Left of the Hudson: Progressive News and Views for Rockland County

Library Vote in Nyack Tomorrow

2010-02-08T18:28:00.001-05:00

Please vote on Tuesday Feb 9 at The Nyack Library for Dee O’Hagan for Nyack's Library Board. All registered voters living in the Nyack School District can cast their ballots between 10am and 9pm.

Dee is a South Nyack resident with two young children. I first met her about six years ago when she lived on Aldine Park. I have since found her to be an extremely measured person with a great understanding of children and education.

O'Hagan is currently a librarian at Nyack High School. Thus, she understands the fiscal responsibilities involved in running a library. She would provide a great perspective on how to make cost-effective decisions for the Nyack Library.

Typically the Library Board elections a rubber stamp of the standing board; members run unopposed. But Dee carried a petition, received 41 signatures, enough to get her on the ballot, and tied incumbent Michael Growney with 107 votes in the initial election last month. Tomorrow's vote is a runoff between these two candidates.

I think Dee would make an excellent addition to our library's board. Please take a moment from your day tomorrow and vote for her.

There will also be a library budget vote tomorrow, Tuesday February 9th. Polling is at both the Nyack and Valley Cottage libraries.

Also, there is a requested budget increase of 4.2 percent. This should amount to about $23.14 per year for the average household.

Maddow and Olbermann come to FIOS in NY, NJ

2010-01-30T13:41:00.000-05:00

MSNBC is coming to Verizon's FIOS service in Bergen, Rockland and Orange Counties. This is big news for progressives and liberals in the area. FIOS subscribers have either have had to go without the popular news channel, or those wanting to subscribe to FIOS have delayed switching to the fiber-optic cable alternative.

Verizon's FIOS service has not offered MSNBC in much of the NY/NJ Metro area because of a deal it's parent company, NBC struck with Cablevision several years ago. The contract blocked the news channel from appearing on services that compete with Cablevision's Optimum service.

Verizon had filed complaints with the Federal Communications Commission in order to get the network on FIOS. It is not clear whether intervention by the government led to this development. Nor is it clear that this is a result of an agreement betweeen Cablevision, FIOS, and NBC's new corporate parent, Comcast, which is yet another cable television provider.

Progressive stalwarts such as Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, and Ed Schultz can now be watched on channels 103 and 1545 (in high definition). The service on FIOS begins February 2.

Harold Ford, Jr. in his own words: "I am not pro-choice"

2010-01-25T10:25:00.002-05:00

Former Tennessee Congressmember Harold Ford Jr. is contemplating a run for Senate to represent New York State. There is no confusion about Ford's anti-choice positions. Don't take our word for it. Listen to his own words from this video.

Thanks to NARAL Pro-Choice New York for providing this video.

It's time to toss Tim Kaine

2010-01-20T15:38:00.000-05:00

The special election to fill Teddy Kennedy's Senate seat was the Democratic Party's to lose. And the Democrats did what they always do best when they ignore their base, they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

There's already a lot of finger pointing going on. Martha Coakley is pointing fingers at the party, the party is pointing fingers back. They both share in the blame. That neither Democratic National Chairman Tim Kaine nor Coakley saw this train wreck coming tells us that we had the wrong people at the helm.

Coakley won't be going to the Senate, but Kaine continues to chair the DNC. He's keeping his job, it seems. But I think that Democrats must wake up now and realize that Tim Kaine is no Howard Dean.

The media is having a field day with Kaine's counterpart, Michael Steele. They doubt every move he makes and ridicule every off-the-cuff remark. Steele, in the eyes of the media and many Republicans, is nothing more than a buffoon. I happen to agree. The Republican Party is in trouble: they have no cash, there's dissent within the party, and they continue to partake into wedge-issue politics. The GOP's pick of Dede Scozzafava to run for an open Congressional seat in New York was a blunder of epic proportions. Bill Owens barely winning in that district was not so much a victory for the Democrats as it was a default decision since he ended up with no Republican Party rival.

