It’s official! The appellate court’s decision stands in New York State. Read it and weep, oh Maggie of the Very Closed Mind:

Today, New York’s highest court handed down a victory for many gay and lesbian couples throughout the state by letting stand an appellate court’s groundbreaking ruling that recognized same-sex couples’ valid out-of-state marriages.

“Today’s decision represents another step in the ongoing fight for human rights,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. “Each time a gay or lesbian couple’s marriage is recognized, it is a victory for familes and for fairness in New York State.”

[snip]

The case raised the issue of whether the longstanding “marriage recognition rule,” which requires New York State to recognize marriages that were solemnized outside the state, applies to gay and lesbian couples’ valid marriages. The court held that it does and that Martinez and Golden’s valid Canadian marriage at issue in the case is entitled to recognition.

“If a marriage is valid in the state or country in which the marriage took place, New York law generally requires the recognition of that marriage,” said Arthur Eisenberg, the NYCLU’s legal director. “This case involved a straightforward application of that principle.”

I believe congratulations are in order here:

ann-and-bess.JPG

And here:

lisa-and-pat.JPG

And to many others, whose pictures I did not, regrettably, get.  So, was that bus trip to Albany worth it, everybody?  I think so.  We’ve already had a party, but that’s no reason not to celebrate again.

The race for Tom Reynolds’ seat in NY-26th is heating up. With many prominent Republicans opting not to run there seem to be just as many mulling it over. Here, the latest from The Buffalo News announcing Channel 4 anchorman Don Postles may be running:

A high-level party source said Tuesday he has talked about the race with the veteran newsman, who is unaffiliated with any party and would have to receive special designation from GOP leaders to run on their line.

Postles declined to comment Tuesday night, but the source said he promised to continue the discussion. The source added that Postles might instantly bring to the competition one of the most coveted of political advantages — name recognition.

Why am I thinking of Yogi Berra this morning?

From the AP:

A state lawmaker won’t seek the western New York congressional seat currently held by Republican Thomas Reynolds.

That’s according to a report on the Buffalo News Web site.

The newspaper reports that George Maziarz (MAZ’-ee-arz) will announce later today that he has decided not run for the 26th Congressional District seat.

See the entire report here.

Update: The D&C also filed this report by Jill Terreri:

Maziarz, R-Newfane, informed his inner circle this morning, said Niagara County Republican Chairman Henry Wojtaszek, who attended the breakfast meeting.

Wojtaszek, who some Republicans have also mentioned as a possible successor to Reynolds, said he won’t be running. Niagara County Republicans will be suggesting Wheatfield Supervisor Timothy Demler for the race, Wojtaszek said.

Maziarz weighed family considerations, his position of leadership in the state Senate — he is chairman of the Energy Committee — and projects he has yet to finish in his district, Wojtaszek said.

We were hoping that Governor Paterson would be the solution to our quarreling state legislature. With a wish and a prayer, David Paterson was confirmed on Monday, but by Wednesday, our hopes for a smooth resolution of the state budget were destroyed, when the Senate opposed the proposed tax increase on those making over $1 million:

Oh, for what might have been.

The revenue issue seemed to have been resolved earlier this month when both the Democrat-led Assembly and Republican-led Senate agreed that the state would have $250 million less to spend than the $124 billion budget projected by then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer. That accord was reached under last year’s reform measure that set a deadline for achieving a revenue consensus.

But now that the budget deadline is only 10 days away, the old standoff over revenue has been revived, with Assembly Democrats and Senate Republicans at odds over how to raise enough revenue to close a projected $4.7 billion deficit, and where the money will come from. Assembly Democrats want to impose a temporary income tax surcharge on those earning $1 million or more — a reasonable proposal. But the Senate’s Republican majority opposes raising taxes. Regrettably, Governor Paterson appears to be leaning that way, too, although he has dismissed the idea.

The millionaires’ tax, as it has come to be known, would raise $1.5 billion a year and go a long way toward soaking up the budget’s red ink. The main arguments against the surcharge — namely, that it would make New York less competitive and perpetuate its image as a high-tax state — are weak. When former Gov. George Pataki ultimately rescinded a similar surcharge after he took office, there was no great exodus of businesses from New York.

So, the Republican Senate is against raising taxes on the rich. I think an interjection of, “thank you Captain Obvious”, belongs here someplace. But, couldn’t we get it right, just this one time-this crossroads in New York State history deserves better than this.

