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They haven’t even taken control of the Senate yet, but that hasn’t stopped Malcolm Smith from shafting western New York.  Senator Bill Stachowski, currently ranking minority member of the Senate Finance Committee, was passed over for that post because Smith had to give it to Carl Kruger or Brooklyn, in order to secure Kruger and the gang of three’s votes.

The Buffalo News has a great story on the events leading up to the deal. Reportedly, our very own government “reformer” Tom Golisano was involved in the meeting that led to the sell out of Stachowski.  According to the Buffalo News:

Meeting Thursday in a private club in midtown Manhattan were Paterson, Smith and the holdout senators. Also on hand were Rochester billionaire and Buffalo Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisano and his adviser, former Erie County Democratic Chairman G. Steven Pigeon — both pushing for Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown to succeed Clinton.

Shortly after the conclusion of the meeting, one of the holdout senators — who is getting a influential job out of the deal — told The Buffalo News that he now supports an upstater getting the Clinton seat.

The article also noted:

Stachowski — mentioned as the likely committee chairman during his tough re-election battle this fall — saw the position go to Sen. Carl Kruger, D-Brooklyn, further consolidating New York City’s hold on the Legislature and statewide government offices.

How’s that for government “reform”? Golisano paid to help get the message out that Stachowski was in line to be chair of Senate Finance, the 4th most powerful position in state government, and then he was part of a meeting at a private club to double cross Stachowski so he could secure support for Byron Brown being appointed to Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat. 

That smacks of the old smoke filled room rather than “reform.”  And to think, Steve Pigeon was right there in the middle of it all — nice going Tom!

Tags: Articles, Cincinnatus, Malcolm Smith, Tom Golisano by Cincinnatus
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Bad news for all of us who care about New York State, the gang of three has ended its hold out and is supporting Malcolm Smith for Leader.

According to Liz Benjamin:

Here’s what we know so far. Keep in mind that all of this is based on a handshake deal and requires changes in the Senate rules, which is also subject to a vote.

- The positions of Senate majority leader and president pro tempore, which were both held by former Majority Leader Joe Bruno, have now been bifurcated. Senator-elect Pedro Espada Jr. will be the majority leader while Smith is president pro tempore.

The majority leader post in other legislative bodies in New York, the City Council and the Assembly, for example, is not one with a lot of power. Espada told me he has been assured by Smith that his position will “have absolute substance,” and, as a result, “the Latino empowerment issue has been substantially enhanced.”

Espada said he will have a “meaningful role” (Nick Confessore reports it’s vice chairman) with the Senate Rules Committee, arguably one of the more powerful committees in the chamber and the last stop for all the bills before they go to the floor for a vote. He’ll also have a part to play in the next big fight coming down the pike: Redistricting.

- Sen. Carl Kruger will not get the Housing Committee, as some activists like ACORN’s Bertha Lewis, had feared, but he will chair a pumped-up Senate Finance Committee. Recall that this was something the Republicans proposed in an effort to woo the Gang of Three to their side. The committee will have an enhanced staff and a fair degree of independence.

- Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. will chair the Aging Committee.

- A bill to legalize same-sex marriage will not be brought to the floor of the Senate for a vote this year. Smith will announce that he does not believe the measure has sufficient votes to pass - a statement that is at this point undoubtedly true, although it’s unclear how long that will last if, as Democrats are hoping, the prospect of being in the minority leads to mass GOP retirements.

Tags: Cincinnatus, Malcolm Smith, New York State by Cincinnatus
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Its not often that I agree with Jim Lawrence and the crew at the D&C, but there were right on this morning concerning that press conference the County Legislature Democrats had the other day.

From the D&C:

But the Democrats also must move beyond the criticisms and offer bold new ideas to put the county on solid fiscal footing. To suggest that County Executive Maggie Brooks and her administration simply must find more cost savings in county departments or in lease agreements isn’t good enough. After all, the county is facing a $33 million deficit.

(snip)

This community needs to hear bold counterproposals from the Democrats, who are angling to take control of the Legislature in next year’s election.

I bet their fiscal expert, disgraced former County Finance Director Paul Haney, is working on some bold new ideas right now!

Tags: Cincinnatus, Monroe County by Cincinnatus
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Liz Benjamin at the Daily News is reporting that Billionaire Tom Golisano’s ego has reared its’ ugly head and has indicated that it wants to be “involved” in the fight for control of the state Senate.

From Liz:

Tags: Articles, Cincinnatus, New York State, Tom Golisano by Cincinnatus
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What’s up with Dave Garretson?  He was late filing his first financial disclosure form in July.  We gave him the benefit of the doubt — first time candidate, probably didn’t know when they were due.

Then there were those 7 unpaid tax warrants — where he cheated the state of New York and didn’t pay his taxes.  That’s pretty major.  If it was me, I follow the book on everything and make sure my i’s were dotted and my t’s were crossed.

But not Dave Garretson.  He hasn’t filed the campaign disclosure form that was due yesterday.  How could this guy expect to run for office and repeatedly not follow the rules?  I’m anxious to see the final disclosure form to see how much this guy spent. I’m starting to notice a pattern.

I’m guessing it’s upwards of $300,000.  All of that untruthful mail, those stupid tv commercials and he received around 35% of the vote.  I can’t believe the Assembly Democrats gave him so much money.

This should be the end of the line for Dave, but I’d still like to know what his final expenditures were. If you couldn’t do better in the year of Obama and you can’t follow the campaign rules, you shouldn’t run for public office.

Tags: Cincinnatus, David Garretson by Cincinnatus
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President-elect Barack Obama made it official today — he nominated Senator Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State. According to NPR:

President-elect Obama made public Monday what has long been expected: He will nominate Sen. Hillary Clinton to be his secretary of state. Clinton will be part of a new national security team that includes other familiar faces.