But Michael Steele, as incompetent as he is, has also won two important gubernatorial elections and one Senate election. Tim Kaine has not won anything for his party. If Michael Steele deserves no credit for the Republican victories in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts, then Tim Kaine deserves all the blame. If you can't outmaneuver a fool like Steele and let him take three leadership positions away from your party, what worth are you to your party?

You can't just dismiss these three elections by claiming that one state was leaning conservative, another hated its governor, and the third was hobbled with a bad Democratic candidate. There are no excuses! Just a year ago, the Dems, under Howard Dean, greatly increased its presence in State Houses across the nation, in governor's mansions, in the House and Senate, and it's Presidential candidate won by a landslide. The Democrats were crushing the Republicans. Some pundits thought it was the end of the Republican Party.

Then Dean stepped down as DNC chair and Kaine took the reins. Now we're getting our asses kicked by a party that's continues to be in disarray and that's lead by an obvious bonehead.

One sad thing that I noticed in the Massachusetts Senate race was that that quite a few single-payer health care proponents were supporting Brown. They wanted to "Kill the Bill" as it now reads, because all it guarantees is access to health care, without dealing with affordability, and requiring mandates. So, the Democrats lost their progressive base in a progressive commonwealth. So explain to me how do you win without your base?

In Massachusetts, they're currently suffering over a poorly cobbled together health care law—Mitt Romney's crowning achievement by the way—that has been a disaster because premiums are skyrocketing in the state and it's killing small business owners. Now we have a Democratic Party that is trying to pass through a similar, watered-down health care bill on the national level. So what do you expect from the residents of the Bay State? It's no wonder why so many Democrats voted for Brown.

Yes, Coakley ran an extremely bad campaign. She acted aloof and entitled. She became the Rabbit to Brown's Tortoise. All Brown had to do was drive a pickup truck through the Commonwealth, get the attention of a few tea-party crazies to go with the angry (but misguided) moderates and independents that began to lean his way and he had a enough troops to make it a race.

Meanwhile, the progressive base of the Democratic Party—those that were motivated to get out the vote in 2008—have been neglected ever since that election. Rahm Emanuel insulted progressives at every turn and Tim Kaine said nothing. President Obama governed from the right-center, not even throwing these stalwarts a bone.

Being mocked by Emanuel and ignored by Kaine and Obama upset many of my progressive colleagues, and many of them won't raise a finger to help Democrats now. Some of them, as I said above, even voted for the other side. They feel used. After all, it was the progressives that gave the Democrats a majority in 2006 and an unprecedented majority and the White House in 2008. And then they were kicked to the curb.

While this race should be a wake-up call for the Democrats to run better candidates, I think it proves my theory that without your base, you're nothing. And the progressives are the base of the Democratic Party.

Tim Kaine lost yesterday's election. He also dismissed the progressives since his ascent to the DNC Chair a year ago, which helped the Democrats lose that election. It's now the turn of progressives to toss Tim Kaine.

Is Steve Levy really considering a switch to the GOP?

2010-01-19T17:27:00.002-05:00

The Republicans on RedState.com are calling the GOP a "growth industry" in the North East, as they're already dancing beneath the goalposts over their supposed win today in blue Massachusetts.

They're now just short of predicting that Democratic Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy will be switching parties in his run for the Governor's seat.

In regards to a NY Daily News article where the Albany County Republican Chair, they're convinced that a party change is in the cards.

The fact that Levy is even considering switching parties to seek the governorship is in part a testament to the weakness of the field. That said, Levy has run with Republican endorsements before - as recently as in 2007, in fact. But he would not be considering this bid if he did not see a golden opportunity to win the highest office in the state.

The Albany Republican Party Chair, John Graziano is impressed with Levy and said he would be willing to support him, as long as he switches parties.