ISSUE:State leaders are at an impasse on the budget.THE STAKES:A timely accord is needed to restore confidence in government.

Come-on Senator Bruno, let’s end the partisan bickering and do what’s right for the state budget and ultimately better for the people who live here.

Spent any time at Lake Ontario lately? It is truly a great local resource. Maybe you’ve heard about the drought in the Southern states where states are suing each other over who owns certain waterways and where state lines are actually drawn, thus increasing access to coveted water.

Water buoys our economy and our health, and our environment is dependent upon water in its various forms. The issue may not be splashy (pardon the pun) but to ignore the importance of protecting the Great Lakes would be foolish. Thankfully, Governor Spitzer, on March 4th (one of his last actions as governor), signed legislation authorizing New York to join the compact (from AP):

New York has become the fourth Great Lakes state to commit to an interstate treaty designed to keep arid states from pulling water out of the immense waters known as North America’s Fifth Coast, Lt. Gov. David Paterson said Friday.

The governors of eight states signed the Great Lakes Compact in 2005 after four years of talks, and New York’s legislature joined those in Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota in approving the treaty.

Here is the Compact as voted in New York (A07266) and sponsored by Robert A. Sweeney, (D-Long Island). Note the cooperation. Water buoys.

(Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times)

Now that David Paterson has shown us he has a lighter side, time to get back to business. Saturday the Associated Press reported this on Paterson:

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Incoming Governor David Paterson says he’d rather not raise taxes to close a more than a more than $4.6 billion budget gap, but he won’t rule out the income tax increase for the wealthiest New Yorkers that the Assembly’s Democratic majority as proposed.

And while Paterson may have a gift for mixing humor and congeniality with business, he said that he has no plans on becoming a victim of Albany’s cut-throat politics. The New York Times ran a particularly nice article on Paterson on Saturday, March 15th:

The first order of business, he said, is trying to get a budget passed by the March 31 deadline; the state faces a shortfall of more than $4 billion, and the Legislature and executive branch are still far from reaching an agreement

“We have a lot of work to do,” he said.

Paterson also demonstrated loyalty when discussing Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama:

Although he is impressed with Mr. Obama, he said, he still believes the New York senator, whom he called a good friend, would make the better president.

(snip)

“I’m very committed to Senator Clinton,” Mr. Paterson said to a group of reporters in the Capitol, The Associated Press reported. “When I sign up to support a candidate, it’s to the end.

Then he hugged Assembly Republican Leader Tedisco and lunched with Bruno. I like that whole kill ‘em with kindness, keep your enemies closer approach.

Eric Massa, challenger to Rep. Randy Kuhl in NY-29, held a press conference this morning and began with the following statement:

I am not disappointed with Eliot Spitzer, really I’m disgusted. This is a personal and professional betrayal to myself and the people of New York. He should have already resigned. His crimes [have caused] incredible damage to the voters. My prayers are not with Eliot Spitzer, they are with his family and the people of New York state. I directed my staff to sever all ties with anything having to do with Eliot Spitzer.

I went outside yesterday with a tea kettle of hot water and scraped off my bumper sticker of Eliot Spitzer. I’m Italian in my heart and soul and when someone treats a member of my family this way, we walk away from them. And I have walked away from Eliot Spitzer. It is unforgivable what he has done to the state of New York.

On good news: the business of governing continues. I’d like to call attention to the ongoing budget discussions. At a time when the Iraq war is costing us $12 billion a month, that’s just not acceptable. We need a massive infrastructure rebuilding project [in New York]. The business of good government must continue. That is what I have dedicated my life to.

Bob Ricotta of The Leader had the first question: What do you know of David Patterson and can he clean up this mess?

This is a tremendous black eye for Democrats. No doubt about it. It’s bigger than that. Patterson’s challenge, should he become governor, is to rebuild confidence in New York. My prayers are with David, he’s a personal friend. He’s a man who listens, much like Lyndon Baines Johnson was able to get done what JFK couldn’t get done.

I asked Massa if he thinks Americans still hold politicians to a higher moral standard?

No. We are disgusted with politicians. Congress is full of men and women with histories similar to Mr. Spitzer. It’s gonna take one person at a time to change that. I think they have very low expectations and I don’t blame them. There’s no way to sugarcoat what Spitzer has done and I don’t blame them.

