Sunday, May 31, 2009

Sonia Sotomayor's achievement cheered in beach town where kin live

BY Edgar Sandoval
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, May 31st 2009, 4:00 AM

Egan-Chin/News

Relatives of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor smile in Mayaguesa, Puerto Rico.

Egan-Chin/News

Tito Baez, 54, cousin of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor at his bakery in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, holding a local newspaper celebrating her nomination.

MAYAGUEZ, Puerto Rico - If only her father could see her now.

The woman poised to become the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court has attained superstar status in this beach town.

It's where Sonia Sotomayor escaped the Bronx's sea of concrete to splash in the ocean, where she sadly visits the humble grave of her father at Lajas Municipal cemetery.

Juan Sotomayor died of heart complications when his daughter was just 9 years old - decades before she would stand shoulder to shoulder with the President of the United States.

"It's something you can't even describe with words," said Tito Baez, 54, a cousin who lives in Mayaguez.

"When she is here, she just wants to spend time with family and always makes time to go see her dad.

"No matter how high up she is, she never forgets her roots."

Those roots are firmly planted in Mayaguez, about two hours west of San Juan, where Sonia fever has taken hold since her nomination.

Locals drive by Tito's Bakery and honk at Baez, yelling, "Congratulations!" and "Arriva Puerto Rican!" Baez bows humbly and whispers, "No, no - this is her honor, not mine."

The headlines in island newspapers proclaim: "Bravo Sonia!" and "From the Barrio to the Supreme Court."

Everyone here knows about Sotomayor's strong will and the inspiration she drew from her mother, Celina.

"Her mother was a strong woman," said cousin Eva Baez, 61.

Celina Sotomayor, now 82, left Mayaguez when she was about 16, and relatives were impressed to learn that in the U.S. she had become a nurse and joined the Army.

"She was a woman, pursuing her goals in that time," Eva said. "I always knew Sonia was going to be like her, if not better."

Sonia Sotomayor faced poverty and diabetes as a youngster, but she betrayed no scars of her struggles when she visited Mayaguez.

"You know, when she used to come here, she used to be a kid with us," Tito Baez said. "She took her shoes off and played with her cousins at the beach."

Relatives saw her determined side, though.

"She worked very hard and got very far with no money in her pockets," Tito Baez said. "She got into big-name universities with scholarships. Only rich kids go there."

Her Puerto Rico family rooted for her as she climbed the academic and legal ladder: Princeton, then a job with the Manhattan district attorney. Some of her relatives traveled to the U.S. when President Clinton nominated her to the Court of Appeals in 1997.

Cousin Irma Baez, who suffered a stroke a few years ago, has kept newspaper clippings detailing the achievements.

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Obama sure Sotomayor would restate 2001 comment

By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer Ben Feller,
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Friday personally sought to deflect criticism of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who finds herself under intensifying scrutiny for saying in 2001 that a female Hispanic judge would often reach a better decision than a white male judge. "I'm sure she would have restated it," Obama flatly told NBC News, without indicating how he knew that.

The quote in question from Sotomayor has emerged as a rallying call for conservative critics who fear she will offer opinions from the bench based less on the rule of law and more on her life experience, ethnicity and gender. That issue is likely to play a central role in her Senate confirmation process.

Obama also defended his nominee, saying her message was on target even if her exact wording was not.

"I think that when she's appearing before the Senate committee, in her confirmation process, I think all this nonsense that is being spewed out will be revealed for what it is," Obama said in the broadcast interview, clearly aware of how ethnicity and gender issues are taking hold in the debate.

The president's damage control underscored how the White House is eager to stay on message as the battle to publicly define Sotomayor picks up.

Obama's top spokesman, Robert Gibbs, told reporters about Sotomayor: "I think she'd say that her word choice in 2001 was poor."

Gibbs, however, said he did not hear that from Sotomayor directly. He said he learned it from people who had talked to her, and he did not identify who those people were. Sotomayor herself has made no public statements since her nomination became official Tuesday and was not reachable for comment.

A veteran federal judge, Sotomayor is poised to be the first Hispanic, and the third woman, to serve on the Supreme Court.

She said in 2001: "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." The remark was in the context her saying that "our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging."

Sotomayor's comments came in a lecture, titled "A Latina Judge's Voice," that she gave in 2001 at the law school of the University of California, Berkeley.

After three days of suggesting that reporters and critics should not dwell on one sentence from a speech, the White House had a different message Friday.

"If you look in the entire sweep of the essay that she wrote, what's clear is that she was simply saying that her life experiences will give her information about the struggles and hardships that people are going through, that will make her a good judge," Obama said in the broadcast interview.

Sotomayor appears headed for confirmation, needing a majority vote in a Senate, where Democrats have 59 votes. But beyond the final vote, White House officials are pushing for a smooth confirmation, not one that bogs down them or their nominee. Plus, Obama wants a strong win, not a slim one.

Obama told NBC that part of the job of a Supreme Court justice is to stand in somebody else's shoes and that Sotomayor will do that. "That breadth of experience, that knowledge of how the world works, is part of what we want for a justice who's going be effective," Obama said.

More than one line in the 2001 speech has helped drive the debate over Sotomayor's judgment.

She also said, for example: "Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see."

"My hope is that I will take the good from my experiences and extrapolate them further into areas in which I am unfamiliar," she said. "I simply do not know exactly what that difference will be in my judging. But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage."

At the time Sotomayor gave the speech, she was in the same job she is now, a federal appeals court judge. She said then she was reminded daily that her decisions affect people and that she owes them "complete vigilance in checking my assumptions, presumptions and perspectives."

"I willingly accept that we who judge must not deny the differences resulting from experience and heritage," she added, "but attempt, as the Supreme Court suggests, continuously to judge when those opinions, sympathies and prejudices are appropriate."

In announcing Sotomayor as his choice, Obama said he wanted a judge who would "approach decisions without any particular ideology or agenda, but rather a commitment to impartial justice." But he also called her life experience essential, saying she had an understanding of "how ordinary people live."

Next week, Sotomayor will begin face-to-face meetings with senators as the confirmation process begins to take shape.

VIDEO

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Why Sotomayor's Confirmation Debate Is the D.C. Equivalent of Rock of Love

Arianna Huffington

Posted: May 28, 2009 06:51 PM

Listening to conservatives like Pat "She's an Affirmative Action Pick" Buchanan, Rush "He Picked the Hispanic" Limbaugh, and Tom "Latino KKK" Tancredo play the race card in attacking the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, I've been marveling at just how self-destructive they've become.

They have to know how bad this is for their party -- especially given the shifting demographics in America, and coming on the heels of the GOP xenophobia unleashed by the immigration debate last year. The Hispanic vote was a deciding factor in Obama's win (Hispanics went for Obama over McCain 67 percent to 31 percent), so the last thing the GOP needs is to be alienating Hispanic voters. BUT THEY JUST CAN'T HELP THEMSELVES!

It reminds me of Robert Downey Jr.'s quote after his umpteenth drug relapse: "It is like I have a shotgun in my mouth, and I've got my finger on the trigger, and I like the taste of gunmetal."

The GOP attack dogs have an electoral shotgun in their mouth -- and they are addicted to the taste of gunmetal.

This week, I've heard numerous commentators describe the Supreme Court confirmation process as a "blood sport." I think of it more like D.C.'s version of reality TV: a bunch of spotlight-seeking people on their worst behavior in hopes of getting more air time. It's the political equivalent of Rock of Love.

Another thing that always gets me about the process: without fail, every presidential campaign features endless talk about how important the choice is because the next president will get to pick the next Supreme Court Justice -- "so vote with that in mind." So how come everyone then acts shocked and outraged when the guy who won the election then nominates someone who... shares his beliefs! Oh no, not that! How dare he?!

Newsflash people: that's what campaigns are about. To the victors go the spoils.

Here's another question: in 1998 Sotomayor was confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate as a judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. By a vote of 67-29, she was found worthy of the federal bench. What has she done in the last ten years to make the outcome any different? Joined the Kim Jong Il Fan Club? Voted for Adam Lambert instead of Kris Allen?

Here's the bottom line: Republicans know Sotomayor is going to be confirmed, so the howls of protest are all for show. It's all about fund-raising and rallying the base. But it's already so super-heated, what will be left to get worked up about by the time we get to the actual confirmation hearings?

Unless there are pubic hairs on Coke cans and secret porno rentals ("The Return of Long Dong Silver"!), it's going to be a total snooze.

Please join me on Facebook and Twitter.

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'You're A Disgrace' (Updated)

May 28, 2009

To the annals of Mayor Bloomberg's mistreatment of the press add his testy exchange today with The Observer's Azi Paybarah, who dared to ask Hizzoner a question about term limits.

The mayor, having just finished explaining to the DN's Celeste Katz that he happens to be "very optimistic" about the city's economy and giving anecdotal examples of how things are turning around, did not take kindly to Azi's inquiry about how this might undercut Bloomberg's own rationale for extending term limits - not to mention running for re-election.

Here's the transcript:

Azi: "If the economy is turning around as you said, does that mean that the rationale for extending term limits, which is the fiscal challenge...

Bloomberg: "I don't know. Why don't you just get to serious questions here and we'll just..."

Azi: No, but the question is...

Bloomberg: "The rationale for extending term limits is the City Council voted it, and the public's going to have a chance on Nov. 3 to say what they want, and I don't think we have to keep coming back to that. When you have a serious question about the economy i'd be happy to answer it."

"Anything else? Thank you very much. Nothing else? Great. Thank you."

(Applause).

And then, as the mayor walks away from the podium, he looks at Azi and says, almost under his breath: "You're a disgrace." (Read his lips).

Ironically, Bloomberg once used that very word to describe...the City Council's effort to change term limits.

Actually, he said that was an "absolute disgrace." But why quibble?

Bloomberg, who happens to be a media mogul, has a long history of tense interactions with reporters. His most recent dust-up was with blogger Michael Harris, who uses a wheelchair, during Gov. David Paterson's gay marriage press conference.

There was also his rather infamous exchange with Newsday's Michael Frazier over the word "maintain," which took place almost exactly a year ago.

UPDATE: Azi referred questions to his boss, Political Editor Josh Benson, who said (via e-mail): "It was a reasonable question. We're comfortable leaving it to everyone else to judge the quality of the response."

UPDATE2: Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser e-mailed Katz to say: "The Mayor asked me to pass along his apologies to Azi for the comment after the press conference, which I did."

Meanwhile, Comptroller Bill Thompson's campaign manager, Anne Fenton, commented:

"What’s disgraceful is the Mayor’s refusal to answer the tough questions. Calling people names, having staff block cameras and bullying the press aren’t going to stop people from asking the mayor to explain his term limits bait and switch.”

RACISM OR POOR JUDGMENT?

