“Steamroller” Spitzer Violates Spirit of His Much Hyped Reform
I can’t believe it. The New York Times had an article on Governor Steamroller’s fundraising tactics violating the spirit of the much hyped “reforms” he announced shortly after day one.
A review by The New York Times found that the governor raised more than $1 million from at least 50 individuals or business entities that donated $10,000 to Spitzer 2010, the governor’s campaign fund, and then far more than $10,000 through the state party. The two entities are housed in the same Manhattan office, one floor apart and connected by a spiral staircase.
In a number of cases, donors wrote consecutive checks to the two organizations. For instance, on July 7, Eric D. Hadar, a real estate developer, wrote a $10,000 check to Spitzer 2010 — check No. 4032 from his account — and then gave $94,200 on check 4033 to the state party, formally known as the New York State Democratic Committee.
We had an earlier post on Sheldon Silver’s ethics conflict:
March 1, 2008 — Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver insisted yesterday there was “no conflict at all” in his naming the head of his personal-injury law firm to a 13-member state judicial- screening panel.
The Post reported yesterday that Silver and Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith tapped Arthur Luxenberg for the bar committee that recommends to the governor candidates for the Appellate Division, Court of Claims and State Supreme Court.
Luxenberg is co-founder of Weitz & Luxenberg, one of the state’s largest trial law firms.
Silver has been “of counsel” to the firm since 2002, leading critics to question whether he couldn’t have found someone else for the panel.
I wish the D&C would do a better job reporting what’s going on in Albany. If they did, Joe Bruno and the Republicans would have a fighting chance in November.
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