I also asked if the previous missteps of Troopergate and the driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants made this money-for-sex scandal that much more unacceptable, if this had happened in isolation would have it have been forgiven by the voters:

Troopergate is a grain of sand on the beach in comparison to this. There is no way to explain what I’m reading in the papers and on TV today.

__(’Read the rest of this entry »’)

I can’t resist the tendency to say “Game on!” Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks has picked a media fight with Governor Spitzer and I think she is going to get more than she bargained for. From News 10 NBC:

Brooks says the governor is balancing his budget on “the backs” of local property taxpayers. County executives from across the state want to set the record straight. They say the governor wants to shift state costs onto the local level. The price tag for Monroe County taxpayers is 16 million dollars over the next two years. But Spitzer is firing back directly at Maggie Brooks.

Spitzer said, “Let me be very clear, she’s wrong.” Governor Eliot Spitzer didn’t waste any time pointing the finger back at County Executive Maggie Brooks. He added, “County executives are trying to take the easy way out by blaming somebody else for their inability to make the tough judgments.”

First of all, is she kidding us? Isn’t that argument about balancing the budget on the backs of local taxpayers a little familiar? Oh yeah, we launched it at her last year. Talk about a boomerang.

There’s more:

Brooks said, “The state is forcing us to choose between raising taxes and sacrificing health and education programs so that we can put our budgets together.”

Spitzer said, “It is a lack of financial management on her part and I think it is wrong and disingenuous of her to blame the state.”

Round 1: Spitzer.

Eric Massa held a press conference today and here are the highlights:

Massa started with a statement on the presidential race, stating “John McCain [is set] to be anointed by the president.  Sounds like it was written by Karl Rove and the West Wing currently in power.  I do agree with Mccain when he said ‘let the debate commence.’  On the other hand, the Democrats are going to continue the nomination process for some time now.  Pennsylvania is a big state, very close to us in NY.  I want to emphasize one overwhelming point, last night in Texas, Vermont, Rhode Island & Ohio, as we have seen in virtually every other state, the turnout by Democratic voters has gone off the charts, in some cases doubling.   I believe that is a very clear signal that the voters want to move the country in another direction.  McCain’s policies are a continuation of George Bush and [the] failed team.  We must begin to address healthcare.”

I asked Massa his thoughts on the home foreclosure crisis:

I’m not a person who says the sky is falling.  Experts are saying that loud and clear.  First thing we must do is have a mortgage freeze.  FDR wrote the blueprint and called it ‘a banker’s holiday.’  We need to do that again.  Stop all foreclosures for 60-90 days while the market figures out the rest.

I then asked him if he was opposed to Spitzer’s mortgage crisis plan (bold mine):

Sounds like his plan is a first step in the right direction.  Success is measured in moving that football by 5-15 yards.  Sounds like a very good idea.  What we’ve had is an incredible institutional predatory lending.  Most people who are in this situation lost their jobs, are in deep, deep financial crisis and have nowhere else to go.  Someone gets sick, they think they have health insurance and their policy drops them.

The concept of mediation is one that I would support.  I also like the idea of holding these predatory lenders  accountable. They knew what they were doing when they did this…Norman Rockewell would be crying if he saw this today.“

His thoughts on the energy crisis?

“This administration has had the White House for 8 years….look where we are today.  I cannot help but illustrate the mess that this administration and Karl Rove have gotten us into here.  My opponent has been there supporting Bush every single day.  We have to go in and clean it up.

We need to stop these incredible tax giveaways.  Right now we are literally financing the profits at the pump of exxon and other oil corporatrions.  We are paying a premium so Exxon can record another quarter of profits.  Oil is at an all-time high, but the profits of Exxon are beyond the ability to calculate.  [Somewhere I read an] excess of $40 billion in profits last year.  I supported the House Resolution that ended those subsidies.  Kuhl opposed it.

Newsflash: if you’re taking $4o billion out of my neighbor’s pocket, you ought to be putting something back in.  By the way, that money could be used to make alternative energy.  We’re paying them for the privilege.

Drilling in Anwar?

No, it makes no economic sense. It would only last 6 months [if we sucked it dry].  Why would we consume our last strategic oil supply?  It won’t change the price of oil at the pump, not one penny, but it will make billions of dollars for Exxon and BP and I’m not in favor of that.  The answer is in using less.

Nuclear option?

No matter what we want to do we have 116 nuclear power plants in this country.  They are here today and will be there for as long as anyone can calculate.  Either they’ll have to be shut down or rebuilt.  They need to be radically overhauled and rebuilt.

