Same-sex marriage supporters shout slogans in front of the US Supreme Court. (Photo: Getty)

Manhattan Congressman Jerry Nadler's constituent, Edie Windsor, is the plaintiff in the Defense of Marriage Act's U.S. Supreme Court case, and Mr. Nadler says he couldn't be pumped for the ultimate outcome.

“I am thrilled to be able to take part in this historic day,” Mr. Nadler said in a statement announcing his intention to attend U.S. v. Windsor's opening arguments tomorrow. “Our constitutional commitment to equal protection of the law requires more; that we treat all married couples with the same regard and respect. DOMA fails this simple test, and I am hopeful that the Court will strike down this shameful law and send it into the dustbin of history where it belongs.”

Mr. Nadler is the lead sponsor of the House legislation to repeal DOMA, the Respect for Marriage Act, and according to his office, "helped spearhead the Congressional amicus brief filed with the Court in support of his constituent, Edie Windsor."

Ms. Windsor, now 83, was engaged to her partner, Thea Spyer, for 40 years before marrying her in Canada in 2007. When Ms. Spyer died in 2009, the Internal Revenue Service was prohibited from treating her as a surviving spouse, costing Ms. Windsor hundreds of thousands of dollars in state and federal estate taxes. Her case, along with another on California Proposition 8's constitutionality, is being closely watched by the national media.

Some reports have suggested the Supreme Court is unlikely to end up issuing a sweeping ruling to legalize same-sex marriage in the United States.

(Photo: Getty)

Three members of New York City's congressional delegation have signed on to a letter vowing not to back any White House bargain to avoid the $85 billion in automatic budget cuts known as the sequester that includes cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Both parties have been at an impasse over the cuts with Democrats favoring debt reduction through tax increases and Republicans wanting spending cuts. President Barack Obama has repeatedly expressed a desire to make a deal ahead of the March 1 deadline that includes both tax increases and proposals to reduce the costs of social programs. Now, Congressmen Jerry Nadler, Jose Serrano and Nydia Velazquez have all signed the pledge promising not to back any deal including the compromises being called for by the White House.

"Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are the great bedrocks of our middle class society and, together, constitute an essential safety net for millions of Americans," Mr. Nadler said. "I will fight like hell against any deficit plan that cuts these programs or fails to address our immediate jobs problem. It is unconscionable for Republicans to ask those who can least afford it – seniors, kids, our most vulnerable families – to sacrifice even more and shoulder a disproportionate burden. I do not support anydeal that cuts Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits."

The letter signed by the trio of New York City House members was originally authored by Florida Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson and California Democratic Rep. Mark Takano. In the letter, they describe cuts to Medicare and Social Security as almost universally opposed by voters. With Mr. Nadler, Mr. Serrano and Ms. Valzquez on board at least 20 House members have signed the letter.

"We write to let you know that we will vote against any and every cut to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security benefits--including raising the retirement age or cutting the cost of living adjustments that our constituents earned and need," the letter says. "Finally, Americans agree that there is more that must be done to require the rich and giant corporations to pay their fair share. Indeed, it is their patriotic duty to do so. As you negotiate with Republicans, you deserve to know that millions of Americans and the below signed Members of Congress stand ready to fight for the principles listed above."

Several large progressive groups are pushing for more members of Congress to sign the letter including the Working Families Party, Moveon, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy for America, CREDO Action and Social Security Works. They are also soliciting signatures from their membership to demonstrate support for the tough stance against cuts. This morning, the WFP sent out a letter to supporters urging them to sign on and noting "only three New York Representatives have signed the letter so far."

"We commend Representatives Nadler, Serrano and Velázquez for showing some backbone and standing up to protect New York's working families," Working Families Party founder Bill Lipton said in a statement. "After a decade where incomes have stagnated and sunk, New Yorkers cannot afford to have the benefits they have worked hard for cut back. We need to do more to protect our retirees and the most vulnerable, not less."

United participation from House Democrats is crucial to any potential budget bargain as a Tea Party bloc has committed to fighting tax increases. Because of this, a compromise would have to include participation from most Democrats and non-Tea Party Republicans. For his part, Mr. Serrano described the current climate is Washington as including an "obsession" with harmful cuts in his statement announcing his participation in the letter.

"Washington's current obsession with cuts must end. As the President has said, we cannot cut our way to prosperity. This is especially true of our safety net programs," said Mr. Serrano. "Cutting them unduly harms working families and retirees, provides no economic benefit and still asks nothing of the wealthy. I cannot support deficit reduction that targets these middle class mainstays."