Off duty police officer, Omar Edwards, was shot and killed in a friendly fire incident in East Harlem. The incident occurred on Thursday, May 28th, 2009. Edwards was Black/Panamanian. The officer, Andrew Dunton, who shot him was White. The controversy continues to swirl. Was it racism or was it poor judgment. Listen to the post shooting emergency call:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvQFmbHhTeE

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Bloomberg = Giuliani Lite

As many of you will recall, YFP had several verbal skirmishes with former mayor Rudolph Giuliani. He bristled at unpopular questions and chastised your humble editor for the hardball inquiries. It would appear that Rudy's "bristleitis" is contagious. Michael Bloomberg, a.k.a., "Bloombito" has followed in Rudy's footsteps. When a NY Observer (Azi Paybarah) print reporter compared the state of NYC economy to Bloomberg's eligibility for a third term, Bloombito went on the rampage.

Message to Mikey. "If you can't take the heat, get outta the kitchen."

HOW POLITICIANS AND THEIR PUBLICISTS TOOK OVER THE PRESS

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

HOW POLITICIANS AND THEIR PUBLICISTS TOOK OVER THE PRESS

By Gary Tilzer

Did you know that over the last couple of years a battle has raged between the PR people and the press to see who would control the news? You didn’t. Well, neither did most of the journalists. That’s why the PR people won.

The nation’s newspapers have already tacitly acknowledged their imminent demise, laying off reporters en masse, eliminating sections, replacing investigative reporting with fluff, and barely coming out with new stories any more on weekends. This decay has caused devastating industry-wide shockwaves to the overall quality of journalism in this country, since the majority of television news shows now consist of anchors reading stories from the morning paper, and internet news sources like The Huffington Post and The Raw Story largely depend upon the daily papers for content.

Meanwhile, politicians, developers, and CEOs have rubbed their hands together with nefarious glee, thrilled to finally be rid of the pesky reporters that used to keep them honest. While the wounded media has stumbled, politicians have quickly seized the opportunity to spin, scheme, and steal with impunity – and they’ve done so with greater skill than ever before.

Rather than hiring staffers to work on boring stuff like legislation, our elected officials have instead used our tax dollars to hire marketing gurus to give them fabulous, ultra-chic PR makeovers. Take State Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, who recently recruited Christopher Sealey to be the State Senate’s first ever “creative director”. Sealey, who, according to a mind-numbingly vacuous profile in New York Magazine, “was shocked the government would want someone like me,” is a top-of-the-line image craftsman, who makes big money turning the stodgy into the super cool.

“You look at Obama, and he created nothing short of a brand for himself,” enthuses Sealey. “We’re not trying to create a brand (we’re already elected), but we do want better communications techniques. I’m in charge of the design, photography, and multimedia that comes out of the Senate. We’ve brought in designers who have worked for Nike, Spike TV, and HBO; we just launched a new website; and we’re getting in touch with people on Facebook and Twitter.”

In other words, Smith, like so many other politicians now, realized that it was more important to look like he was doing a good job than to actually do one. And by populating his staff with savvy marketers, PR veterans, and former journalists with could shill stories to their much lower-paid former colleagues, he could turn, for instance, months of incompetence in Albany dealing with the MTA fare hikes that ended in a stop-gap 25 cent increase, into a slew of glowing front page stories in the media, praising Smith for saving the City from worse financial ruin.

Smith’s shrewd PR machine is just one of the dynamos driving the media these days. Nearly every successful elected official has staffers whose main job is to cozy up to reporters and whisper sweet nothings into their columns. Indeed, so widespread and influential is this blurring of the lines between press and PR that the members of the media – particularly the young journalists who the newspapers hired for pennies on the dollar to replace their experienced predecessors – don’t even realize that there’s something very, very wrong in their newsrooms.

How did this happen?

You see, our politicians understood the press better than the press understood itself. The press, which has a bad habit of romanticizing its standing in the eyes of the American public, assumed that it would weather the slings and arrows of the changing media landscape, if for no other reason than the fact that people want to read what’s going on in the world every morning. In a way, the newspapers were right. People do want news with their coffee, but the mistake the old gray lions of the media made was to assume that the survival of the media meant that real journalism would endure too.

What our politicians grasped immediately, however, is that as long as the people gets their daily dose of sports, comics, and celebrities, they would be unfazed if the rest of the news shifted subtly over time from reportage to propaganda. That’s why, rather than killing their old nemesis, the politicians were happy to let the media chug on under their influence. Just ask Mayor Bloomberg how helpful the press can be. As long as the media doesn’t ask any unpleasant questions, they can repeat press releases word for word as if they were legitimate stories, lionize our leaders, and discredit dissenting voices.

PR people have always viewed the press as free advertising – better than free, really, because the people who subscribe to the press don’t even know they’re being sold a product. Once upon a time, reporters fought back against PR people to protect the integrity of their papers. Nowadays, reporters are grateful to publicists for relieving them of the time-consuming work of actual investigation.

But no one is more happy than our politicians. As long as they can keep spinning worthless yarn into PR gold, their lies and incompetence will never be unraveled.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO LAUNCHES INQUIRY INTO DEBT COLLECTORS ACROSS NEW YORK STATE




Cuomo Shuts Down NY Collection Agencies That Threatened and Intimidated
Consumers Into Paying Debts They Didn’t Owe

Sends Subpoenas to Nearly 20 Debt Collectors Statewide

NEW YORK, NY (May 27, 2009) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today
announced that his office has launched a statewide inquiry into debt
collection companies. As part of the inquiry, the Attorney General’s
Office obtained a court order against Lamont Cooper and his two debt
collection companies, Emanee Development, Inc. and Dial Tech LLC, under
which the companies will shut down and Cooper will be forced to pay
restitution to consumers statewide.

According to Cuomo’s Office, Cooper’s companies unlawfully lied to
consumers, threatened to arrest them, and intimidated them into paying
debts that they sometimes did not even owe. They would often call third
parties like neighbors or employers to further embarrass and harass
consumers. The Attorney General also announced that his Office has
subpoenaed nearly 20 other debt collectors across the state in his
ongoing investigation into various facets of the debt industry.

“At a time when New York families are already struggling with
unprecedented levels of debt, unscrupulous collection agencies add salt
to an open wound,” said Attorney General Cuomo. “Using fear and
intimidation to take advantage of individuals facing debt is a shameful
and illegal scare tactic. This judgment is the first step in this
Office’s expanding investigation into debt collectors that violate the
rights of consumers and operate outside of the law.”

According to the Attorney General's Office, Cooper operated Emanee and
Dial Tech, which did business under the names of various shell companies
and fictitious law firms across the state, including: Claims Process
Services, Claims America, CMC Recovery Services, Lomax & Barnes and
Murray, Bradshaw & Associates. Collectors at the companies used illegal
and fraudulent tactics to collect debts. Emanee and Dial Tech
collectors:

●   Falsely accused consumers of criminal activity and told them
that they had committed criminal fraud;
●   Falsely informed consumers that they would be arrested within 24
hours if they failed to pay the alleged debt;
●   Threatened consumers with law suits even though the collectors
were not lawyers
●   Sought collection of debts beyond the six year statute of
limitations;
●   Illegally discussed debts with third parties like employers and
neighbors to embarrass and harass consumers; and
●   Failed to provide legally required written notices to consumers
about their rights to dispute the validity of the alleged debt.

Some consumers, intimidated by these unlawful practices, then paid
debts that they did not even owe.  The tactics used by Emanee and Dial
Tech are prohibited by both the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices
Act and the New York State debt collection and consumer protection
laws.

State and federal laws stipulate that collectors cannot do the
following:  pose as an attorney, threaten lawsuits or other legal action
which cannot be taken, say a consumer committed a crime or will be
arrested, talk with third parties except to get location information and
cannot engage in conduct meant to harass, oppress or abuse consumer. The
law further requires collection agencies to send a written notice within
five days of initial communication with the consumer explaining how he
or she can dispute the debt. If properly disputed, the collection agency
must stop all collecti
on attempts and send verification.

Under the terms of court order obtained by the Attorney General’s
Office, Cooper and his two companies agreed to pay restitution to
consumers who paid debts they did not owe.  Additionally, Cooper and the
two corporate entities are permanently barred from engaging in the debt
collection business.  Cooper and the businesses are also permanently
banned from acting as brokers that buy and then re-sell portfolios of
consumer debt to individuals who then intend to hand the debts over to
collection agencies that Cooper selects or with whom he otherwise has a
business relationship.  The judgment was signed by the Hon. Diane Y.
Devlin in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Erie County.

The Attorney General’s investigation into Cooper, Emanee and Dial
Tech is part of a larger investigation into debt collection practices.
These practices, which violate both state and federal law, include a
broad array of potential wrongdoing, including: fraudulent threats of
criminal prosecution, harassing phone calls to consumers and their
families, friends and employers, bringing lawsuits against and/or
reporting consumers to credit reporting agencies without verifying that
the consumer being targeted actually owes the debt, and failing to
disclose that a caller is working for a debt collector.

Attorney General Cuomo has subpoenaed nearly twenty companies and law
firms operating as debt collectors throughout the state. The subpoenas
included requests designed to discover the policies and procedures the
debt collectors have implemented to comply with federal and state laws,
how the companies respond to complaints about their collection
practices, as well as how individual collectors are compensated.

The companies subpoenaed by Cuomo’s Office include: Cavalry Portfolio
Services, LLC; Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP; Debt Recovery Solutions LLC;
Eltman, Eltman & Cooper; Forster and Garbus; LHR, Inc; Mel S. Harris &
Associates, LLC; Med-Rev Recoveries, Inc.; Mitchell N. Kay, P.C.; NCO
Portfolio Management, Inc. and NCO Financial Systems, Inc.; North Shore
Agency, Inc.; RJM Acquisitions LLC; Rubin & Rothman LLC; and Sharinn &
Lipshie P.C.

Earlier this month, as part of his ongoing investigation into unlawful
debt practices, Attorney General Cuomo announced a lawsuit against two
debt settlement companies for fraudulent business practices and false
advertising.  Cuomo filed suit against CSA-Credit Solutions of America,
Inc. (“CSA”), based in Richardson, Texas, and Nationwide Asset
Services, Inc. (“NAS”), based in Phoenix, Arizona for making
millions of dollars by selling misleading debt settlement plans that
very rarely deliver the promised benefits to consumers dealing with
debt.

Cuomo also launched a website - www.NYDebtHelp.com - that explains
consumer rights, allows victims of debt settlement companies quick
access to the Attorney General’s office to file complaints, and
outlines the stages of the Attorney General’s investigation.

This investigation and lawsuit were handled by Assistant Attorney
General Dennis Rosen and legal intern Liz Blazey, under the supervision
of Deputy Attorney General for Regional Affairs David Sampson and
Assistant Attorney General in Charge of the Buffalo Regional Office
Russell Ippolito.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Texas Constructs U.S. Border Wall To Keep Out Unwanted Americans

The Texas-U.S. border wall will protect Texans from foreigners who do not share their beliefs and customs.

Texas Jury Awards Victims $9 Million In Barbecue 05.29.07

WICHITA FALLS, TX—Calling it an essential step toward securing the Texas border and protecting his people's way of life, Gov. Rick Perry announced Tuesday the completion of a 1,953-mile wall designed to keep out millions of unwanted Americans.

