New York

NY Gubernatorial Nominee Carl Paladino: A Nightmare For The Republican Party! :(

Ronald Leave a comment

The year 2010 has been a weird year of political oddballs running for high office. But New York’s Republican nominee for Governor, Carl Paladino, may very well be the most outrageous, extremely weird candidate of them all! 🙁

Paladino defeated the mainstream Republican candidate, former Congressman Rick Lazio, in a hotly contested primary race in September, despite his record of being angry, nasty, confrontational, and defiant of party leaders and the news media!

Paladino has a child out of wedlock, but has claimed that his opponent, Democrat Andrew Cuomo, is of high sexual prowess and has cheated just as he did, without any evidence of such assertions being provided!

Paladino has sent emails that are racist, sexist, and pornographic, and does not apologize for them! 🙁

Paladino has threatened a journalist with bodily harm in a public confrontation, and has sent campaign literature imbued with the smell of rotten garbage!

Paladino is constantly combative with everyone he deals with, and has said that poor people should be housed in prisons that would be turned into work camps to train them in personal hygiene!

Meanwhile, Paladino pledges that he would cut Medicaid, which is the medical plan for the poor by $20 billion, as his first act as Governor!

Paladino is opposed to abortion in all cases except the life of the mother, which means he believes that women who are victims of rape or incest should have to go through the pregnancy!

He just condemned yesterday the whole gay rights movement, as he spoke before a group of Orthodox rabbis in Brooklyn, New York, even though there has been a spate of anti gay violence recently in New York and nationwide!

Paladino also has made clear his desire to make life tough for those on welfare and unemployment compensation, as if those on these programs enjoy being in those unfortunate positions in a time of tremendous difficulty due to the Great Recession’s effects!

Paladino spent very little time in the military, but brags about his record as if he was General George Patton!

Paladino comes across as a nut, and as anti social, and the New York Republican Party would be facing a real rebel against their establishment, were he to be elected Governor, as he has made it clear he does not wish to cooperate with legislative leaders!

Thankfully, no poll shows him able to win the election, as it would be disastrous for the state, already enmeshed in a horrendous financial mess, to have to deal with such a maniacal personality!

This is another example of what the Tea Party Movement is all about, and hopefully, the American people will reject most, if not all, of these weird characters running to disrupt our system of government with their obstructionism! 🙁

We have many problems with government in this country, but we cannot afford to, as they say, “throw out the baby with the bath water!”

The Growing Influence Of Chuck Schumer: The First Jewish Senate Majority Leader?

Ronald Leave a comment

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, elected in 1998, after 18 years in the House of Representatives, has become a major player in the Senate, and is on the brink of becoming the highest elected Jewish official in US history, if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada loses his very competitive Senate reelection race this fall.

Schumer, always an aggressive and egotistical figure in the Senate, was the Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and helped bring about the Democratic control of the Senate, and its upgrading to 59 senators in the past four years.

A truly brilliant politician, Schumer is seen as likely to succeed Reid, although he must compete with his townhouse roommate, Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, if Reid leaves the Senate. It is interesting how they have a rivalry, and yet they are good friends. Schumer has an image of being able to cross the aisle for support, and to gain backing from his own Democratic colleagues for various initiatives.

If Schumer ends up as Majority Leader, it can be imagined that he would rival Lyndon Johnson and Bob Dole in getting things done, and he could be a major advocate of new initiatives by President Obama over the last two years of his term.

Schumer will win easy reelection this fall to a third term, and is likely to help Senator Kirsten Gillibrand stay in office as well. And with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Cuomo likely to have a tremendous edge over GOP opponents, the Democrats are likely to have complete control of state matters, despite the many problems New York State faces.

Schumer will become one of the most important Senators ever to represent New York, on the level of Robert F. Wagner, Sr. (1927-1949), Jacob Javits (1957-1981), and Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1977-2001)! And none of the above ever were Senate Majority Leader!

Andrew Cuomo Announces For NY Governorship: Harbinger Of The Future?