Jerrold Nadler. (Photo: Getty)

In the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, that, as of this writing, left at least 27 people dead including the alleged gunman and 18 children, Congressman Jerry Nadler issued an impassioned statement calling for stricter gun control legislation.

"I am absolutely horrified by news of the cold-blooded shooting of dozens of children in Newtown, Connecticut. Yet another unstable person has gotten access to firearms and committed an unspeakable crime against innocent children," Mr. Nadler said. "We cannot simply accept this as a routine product of modern American life. If now is not the time to have a serious discussion about gun control and the epidemic of gun violence plaguing our society, I don’t know when is. How many more Columbines and Newtowns must we live through? I am challenging President Obama, the Congress, and the American public to act on our outrage and, finally, do something about this."

Following the mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, last July gun control advocates, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, blasted the White House for not starting a discussion about gun control in the aftermath of that attack. At a press conference this morning, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was asked whether today's shooting would cause gun control to be a higher priority for President Barack Obama.

"There is, I'm sure will be, rather, a day for discussion of the usual Washington policy debates," Mr. Carney said. "But I don't think today is that day."

(Photo: Getty)

After months of rumors, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has officially decided to run for City Comptroller next year. He was previously considering a campaign for mayor, but he said his experience exploring that race convinced him to run for the city's top financial office. Mr. Stringer spoke to Politicker about his decision earlier today and said he will formally launch his campaign in three weeks. Rather than an avoidance of the crowded mayor's race, Mr. Stringer characterized his entry into the comptroller race as a move to confront the most crucial issues currently facing the city.

"What's needed right now is an experienced hand who can partner with the mayor when it's in the best interests of the city, but also someone with the independence and backbone to stand up to special interests, to call out wasteful spending and to safeguard the city's pension funds," said Mr. Stringer. "That is what I've done my entire career and that's what im going to as comptroller, so I'm not dropping down, I'm stepping up." 

As of now, Councilman Dan Garodnick is the only other candidate who has officially launched a campaign for comptroller. Councilman Domenic Recchia has also been mentioned as a potential candidate. This is a far less crowded field than the mayor's race, which is expected to include Council Speaker Christine Quinn, former comptroller and 2009 mayoral runner up Bill Thompson, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and the current Comptroller John Liu, among others. However, Mr. Stringer said city's need for strong leadership on financial issues, specifically in the wake of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy is what motivated him to enter the comptroller race rather than a desire to stay out of the mayoral fray.

"The comptroller's office is important and it has never been more consequential,"  Mr. Stringer said. "I think I can contribute to helping to get the city back on sound financial footing and protect our most essential services."

Mr. Stringer also noted the city economy was struggling prior to the hurricane with an "unemployment rate stuck at ten percent" and "budget gaps as far as the eye can see."

"As I traveled the city exploring the mayor's race, I heard from working people, middle class people about the economy....People are really struggling. There's a sense that people are paying a lot of taxes and not getting the services to which they're entitled," said Mr. Stringer. "Someone's got to watch out for peoples' bottom line and I started to think that this could be an important way to serve the city. And I just decided this moment, because I think this office has never been more important. This new government that's going to be constituted in January 2014 is something I wanted very much to be a part of and this is how I decided was the best way to serve."

Mr. Stringer described himself as uniquely suited to the job given his "natural interest" and past experiences identifying reforms to cut costs in government programs.

"As Borough President, I've issued 50 reports on government waste, calling out agencies and holding people accountable....As Borough President, I chaired the Assembly's Oversight and Investigations Committee. I also chaired the Real Property Taxation Committee....As Borough President, I served for 7 years as a board member for the New York City Employee Retirement System, a $42 billion pension fund where I have for over seven years promoted transparency, integrity and professionalism in our pension investments," Mr. Stringer said.

In his role with NYCERS, Mr. Stringer said he "led the effort to ban placement agents who got money for doing nothing," "pioneered important  reforms to integrate prinicples for a responsible investment in pension funds" and "played a very important role in getting the pension fund to initiate important policies for emerging managers that will diversify and maximize the talent there." He also cited his experience analyzing large government contracts, including the Time Warner and Verizon contract renewals, as a member of the Franchise and Concession Review Committee.