According to Perry, the 75-foot-high barricade running along the northern boundary is the culmination of more than 160 years of escalating tensions between Texas and the United States.

Enlarge Image

Though a protective barrier has been under consideration for decades, the Texas Legislature voted unanimously to begin construction on the project immediately following the 2008 presidential election.

"As governor, it is my responsibility to do whatever's necessary to maintain the territorial integrity of Texas," Perry told reporters during a press conference held inside a sniper tower overlooking Oklahoma. "If you are a Texas citizen, you shouldn't have to worry about some American coming in here, using your goods and services, and taking away your job."

"Let the record show I have nothing personal against Americans," Perry added. "I just think they should stay in America, where they belong."

The wall is comprised of six security layers: a razor-wire fence equipped with motion sensors, surveillance cameras, and guard towers; a 70-foot-wide trench with expert marksmen stationed along its perimeter; a roadway patrolled by armed vehicles equipped with synchronized electromagnetic wave gradiometers to detect Americans attempting to tunnel their way into Texas; and a second, third, and fourth fence.

The final section of the barricade, a reinforced concrete enclosure containing the city of Austin, will be finished by August 2009.

"These Americans are destroying the moral and social fabric of our state," said Rep. Chris Turner, who added that he worries when he looks around Texas and sees people from places like Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Vermont. "The man who used to repair my truck was replaced by some mechanic who moved in here from Kansas. Lately I can't go to the store or the bank without running into all kinds of these foreigners. This wall is the only hope we have of keeping Texas safe."

"The truth is, Americans are just different from us," Turner added. "We don't even speak the same language."

According to Texas Army National Guard Brig. Gen. Tom Alford, Americans will only be permitted to cross the border if they have immediate family living in Texas, in which case they can apply for a 90-minute monitored visitation to be held inside a checkpoint detention facility.

However, Alford stressed that any American attempting to transport barbecue sauce, beef jerky, belt buckles, or longhorn cattle back to the United States will face the death penalty.

Thus far, a majority of Texas citizens support the border wall, with nearly 8 million signing up to join a coalition of Minutemen that will guard the fence.

"These good-for-nothing Americans want to come in here and wait in the same lines as me, watch the same movies, and eat at the same restaurants," El Paso resident and border patrol volunteer Larry Carlile told reporters. "Who do they think they are? I'd never dare waltz into America and act like I owned the place. That country's a godforsaken hellhole, anyway."

"Round 'em up and get 'em out," Carlile added. "Go back to Seattle or whatever you call it."

Since the wall's completion, there has been no official comment from Washington. However, sources close to President Obama said that upon being informed of Gov. Perry's announcement the commander in chief muttered, "Thank God."

GOP led by toy soldiers - Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh - insulting heroes like Powell

Monday, May 25th 2009, 4:00 AM

Cooper/AP

Colin Powell

(Page 1 of 2)

This was at 166th St. and Boston Road in the Bronx Sunday morning, in front of the amazing old building that was still called Morris High School when Gen. Colin Powell graduated from there more than 50 years ago and began a life of service to his country.

This was an hour before Powell would appear on "Face the Nation" to discuss comments made about him by former Vice President Dick Cheney, whose most famous moment carrying a gun came when shooting a lawyer once instead of quail.

These days there are now five smaller schools on the Morris campus. Once, though, this was the first high school in the Bronx. And even with a lot of construction going on, the place is still something to see.

"Like a castle," Michael Moran, 42, from the neighborhood, said.

"Colin Powell went here," he was told.

"You think we don't know that up here?" Moran said.

A week ago Cheney - whose idea of a foxhole is Fox News - went on "Face the Nation" and said he assumed Powell had left the Republican Party after endorsing Barack Obama. Then Cheney said if he had to choose between Powell and Rush Limbaugh to lead the Republicans, he would go with Limbaugh.

But that really is the current Republican Party, isn't it? Angry old white men like Cheney and Limbaugh talking to each other. Two toy soldiers who enjoy insulting a real one like Powell. Trying to convince the country that if you don't believe in torture, you don't want to keep it safe.

Only here was Powell, who came out of Morris High to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs and secretary of state, telling the real truth about his party Sunday, and about the old men who think they speak for everyone in it.

"In every demographic ... the Republican Party is losing," Powell said.

Of course Dick Cheney wants to talk about torture now. It's all he's got. He doesn't want to talk about the soldiers he sent off to die in Iraq. He doesn't want to talk about all the wounded soldiers from that war, or the trips he didn't make to Walter Reed while he was still vice president.

He doesn't want to talk about how the Republicans lost both houses of Congress and finally the White House while he was vice president, as millions left his party on the dead run. And he certainly doesn't want to talk about what kind of country he left to President Obama, and to the rest of us.

So he talks about the potential danger of closing Guantanamo and puts it all on Obama, failing to mention that his own boss, Bush, also wanted to close the place. It is completely gutless of Cheney, and completely predictable. He continues to live in a weird parallel world, accepting no blame or responsibility for Sept. 11, but making it clear that if anything happens again it's all Obama's fault.

Previous Page Next Page 1 2

Who's leading the GOP?

Powell is better than the GOP's toy soldiers

Lupica: Colin Powell has still led a great American life and served his country more honorably than Dick Cheney ever will.

Rudy is out to get me!

Rudy started it. That's the story from the man arrested after a confrontation with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the Hamptons.

Curtains for Broadway: No-car zones in midtown

Effective Monday, Broadway is officially closed to motor vehicles in Herald Square and Times Square.

Celebrities show Cannes-do attitude

It's one of the most glamorous red carpets of the year - the Cannes Film Festival, and 2009 is no different.

Stars gone wild!

Wearing a leopard-print top, Rihanna was ready for a wild night out.

Hot times: Summer in the city!

The beach at Coney Island had plenty of sun revelers as New Yorkers enjoyed the first holiday of the summer season.

Obama, McCain's son meet at Navy graduation

The two shared a handshake, an embrace and a few words as Sen. and Mrs. McCain looked on.

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Read more: "GOP led by toy soldiers - Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh - insulting heroes like Powell" - http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/05/25/2009-05-25_gop_led_by_2_toy_soldiers_insulting_powell.html?page=0#ixzz0GX1seoJz&A

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Rudy's Heckler Speaks Out

Rudy Giuliani's Bridgehampton Heckler Speaks Out
By Foster Kamer, 12:45 PM on Sun May 24 2009, www.gawker.com

Yesterday, former New York City mayor, failed presidential candidate, and perpetual asshole Rudy Giuliani was publicly heckled by a guy in Bridgehampton. Naturally, Rudy had the guy arrested. And now the heckler speaks to us!

As the story's been told by three papers: Rudy's walking down the street when 69 year-old Amagansett local John McCluskey (pictured, right) comes up to him and starts screaming at him. McCluskey allegedly threatened to "punch (Giuliani's) lights out" and Giuliani responded with something along the lines of "Bring it on!"

And that's about as far as it went, as neither party really "brought it." Giuliani's moll, Judi, dialed their driver and hysterically ordered an extraction operation of him, and shortly thereafter, called the 5-0 (not the sequence of events: driver, then cops). McCluskey went into the coffee shop, emptied out all the change in his pockets, and was soon arrested by the fuzz, who hit the scene minutes later. The entire thing lasted a few minutes, and really, it was just two old guys yelling at each other. McCluskey's mostly been painted as "crazed" and "a lunatic" by New York papers, though he was noted as "slim and well-dressed" by a Post quote, and looks like a dead-ringer for John Larroquette, to us. McCluskey took the initiative to get ahead of the press cycle, and emailed us this morning. The semi-press-releasey, [sic]-heavy email from him:

Dear Editor,

I am the alleged crazed John W. McCluskey who "tried to attack" sweet Rudy Gulianno "out for a stroll" in Bridgehampton. The fact is that while crossing the street I simply informed Rudy of my contempt for his sleazy bullying tactics for most of his prosecutorial life. I pointed out he would gladly prosecute and persecute the innocent as well as the guilty if it gained him publicity.

He became irate and angry and threatened to beat me up for daring to express my opinion. He flew into a rage in the middle of the street using the foulest of language and threatened to kick my ass.His wife tried to calm him down but he continued his ranting's. Of course he proved my point by having me arrested for speaking irreverently to his royal nothingness. He's a true egomaniac and a bully who can hand it out but can't take.

I'm a publisher and documentary film maker of good reputation, never having been arrested before.("When the Goddess Ruled the Earth" and "Zeus Almighty") which is in the process of release. Rudy in the 80's harassed me and my company Arden Communications on phoney allegations of wrong doing regarding tax shelters as he did to thousands of others. In any case, I just had surgery on my knee and wouldn't have been foolish enough to engage Rudy in fisticuffs, but looking at the shape of him would preclude any idea of hitting the poor man, he's truly pathetic looking.

Aside for all of that he probably knows I am working on a documentary on 911 which includes his ineptitude and mishandling of certain events leading up to 911 and he thought this would be a good opportunity to discredit me. I emptied my pockets trying to come up with enough change for coffee at the Golden Pear which is where I was going when I met Rudy.

John W. McCluskey
Arden Films

McCluskey also told Newsday that he is "not a respecter of [Giuliani], and..told him essentially that he would prosecute and persecute a cheese sandwich if he got the opportunity." Now, we doubt McCluskey actually said that, but if he did: hilarity, and also, kinda true (though the Gouda RICO Trials would be a great beat to cover). Giuliani's spokesperson - which, amazingly, he still has - noted that the mayor "handled himself well and was calm considering the situation."

It's not really that crazy to want to scream at Rudy Giuliani. He just did it, which, yeah: kinda makes him crazy, but kind of not! My favorite part of this McCluskey's email is that he tries to explain the change-emptying after he plugs his movie. A flack, and he pays for his coffee with change: a true New York hero, no doubt.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Taking the reigns as Bronx borough president, Ruben Diaz Jr. pledges focus on economic woes

All Sections

BY Bob Kappstatter
DAILY NEWS BRONX BUREAU CHIEF

Friday, May 22nd 2009, 4:00 AM

Lombard for News: Ruben Diaz Jr. swears in as Bronx borough president today at Lehman College.

Hard hit by a recession that has pushed Bronx jobless numbers into the double digits and painful budget cuts to city services and his own staff, Ruben Diaz Jr. was formally sworn in Thursday as 13th Bronx borough president.

In an inaugural speech at Lehman College, Diaz, 36, pledged to "work tirelessly and without compromise ... for our seniors, our children and our hardworking families."

Gov. Paterson, Mayor Bloomberg and other elected state and city officials were on hand to extend their well-wishes.

Addressing a 10.5% local unemployment rate - the highest in the city - Diaz told the audience the most important goal on his agenda would be economic development - "and we will tackle the issue head-on."

In particular, he cited developing training programs for "green" jobs - "building green roofs, retrofitting boilers and making our existing building stock more energy-efficient."