RedState.com, however, is treating this scenario (especially that Levy has been endorsed by the GOP in the past) as somehow unique to New York politics. Little to they know that in the land of fusion politics and Wilson-Pakula, these kind of machinations are common, and while they sometimes bear fruit, they're more likely some wishful thinking by desperate political insiders.

My thoughts are that this scenario has probably been hatched by new New York GOP Chair Ed Cox, who's son Chris is hoping for the party's nod to challenge Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop in the 1st CD.

Perhaps Cox & Co. see the possibility of Levy running as a Republican and to help the Nixon bloodline back into DC [shudder].

But it should also be noted that:

Levy, whose aides have steadfastly refused to confirm or deny reports that he is meeting with GOP leaders, including state Chairman Ed Cox, has run on the GOP and Conservative lines in the past and drawn heated criticism from Latino Democrats for his right-leaning stance on immigration.

All this says to me is that Levy is flattered by the attention. He's not even considered a strong Democratic Gubernatorial candidate. It's pretty pitiful if the New York Republicans can't find a better candidate of they're own and they feel the need to poach relatively nameless also-rans in hopes of beating Paterson or Cuomo.

Sorry, RedState, rather than seeing this as part of your GOP "growth industry" in the North East, I see this as the state party grasping at straws while hoping that party switching by Levy would help get Tricky Dick's grandson in Congress.

Political maneuvers are rarely so tidy in New York.

South Nyack Democratic Caucus Meeting

2010-01-19T10:07:00.000-05:00

The South Nyack Democratic Caucus will meet at 3p on Sunday, January 24 at South Nyack Village Hall for the purpose of nominating candidates for office in the South Nyack election to be held on Tuesday, March 16.

All residents of the Village of South Nyack who are registered Democrats are encouraged to attend. The offices of Village Trustee (2) and Village Justice are up for election.

The term of Trustee is for two years and Village Justice is for four years. South Nyack residents interested in running for these offices on the Democratic Party line are encouraged to attend as well. Further, potential candidates should contact Cliff Weathers, the South Nyack Democratic Caucus Chair, at cliffweathers@gmail.com before the meeting.

South Nyack Village Hall is located at 282 S. Broadway, just south of Mansfield Ave.

Vanderhoef toying with running for Comptroller

2010-01-08T00:43:00.002-05:00

They don't change their stripes, do they?

It also has me wondering if St. Lawrence and Vanderhoef are trying to shed themselves of their current jobs before some countywide controversey (the slaughterhouse, perhaps>) comes to a head.

Rockland County Executive Scott Vanderhoef, who was just sworn in to a fifth term Tuesday, said he’s been approached by Republican leaders about running for statewide office again, particularly comptroller.

He said he’s “keeping those options open and looking at how this plays out.”

Vanderhoef Keeping “Options Open” On Possible Comptroller Run

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Christopher St. Lawrence testing the waters for Lt. Gov. run

2010-01-05T22:04:00.004-05:00

Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence is testing the waters in hopes of running for New York Lieutenant Governor.

The Town Supervisor, who ran on both the Democratic and Republican lines last November—beating out Preserve Ramapo candidate Bruce Levine for a fourth term—is now focusing his sites on the number two slot in Albany.

St. Lawrence sent this letter to all Democratic state committee members, members of the State Assembly and State Senate and all local elected officials across the state.

In his missive, St. Lawrence said:

We need leaders who will reform Albany and breathe new life into New York.

St. Lawrence masquerading as a candidate of reform is the greatest political irony of 2010 so far, considering his backroom deals, inexplicable silence on important town matters, dubious collegiate resume, and shady dealings evidenced from the Preserve Ramapo Web site.

St. Lawrence continues (and please contain yourself from punching out your computer screen):

[We need] people who can extricate the state from the financial crisis that has befallen us. People who will save taxpayer dollars by streamlining government and making it more efficient. People who will ameliorate the crushing property tax burden we face. People who will champion open and honest government and make it more accessible and accountable to the public.

