. Furthermore, Sampson says that Monserrate’s crime of domestic violence is more severe than Parker’s and therefore deserved a more severe punishment. What he fails to mention is that he voted against ousting Monserrate from his seat.

This is an absurd statement. There is no justifying Parker’s actions. He attacked a photographer for taking a picture of his house to use in a story. This was not a man trying to steal something or attacking someone. he was taking a picture. Parker ran out, pulled the car door OFF the photographers car, broke his camera, and then broke one of his fingers. There is no need for debate, no questions to ask, these are the actions of an unstable individual. Our state government is unstable enough, we don’t need Parker’s antics making things any more “interesting”.

As a side note, I would like to praise the wonderful city of Rochester for bringing some pride to New York. It would seem that Rochester is the fourth most obscene place in the country! This is according to a study done by Business Insider. Thanks a fucking lot Rochester. I am sure tourists will now flock back to Central New York.

OTB Bill Busts

After waiting all day to go into session, the New York State Senate voted on the NYC OTB restructuring bill. However, due to several Senators being not present at the vote the bill failed 29 to 21.

The legislation would have restructured the OTB program in New York to have mandatory oversight by the state. Furthermore, it would have allowed the NYC OTB to pay only 50 percent of its state taxes for the next two years (for a more comprehensive list of what the bill would have done see the post Senate Doubles Down).

All Democrats present for the vote, voted in favor of the legislation. However, three key votes were missing keeping the action from reaching the necessary 32 needed. Senator Pedro Espada failed to show for the session due to being voted out of office in a Democratic Primary in September, Senator Kevin Parker was busy being found guilty of Criminal Mischief, and Senator Malcolm Smith was in China discussing the possibility of building a High Speed Rail across New York State.

It should be noted that all Republican Senators present for the vote voted as a block against the legislation. Stating that the bill only benefited downstate interests and would not help the upstate OTB offices.

With the failed vote, NYC OTB CEO Greg Rayburn said he would be forced to shut down the organization as of Midnight tonight.

Parker’s Problems Persist

New York State Senator Kevin Parker has been found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief after a recent altercation he had with a NY Post photographer. In the altercation, the photographer was taking pictures of Parker’s house to accompany a story on the Senator’s financial problems. Parker realizing the pictures were being taken, ran out of his home and proceeded to pull the photographers car door off with his bare hands and then break one of the guys fingers.

This is not the first ridiculously violent act Senator Parker has committed. In 2005, he punched a traffic cop in the face for writing him a ticket. Also, on countless occasions Parker has had violent outbursts on the Senate floor and in committee. During which he has called people names, accused them of racism, and has directly threatened fellow Senators. All of which has led to court-ordered anger management classes.

The good news is that the New York State Senate set a precedent of kicking members out of office who have committed misdemeanor offenses with the ousting of Hiram Monserrate last year after he slashed his Girlfriend in the face with a piece of glass. However, the law does not require them to do so. Only if a Senator is found guilty of a felony can he be kicked out without question.

Politically speaking, Parker is tolerated in his own party and the Democrats have not announced any action one way or another. However, it would be difficult to differentiate between Parker’s flagrant violent actions and Monserrates. Plus, the seat is in a heavily democratic district that would easily be won in a special session. Personally, I say vote the lunatic out.

The Elephant In The Room

Finally, we have a confirmation on who will be in control of the New York State Senate…kind of. Over the weekend a federal judge declared that a hand re-count of the 7th Senate District is not necessary to protect the integrity of the election. This means that Republican challenger Jack Martins can claim victory over incumbent Craig Johnson with about a 500 vote lead.

However, the Democrats are not quite ready to give up on their hopes of a win in the 7th District. Senate Democrats are arguing that they might appeal the decision in order to ensure that every single vote is accounted for, ensuring voter protection. Since Nov. 3rd. Democrats have stated that there have been serious scanner machine errors, artificially inflating Martins lead over Craig Johnson.

At this point, it is doubtful that the Democrats will be able to mount a successful request for a hand recount. This is partially due to the fact that continuing to drag out the election will result in continued voter anger and will only hurt any Democrat running in two years. And Partially because the Democrats are out of campaign funds and are hurting to make up the debt they have accrued. The Democrats spent a whopping 2.45 million more than they had during the election. In order to settle the debt, they made a deal with the bank to work on a payment plan. The lack of campaign funds will ultimately keep them from being able to move forward with a hand count, even if they are granted the opportunity.

For the Republicans, a win for Martins means they will officially have control of the Senate when session re-convenes in January. The last outstanding race is for Democrat Suzi Oppenheimer’s seat who is leading her Republican challenger by about 400 votes. If all of this holds true the Republicans will have a 32-30 majority allowing them the opportunity to set the agenda for the Senate. It also allows them the chance to be in control of re-drawing the district lines to protect their members and possibly oust Democrats in more moderate districts. In retrospect, I suspect the Democrats are thinking that they should have passed independent redistricting when they had the chance, but hindsight is always 20-20.