He also cited the continuing need for improving local schools, including partnering "with community and faith-based organizations to develop after-school and arts programs in every neighborhood."

With health care the borough's single largest employer, Diaz said he would encourage the growth of new medical fields, such as bio-pharmaceuticals.

Proclaiming a theme of "One Bronx," the new borough president said he also will charge local business improvement groups with developing a strategic plan to "ensure the strength of all our business districts."

Diaz said that he will reach out to citywide leaders on issues "from business and labor to education and the environment."

"Today, I extend my hand to the mayor, and let him know that when we agree on policy, I will stand up and proudly support him. But when we disagree, I will be his fiercest critic."

Relationships between recent borough presidents and mayors have been mixed.

Diaz served 13 years representing Soundview and Hunts Point in the state Assembly. He and his father, state Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr., a Pentecostal minister, have been at odds over the issues of gay marriage and abortion.

On the political front, he helped topple Bronx Democratic Party Chairman Jose Rivera last year. He and the party leadership managed to put him on the ballot in the April 21 special election to fill the remaining eight months left in Adolfo Carrión's term. Carrión stepped down to head the White House office on urban policy.

Diaz is expected to coast to victory in the November election for a full four-year term.

rkappstatter@nydailynews.com

Read more: "Taking the reigns as Bronx borough president, Ruben Diaz Jr. pledges focus on economic woes" - http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2009/05/22/2009-05-22_taking_the_reigns_as_bronx_borough_president_ruben_diaz_jr_pledges_focus_on_econ.html#ixzz0GF2DwpTZ&A

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Are Rudy/Judy On the Rocks

Have Rudy and Judi Split? (Update: He Says No)
By John Cook, 4:48 PM on Mon Mar 23 2009 (www.gawker.com)

Once ubiquitous on the campaign trail and the New York social circuit, Rudy and Judith Giuliani have been noticeably absent as of late, sending reporters across town chasing a rumor that the two have separated.

We called a source close to Giuliani, who adamantly insisted that there is nothing wrong in Giulianiland, but we also know that there are news outlets sniffing around as we write. It could just be smoke, but then again Rudy's batting one for three so far in successful marriages, so it's not crazy to wonder.

Update: According to an adviser to Giuliani, the couple have been on a trip to California since Saturday and she'll be attending the event in L.A. mentioned below. As for why they've been missing from New York, the adviser says they spent a couple weeks in Hawaii while he made money giving motivational speeches. Nice work if you can get it.

Before the election, the couple were regulars on the campaign trail. And they used to be spotted on the town regularly in New York Post's Page Six, but the gossip column has only mentioned them twice this year, both times in Florida. The most recent photo of Judith that we could find was a Patrick McMullan photo from a New York charity event last December.

Of course, in addition to their New York home, the Giulianis own a house in the Hamptons as well as one in Palm Beach, which they purchased for Judith's parents. Late last year, they sold her parents home in her hometown of Hazleton, Pa.

We called the Palm Beach house and asked for Judith, to see if she's been spending time down there. A woman answered, said "I'm sorry," and hung up.

Rudy, though, has been keeping himself in the limelight lately —he was on Sean Hannity's show on Friday, and hosted a party in Connecticut earlier this month, sans Judi.

He's supposed to be speaking tonight in Los Angeles, too—let us know if he brings the wife along.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

No Free Press in Guatemala

YFP has always supported freedom of speech. Sometimes, we do not agree with the politics, but nevertheless we support the right to speak. Apparently, the Guatemalan government does not share our opinion. Shortly after this video tape was recorded, the subject was assassinated.

The Air in Spain is Laced With Cocaine

Where's My Passport?

The Air in Spain is Laced With Cocaine

By The Cajun Boy

A study commissioned by the Spanish government to monitor that country's air quality has reported what most European travelers already knew: Their entire country is just one enormous coke den. Like, you can breathe it!

Reports MSNBC:

A new study has found the air in Madrid and Barcelona is laced with at least five drugs - most prominently cocaine.

The Superior Council of Scientific Investigations, a government institute, said on its Web site Thursday that in addition to cocaine, they found trace amounts of amphetamines, opiates, cannabinoids and lysergic acid - a relative of LSD - in two air-quality control stations, one in each city.

The study also revealed that levels of narcotics in the Spanish air seemed to increase on the weekends and near college campuses. Shocking! Further, it found that at peak times, such as those infamous Spanish weekends (Anyone ever been to Ibiza? YEEHAW!), cocaine concentrations in the air reached levels of 850 picograms per cubic air meter. What's a picogram? Beats the shit out of me! But Rome only registered 100 picograms of cocaine per cubic air meter in a 2007 study.

Reading this reminded me of a girl I dated about four years ago who went to live in Madrid for a year for a graduate program. The girl who left the U.S. to study in Spain was fun, she liked to drink a bit, but she was, by all accounts, quite normal as a partier for someone living in New York. But the girl who came back to the country a year later had transformed into a damn aardvark for cocaine! Now it's all beginning to make sense!

Spanish Study Shows Cocaine in the Air in Madrid and Barcelona [MSNBC]

Friday, May 15, 2009

Of Politics And Homelessness

Of Politics And Homelessness (Updated)

May 14, 2009

A group of Democratic elected officials gathered on the City Hall steps today to decry the Bloomberg administration's decision to start charging the working homeless rent to spend the night at shelters and vowed to introduce legislation to stop the practice.

Interestingly, the bill, which will change the 1997 state law that requires the city to do this, will be carried in the Senate by Dan Squadron, who was endorsed by Mayor Bloomberg last fall; and Assemblyman Keith Wright, who was aggressively wooed by two mayoral aides who hoped to land his endorsement for their boss.

Squadron, who is vice chair of the Senate Social Services Committee, called the practice of dunning homeless people "penny wise and pound foolish." Asked if it puts him in an awkward position to oppose the mayor on this, Squadron replied:

"I have not spoken to the mayor about this. The mayor and I agree on a lot, but we don't see eye-to-eye on everything. I hope he supported me because he knew I would take positions on issues that I believed were right."

Squadron declined to say whether he will be endorsing Comptroller Bill Thompson, who was also present for the event, against Bloomberg, adding: "I haven't even thought about the mayor's race."

Wright was a bit more outspoken in his opposition to the mayor's homeless shelter policy, calling it "draconian," "absolutely inhumane" and "certainly something that needs to cease and desist right now."

When I asked whether this might influence his endorsement in the mayor's race, Wright replied:

"I wasn't going to endorse him anyway. I'm not endorsing him. And just because someone shakes your hand and exchanges pleasantries with you, which is a change from the old Giuliani administration, it doesn't mean that his policies are good or better than his predecessor, and we're trying to seek changes in those old policies that his predecessor wanted and put forward and that he s now enforcing."

Wright said he has every intention of endorsing Thompson, calling him "one of the smartest persons I've ever known," adding: "We were, actually, classmates in college, and he has done a wonderful job as city comptroller and I think he'll do an even better job as the mayor of the City of New York ."

UPDATE: To clear up the "why now" question. The state, in a 2007 audit, noted that the city did not "offset the cost of homeless shelter payments with client income, as required per (OTDA) regulations." The city sought a waiver from this requirement, but it was denied.

The city fought the audit conclusion up until this year. But then the state threatened to withhold money from the city if it did not comply, and then made good on that threat - to the tune of $2.4 million, according to the mayor's office. So the administration started collecting "rent" payments as of May 1.

Wright On Bloomberg and the Homeless, Endorsing Thompson from Elizabeth Benjamin on Vimeo.

Read more: "The Daily Politics - NY Daily News" - http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/?offset=15#ixzz0FbwsY6G2&A

The Mayor Has Been Deposed

The Mayor Has Been Deposed (Updated)

May 14, 2009

Here is the most recent complaint filed in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's discrimination lawsuit brought against Bloomberg LP, in connection which Mayor Bloomberg spent much of the day being deposed by attorneys.

The mayor is not a defendant in the suit, which is alleged to have taken place after he left the company he founded to run his first campaign in 2001.

At issue, however, is whether Bloomberg is responsible for what the EEOC, which has brought the suit on behald of 80+ women who are past and current employees of the firm, claims was a "systemic, top-down culture of discrimination."

Also in question: Exactly how much contact Bloomberg has continued to have with top executives at his company despite the fact that he has insisted he is no longer involved in running it.

"Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg prides himself as a hands on, detail-oriented owner, businessman and now Mayor," said Richard Roth, an attorney who is representing two of the women.

"Plaintiffs, who are 80 former pregnant females, allege the improprieties were serious, systematic and pervasive throughout his company."

"We are seeking to determine if and when Mayor Bloomberg became aware of these issues, whether they were happening under his watch, and if so, what he did about them, if anything. We are also questioning Mayor Bloomberg’s relationship with the company for the time period after he left the company and became the Mayor of New York City, and during which time he continues to own an overwhelming majority of the company."

"Unfortunately, I cannot comment on his deposition testimony. However, I can say that we will seek to have a second day of his deposition."

The pertinent passages start on P. 4.

UPDATE1: Actually, what appears below is the first half of the complaint. The second half is here.

UPDATE2: A statement from Bloomberg's attorney appears after the jump.

47-1

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Continue reading The Mayor Has Been Deposed (Updated).

Read more: "The Daily Politics - NY Daily News" - http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/#ixzz0FaLLqkD8&A

Brooklyn Democrat Vito Lopez emerges Assembly's top hog in handing out pork dollars

All Sections

BY Glenn Blain AND Robert Gearty
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Friday, May 15th 2009, 4:00 AM

Brooklyn Democrat Vito Lopez was the Assembly's most generous pork giver this year.

Lopez doled out $3.2 million in member items, topping all other individual Assembly members - even Speaker Sheldon Silver, a spending analysis shows.

"That is surprising," said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group, which analyzed the Assembly spending.

Lopez declined to comment. His spokesman, Jonathan Harkavy, said the totals were skewed by two large allocations: $2.1 million for a statewide neighborhood preservation program and $742,000 to the city Housing Authority for a tenant security program.

Those programs are usually funded through normal budget appropriations, but the fiscal crisis forced the Assembly to use member items to keep the programs running, Harkavy said.

Lopez's pork also included four grants totaling $155,000 to the Ridgewood-Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, which he founded.

Silver (D-Manhattan) allocated more than $8 million in grants, but much of that was done jointly with other lawmakers. Acting alone, Silver distributed $2.6 million, the research group said.

Among the grants was $1 million to the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty. The council's CEO, William Rapfogel, is married to Silver's chief of staff.

Silver has defended member item funding, saying it supports much-needed programs.