St. Lawrence is doing nothing more than trying to take advantage of the grassroots reform movement taking place across New York. In Rockland and Ramapo, he is the establishment politician; even St. Lawrence's allies must admit to that. For St. Lawrence to position himself as some sort of champion of reform is just making a mockery of the reform movement sweeping the State.

Read more on the NY Daily News political blog.

Troubles in New Square raise many questions, but politicians are keeping mum

2010-01-03T14:31:00.002-05:00

This video is from the News12 report on the two recent protests in New Square. The protests stemmed from local Hasids protesting allegedly harsh and illegal treatment they receive from the community leaders. Evidently, there seems to be some election laws broken in Rockland County's recent election. But what's really a shame is that between the chicken slaughterhouse debacle, the East Ramapo School Board shenanigans, and the accusations by members of the Hasidic community that they're being forced to vote for particular political candidates, there has been no response from the Town Supervisor, The County Executive, or The Board of Elections.

What does that tell you?

Rockland Marriage Equality Protest, Dec 13

2009-12-12T14:10:00.000-05:00

From the Journal News:

Proponents of marriage equality will hold a sunset vigil outside Sen. Thomas Morahan's Airport Executive Park office in Nanuet between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday. Neither Morahan nor his staff will be at the office on Sunday.

But it would be nice if the Senator would face his constituents. Morahan's original statement was against gay marriage quietly tucked away in a Lohud.com blog and not many people knew about it. I'm sure that there are a lot of people that would like to talk to him now.

Morahan was not available for comment Thursday, but his spokesman rejected claims by advocates of same-sex marriage that the senator simply voted along party lines.

This is crap. At least the few Democrats that voted against this attempted to legitimize their vote with Senator Diaz's speech (which fell flat). Morahan votes lockstep with his party every time they know the vote is going to be close. After about a dozen or so Democrats debated, the Republican Party didn't even bother. Why couldn't they explain themselves in the State Senate chambers? Because they didn't want videos showing how bigoted their comments are.

Here are the facts: Not one Republican voted for Marriage Equality and none of them had the cojones to even debate the issue.

Is Bank of America still on the dole?

2009-12-10T10:30:00.000-05:00

Here's an interesting article from Henry Blodget, CEO and Editor-In Chief of The Business Insider.

Blodget is former top-ranked Wall Street analyst.

Thomas Morahan and "The Party of No" Defeat Marriage Equality Bill

2009-12-02T15:14:00.001-05:00

This afternoon, State Senator Thomas P. Morahan (SD-38) emphatically disregarded the civil rights of his constituency by voting against the Marriage Equailty bill before the State Senate. While many Democrats gave emotional and logical pleas for its passage, Morahan and other Republicans did not even feel they had to legitimize their reasoning, they didn't join in the debate. And unfortunately, Morahan and 37 other State Senators did not bother to weigh their votes against the Constitution, nor did they didn't legislate for their constituencies.

All 30 Republicans voted no on marriage equality, as did eight Democrats: Addabbo, Aubertine, Diaz, Huntley, Carl Kruger, Monserrate, Onorato, and Stachowski. The bill was defeated 24-38.

Now it's time for Rockland, Warwick, and Tuxedo residents to stand together to defeat Senator Morahan. It's time for Tom to go!

Teabaggers Heckle Grieving Family

2009-11-23T17:15:00.001-05:00

Chicago Tea Party "Patriots" heckled a grieving family at a town hall meeting on November 14 and suggested that they fabricated their tragic story for political reasons.

At the town hall held by Democratic Congressman Dan Lipinski, Dan and Midge Hough told how the death of their daughter-in-law and their unborn grandchild were partly caused by a lack of healthcare insurance.

The Hough's daughter-in-law Jennifer was uninsured and not receiving needed prenatal care. Jennifer contracted pneumonia which lead to a heart attack and a stroke. The Hough's unborn grandchild died and Jennifer passed on days later.