"I've played a role in audits, played a role in pensions and, as a member of the FCRC--Franchise and Concession Review Committee, I've looked at and analyzed the big contracts," said Mr. Stringer. "I have been in the room, negotiated, watched the comptrollers in that role. And when you put all that together, I think my skill set is something that really can help new yorkers with this job."

Along with officially launching his campaign for comptroller today, Mr. Stringer is rolling out a series of high-profile endorsements; former Mayor Ed Koch, Congressman Jerry Nadler, former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, feminist icon Gloria Steinem, former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holzman and Assemblyman Karim Camara, who chairs the Assembly's Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus.

"These are just a few New Yorkers who, I think signal that we're going to run a broad-based five borough campaign that's multiracial and diverse," Mr. Stringer said.

In addition to his own endorsements, Mr. Stringer hinted he might be willing to make an endorsement in the mayor's race.

"I haven't decided who to endorse for mayor, but it's possible," he said.

James O'Keefe posing as a government contractor in his new video. (Photo: YouTube)

The latest video from controversial conservative provocateur James O'Keefe's "Project Veritas" implies unions and several big name New York politicians are colluding to earn state and federal contracts for do-nothing companies purporting to hire for so-called "environmental jobs."

In the clip, Mr. O'Keefe portrays an executive for a business that literally digs ditches and fills them back up with more dirt. He visits with John Hutchings, whom he describes as a "director" of the Laborers' International Union of North America, and former assemblyman Ronald Tocci and another man who apparently discuss how easy it is for them to use their lobbyists and political connections to get cash for businesses.

"When we go for a bill, you know, you've got to get approval of the Senate, and the Assembly and then the Governor's got to sign that. We have a lobbyist for the Senate [Republicans], and we have a lobbyist for the Democrats and that's how we try to push our agenda through," Mr. Hutchings says in the video. 

Mr. Hutchings specifically mentions Tom McMahon, Tom Harnet, who he says "usually takes care of" the Democrats in the Assembly and Powers & Company, who "take care of the Senate."

Mr. O'Keefe's is best known for releasing videos targeting ACORN that resulted in organization losing federal funding. His partisan ambush attack films have been criticized by his detractors and in 2010 he was arrested and accused of trying to hack into the phone lines in the office of Democratic Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu.

In this clip, which has been heavily edited and features the pop hit "Call Me Maybe," Mr. O'Keefe and an accomplice painstakingly tell Mr. Hutchings their company does nothing but dig and re-fill ditches.

"You really have to dress up what we do, 'cause all we do is dig holes," Mr. O'Keefe says.

He goes on to ask if Mr. Hutchings knows "political office holders in New York... who can help us find those--basically excuses to get public funds."

Mr. Hutchings says New York's two senators will give them a friendly reception.

"We're good with Gillibrand and Schumer," Mr. Hutchings says.

Mr. Tocci suggests his former Assembly "colleagues" Congressmen Jerry Nadler and Eliot Engel.

"It's awful hard for anybody to vote against, like, a jobs bill right now," says Mr. Hutchings.

According to Mr. Hutchings, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver won't involved himself in picking the recipients of grants, but he does approve them.

"Shelly Silver wouldn't say specifically, 'Fill the dirt there.' He would have to approve a grant to do that type of stuff, then we'd have to find places where to dig," Mr. Hutchings says. "He doesn't want to get involved in picking, that's where they get into trouble."

Mr. Hutchings is dismissive of the Green Jobs, Green New York program as well as the NYSERDA grant system, but thinks there's a positive aspect as long as people are being hired.

"You know, the Green Jobs Green New York, between us, a lot of it's bullshit," Mr. Hutchings says. "Even if it's bullshit, I think as long as people are working that's not bullshit."

Watch Mr. O'Keefe's edited nearly nine minute version of the video below. He also posted nearly one hour of "raw footage" here.

Jerry Nadler (Photo: Facebook)

Congressman Jerrold Nadler was one of the politicians who attended yesterday's protest march against the NYPD's stop and frisk policy. He told The Politickerhe believes stop and frisk is "terribly violative of civil liberties" and, like other elected officials, he hopes the Department of Justice will investigate the policy.

However, Mr. Nadler is not optimistic about the possibility of a federal investigation because he said the DOJ didn't respond to his call for them to investigate the NYPD's conduct towards protesters and journalists during the raid on the Occupy Wall Street encampment in Zuccotti Park last November.

"I must say, the Justice Department has not been terribly responsive when some of us have asked for investigations for various things," Mr. Nadler said.