Read more: "Brooklyn Democrat Vito Lopez emerges Assembly's top hog in handing out pork dollars" - http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/05/15/2009-05-15_bklyns_lopez_top_hog_in_pork_spending.html#ixzz0FaCbcjZC&A

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Organized Crime Politics & Finance

Could AG Cuomo team up with Federal prosecutors to invoke the RICO Act and bring down the Pensiongate mob?

by Gary Tilzer

As prosecutors across the country continue to put the pieces together of the Pensiongate scandal, it is becoming increasingly apparent that pay-for-play is not just a few isolated incidents in New York, but a vast multi-state criminal conspiracy carefully orchestrated by corrupt powerbrokers. Only in this case it isn’t a don or The Five Families running the con, it’s top elected officials across the country and their politically connected cronies.

The comparison between the Pensiongate co-conspirators and the mafia isn’t far-fetched. But whereas Jimmy Hoffa opened the Teamsters’ pension fund to the mob in exchange for political influence, in this case, Hank Morris and Company allegedly used their insiders’ influence to enrich themselves and their politician friends upon state and city pension funds in New York, California, Texas, New Mexico – and likely more to come.

Despite the geographic distance between the states, there seems to have been little division among the Pensiongate perps when it came to pocketing the hard-earned money of union workers. With Attorney General Cuomo’s announcement yesterday that an associate of Hank Morris’s, Julio Ramirez, has pled guilty to securities fraud – likely in exchange for his testimony against Morris – we’re almost certain to learn more about Morris’s involvement in Pensiongate in the near future. What is clear, according to the Daily News, is that “Morris, the indicted top political aide to former state Controller [sic] Alan Hevesi, had his tentacles in public pension funds from sea to shining sea.”

Ramirez was the middleman between the company he worked for, Dan Weinstein’s Los Angeles-based Wetherly Capital, and Morris’s company Searle & Co. In exchange for securing Wetherly $50 million to invest from New York State’s $122 billion pension fund, Morris and Ramirez pocked $630,000 in fees.

But Morris got more than just a one-time fee for opening New York State’s pension coffers to Weinstein and Wetherly. According to ProPublica, Wetherly also shared fees with Morris’s company for helping a private equity firm seal three multimillion dollar deals with California funds. The funds were the California Public Employees’ Retirement System – the nation’s biggest pension fund – the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, and the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions.

ProPublica also reports that Wetherly, founded by Dan Weinstein, a prominent Democratic fundraiser in California and former union political operative there, has made $230,000 in political contributions since the firm opened in 2001. While at least $56,000 of this money went to board members of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) or “candidates for positions such as state controller or treasurer with a seat on the board”, Wetherly also made sure to give generously to the overseers of New York’s pension funds. Since 2005, Wetherly and its clients have given $50,000 in contributions to New York City Comptroller William Thompson, who sits on the boards of the five New York City pension funds, and largely controls how these funds are administered.

Since Alan Hevesi resigned at the end of 2006 as State Comptroller as part of a guilty plea involving (amazingly) a different scandal than Pensiongate, Wetherly sought to maintain strong ties to New York State’s pension fund by donating $2,500 to Hevesi’s successor, current State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. “The donation came seven months after a Wetherly client, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners of Los Angeles, won a $50 million commitment from the fund, records show. A DiNapoli spokesman said the donation has since been returned because it violated the comptroller’s personal ethics standards and that DiNapoli’s office was not aware of Wetherly’s connection to the corruption scandal “until their name showed up” in the indictment [of Hank Morris].”

The Morris-Weinstein alliance is just a single strand of the tangled web of corruption and criminality that has ensnared so many of the nation’s largest pension funds. In a statement yesterday, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo hinted at the tremendous scope of his probe, “This investigation has uncovered a matrix of corruption, which grows more expansive and interconnected by the day.”

So entwined are the cast of characters behind Pensiongate that you need one of those pyramidal charts the F.B.I. uses in movies to rank its ‘most wanted’ to keep track of all their connections. It is the sheer magnitude of Cuomo’s investigation that makes RICO a natural fit to prosecute Pensiongate. While invoking the RICO Act would mean that Cuomo would have to partner with Federal authorities and in so doing likely cede overall control of the investigation, it is appearing increasingly necessary for him to do so in order to bring so many perpetrators across so many states to justice.

While the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (or RICO) is best known as the government’s most powerful weapon against the mob, the law has a much wider scope and has been used in such wide-ranging prosecutions as the 1984 criminal corruption case against the Key West Police Department and the insider trading case that sent financier Michael Milken to prison. By definition, RICO applies not to a specific criminal act, but a pattern of criminal activity relating to “any enterprise affecting interstate or foreign commerce.”
Julio Ramirez’s guilty plea is an important missing link in proving just how organized the interstate criminal enterprise of the Pensiongate perps really was (and perhaps continues to be). Another long strand connecting Morris to some of the other principals in the Pensiongate scandal began with Ramirez. According to Cuomo’s office, Ramirez also introduced Morris to Saul Meyer, the founder of Dallas-based Aldus Equity, a private equity advisor to public pension funds in New York State, New York City, California, and New Mexico.

According to SEC securities fraud charges filed on April 30th by Attorney General Cuomo against Aldus Equity, Meyer’s company paid Morris $320,000 in exchange for Aldus bring picked to manage $175 million of New York State’s pension fund. As the Daily News reported, “Cuomo and the SEC said Aldus was picked after another firm wouldn't pay Morris… "Aldus was chosen by the pension plan because of Aldus' willingess to illegally line the pockets of others," said James Clarkson, acting director of the SEC's New York regional office.”

After securing the initial $175 million investment from the New York State pension fund, Aldus returned to Comptroller Alan Hevesi’s office in 2006, this time walking away with an additional $200 million, or $375 million in total. On this occasion, alleges Cuomo’s suit against Aldus, Alan Hevesi’s son, former State Senator Dan Hevesi was the beneficiary of the quid pro quo. In exchange for continued access to the New York State pension fund, Aldus recommended that a $25 million deal for Catterson Partners be approved in New Mexico, netting Dan Hevesi a $250,000 fee.

With so many rich and powerful players embroiled in this massive scandal, who then is the “boss of all bosses” among the Pensiongate family? Hank Morris? Alan Hevesi? Steven Rattner? Bill Richardson? Bill Thompson? That’s still not clear. In this case, it seems more than likely that rather than a godfather, there were several captains working in tandem on their respective turfs, similar to the arrangement the mafia brokered in 1957 at the infamous Apalachian Meeting. Regardless, as the investigation continues to unfold, we’ll have a clearer portrait of who among the alleged co-conspirators was taking orders and who was giving them.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

State Senate gives Pedro Espada one week to file all campaign finance reports

All Sections

By Barbara Ross
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, May 12th 2009, 4:00 AM

State Sentate leaders Monday gave Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. one week to file all his campaign finance reports, citing a "recurring failure" to do so exposed by the Daily News.

Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) also ordered the Bronx Democrat to pay related fines within one week.

Smith's move comes a day after The News reported that eight months after winning the Democratic primary, Espada still has yet to file a single campaign report. He should have filed six, and now owes $13,553 in fines.

Espada promised to comply - on his own timetable.

He said he'd file campaign finance reports by July and would pay his fines once he gets "notification" from the state Board of Elections about exactly how much he owes. The board has repeatedly notified him of his delinquency in paying the fines.

It was unclear late Monday if this response will satisfy Smith, who had threatened unspecified "immediate action" against Espada if he doesn't comply.

Smith's spokesman, Austin Shafran, said his boss - who was made majority leader with Espada's help and has known about Espada's delinquency for months - has not determined what, if any, disciplinary action to take.

Read more: "State Senate gives Pedro Espada one week to file all campaign finance reports" - http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/05/12/2009-05-12_bronx_pol_gets_a_week_to_clean_up_his_campaign_finance_mess.html#ixzz0FIZXQzeS&A

Monday, May 11, 2009

Daily News finds 2 Bronx lawmakers have cozy ties to nonprofit organizations

By Robert Gearty and Barbara Ross

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Sunday, May 10th 2009, 4:00 AM

Pedro Espada Jr., winner of the 2008 Democratic primary

for state Senate from the west Bronx.

Hermann for News

New York State Assemblyman Peter Rivera, represents the

76th Assembly District in the Bronx.

(Page 1 of 3)

Welcome to the Bronx - where allegations of corruption and collusion seem to grow on trees.

In a twin probe, the Daily News has found two Democratic state lawmakers with close campaign ties to nonprofit groups that use taxpayer funds. Federal law bars nonprofits from giving money or resources to political campaigns.

One, Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., dubbed the Bronx's "Teflon Pol," has repeatedly dodged charges of using a publicly funded health clinic for political purposes.

The other, Assemblyman Peter Rivera, sponsored nearly $1.3 million to a nonprofit whose employees helped his campaigns.

The probe follows The News' revelations that former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. did not pay an architect who designed Carrion's home renovation. Carrion had approved zoning changes and sponsored $7 million in tax money for a project the architect designed.

Carrion, now a White House deputy, recently paid the bill — two years after the job was done and after The News exposed the arrangement.

Here's what The News found about Rivera and Espada.

Espada's pals at health clinic

Pedro Espada is in the middle of another campaign funding mess.

After years of ducking charges that he uses the resources of his Soundview Health Clinic to promote his political campaigns, the Daily News found a new crop of such allegations again last fall.

In a bruising race in which he defeated incumbent Sen. Efrain Gonzalez Jr., many Soundview employees, medical vendors and Espada relatives who work for the clinic gave to his campaign.

Espada campaign literature printed in full-color on glossy paper was mailed to the same voters who got remarkably similar literature from Soundview.

One clinic ad featured four pictures of Espada, including one identical to the campaign literature; the same bulk mailing permit number appears on both campaign and clinic pamphlets.

Espada's campaign staff distributed leaflets at the same time and locations as Soundview clinic health fairs where staff distributed free condoms and food, including granola bars stamped "Vote for Pedro Espada."

In an interview, Espada — dressed in a pink shirt with monogrammed French cuffs, powder blue floral tie and matching pocket hankie — scoffed at the idea he uses the clinic to get elected.

"Soundview Health Clinic does not participate in political rallies. We participate in health fairs," he said. When clinic staff distributed free food, "you did not need to be a registered voter or even a citizen" to get some, he added.

Espada's effort to distinguish between his political and medical careers comes after years of the two being inseparable.

Previous Page Next Page 1 2 3

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo eyeing Pedro Espada Jr., Peter Rivera

BY Barbara Ross
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, May 11th 2009

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will investigate whether two Bronx lawmakers used nonprofit groups they control in order to dance around campaign laws.

Responding to Sunday's Daily News "State of Shame" report, Cuomo said he will scrutinize the relationships state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. and Assemblyman Peter Rivera have with separate non-profit groups, a source told The News.

State probers are poised to:

- Focus on employees of the Soundview health clinic Espada runs in the Bronx, who were convicted of using clinic resources to benefit Espada's campaigns.

- Question whether Rivera's campaigns illegally benefited from the Neighborhood Enhancement for Training Services. He steered $1.3 million in taxpayer money to the group, where his son and top political aides worked.

The NETS bought and renovated one now-empty building, but it remains a mystery where the bulk of the public money went.

Both Democratic politicians insist they've done nothing wrong.

At least six Bronx politicians are under investigation for misusing public money or shady real estate deals.

