Don’t Blame Me, I Voted For Suozzi

OK, one post and one post only on the man formerly known as “The Steamroller,” now known as Client 9. Why Spitzer needs to resign, even if no criminal charges are brought against him:

1) For giving asshats like Bruno and Tedisco a soapbox to stand up on and continue to bloviate from–delaying real consideration of New York’s needs.  We’re in for yet another year of bullshit from Albany.

2) For participating in a business that exploits and objectifies women, often subjecting the participants to violence and abuse.  Victimless crime, my ass.  Ask Client 9 if he’d like one of his three daughters to enter into this “lucrative” trade.

3) His usefulness to reform in NY government has been irretrievably lost.  How can anyone take anything he says seriously?  All we will be thinking about is how the governor apparently doesn’t like to use condoms.  

So, do we have to talk about this anymore?  Get Patterson in there and let’s get a budget. 

Constitution, What Constitution?

Governor Elliot Spitzer has taken a page out of the Bush Administration’s handbook “How To Treat The Constitution Like It’s Yesterday’s Garbage.” The Spitzer administration has made an agreement with both the Assembly and the Senate to pass legislation dealing with the civil confinement of sex offenders. Under the new legislation sex offenders would be subject to confinement, even after they have finished serving the sentence for which they were sent to prison, for an additional period. The maximum new confinement would be 25 years.

Minors and non-violent offenders are subject to this law, as are people subject to New York’s newest crime: the “sexually motivated felony” that would apply to those who intended to commit a sex crime but did not.

In New York, you can now serve out an entire sentence in prison with no parole, then be shipped to a “civil confinement” institution for another 25 years–just because someone THOUGHT you wanted to commit a sex crime.

I have one suggestion, the new civil confinement facility shouldn’t be built at either the current Marcy or Camp Pharsalia facilities run by the Department of Corrections. They should sentence sex offenders to Guantanamo.

New Yorkers Love The Steamroller

Steamroller

Originally uploaded by Phil At Sun.

According to a Quinnipiac College poll, New Yorkers approve of Gov. Spitzer’s steamroller approach to relations with the state legislature, in fact they approve by a 2 to 1 margin.

While the press may debate whether Spitzer’s approach is“brilliant or just nuts” I believe that this is just the right tack for Spitzer to take. The governor gave them a chance to work together on reform, and on its very first challenge, selection of a new comptroller, the legislature has proven itself unwilling to shed itself of its dysfunction.

Spitzer cannot be seen as a partner with these bozos if there is any chance for him to bring real change to Albany. Spitzer must be confrontational and bring the battle to a town used to “get along, go along” for far too long.

A Little Pork Roast For The Holiday

Courtesy of the Daily Politics blog.

A reader of Ben Smith’s politics blog for the NY Daily News sent him an elegant, searchable Excel spreadsheet for all NY State Assembly member items (aka pork barrel spending) since the 2003-04 fiscal year. Unlike in the past, each item is labeled with the assembly member responsible for the cash.

The data was released due to the efforts of the Albany Times Union newspaper in the courts. while the assembly’s data was released in a monstrous format running thousands of pages, the senate’s data was released in an even worse format. The anonymous tech savvy reader who created the Assembly spreadheet told Daily Politics that creating the same spreadheet for the Senate will be harder.

Now, as for our local hog butchers Magnarelli and Christensen:

1) Not apologizing for backing the doomed Bragman coup is still hurting Ms. Christensen. In the four year period covered, Magnarelli brought back $1.625 million in pork from Albany. Christensen brought back $340,000 in the same time period.

2) Christensen and Magnarelli teamed up for $250,000 to rebuild Nottingham HS athletic fields.

3) Magnarelli and Christensen teamed up with other CNY Democratic Assembly Hog Butchers to bring back $1.39 million in pork for various school districts, fire departments and non-profit agencies. ($515,750 of that total went into the districts represented by Magnarelli and Christensen).

4) Magnarelli can well be described as the Metropolitan Development Association’s go-to guy. In the four years covered by this data, Magnarelli helped steer $1.535 million to the development group. $535,000 of that money was done in tandem with Assembly leader Shelly Silver.

5) Magnarelli also helped Speaker Silver steer $172,000 in operating expenses to the New York State chapter of NARAL–National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League.

Endorsements

I’m sure that the political cognoscenti have been salivating over the arrival of this post, my voting choices for tomorrow. I just hope that I can register my votes, as I live in one of the districts where the Board of Elections changed our polling place without notifying us until three days before Election Day.

It’s interesting to note the the state Democratic Committee is leaving nothing to chance, sending me their own notice of where I can cast my vote.

Without further ado:

NY State Assemby (120th District): Bill Magnarelli (D)
NY State Senate (49th District): Dave Valesky (D)
NY State Comptroller: no vote
NY State Attorney General: Andrew Cuomo (D)
NY State Governor: Malachy McCourt (G)
NY State Senator: Howie Hawkins (G)

Magnarelli is unopposed
Valesky will work well with the new Governor on reform issues.
Comptroller: one’s competent and crooked, the other unqualified and honest. Let Spitzer pick this one.
Cuomo: the only issue for me: he’s liberal, Pirro’s not.
McCourt: Spitzer’s in, vote the Greens a spot on the ballot.
Hawkins: Hillary’s wrong on Iraq, send that message now.

**Personal Disclosures**

As a fellow member of the tiny progressive community in Syracuse, I know Howie Hawkins.

I have been part of non-violent, direct action protests on the front lawns of the homes of both Andrew Cuomo and Bill Magnarelli. I have been part of two separate protests against Elliot Spitzer–once at Onondaga Lake Park and once at the Thursday Morning Roundtable held at Drumlins.

I took several high school social studies classes from Dave Valesky’s father.

I’ve read two memoirs by Malachy McCourt’s brother.

I receive a holiday card from Elliott Spitzer every year since I signed the guest book at the opening of his Syracuse AG’s office.

I’ve seen Hillary Clinton eat Dinosaur BBQ at the NY State Fair.

0 for 3

My favored candidates in Democratic primaries have always done very poorly, no exception this time around.

Suozzi: never caught on, unable to smoke Spitzer out into the open and force him to answer anything specific.

Tasini: has the issue, but no name recognition, no money. Hillary still hasn’t answered for her Iraq posturing.

Green: he said it all in his concession speech: “I’m no politician.” While he may continue teaching and advocating, this original Nader Raider should reconsider electoral politics.