David Paterson-Ya get whatcha need

By ladkiddo ( March 13, 2008 at 9:02 am) · Filed under News

Let’s get to know our new governor. Channel 13 has this to say and a video is available at their site:

Quick Facts about David A. Paterson

â€¢ Paterson was the youngest senator in Albany when he was elected at age 31 in 1985.
â€¢ He is a graduate of Columbia University and Hofstra University School of Law.
â€¢ David Paterson was the first African-American lieutenant governor.
â€¢ David Paterson was also the first legally blind person to hold the job.
â€¢ Paterson is married with two children.
â€¢ His father, Basil Paterson, once represented the Harlem district he won in the 1980s.
â€¢ The elder Paterson became the first non-white secretary of state in New York, an appointed post. In 1970, he was the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, but lost.

Paterson is barely known outside of his Harlem political base. He’s been in New York government since his election to the state Senate in 1985. He led the Democratic caucus in the Senate before running with Spitzer.
Though legally blind, Paterson has enough sight in his right eye to walk unaided, recognize people at conversational distance, and even read if text is placed close to his face.

While Spitzer is renowned for his abrasive style, Paterson has built a reputation as a conciliator.

I met David Paterson at a conference in Albany 3 years ago. He spoke eloquently and from the heart. My first impression was that he was humble and extremely intelligent. I had no idea, at the time, that he would be our Lieutenant Governor, let alone our Governor. He seemed steadfast, genuine and approachable, and isn’t that what we need right now?

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Grievous Angel says:

March 13, 2008 at 9:29 am

Here’s The Stones singing “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzz1VEN1SEk

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ladkiddo says:

March 13, 2008 at 9:37 am

Thanks Angel

jiminybizbo says:

March 13, 2008 at 4:41 pm

I liked the speech he delivered today. A nice mix of humor, combined with a sincere approach to doing what is best for the people in this State.

I think we got lucky on this one.

March 13, 2008 at 4:50 pm

got a link for that Jiminy?

March 13, 2008 at 5:04 pm

I will find one ladkiddo…

In the interim, I received this in email from the WFP - another very well written opinion on Paterson, and US! (From Dan Cantor, Executive Director, WFP)

What made Eliot Spitzer a great Attorney General was his fearlessness in taking on the big money crowd.

He believed that everyone was equal before the law, and he was unafraid of the Lords of Wall Street. He tapped into an unspoken dismay in our society about the obscene inequality that characterizes American life — “the malefactors of great wealth,” as Teddy Roosevelt called them — and that’s what sent him to the Governor’s Mansion with a record-setting level of support.

He didn’t need much help to win the election, and he thought — wrongly — that he didn’t need anyone, inside or outside of Albany, to help govern. We thought we were getting someone who would lead the tough fights for ordinary working families, but it didn’t turn out that way.

Instead, we got a leader who thought his main fight was with the legislature, with SEIU 1199, even with the WFP from time to time. The anti-corporate crusader departed. We were left with an energetic but not always thoughtful leader who was too angry at too many people and institutions to be effective. His administration will be remembered as a squandered opportunity.

We should also keep his resignation in perspective. It’s not earth-shaking, even as it’s a terribly sad time for his family and staff, many of whom are terrific public servants. But we should remember what a real scandal is — for instance, when a President dishonestly launches a pre-emptive war and thousands and thousands of people die as a result. We need to tell the difference between appallingly bad behavior and appallingly bad policies.

Needless to say, Governor Spitzer’s resignation leaves an unfinished agenda. The WFP and its allies — community organizations and unions and environmental groups and business and student groups and civil rights organizations and the blogosphere and everyone else who still believes in equality and democracy — will, of course, continue on.

We will look to our new Governor, David Paterson, and to progressives in the Assembly and Senate to pick up the ball that Spitzer dropped. It means being both pragmatic and visionary. We need to fight for paid family leave and publicly financed elections, for preserving affordable housing and for a foreclosure moratorium, for subsidy reform to save taxpayer money and for green jobs/clean energy policies to save the planet , for reducing taxes on working families while asking the wealthy to pay their fair share, for adequate investment in education and health care and transportation.

Fundamentally, we still want our state to be a place where one’s life chances are not determined at birth. That’s our hope for the Paterson administration.

At the moment, and for the foreseeable future, the fundamental problem facing our State Government is this:

For the last 30 years, excessive tax cuts for the wealthiest New Yorkers have starved the state of billions in revenue and forced communities across the state to raise property taxes . Working families are choking on these property taxes. But the state still needs money to properly fund crucial services.

With a recession looming and a $5 billion budget hole to fill, we now face a choice: cut needed public investment in everything from schools to subways, or shift the tax burden off of property taxes and back to those who can most afford to pay by repealing excessive income tax cuts for the rich.

Click here to learn more and sign the petition for a fair budget: http://workingfamiliesparty.org/fairtaxes.php

Spitzer or Paterson, the fight for a progressive and decent New York goes on.

That’s it. Read the papers, pay your dues, and… organize.

Sam Williams, Bertha Lewis, Bob Master
WFP Co-chairs
DanC@workingfamiliesparty.org

Dan Cantor
WFP Executive Director

Amen to that Dan!

March 13, 2008 at 5:08 pm

Here’s the video link to Paterson’s speech (lower right corner):

http://www.wstm.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=107913

March 13, 2008 at 5:13 pm

…and this from Rochester’s biggest employer (RIP EKC):

University leaders respond to Paterson’s first public remarks
Reported by: Elizabeth Harness
Thursday, Mar 13, 2008 @04:30pm EST

Rochester’s number one employer is singing the praises of Lt. Governor David Paterson. Leaders of the University of Rochester Medical Center were meeting in New York City today…but watched Paterson’s speech. University president Joel Seligman had this to say: “I am looking forward to working with Lt. Governor David Paterson as he assumes the office of governor,ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚Â says Joel Seligman, president of the University of Rochester, ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…â€œas he stated in his remarks this afternoon, it is now time to get back to the business of the state.” Paterson himself came to Rochester in April 2006, promoting stem cell funding to the University. While Governor Spitzer endorsed the legislation it was Paterson who was considered the driving force behind establishing the $600 million state fund for stem cell research, millions of which will go to the university. “I am confident that he will bring the same leadership and commitment to an agenda to strengthen our schools, our communities and the upstate economy.” The other big project hanging in the balance for the University is the center for translational research. It has already been included in the 2008-09 budget and Seligman says he’s confident the project continues to be a priority for our area.

March 13, 2008 at 5:31 pm

Thanks JB

March 13, 2008 at 6:13 pm

Quotes from Huffington re: Paterson:

It’s more crowded than I have ever seen it in the almost 10 years I’ve been covering Albany.

Paterson started off, in his usual way, with a joke. He was met with applause when he walked into the room, and when it died down, he said: “If most of you weren’t being paid, I’d be flattered by this…”

…The Sun’s Jacob Gershman asked Paterson, so “New Yorkers don’t have to go through this again,” whether the LG had ever patronized a prostitute. Paterson seemed ready for that question, and quipped.

“Only the lobbyists.”

rochesterturning.com: turning the tide upstate says:

July 5, 2008 at 8:49 pm

[...] days and some of that time has been spent putting the ghost of Spitzer’s hypocrisy to rest. Governor Paterson deserves time to come into his [...]