Soundview paid the legal bills of five employees convicted of working on Espada's campaigns while on the clinic's dime. The clinic was allowed to cover the legal bills, as long as the employees paid it back.

Espada insists the employees refunded the clinic for the legal bills. Cuomo plans to order an audit to determine if Espada is telling the truth.

bross@nydailynews.com

Read more: "Attorney General Andrew Cuomo eyeing Pedro Espada Jr., Peter Rivera" - http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/05/11/2009-05-11_attorney_general_andrew_cuomo_eyeing_pedro_espada_jr_peter_rivera.html#ixzz0FENJteES&A

Sunday, May 10, 2009

May 10, 2009 10:45 am US/Eastern

Obama Pokes Fun At Himself, Dems And GOP

'Rush Limbaugh Does Not Count As Troubled Asset,' Obama Says

WASHINGTON (AP) ―


President Barack Obama poked fun at himself and the Washington establishment Saturday night

It was the hottest ticket in town, a black-tie dinner gathering of Washington's political and media elite but Dick Cheney couldn't make it.

The former vice president was busy, President Barack Obama joked, working on his memoir tentatively titled, 'How to Shoot Friends and Interrogate People.'

As the star attraction of Saturday night's star-studded annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, Obama enjoyed poking fun at his critics and the Republican Party. But his own administration, in power for just over 100 days, was also a target of the president's playful digs and one-liners.

"I believe my next hundred days will be so successful that I will be able to complete them in 72 days," he said to a roar of laughter. "And on my 73rd day, I will rest."

His chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, Obama observed, always has a hard time on Mother's Day.

"He's not used to saying the word 'day' after 'mother,'" Obama said.

The chairman of Republican National Committee, Michael Steele, was "in the house tonight," Obama noted. "Or as he would say, 'In the heezy.'"

"Michael for the last time, the Republican Party does not qualify for a bailout," Obama told Steele. "Rush Limbaugh does not count as a troubled asset, I'm sorry."

Obama made light of his frequent use of a teleprompter and poked fun at Vice President Joe Biden's habit of speaking off the cuff. And about the Democratic Party, Obama said his administration has helped in "bringing in fresh, young faces — like Arlen Specter." The 79-year-old Pennsylvania senator, a former Republican, switched parties last month.

Obama noted that he and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had once been political rivals. "These days," he assured the gathering at the Washington Hilton ballroom, "we could not be closer."

"In fact the second she got back from Mexico, she pulled me into a hug and said I should go down there myself."

Near the end of his talk, Obama turned serious and spoke of the financially struggling media industry, praising journalists for holding government officials accountable. "A government without newspapers, a government without a tough and vibrant media of all sorts is not an option for the United States of America," he said.

The president was the night's big draw, but not the only comedian.

Comic actress Wanda Sykes, the dinner's entertainer, teased Obama for giving the Queen of England an iPhone during a recent visit. And she mocked first lady Michelle Obama for patting the queen on the back "like she just slid into home plate — way to go, queen!"

Proceeds from this year's event go to feeding the hungry and funding journalism scholarships.

The correspondents' association donated $23,000 — some of it saved by skipping formal dessert at the dinner — and raised another $75,000 from several major media organizations for two food banks, So Others Might Eat and Share Our Strength.

Funding for the journalism scholarships remained at $132,000 a year, an expanded level set in 2008.

Along with the reporters, the $200-per-ticket dinner attracted plenty of VIPs from outside the Beltway.

Among those attending were Eva Longoria Parker, Ashton Kutcher, Christian Slater, Natalie Portman, Sting, Mariska Hargitay, Steven Spielberg and Jon Bon Jovi. Also there was Richard Phillips, who was held hostage by Somali pirates after his cargo ship was attacked.

Exposed: NYC Senator Who Doesn't Live In NYC

CBS 2 HD Finds Out Truth About Sen. Espada: He Represents Bronx But Lives In Wealthy Westchester Town

Espada Criticized For Blocking Deals To Solve MTA Woes

Reporting
Marcia Kramer

NEW YORK (CBS)

: A CBS 2 HD investigation has uncovered the fact that state Sen. Pedro Espada, who represents the Bronx, lives nowhere near the Bronx.

It's hard to call Pedro Espada a man of the people.

The state senator from the Bronx has blocked any deal to solve the Metropolitan Transportation Authority budget problems.

That's strange because from his residence in Bedford Park he'd need to hop on the D train for about an hour to catch a train from Penn Station to Albany.

But that's not a problem for Espada because as CBS 2 HD found out he actually lives in Mamaroneck -- outside his district.

Believe it or not the man trying to disguise himself by wearing an orange ski hat is State Sen. Espada -- and he didn't want to talk to CBS 2 HD in the worst way.

CBS 2 HD: "Excuse me Sen. Espada, I wonder if I could talk to you about the MTA …"

Espada: "Please … please … please."

And with that Espada slammed the door.

Espada was so intent on not being seen he held a baby in front of his face as he pulled out of his driveway in Mamaroneck.

And that's the rub. Espada represents a Bronx senate district, but he lives in a nearly $700,000 home in Mamaroneck, that has been in his family since the 1990s.

"He's there a long time. Yeah, he's there all week," neighbor Benny Protano said.

CBS 2 HD undercover video found cars registered to Espada parked in his Mamaroneck driveway at night and again the next morning, indicating that he slept in Mamaroneck.

Espada does own a co-op in the Bronx -- at 325 East 201st St.

Members of the co-op board told CBS 2 HD that while Sen. Espada owns an apartment there he doesn't live here.

"I have never seen him in the building, not ever. I do my laundry in the building. I come and go with my 1-year-old. Unfortunately, I've never seen him here," resident Erin Cicalese said.

What concerns Cicalese and others in the Bronx neighborhood is that Espada is one of a handful of senators holding up an MTA bailout. They feel that a man who spends his time living in a leafy Westchester County suburb can't relate with their fears of steep fare hikes and service cuts promised by the MTA.

"I think that someone who lives in Mamaroneck probably just doesn't understand how that's going to impact working class people who live in the Bronx," Cicalese said.

By living in Mamaroneck Espada may have violated the law. Election law expert Guy Parisi said the state constitution says a lawmaker must live in the district 12 months before he runs and while serving.

"You gotta live there. You have to have a presence there," Parisi said, adding you can't just visit there every once in a while. "Not at all. Not at all and comply with the law.

So just being registered in a certain place is not enough?

"No, its not. If you don't sleep there it is not your domicile," Parisi said.

Through a spokesman Sen. Espada admitted to owning the Mamaroneck house for 18 years, but he claimed the Bronx co-op is his primary domicile.

He also said that when he is in Albany one of his cars is "always parked outside" Mamaroneck or the Bronx because he can only drive one car at a time.

But during the time CBS 2 HD watched Espada's Mamaroneck house both his cars were parked there.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Sen. Espada protest at landlord luncheon

Thumbnails Detail Comments

Tenants make their way to the Water Club where Sen. Espada was the guest of honor at the landlord luncheon.	Michael McKee from Tenants PAC (in hat) joined tenants from across NYC to proclaim "Espada is no friend to tenants!"	Cue the 1980s song from R&B one hit wonder, Rockwell. The first poster to correctly identify the singing brothers on the backup vocals gets a rent abatement!
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Tenants protest Espada, chair of the State Senate housing committee, for opposing the repeal of vacancy decontrol.	"Espada, escucha, estamos en la lucha." Ray pee te por favor?	CBS Channel 2 on the "Grill Espada beat."
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Wishful thinking on the part of tenants. Puerto Rico, soy tuyo!	Housing Here & Now Exec. Director Michelle O'Brien negotiates with the NYPD.	WNYC interviews a tenant leader.
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An unidentified Espada staff member looks on with dismay (not to be confused with the reflection of our trusty cameraman Lucas).	About 15 tenants stormed the luncheon before being pushed out by police and Club managers.	Channel 2 claims that Espada is living in Westchester and not in his Bronx district. Espada is the only senator who does not have a district office.
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We have until June 22, 2009 to pass rent reform. Onward to Albany!	There are over 1 million rent-regulated apartments, representing the most successful and largest source of affordable housing in the city.	Tenants held a press conference outside the luncheon as landlords look on.
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Joeseph Ferdinand from the North West Bronx Community Clergy Coalition.	Tenant leaders who live in Pedro Espada's district denounced the senator's cozy relationship with landlords.	Acorn rallies the troops to push for real rent reform.
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Thursday, May 7, 2009

Senate Passes Metropolitan Transportation Authority Finance and Accountability Package

Bill Sponsored by Senator Dilan, Senate Transportation Committee Chair

(Albany, NY)—Faced with devastating cuts to services and fare increases, Senate bill S5451, sponsored by Senator Martin Malavé Dilan (D-Brooklyn), passed Wednesday, May 6 bringing financial solvency and accountability to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The package closes a more than $2 billion operating deficit incurred by the MTA with a two-year $2.9 billion revenue stream covering operational costs and capital. It also puts in place measures to ensure that the public authority operates under the light of day, and incorporates sound accounting practices.

“First and foremost, our goal was to close a more than $2 billion budget gap, keep fare increases to a minimum, services intact and prevent layoffs,” said Senator Dilan, Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. “ Secondly, we saw this as an opportunity to restructure an organization wrought with poor-practices, worse management and little accountability.”

As the worsening economy compounded the crisis, Senator Dilan and Senate colleagues quickly took action to bridge the authority’s budget gap, address future capital needs and create a more accountable authority.

Last month the Senate Transportation Committee produced legislation that addressed the MTA’s operational deficit at the time. As the financial gap widened, it became more apparent that the MTA’s shortcoming were the culmination of years of mismanagement and a failure by some appointed to oversee MTA operations to recognize and head-off the looming crisis.

“As members of the MTA Capital Review Board, the former Majority had every opportunity to change the course of the authority. Knowing full well where their borrowing was leading it, the MTA has once again run aground, and myself and Senate Democrats were left the ugly business of bailing it out,” Senator Dilan concluded.

S. 5451 MTA Finance and Accountability Legislation:

These five revenue sources, generating $2.9 billion over the next two years, allow for a fare increase of 10 percent for 2009, keeping the basic fare at $2.25, well below MTA projections of 25 to 30 percent. On an annual basis, the fare increase raises $500 million.

The fare increase provides for a greater portion of the mobility tax to support bonding under the core capital program and offsets operating losses as a result of the weak economy. Revenue generators only apply to the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District. They are:

· A $1 Flat fee on all license classes will raise $27 Million. D Licenses will pay $78.50 for an eight year renewal.

· A $25 per year increase will be imposed on registration and re-registration of motor vehicles. This will raise $47 Million in 2009, and $141 Million in 2010.

· The Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax (Payroll Tax) is $.34 cents per $100 of income. It is imposed on payrolls of more than $2,500; and self-employed earnings of more than $10,000. It is retroactively effective March 1, 2009. It will raise $1.021 Billion in 2009, and $1.54 Billion in 2010.