Upstate plans?

Upstate is ‘the land that is forgotten.’  [We should] pass the enhanced SCHIP that returns tens of million in federal tax money that we pay to Washington in the form of health care for our children.  The money for health care goes a long way to help offset the $4/gallon gasoline.

Kuhl voted against it.

What is the biggest difference between you and Kuhl?

The biggest and most visible is he has superglued himself to George Bush.  From there all other conversations flow.  Kuhl has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Bush and I have been in opposition to each and every one of Bush’s failed policies.  I’m not afraid to stand up to the members of Republican and Democratic parties.  Kuhl said in a recent interview ‘I can’t believe he (Massa) would criticize members of his own party’ when I criticized the Brazil trip.  If it doesn’t make sense it doesn’t make sense.

Are you a maverick in the party?

I like McCain.  Maybe it’s because of our shared military backgrounds.  He’s a man of integrity, I just disagree with him.  We are [both] willing to go up against our own parties.  Yeah, I’ll wear that hat if I’m a maverick.  My problem is I say what I mean and I mean what I say.

Are you okay to go up to Spitzer to secure Upstate aid?

We can either continue doing more of what we’ve been doing for 20 years and continue to fail, or we can go in a new direction.  Kuhl brings pork back to the district through earmarks.  When you’re behind a tax payer paid desk for 27 years you lose touch with reality with the people you represent.  Or we can find new solutions.  If we want to rely on Washington for pork barrel handouts, nothing will change.  But if we demand our share upfront then we can get some changes.

I’ve proposed massive changes to WPA.  The entire infrastructure of NY has to be rebuilt, that uses American materials and American workers instead of sending it to China.

This is America. This is the United States.  Our best days are yet to come.  These crises and challlenges are really opportunities.  It is time to pass the torch to the next generation and we’ll solve the incredible problems. We can with optimism, vision and determination.

I’m always available.

Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno gathered his Republican colleagues today for what they are deeming their “Come to Jesus” moment.

From The New York Times:

In his sprawling suite in the Capitol, a humbled Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, gathered an aging coterie of fellow Senate Republicans on Wednesday morning to commiserate over a fresh defeat and plot a last stand for their beleaguered party.

(snip)

On Tuesday, with the backing of the governor’s political operation, Assemblyman Darrel J. Aubertine, a Democrat, won a special Senate election in an overwhelmingly Republican district in the northern part of the state.

The victory meant that a single Senate seat now stands between the Democratic Party and full control of state government. And many on both sides of the aisle were left wondering: If the Republicans could not win in this district, where they have a 78,454 to 46,824 enrollment advantage, could they win anywhere?

(snip)

One top official called the election results the Republican “Waterloo at Watertown,”

(snip, bold mine:)

Democrats have not occupied the governor’s office and both chambers of the Legislature since the days of the New Deal. The Republicans captured the Senate in 1939 and have held it for all but one year since. The last time Albany was under one-party control was 1974, when Nelson A. Rockefeller was governor.

I think Governor Spitzer has been underestimated, his political wounds have been overestimated and now he’s showing his resilience.  (And how funny is it that the year 1974 is when ABBA released their song “Waterloo”?  Ah, the prescience of Swedish rock groups.)

The ownership society envisioned by George Bush, where there is no common land for everyone to enjoy, just took a reality hit in NY-48th this week. Score one for the common man.

Republicans underestimated the lure of the fish in Oswego County, and as predicted, the anglers liked the Democratic angle a bit better. Dairy farmer Aubertine beat land owner Barclay in part because Barclay owned land that included part of a river and was charging anglers $30 to fish there. The land was previously public.

Political lesson #1: Do not mess with the (fishing) proles.

It’s as if every sportsman/sportswoman in Oswego heard what Barclay was charging and asked “You talkin’ to me?” Then they voted for Auberdine. Do not mess with the proles.

The “ownership society” is like some kind of Republican Xanadu code word for “sticking it to the masses,” all the while touting it as the great elixir for society’s ills. It was in actuality bad medicine, or as Naomi Klein put it in The Nation:

“yesterday’s ownership society has morphed into today’s members-only society.”