The race to replace her in the Senate is on.

Tags: Barack Obama, Cincinnatus, Hillary Clinton by Cincinnatus
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I’m traveling with the wife and kids for the holiday.  I won’t be back in the posting saddle until Monday. I know a couple of the other posters will be dark for the holiday.  I’m not sure if we will have any new content over the weekend — if we do it will be limited.

Have a great Thanksgiving and don’t forget to remember the true meaning of the holiday.  This is one of my favorite Johnny Cash songs.  I think it is very appropriate for this time of year.

Tags: Cincinnatus by Cincinnatus
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I was having lunch the other day with a couple of my lawyer friends.  We see each other regularly, however we try to celebrate Thanksgiving with an annual get together.

One of them mentioned that Federal Court Judge David Larimer is going to retire next year.  Not being a lawyer, I wasn’t that familar with how that whole process worked so I did a little internet research.

Sure enough, the Democrat and Chronicle reported back in September that Judge Larimer would reach “senior status” in March. Accroding to the D&C:

Larimer said he plans to assume a “senior status” position at federal court in which he can carry a partial caseload. He cannot assume senior status until March, which will then likely open up a vacancy in Rochester for the federal judgeship.

The word on the street is that Monroe County District Attorney is the likely choice to be Larimer’s replacement.

While I feel Green would be an excellent choice, I don’t see it happening.  Green is a lock to be DA for as long as he wants it.  His departure would mean Republican’s would probably pick up the seat — or at the very least it would require local Democrats to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep it.

Tags: Articles, Cincinnatus by Cincinnatus
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Two articles this morning give me hope that Republicans may end up controlling the state Senate after all.

First, the New York Post reports that the current GOP majority has created a $6 million “honey pot designed to encourage one of the “Gang of Three” Democrats to defect to the GOP side.”  From the New York Post:

The highly unusual move involves the $95 million 2008-09 budget that the still GOP-controlled Senate must submit to Gov. Paterson’s office by the end of next week.

For the first time in 14 years, the Senate budget, which cannot be altered by the governor, will contain a separate $5.9 million expenditure for the powerful Finance Committee, the chairman of which will be chosen in January by the next majority leader.

“It’s a carrot that people will take a look at,” a Senate source said.

“The money will be there for whoever heads the Senate Finance Committee next year, it means power and influence and a seat at the table for whoever is the chairman.”

Lame-duck Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau) has been working for weeks to persuade the Gang of Three independent Democrats - Sen. Carl Kruger of Brooklyn and Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. and Sen.-elect Pedro Espada, both of The Bronx - to side with the Republicans, when the new Senate takes office in early January.

One would assume that Chair of the Finance Committee would be a plum offered to one of the gang.

The second article, from Newsday reports that there may be a thaw between current Senate Democratic Leader and Malcolm Smith.  But typically for the liberal/progressive/socialists, there are other members who can’t help themselves from dumping on the very people who’s support they need to  have a working majority.  From Newsday:

Meanwhile, another dissident, Democratic Sen. Carl Kruger of Brooklyn says Smith must disavow published comments by a Working Families Party member who accused Kruger of “palling around with Republican terrorists.”

“Speaking that way and trying to be an ACORN bomb thrower is not going to win over support for Malcolm Smith and Senate Democrats,” Kruger said in an interview Monday.

Bertha Lewis, co-chairwoman of the Working Families Party, which is aligned with the Democratic Party, was quoted in the New York Daily News criticizing Kruger for threatening Smith’s leadership of the first Democratic majority in the Senate in 40 years. Lewis is also a leader of the left-leaning group ACORN, which advocates for the poor and helped register low-income voters nationwide for the presidential campaign.

“I would expect to hear form Malcolm Smith today, saying he disavows Bertha Lewis’ comments,” Kruger said. “Anything short of that means there is reason for further conversation.”

He got it.

“The comments by Bertha Lewis are inappropriate and we do not condone such over-the-top rhetoric,” Smith said in a prepared statement. “My conference and I look forward to working with our fellow Democrat, Senator Kruger, on our bipartisan reform agenda.”

 What?! The Working Families Party co-chairwoman is a leader in ACORN?  Shocking! Let’s all hope the Democrats shoot themselves in the foot as only they can do and force the gang of 3 to vote with the GOP.

Tags: Articles, Cincinnatus, Malcolm Smith, New York State by Cincinnatus
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I thought today’s D&C editorial offered an interesting tidbit.  Mayor Duffy said he wasn’t going to beg for more money from Albany because of the current state budget problems.

According to the D&C:

One area the mayor will lobby Albany for in the coming year is mandate relief. It’s a worthy topic. And he should have a friend in County Executive Maggie Brooks. Both the city and the county, like similar entities across the state, are struggling to keep up with the unfunded mandates that tie their hands financially. The maintenance of effort provision, the required level of spending the city must pay the Rochester School District, is a prime example.

What?! He still wants to undo the maintenance of effort agreement? He better be careful.

We heard from several sources that Gantt is pretty upset at Duffy for taking a pass in the 56th district Senate race.  Supposedly, Gantt has made it well known in Democratic political circles that he is keeping a list of who was with him and who wasn’t.  One can only assume that those who were not “with him” on the Dollinger race can expect little help from Gantt in the upcoming legislative session.

Now, for Duffy to go after one of Gantt’s pet issues, the maintenance of effort provision, is a very dangerous step to take.  It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out — but don’t worry, we’ll follow this one closely and let you know.

Tags: Bob Duffy, Cincinnatus, David Gantt by Cincinnatus
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