While Midge Hough was being shouted down by the unruly mob of teabaggers, she stood her ground and through her tears she said: "You can laugh at me, that's okay, but I lost two people, and I know you think that's funny, that's okay."

Watch the video!

Ball backs out of race for 19th Congressional District, now focused on State Senate seat | recordonline.com

2009-11-21T15:59:00.004-05:00

Well, this isn't GREAT NEWS. Nan Hayworth will not have a primary opponent.

New York Assemblyman Greg Ball announced Saturday that he's abandoning his campaign for the 19th Congressional District seat held by Rep. John Hall, and will run instead for State Senate in 2010.

In a press release Saturday afternoon, Ball said he'll run for the senate seat currently held by Vincent Leibell, a Republican. Ball is also a Republican, from the Putnam County town of Patterson. Leibell's 40th District includes parts of Dutchess, Putnam and Westchester counties.

Hall's congressional district includes a portion of southern Orange County.

Ball backs out of race for 19th Congressional District, now focused on State Senate seat | recordonline.com

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NYS Senator George Maziarz Responds to Marriage Equality Question

2009-11-10T17:30:00.002-05:00

When they're faced with their constituents that want their civil rights and equal protection of the law granted to them under the 14th amendment, these Albany boobs don't even have an answer for them except to stammer that they're against gay marriage.

That's because there's really no rational justification for excluding people who are gay and lesbian from marrying. Your reasons for excluding them would have to remain hidden: that you have a lot of constituents who despise gays and lesbians and they don't want them to have the rights that straight people have. So, what State Senator Maziarz did was further enable the hate in his district.

White Men's Oversight

2009-10-29T09:08:00.000-04:00

A collective "what the heck?" was echoed throughout Orangetown yesterday as the latest mailer sent by candidates Paul Whalen, Denis Troy, and Tom Diviny arrived. A highlighted paragraph in the center of the flyer contained this curious and intolerant statement: "To make matters even worse, the current administration tried to sneak through a workforce housing law that had the potential to increase multi-family housing and entity in the town."

"Entity?" What do they mean by that? Did they leave a word out before it? This obvious editing error speaks volumes.

What's missing is the word that was supposed to come before "entity." Someone decided to remove a clause at the last minute, but unwittingly left one word in. What kind of entity is it that scares Messrs. Whalen, Troy, and Diviny. Considering the anti-Semitic and racially charged rants of their supporters at the now infamous Sept. 16 Orangetown Town Board Meeting, it leaves me wondering if one of the co-authors of the flyer wanted to charge up the text with some code words and was overruled.

So let's see, was it:

A. "outside entity"

B. "urban entity"

C. "undesirable entity"

D. "unwelcome entity"

E. insert your theory in the comments below

A county election that really matters

2009-10-27T19:46:00.003-04:00

If you think you voted for change last year, you only scratched the surface. What happens on November 3 can possibly change the course politics, not only locally, but throughout New York. In fact, next Tuesday’s vote may be the most important we’ve made yet as residents of Rockland County.

Democratic leaders in Albany and New York City are holding their collective breath while watching our County Executive Race. Statewide Democratic Party leaders have confided to me that the race between Thom Kleiner and C. Scott Vanderhoef for County Executive has ramifications that go way beyond the county’s boundaries. I’m sure that state’s GOP leaders would agree. After all, they’ve hired Karl Rove’s favorite consulting firm to keep the seat in Republican control.

Beyond the local issues of taxes, balanced budgets, pay-for-play, and the New Square Slaughterhouse, political strategists I have talked to believe that the possible election of a Democratic County Executive can change the makeup of Albany. Is this a grand assumption on their part? I don’t think so.