Ronald Leave a comment

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the older son of three term Governor Mario Cuomo (1983-1995), announced his candidacy this morning for Governor at a time of great trouble and turmoil for the Empire State!

Cuomo has no opposition for his party’s nomination, but faces, if he wins, a daunting challenge financially, as the New York budgetary situation is one of the worst in the nation, and the state legislature is in stalemated condition, particularly in the State Senate, which has been an embarrassment to the state’s image.

But so has been the disaster represented by Eliot Spitzer, elected Governor from the position of Attorney General in 2006 by a landslide, and throwing it all away in a sex scandal within 15 months. Then, the Lieutenant Governor, David Paterson, succeeded and became embroiled in scandal and controversy of his own, and was forced out of consideration to run for a full term.

Meanwhile, Cuomo, formerly Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the second term of President Bill Clinton, made a distinguished record for himself as Attorney General, aggressively pursuing scandals on Wall Street and otherwise during this four year term. And he has indicated great plans to reorganize the state government bureaucracy in a way not seen since the Governorship of Alfred E. Smith in 1919!

Cuomo will face one of three opponents on the Republican line–former Suffolk Congressman Rick Lazio (who ran against Hillary Clinton for the Senate in 2000); Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy (who just switched parties to announce his candidacy); and Carl Paladino (a Buffalo property developer who advocates very conservative ideas after also switching parties a few years ago but has no political experience).

Cuomo is the heavy favorite to become the next Governor of New York, and IF he does a good job in a difficult time, and is reelected in 2014, he will likely be a possible candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2016, although, of course, he would not now entertain such ideas! 🙂

So the 2010 New York Governorship race could be a harbinger of the future!

The Census Undercount And Its Possible Effect On The Future

Ronald Leave a comment

A crisis has arisen in the US Census Bureau, as the top four states in population, plus Number 14 (Arizona), are in danger of being under counted in the once a decade census count which determines federal aid to the states, reapportionment of seats for the US House of Representatives, and the number of electoral votes the states have for Presidential elections in 2012, 2016, and 2020.

California, Texas, New York and Florida, along with Arizona, also, coincidentally (or is it that? ), have the highest number of Hispanic or Latino residents. One has to speculate that the growing crackdown on illegal immigration, accelerated by the new Arizona law, may be influencing people of Latin American heritage, whether legal or illegal, to be afraid of government, and be unwilling, therefore, to cooperate with government and fill out any government forms.

Of course, the push by Tea Party Movement people, and Republican members of Congress, such as Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, to make people feel fear of government intrusion, could also be having a deleterious effect on cooperation with the census.

But as things stand now, New York and California are in danger of losing seats, and Texas, Arizona and Florida might not gain additional House seats, and in the process, all five states could have less influence on Presidential elections than one would expect, considering their tremendous size and impact on the nation as a whole.

Instead, Minnesota, Oregon and North Carolina could gain extra House seats and electoral votes, because those states have a higher participation rate than the five states mentioned above.

The next two and a half months will determine the final results, as Census workers fan out to try and gain cooperation in these five states and elsewhere.

One must point out that ALL people living in the country are supposed to be counted, including illegal immigrants, but the Census looks in danger of a greater under count, percentage wise, than ever in recent history!

Time For Governor David Paterson To Resign!

Ronald Leave a comment

New York politics is in such a mess, an embarrassment to all New Yorkers and particularly Democrats! 🙁

First, the very intelligent and capable Eliot Spitzer was forced out on March 17, 2008 after only 14 months in office, due to a call girl scandal. This is a tragedy, as Spitzer, who has tried to redeem himself since through participation in news programs on MSNBC and Bill Maher’s HBO program, could have been one of the future stars of the Democratic party if only he could have behaved in a proper manner!

Lt. Governor David Paterson succeeded him, admitted to extramarital affairs right away, and proceeded to botch up the search for a replacement for Hillary Clinton in the Senate, including alienating the Kennedy family in the way he mistreated Caroline Kennedy, before selecting Kirsten Gillibrand, who is likely to gain reelection, but is not at all inspiring.