Americans are wising up. Take a look at this dissection (bold mine) of Bush’s ownership society from David Morris at AlterNet:

He [Bush] firmly believes that we don’t own those things that most of us would indisputably believe we do own — our bodies, our privacy, our dignity, our bedrooms. And to add insult to injury, he just as firmly believes that we can own those things that most of us would argue are not ours to own — air, words, folklore.

It is a losing strategy for Republicans. America is a free society so when people begin divvying up public lands, words, ideas, etc. for private monopoly the citizens are going to fight back with their most effective weapon: their votes.

It’s a great time to be a Democrat.

After Tuesday’s special election in NY’s 48th, Albany’s, Three Men in a Room becomes Two and a Half Men in a Room. From Rising Hegemon:

NYT:

In a major victory for Gov. Eliot Spitzer and his party, a Democratic assemblyman won a stunning upset in a State Senate election on Tuesday in a district that has been in Republican hands for a century.

The win reduces the Republicans’ majority to one seat and will intensify pressure on the majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, as he tries to maintain his party’s grip on the Senate, which it has controlled for more than 40 years.

That’s five pieces of great news in two short paragraphs: (1) Spitzy wins; (2) Democratic upset (although The Albany Project says it doesn’t really qualify as an upset); (3) 100+ year Republican district goes Dem; (4) Republican majority reduced to one; (5) Bruno under pressure.

I’m thinking about having a party.

File this under “just sad.” The D&C chat commentary for the well-written essay by Willie J. Lightfoot, Monroe County Legislator who represents the 27th District, started off on the wrong note. Lightfoot pointedly addressed how the GOP chose not to notify Democratic legislators about the perceived threat to County legislators during the Public Defender selection debacle. The commentary, as we say in the real world where truth exists and actually matters, started off with a blatant Republican lie (bold mine):

Let’s be reasonable here sir. It was apparent that you were assumed to be a member of the threat. So why would the Republicans inform you? It is obvious that they wanted to stay ahead of the game.

(snip)

In any law enforcement procedure if there is a threat identified, the law enforcers must mobilize in an attempt to isolate, neutralize, or annihilate the peril to protect the public.

“isolate, neutralize or annihilate the peril”? Where do we live? Republicanville is scary.

Tom Reynolds (R-NY 26th) may have been called “Mr. Clout” by The Buffalo News Sunday Magazine but with the unfolding NRCC auditing scandal I think he may be a bit down and out. From DemocraticUnderground.com:

The FBI is investigati[ng] the NRCC ( National Republican Congressional Committee) for forging it’s official audit. They were apparently, running a money laundering operation within the national party, to use soft money as hard money, to pay official bills and expenses.

(snip: bold mine)

The people named, who ran the NRCC, are:

Christopher J. Ward, the ‘outsider’ who mastermined it all, unbenounced to all those innocent Republicans leaders who signed off on the official audit & expenses.

(snip)

Susan Arceneaux
A close Bush friend, a Swift Boat employee. WHo knows what she was up to?

Rep. Tom Davis-VA
The name on the legal documents.

Rep. Tom Reynolds-NY
The other name on the legal documents.

(snip: bold mine)

Christopher J. Ward, was found to have made soft money into hard money in a 2000’s election and the NRCC was fined $250,000 for a $500,000 transfer.

The problem, today, not only involves that crime, but goes back to when the Contract With America began the flourishing of such soft money PACs. These groups, of unlimited and unregulated, mainly corporate, money had to shift the books, after the McCain-Feingold Law went into effect in 2002.
The NRCC had to now, pay employess, rent offices and provide the FEC, a full accounting of expenses as hard money. Christopher J. Ward, was the OFFICIAL auditor for the NRCC, at that time of transistion, so they got creative and thought they would easily hide the transfers, within state PACs and campaigns.
Christopher J. Ward is accused of sending the FEC, the official NRCC audit.
A forged audit, which the top Republican leadership, in Congress had to sign off on, as valid and verified.
Dirty tricks, is not what this is all about.
Intentional money laundering is. The NRCC was running a sham funding scheme, akin only to a Colombian drug cartel or Capone’s failed attempt to skirt IRS rules.

The entire piece is worth reading.

An interesting thing about the word “clout” is that it also means “a blow, especially with the fist.” I think “Mr. Clout” may be taking it on the chin with this latest scandal.

Just a quick set of photos from our friend sconsetmonkey, who attended the noon protest over domestic partner benefits being challenged by Maggie Brooks. Sandy Frankel is the lady with the scarf on in the first image, back to the camera. Thanks sconsetmonkey!