Our County and the 38th State Senate District have similar boundaries. The Senate district is Rockland County plus the Orange County towns of Tuxedo and Warwick. The fact that both our County Executive, Vanderhoef, and State Senator, Thomas P. Morahan, are both Republicans is not a coincidence. Although Rockland County is nearly 7-to-4 Democratic-to-Republican (3-2 when including Tuxedo and Warwick), unseating county-wide incumbents—especially two that have masqueraded as moderates—has been futile in the past.

But recent state history has proven the theory that the election of Democratic County Execs beget the seating of Democratic State Senators and vice-versa. Once a political party has a powerful county-wide elected official, it often follows that they elect another. This is not a knock against Ellen Jaffee, Nancy Low-Hogan, or Greg Julian, our last three county-wide Democratic candidates, but we haven’t had such a strong Democratic candidate as Thom Kleiner in decades.

And this is how the election of Thom Kleiner as County Executive will help elicit change statewide: The County Executive election will send a message to State party leaders that the 38th State Senate District is or is not in play. State Democrats, namely the Democratic State Senate Committee (DSSC) did not put a dime into the 2006 and 2008 campaigns of Low-Hogan and Julian and other potential donors followed, so these candidates didn’t stand a chance against Morahan’s biannual half-million dollar warchest.

These races were basically conceded before they began and neither Democratic candidate could eclipse 40 percent of the vote total.

The election of Kleiner will convince the DSSC and other non-partisan statewide reform organizations to take notice. Morahan, who has recently taken a staunch anti-gay rights stance and who has been consistently against ethics and election reform in Albany, will finally meet a strong opponent in 2010. It will also convince Democratic turncoats such as County Legislator Ilan Schoenberger, Clarkstown Executive Alex Gromack, and Nyack Mayor John Sheilds, all of which supported Morahan in the past, to support the candidate that shares progressive and Democratic ideals. The Morahan fiefdom will be in jeopardy.

The Brennan Center for Justice calls New York’s State Senate the nation's “most dysfunctional,” and it’s no wonder. Right now, the New York State Senate remains in a partisan and ethical deadlock where Morahan plays a starring role. Progressive State Senate Democrats have been working hard for reform, which includes public-funding for elections and the elimination of member items, a pay-for-play slush-fund system that political experts call “incumbency insurance.” Morahan has been one of the biggest abusers and buys off the loyalty of politicians and constituents, giving “gifts” to local institutions, towns and villages (including the village of Nyack), in the weeks before an election to help cement a November victory. In essence, it’s been legal for politicians like Morahan to use our tax money for their reelection campaigns.

State Senate reform advocates say there’s a lot of work to be done to make Albany less dysfunctional, and it all starts with getting a strong, progressive Democratic majority in the State Senate. A weak Democratic majority where the ethically-challenged Pedro Espada, Jr. and convicted batterer Hiram Monserrate rule the roost cannot bring us the change we need. Both change their party loyalties to suit their mood and they are perfectly happy in continuing to filibuster reform.

State Democratic Committee insiders and reformers agree that Rockland is a bellwether county. If we’re going to see reform on a state level, it’s critical that we have a strong Democratic majority with a progressive State Senator from the 38th Senate District.

So, when voting on November 3, remember that a vote for Kleiner is also a vote for legislative reform on a state level.

This diary is crossposted at the Rockland Progressive Dems Web site.

The Crown Point Bridge crisis

2009-10-22T10:27:00.013-04:00

Far upstate, the Crown Point bridge, which crosses Lake Champlain between Crown Point, New York and Chimney Point, Vermont has been hastily shut down because of massive structural problems and it will likely not open until significant repairs are done to shore it up. And nobody knows when that’s going to be—it could take years.

Governor Paterson has declared a State of Emergency in Essex County as has been called for Addison County, Vermont. This has stranded thousands of commuters, who can’t get to their jobs or their businesses. It’s a regional disaster created by many years of inattentiveness to our infrastructure.