· The mobility tax will fund new capital spending, allowing the MTA to fund debt service of approximately $400 million, which in turn supports $6.8 billion in bonding for upcoming capital improvements.

· Public school districts will be reimbursed annually upon approval of 2010 budget. The effective date for schools is September 1, 2009.

· A 50 cent per trip charge on all medallion Taxicabs in New York City. The measure yields $85 million annually.

· A 5 percent fee on all rentals of passenger vehicles within the MCTD will raise $18 Million in 2009, and $35 Million in 2010.

Prevent Abuse and Increase Transparency and Accountability:

· Included is a provision stipulating that the Legislature will do its own audit this year, and then may do so again every two years.

· The MTA auditor cannot perform other services that present a conflict.

· MTA must post rules and information about its granting of privileges or benefits to board members, its board’s and staff’s use of livery cars and automobiles owned by MTA, and its hiring of outside law firms.

· Contractors who receive MTA funds must provide information to employees on how to report fraud or abuse to the MTA inspector general or the attorney-general.

· MTA budgets and capital plans must be based on Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and presented with detailed supporting documents available on its Website.

· MTA must provide in plain English on its Website, and give to the Governor and the legislature every year, a proposed mission statement and measurements for how well the authority carries out the activities required of it; and a report on the MTA’s financial condition; internal control procedures; and an assessment of the current state of the authority.

· MTA must post on its website quarterly revenue and expense targets; updated projections of revenues and expenses; important operating data; a comparison of actual versus projected levels with an analysis of significant variances; gap-closing initiatives undertaken by the MTA; and the status of its capital projects and costs.

Improve governance of MTA:

· Chairman of the authority is its Chief Executive Officer, and may appoint an Executive Director, who reports to the Chairman.

· Board members are fiduciaries who can be terminated by the Governor if they do not exercise loyalty and commitment to its mission.

· An Office of Legislative and Community Input is created within the MTA which reports to the legislative leaders and the public about public comments and concerns, and gives recommendations for addressing them.

Enhance process for five-year MTA capital plan

· MTA must promote and detail minority, and women-owned business enterprises activity for each MTA capital project.

· At least 60 days before it submits its 5-year capital program to the MTA capital program review board, the MTA must provide draft copies to the Speaker of the Assembly and the Temporary President of the Senate.

Contact: Graham Parker | gparker@senate.state.ny.us | (518) 455-2177

Bloomberg's Diversity, Giuliani's Diversity

By Azi Paybarah

Getty Images

Yesterday, Michael Bloomberg told reporters that the “diversity of our administration has not been as diverse as the city itself, but we're going in that direction.” But, a Bloomberg spokesman told The New York Times this weekend, this administration has been just as diverse as the previous one.

By the somewhat crude measurement of total number of African-Americans to have held the title of commissioner or higher for any length of time, the Giuliani administration was in fact more diverse. But since the total number of black commissioners hired under Giuliani was in part a function of turnover, it's effectively a wash, as close as I can tell.

Martha Stark's resignation as finance commissioner, as some of the mayor's critics quickly pointed out, left only two commissioners in the administration who are African-American: Roger Newman at the Mayor’s Office of Veteran Affairs, and Patricia Gatling at the Commission on Human Rights.

But since 2002, when Bloomberg took office, there have been six African-Americans who have held the title of commissioner for various agencies.

By comparison, according my count, which was assisted by a reader who worked for the previous mayor, the Giuliani administration had eight African-Americans as commissioners over eight years.

(And yes, it's also somewhat arbitrary to use Giuliani administration as the bar-setter on diversity in hiring, but for the sake of this exercise, I'll just compare the two. Please feel free to enlighten me about how each of them stacks up to earlier administrations.)

Here, according to a mayoral spokesman, is the list of African-Americans who have worked as commissioners in the Bloomberg administration since they took office in 2002:

William Bell, Commissioner, Administration for Children’s Services 1/01/02 – 7/18/04

Martha Stark, Commissioner, Department of Finance 2/25/02 – 5/02/09

Verna Eggleston, Commissioner, Human Resources Administration 1/1/02 – 2/25/07

Patricia Gatling, Commissioner, Commission on Human Rights 2/11/02 - Present

Michael Handy, Commissioner, Office of Veterans Affairs 7/26/93 – 6/01/03

Roger Newman, Commissioner, Office of Veterans Affairs 9/10/07 - Present

And here's the list of African-Americans who worked as commissioners in the Giuliani administration between 1994 and 2001:

Rudy Washington, Commissioner, Department of Business Services 1994 – 1996

Deborah Wright, Commissioner, Department of Housing Preservation and Development 1994 - 1996

Marva Hammons, Commissioner, Human Resource Administration 1994 – 1996

Peggy Hamburg, Commissioner, Department of Health 1991 – 1997

Michael Handy, Department of Veteran Affairs 7/26/93 - 6/01/03 Wilbur Chapman, Commissioner, Department of Transportation 1998 – 2000

Debbie Weeks, Commissioner, Department of Business Services, 2000 – 2001

Earl Andrews, Commissioner, Department of Business Services, served after Washington and before Weeks

Al Curtis, Commissioner,Department of Youth Services 1994 [added]

UPDATE: After initial silence follwing the Stark resignation, Bill Thompson has something to say about the Bloomberg administration's hiring practices.

UPDATE: As George Smiley points out, the list of Giuliani appointees leaves this former commissioner out.

Azi Paybarah can be reached via email at azi.paybarah@politickerny.com.

The Leave-No-Mailbox-Behind Campaign

By Azi Paybarah

Azi Paybarah

Since a shortage of resources is not going to be a problem, Michael Bloomberg’s campaign can afford to send six-page, glossy campaign mailers to even those who are least likely to support him-- like reporter-blogger-gadfly Rafael Martinez Alequin.

Azi Paybarah can be reached via email at azi.paybarah@politickerny.com.

Hiram Monserrate judge: I won't make tape of tussle with girlfriend public before trial

BY Nicole Bode
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, May 7th 2009, 4:00 AM

Bates for News

Hiram Monserrate

A Queens judge on Wednesday refused to make public a video tape of state Sen. Hiram Monserrate dragging his wounded girlfriend from his apartment building - saying it would "poison" potential jurors.

"The defendant will not get a fair trial," Queens Supreme Court Justice William Erlbaum in ruling to block the tape from public view before trial.

"It has the great potential for prejudice. A picture is indeed worth a thousand words ... it causes the blood to boil."

Monserrate, 41, was charged with felony assault after prosecutors say he slashed girlfriend Karla Giraldo in the face with a shard of glass after an argument in his apartment Dec. 19, 2008.

Prosecutor Scott Kessler described the security tape in "graphic" detail, saying it shows the former Queens city councilman "viciously and violently" yanking his girlfriend toward the exit as she screamed for help.

The victim needed 20 stitches over her left eye to close the gash, authorities said.

Monserrate's former defense attorney, Irving Seidman, countered by saying the tape "showed absolutely no violence."

Erlbaum also watched the tape in private during the last court appearance on March 27.

He then upheld a full order of protection, forcing Monserrate to stay away from the petite 29-year-old.

Although Giraldo first said she'd had an argument with Monserrate, she swore in court papers the injuries were accidental. She said Monserrate tripped on her shoes while bringing her a glass of water in bed.

She also planted a kiss on Monserrate's cheek at the last court appearance, in violation of the order of protection.

Monserrate's new lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, echoed the judge's fears about a tainted jury.

"We won't even get a chance," Tacopina said, adding he almost had a mistrial in the Bronx because of a juror looking up trial info on the Internet.

"It's adding fuel to the fire. It's totally inflammatory."

Tacopina also warned the judge the tape had yet to be "authenticated," and said he could still look to challenge its admission into evidence.

Erlbaum warned Tacopina that the freeze was only temporary.

"You and your client have to make your peace with this exhibit. You'll have to cope with it ... You'll have to cope with it at trial. It's inevitable that it's going to come out," Erlbaum said.

The hearing was held after the Daily News asked that the tape be made public.

nbode@nydailynews.com

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

News 'From The Brink Of The Abyss'

May 5, 2009

Gov. David Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith finally (and mercifully, as far as the press corps is concerned) brought an end to the stalemate on saving with MTA, announcing a three-way agreement on a bailout plan for the cash-strapped authority.

The shorthand: The agreed-on deal is more or less what the Senate Democrats proposed in March with a slightly higher fare increase - 10 percent instead of 8 - and funding for a two-year capital plan. The tax revenue will be used for capital. The fare revenue will be used for operating expenses.

"We have preserved our investment in the future of mass transit in the entire region; we have rescused this system from the brink of abyss," declared a very happy Silver, who was particularly pleased that his call for a plan that included at least some capital funding was heeded.

The total revenue package comes to $2.26 billion a year through a payroll tax, a fare hike higher than the Ravitch plan proposed and the package of fee increases included in the Senate Democrats' second MTA proposal.

Schools will be reimbursed to the tune of $60 million; that money will be included in next year's budget, Paterson said.

Some details:

- $1.5 billion will be generated by a payroll tax in the 12-county MTA service area - not graduated, which means the three counties that were supposed to pay less, Putnam, Orange and Dutchess, will now be paying .34 percent/$100 just like everyone else.

Of that, $400 million will be used to pay off the debt service on a $6.5 billion annual capital plan through 2011. Paterson said he, Silver and Smith are "committed" to doing a "statewide road and bridge plan" later in the year.

Asked where the money for that would come from - not to mention to pay for long-term MTA capital projects - Paterson replied: "If we knew how we were paying for it, we'd be standing here telling you that right now."

- $261 million will be generated through fees (registration, car rental, license) and a 50-cent taxi drop-off.

- $500 million will be generated by the fare hikes, which will go up as follows: 10 percent now, 7.5 percent in 2011, 7.5 percent in 2013.

There is still no bill copy, but the governor and the leaders insisted that there will be language in time for lawmakers to pass this deal tomorrow. Paterson will be issuing a message of necessity to bypass the required three-day bill aging process.

"This is one time where the term 'message of necessity' couldn't be more accurate," Paterson said.

Paterson, Silver and Smith all praised Richard Ravitch for coming up with the blueprint for saving the MTA yet again. Reached on his cell phone by my DN colleague Bill Hammond, Ravitch, who was having dinner with his wife, said:

"I am disappointed that they didn’t fund the five year plan. I'm disappointed they didn't do the tolls. But I’m thrilled they did something...Being a believer in the democratic process, thank God for what they did, and I look forward to the day they do more for the MTA."

In case you've forgotten, here's what Ravitch had to say about the Senate Democrats' plan when they unveiled it less than two months ago:

"The idea that the Legislature will do six months from now - closer to the next election - that which they won’t do now is to test the creduilty of all of us who have some familiarity with what happens in Albany."

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Bag the hikes on plastic bags, say angry shoppers

BY Sergey Kadinsky and Adam Lisberg
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Saturday, May 2nd 2009, 4:00 AM

Watts/News

Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty joins others in Madison Square Park to announce the introduction of legislation that will place a 5 cent fee on plastic carry-out bags.