Now Paterson has been stupidly involved in a criminal case involving a top aide, taking steps to ask the woman, who was assaulted by his aide, to avoid pursuing the case.

As the NEW YORK TIMES makes clear, this is unacceptable behavior, and it is time for Paterson, almost two years in office, to resign, making for three governors in one term.

The problem is that the appointed Lt. Governor, Richard Ravitch, former head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, was appointed by Paterson in a way seen by many as illegal, since there is no provision in the state constitution for an appointed replacement for Lt. Governor , but the appointment was upheld by the state courts.

Ravitch would be a caretaker governor, finishing out this year, until the election of the next Governor, likely to be Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, son of the former Governor Mario Cuomo, in November over Rick Lazio, the former Long Island Congressman who also ran against Hillary Clinton in the Senate race of 2000.

With all the budgetary problems faced by New York, this is a real tragedy, but in order to move ahead, it is time for Richard Ravitch to become the caretaker governor, and for David Paterson to disappear into the woodwork, as a disgraced governor, in many ways worse than Eliot Spitzer!

The “Split Personality” Of State Politics: Massachusetts, New York, California, And Wisconsin As Examples

Ronald Leave a comment

The election of conservative Republican Scott Brown to the US Senate in Massachusetts shocked many as that state was the home historically of Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Edward Brooke, and Henry Cabot Lodge among others–liberal Democrats and moderate to liberal Republicans.

But the same thing was true in New York historically–senators such as Robert Wagner, Jacob Javits, Robert Kennedy, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Hillary Clinton–all liberal Democrats and moderate to liberal Republicans–and yet the state elected James Buckley to one term in the Senate in 1970.

California is another example, a state which elected Alan Cranston, Thomas Kuchel, John Tunney, Barbara Boxer, and Dianne Feinstein, and yet also elected S. I. Hayakawa to one term in the Senate in 1976.

The most tragic example of a “split personality” state, of course, is Wisconsin, the home of progressivism, which elected Republicans Robert La Follette, Sr., Robert La Follette, Jr., and also Democrats such as William Proxmire, Gaylord Nelson, Herb Kohl, and Russ Feingold, and yet infamously twice elected Joseph McCarthy, the “witch hunter” who exploited the “Red Scare” in the 1950s, and is regarded as the absolutely worst member in the US Senate’s history.

One issue or a small percentage of voters can transform the image of a state politically on a temporary basis, but to expect that conservative Republicanism is the future of Massachusetts is to believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy! 🙂 LOL

Rudy Guiliani For Senate And Then The Presidency?

Ronald 3 Comments

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani apparently has decided to give up on a chance to run for Governor, partly on the basis that State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo seems set to run and is far ahead in the polls over Governor David Paterson and Guiliani, too.

Instead, it seems that Guiliani is now looking at the Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton, and filled temporarily by Kirsten Gillibrand, who is seeking to finish out the two years left after 2010 and then seek a full term in 2012.

According to the polls, Guiliani is substantially ahead of Gillibrand and would have an excellent chance to win the Senate seat. It makes one wonder why Governor Paterson made such a poor choice with Gillibrand, who it is hard to be enthused about. One could wish that other Democrats would challenge her, as she has always seemed to me to be a weak choice, and now may lose that seat for the Democrats.

But apparently, it is also the plan of Guiliani to use the Senate seat as a stepping stone for the White House in 2012. I think it should be required that Guiliani make clear that he will not seek the Presidency, and is not using a two year term in the Senate as simply an opportunity to promote himself. The state of New York should not elect someone who has no intention of staying longer.

Having said that, the odds of Guiliani, who is still, after all, considered quite “moderate” or even in some ways “liberal” in comparison to almost all other Republicans, winning a Presidential nomination after such a total disaster in his quest for the White House in 2008, has to be seen as next to zero!

So my advice, Rudy, is make up your mind that if you want to be a Senator, that you commit yourself to that position and set out to serve the people, rather than your own delusional ambitions for a job you will NEVER attain!