The half-mile, two-lane bridge is owned by New York and Vermont and bridge connects Bridge Road (NY 185) in New York to VT 17 in Vermont. The states do not have the funds to repair the bridge.

You can't read this diary from The Albany Project without thinking of our own deteriorating Bridge, the Tappan Zee or recall the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minnesota in 2007.

All these press releases are nice, but still don't answer the question of why an aging bridge that was known to need critical attention was allowed to get to this point where thousands of people in two states, already slammed by a deep recession, are now virtually cut off from their jobs, their loved ones in nursing homes, and even emergency medical care. Right now, the best solution being offered? Telling affected people to drive down to the crossing at Whitehall, NY every day to get to where they need to go in Vermont... a one-way trip of about 75 miles (down the lake and back up again)!

What it would mean to our lives and our community if the Tappan Zee Bridge was suddenly shut down due to massive structural integrity problems? After all, ours is a seven lane bridge that not only brings people to and from their jobs, it is an essential commerce conduit. It would surely be more than an inconvenience; I could see it having devastating consequences to the local and regional economy. That’s why I think it’s critical that our State officials stop moving at a snail’s pace and start taking our own latent crisis more seriously.

Al Franken humbles Hudson Institute dilettante over health care bankruptcies

2009-10-22T08:12:00.002-04:00

It's no wonder that the GOP fought so hard to keep Al Franken from being seated. Franken is a wingnut's worst nightmare. And to think, we'll have this progressive firebrand on the Hill for another five years. In that time, this video clip will be just one in a string of "best of" clips. Enjoy!

Monserrate must go!

2009-10-19T16:41:00.003-04:00

I am joining with other New York citizens and with Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, who have called upon State Senator Hiram Monserrate to resign his office in response to his conviction of a serious domestic violence crime.

Hiram Monserrate should not remain in the Senate, and for the sake of his constituents, the institution of the Senate and the Democratic party he should resign immediately based on the seriousness of his violent crime.

Being an elected official is an honor and a privilege, not a right. As a state legislator , the voters give you the power to decide what laws all 19 million of us live under. And as such we are obligated to hold ourselves to the highest standards of our laws.”

This past summer, the New York State Senate reached new depths of dysfunction through its appalling disregard for the public good when it embarked upon a series of coups and counter coups while important Senate business was ignored.

If the Senate is serious about rehabilitating its reputation as a representative body and wants the public’s support, a good first step would be to insure that Senator Monserrate resigns or is removed from office. We are calling on Senator Monseratte to resign. If he chooses not to, we call on the Senate Majority and Minority Leadership to do the right thing and remove him from office.

Join me in signing this petition that demands State Senator Monserrate resign.

Non rhyming candidate joins the NY-19 brawl

2009-10-16T12:15:00.006-04:00

We may not have to worry about a confusing Hall vs. Ball Congressional race this time next year. That's because another Republican candidate has thrown her hat into the ring, and (thank goodness) her name doesn't rhyme with "all."

Mt. Kisco opthamologist Nan Hayworth later today is expected to unveil a new website and disclose that’s she’s already got more than $300,000 for her congressional run.

Hayworth is said to be well known in the area due to her years working as doctor, and her husband Scott Hayworth is an OB/GYN and CEO of the Mt. Kisco Medical Group.

She has reportedly been talking with Sue Kelly, the former longtime 19th rep, who Hall unseated Kelly in 2006 with 51 percent of the vote.

This candidacy makes for some interesting scenarios.

I'd first like to report that Hayworth is targeting independent and Democratic voters in her initial emails. Yesterday, I got three emails from her, each one sent to a different address. Other progressive voters that like in the 19th (I do not) said that they have already been contacted by her campaign. This early move tells me that Hayworth will be targeting socially liberal but fiscally conservative Republicans, like many of those that you would find in northern Westchester County.