Mayor Bloomberg wants to balance the budget with nickels and dimes - but in times like these, New Yorkers say they can't spare the change.

"How much more are they going to squeeze from the little guy?" asked Reggie Hines, a 52-year-old tour bus driver from the Bronx.

The mayor's new budget would raise the sales tax to almost 9%, charge sales tax on clothes and shoes, and put a 5-cent levy on every plastic bag you take home from the store.

"It's 5 cents to go shopping now!" Hines said. "They're going to force the working class out of the city."

The sales tax hike would charge 50 cents on a $100 purchase, but merchants say it sends the wrong message to shoppers who are already keeping their pocketbooks shut.

"The $175 leather jackets are now $99. We can't go any lower. We've got rent to pay," said Gregory Bennett, manager at Delaney Leather in Brooklyn's Fulton Mall.

At Mitchell's Bar & Grill on nearby Flatbush Ave., manager Mike Issa gazed at the empty tables and said Bloomberg should pay more taxes out of his own pocket.

"Give people a break," said Issa, 45. "I'm overtaxed. People are not making money, and you want to increase taxes? He should pay more taxes."

Bronx restaurant worker Derek Banwell, 32, said he'll start shopping at warehouse clubs to save money and skip the name brands - but higher taxes will pick his pocket either way.

The hiked sales tax would raise $552 million, while eliminating the clothing exemption would garner another $394 million, Bloomberg said.

The plastic bag tax would raise about $100 million while also keeping the streets cleaner, Bloomberg said - but some New York shoppers took the idea like a slap in the face.

"We have the right to get a plastic bag!" said Lachon Evans, a teacher's aide from Brooklyn. "The city always says it is broke."

alisberg@nydailynews.com

Friday, May 1, 2009

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo subpoenas contracts won by clients of firm tied to Sheldon Silver

BY Kenneth Lovett
DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF

Friday, May 1st 2009, 4:00 AM

ALBANY - State investigators have subpoenaed records involving a top lobbyist with close ties to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the Daily News has learned.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's subpoenas cover companies that have won state contracts using Patricia Lynch Associates as their lobbyist, sources said.

Lynch was a longtime communications director for Silver and has created one of the biggest lobbyist firms in the state.

The subpoenas were sent to the state controller's office.

"We are cooperating with the attorney general's office," said controller's office spokeswoman Jennifer Freeman.

The records sought include those for Cablevision/Madison Square Garden, Disney, City of Yonkers, Destiny USA, First Albany, Port of Albany and Accenture.

Also sought are records on Long Island Power Authority, Erie County, InsCap, M/A Com-Tyco, Macquarie, Markstone and M&T Bank.

Some are current clients of Lynch's firm. Others are past clients.

"He's looking to see if the [Lynch] firm had any undue influence on the contracting process," a source said.

Another source said the subpoenas are part of the pension probe inquiry into the state controller's office under former Controller Alan Hevesi.

But many, if not all, of the contracts were said to be with state agencies with no connection to the pension fund.

The controller and attorney general must approve every state contract.

Lynch couldn't be reached for comment.

Her office put out a statement, saying, "like many others, we have received a request for information relating to the controller's office. We have provided information responsive to that request."

Patricia Lynch Associates was created in 2001, when Lynch retired after eight years as a top Silver aide.

Her firm's Web site highlights that link.

"During her tenure in the speaker's office, Pat's responsibilities included setting legislative policy, directing media strategy and negotiating with the executive chamber on budget and legislative initiatives.

"In addition, she oversaw all political components affiliated with the speaker's role. Her position brought Pat into close working contact with leaders in the Assembly and Senate as well as with both political parties."

In 2007, the latest figures available, Lynch's lobbying firm was the state's second largest, taking in $6.7 million in client fees and expenses.

The firm has offices in Albany, New York City, Buffalo, White Plains and Panama, and employed 152 people as of 2007.

Lynch has hired the politically connected from both sides of the aisle and has remained close with Silver.

Cuomo's office had no immediate comment.

klovett@nydailynews.com

Peggy Lipton, The Girlfriend Who Sparked the Pension Scandal

How a Queens schlub went head over heels for Peggy Lipton and brought down the system

BY Tom Robbins

Tuesday, April 28th 2009 at 3:06pm

Adam Nemser/Newscom

Pension fun: Andy Stein and Peggy Lipton in 2003

One way to get a handle on the massive pension fund scandal unearthed by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and his diligent team is to consider this: It all starts with a girlfriend. Long before the political titans were paraded in handcuffs and the financial wizards publicly shamed, there was this simple scenario: a portly, middle-aged government official thoroughly smitten with an aging blonde actress.

It is a direct result of Jack Chartier, loyal lieutenant to former comptroller Alan Hevesi, having completely lost his head over Peggy Lipton, whose blue-jeaned curves and sultry stares so enhanced the old TV series The Mod Squad, that top political careers are now in jeopardy and major investment firms are scrambling for higher ground.

Chartier, 64, is a veteran political aide from Forest Hills. Before meeting Lipton, 61, in 2004, his most exciting evenings were the annual dinner dances of the Queens County Democratic Organization. Suddenly, after a lifetime spent sitting next to clubhouse lawyers, Chartier found himself escorting a bona fide celebrity to balls and parties, where he mingled with the likes of Shirley MacLaine and Warren Beatty.

It's not every day that a schlepper from Queens gains access to this glittering crowd. But according to several people with knowledge of the matter, Chartier owed his great good fortune at meeting the lovely Lipton to her former beau, Andrew Stein, the ex–City Council president with the handsome salt-and-pepper rug and a long list of glamorous conquests.

Stein quit politics in 1993. Since then, his name is found mainly on the Post's Page Six, which dutifully chronicles his star-studded dinners at Le Cirque, attended by the likes of Harrison Ford, Al Pacino, and Meg Ryan. Right until early 2004, when she started seeing Chartier, Lipton's name nestled snugly next to Stein's in a half-dozen Page Six items as the couple made the rounds with Jon Bon Jovi, Barbara Walters, and the rest of the boldface crowd.

The gossip mentions lift the profile of an otherwise dimly remembered ex–city politician. They also don't hurt Stein's workaday job as a broker seeking to introduce big investment firms to big pension funds. There, the former pol worked just as hard to know the right people. He was a major backer of Carl McCall, Hevesi's predecessor as comptroller. McCall said last week that he remembers Stein bringing in the Carlyle Group, then headed by former Reagan defense secretary Frank Carlucci, to see him about an investment: "He was pushing something that was military-related, and we weren't interested," said McCall.

Stein was also an influential booster when Hevesi ran and won in 2002. This was partly due to his longtime friendship with Hank Morris, the sweater-wearing political guru who guided Hevesi to victory and who now stands accused of having raked in millions in pension fund plunder.

Records show that around the time that Chartier and Lipton began hitting it off, Stein also hit it big in Hevesi's office. In March 2004, the comptroller agreed to invest the first of what would become $133 million in pension money with a European fund assembled by Carlyle. According to those familiar with the deal, Stein's Arapaho Partners scored a sweet $1.5 million broker's fee.

Chartier was in his own paradise. By all accounts, the married bureaucrat was so enthralled with his new relationship that he put all duties aside so as to tend to Lipton's needs. The state employee assigned as Chartier's chauffeur said that, beginning in the spring of 2004, he regularly ferried Lipton and Chartier about town. David Burke told the Albany District Attorney's office, which later investigated the matter, that he would wait at the comptroller's midtown offices for a couple of hours each morning for Chartier to emerge: "Then he'd say, 'We're going to pick up Peggy,' " he told investigators.

Off they'd go in a state auto to fetch Lipton at her apartment on East 74th Street. They took her on errands to the hairdresser, the nail salon, the grocer, and the acupuncturist. There were also more sobering trips: Lipton was undergoing chemotherapy, and Chartier would accompany her in the state car to Memorial Sloan-Kettering, just a few blocks away. He'd wait with her during the two-hour treatments and then escort her home.

There was night duty as well. Lipton was writing a book about her life, and Chartier told Burke he was helping with the project. "Jack would go to her house after working hours, about 7 p.m.," Burke said. The chauffeur would wait and drive his boss home to Queens sometime after 10 p.m.

Lipton's memoir, Breathing Out, was published in 2005. Chartier isn't mentioned by name, but in a chapter about coping with her cancer she writes of "a close friend" who was "there for me for every test, picking me up and taking me to each appointment, checking on me several times a day." The unnamed friend "put his job on hold, telling the people in his office something important had come up that he needed to take care of," she wrote. "He became my strong and gentle warrior. I began to rely on his strength and generosity."

The book's acknowledgments page includes a discreet reference to "Jack C." It comes right after her publisher and before her doctors.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

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Monday, May 11, 2009

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Obama Pokes Fun At Himself, Dems And GOP

'Rush Limbaugh Does Not Count As Troubled Asset,' Obama Says

CBS 2 HD Finds Out Truth About Sen. Espada: He Represents Bronx But Lives In Wealthy Westchester Town

Espada Criticized For Blocking Deals To Solve MTA Woes

Friday, May 8, 2009

Tenants make their way to the Water Club where Sen. Espada was the guest of honor at the landlord luncheon.

Michael McKee from Tenants PAC (in hat) joined tenants from across NYC to proclaim "Espada is no friend to tenants!"

Cue the 1980s song from R&B one hit wonder, Rockwell. The first poster to correctly identify the singing brothers on the backup vocals gets a rent abatement!

Tenants protest Espada, chair of the State Senate housing committee, for opposing the repeal of vacancy decontrol.

"Espada, escucha, estamos en la lucha." Ray pee te por favor?

CBS Channel 2 on the "Grill Espada beat."

Wishful thinking on the part of tenants. Puerto Rico, soy tuyo!

Housing Here & Now Exec. Director Michelle O'Brien negotiates with the NYPD.

WNYC interviews a tenant leader.

An unidentified Espada staff member looks on with dismay (not to be confused with the reflection of our trusty cameraman Lucas).

About 15 tenants stormed the luncheon before being pushed out by police and Club managers.

Channel 2 claims that Espada is living in Westchester and not in his Bronx district. Espada is the only senator who does not have a district office.

We have until June 22, 2009 to pass rent reform. Onward to Albany!

There are over 1 million rent-regulated apartments, representing the most successful and largest source of affordable housing in the city.

Tenants held a press conference outside the luncheon as landlords look on.

Joeseph Ferdinand from the North West Bronx Community Clergy Coalition.

Tenant leaders who live in Pedro Espada's district denounced the senator's cozy relationship with landlords.

Acorn rallies the troops to push for real rent reform.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

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May 5, 2009

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Friday, May 1, 2009

How a Queens schlub went head over heels for Peggy Lipton and brought down the system

BY Tom Robbins

Tuesday, April 28th 2009 at 3:06pm

Adam Nemser/Newscom

Pension fun: Andy Stein and Peggy Lipton in 2003

JOHN LIU

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