Her campaign Web site is not up yet, but a blog called Hayworth for Congress has already been launched. In it, Hayworth (the woman on the left in the photograph) attacks John Hall mostly for his support of the stimulus bill, although many of the assumptions she makes about the lack of job creation on her Web site are misguided or erroneous. There is no mention of social issues such as gay marriage or abortion that one would typically find from a staunch conservative candidate. So I think it's safe to say that Hayworth will run to the left of Ball in the primary.

And Hayworth has a lot of cash behind her campaign already. She already has $168,247 in contributions and has loaned herself $150,000. This war chest of nearly $320,000 is substantial.

What little I know about Scott and Nan Hayworth is that they have many connections to money and power in Westchester. They're on boards and donors lists of many civic and benevolent organizations and are the quintessential Westchester power couple. They'll have no problems finding friends willing to write them $2,000 checks and names like Pataki, Giuliani, and Bloomberg endorsing Nan.

The good news is that this will be devastating for Greg Ball, as he'll have to much of his cash on a tough primary battle. As Ball's primary opponent, Hayworth will also expose his Achilles Heel if not pierce it. The bad news is that I worry that Hayworth can win the primary and she'd be a much stronger candidate against John Hall come November as she doesn't have the baggage that Ball does. While Hayworth won't inspire any loyalty from teabaggers as Ball does, she is a moderate and can appeal to independents and moderates.

Congressman Eliot Engel's Speech at Health Care For All Rally

2009-10-11T13:05:00.001-04:00

We disagree on many things, but Congressman Eliot Engel and I are on the same page as far as health care reform is concerned. And I am amazed at this speech; I've seen the Congressman speak many times before, but not this passionately. You must watch this.

Pete Seeger at the Health Care for All Rally

2009-10-08T11:26:00.001-04:00

In case you missed it, here he is.

This is a very good video of Pete Seeger's performance on October 4 by Doug Foster of Nyack News and Views. Enjoy!

Vote Row C? Are you kidding me?!

2009-10-07T08:50:00.001-04:00

Denise Hogan, who got the six petition signatures she needed to run on Tom Golisano's Independence Party line in Nyack's mayoral election on Nov. 3, has endorsed—perhaps inadvertently—the entire Independence Party slate, which includes C. Scott Vanderhoef for County Executive, Paul G. Whalen for Orangetown Supervisor, and Denis Troy and Thomas F. Diviny, for Orangetown Council. Vanderhoef &Co. are also running on the Republican line.

On her Web site, Hogan encourages voters to "Vote Row C - Independence Party," a clear indicator of a line vote. I think it is unfortunate, considering that Thom Kleiner, Suzanne Barclay, Dan Salmon, Marie Manning and other good Democrats are on Row A. Also, the Independence Party is also running a candidate for Village Trustee, Maureen M. Dougher, against Jen Laird-White and Doug Foster.

I'm going to assume the "Vote Row C" on Hogan's Web site is a mistake and I hope Hogan takes it down and clearly informs Nyack, Orangetown, and Rockland voters that she is not endorsing the candidacies of Vanderhoef, Whalen, Diviny, Troy, and Dougher and make it clear who she is endorsing.

This comes at a most unfortunate time for Hogan, as Vanderhoef's slime patrol, The Madden Communications & Marketing, teamed up with Troy, Whalen, and Diviny to misrepresent an innocuous workforce housing plan. They robocalled constituents and insisted that it was instead, "affordable housing." This triggered belligerence at a Town Board meeting where "tea party" types showed up and displayed crude anti-semitic and racially-charged rhetoric. The whole event as staged by Troy et. al as a Karl Rove-style political dirty trick to embarrass Kleiner and the Democratic Orangetown Council members.

I, for one, would not be caught dead with my name on a political slate with the likes of Vanderhoef, Diviny, Troy, and Whalen. I encourage Hogan to publicly denounce them.

Wally Glickman's "Fire Care" from "Health Care for All"

2009-10-06T09:18:00.000-04:00

By popular demand, one of the highlights from the Health Care for All Rally.