Mr. Nadler went on to say one of the requests he was referring to was his push for a probe into the NYPD's handling of the Occupy Wall Street eviction.

"We never got a satisfactory response," he said of his call for an Occupy investigation. "I think we got a response, it was not satisfactory."

At the time, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the idea of an investigation into police conduct during the Occupy Wall Street raid was "ridiculous."

Mr. Nadler said he and other members of Congress are working ot have stop and frisk investigated as a civil rights violation.

"A whole generation of mostly minority black and hispanic youngsters, number one, are to some extent traumatized, number two, their civil liberties, their civil right to walk down the street in peace are violated and, number three, you alienate entire communities from the police department," said Mr. Nadler. "That's all terrible for the City as well as terribly violative of civil liberties."

Mr. Nadler said he rejects Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD's claim the policy has helped reduce crime in the face of statistics showing the vast majority of stops don't lead to arrests or the discovery of illegal weapons. He presented a hypothetical situation to illustrate his position.

"The Mayor's rationale is that, well, you know, even though 90 percent find nothing, are totally innocent and out of 700,000 stops we got 600 guns, it's worth it," he said. "I mean, sure, if you suddenly used police state tactics and cordoned off--you suddenly unconstitutionally decided that we're going to send in people and inspect without a warrant every apartment in a given neighborhood, I'm sure youd find a few guns. But we wouldn't countenance that, nor should we countenance this. It's exactly as unconstitutional and exactly as illegal."

We asked Mr. Nadler whether he thought the investigation Attorney General Eric Holder is facing of the botched "Fast and Furious" program that saw weapons sent to criminals in Mexico in an ill-fated attempt to investigate drug cartels might prevent the DOJ from taking on potentially controversial investigations of the NYPD. Mr. Nadler said he couldn't be certain, but though the "Fast and Furious" flap is "distracting," he doesn't think it hinders the DOJ's ability to conduct investigations.

"I assume they're in a position to take on investigations," said Mr. Nadler. "I don't think it takes up all their manpower and womanpower. But I'm only speculating, maybe it does."

Charles Barron (Photo: Facebook)

Mr. Nadler said he specifically asked Mr. Towns not to endorse Mr. Barron.

"His response was that he would think about it and do what he thought proper," Mr. Nadler told The Politicker.

He said he hasn't spoken to Mr. Towns since.

Mr. Greenfield, who organized the press conference denouncing Mr. Barron said he thought Mr. Towns' endorsement was taking the media's focus off of Mr. Barron's history of making incredibly controversial statements.

"The media blew up Ed Towns making an endorsement but ignored, in our opinion, the fact that this individual, Charles Barron, is an individual who has a long track record of hatred, and hatemongering, and bigtory and anti-Semitism."

Prior to Mr. Towns announcing his retirement, Mr. Barron ran against him in 2006. Mr. Hikind said, prior to giving Mr. Barron his backing this year, Mr. Towns enlisted the support of many of the same leaders at the press conference to fight Mr. Barron.

"We stood with Ed Towns. He asked us to stand with him against Charles Barron. He told us how dangerous Charles Barron was and all the words that we used today, this is what Ed Towns said to us," said Mr. Hikind. "If over the last two years, Charles Barron has repented, I missed it. Where was I?"

Mr. Hikind, who was one of the few major elected supporters of Mr. Towns' 2011 bid to be district leader, also accused the departing Congressman of having less than pure motivations for his endorsement of Mr. Barron.

"If I thought for one moment that Towns did this on principle, it would be different. I don't think anyone accuses Towns of endorsing Charles Barron on principle," Mr. Hikind said. "This is politics at its worst."

Republican Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley thinks President Obama should focus on the business of government.

PresO "high " comes fr campaigning and doing political stuff as opposed to governing. Why nothing happening in comgress

—
  (@ChuckGrassley) May 22, 2012

Our very own Colin Campbell noted empty seats at Congressman Jerry Nadler's latest event.

TONS of media so far for Nadler's 4pm anti-Romney press conference. #FalseTweets twitpic.com/9o3wsc

—
Colin Campbell (@BKcolin) May 22, 2012

Politico's Roger Simon was disgusted by the purported auction of President Reagan's blood.

The only person sicker than the person selling a tube of Ronald Reagan's blood is the person who buys it.

—
Roger Simon (@politicoroger) May 22, 2012

RNC Research Director Joe Pounder was keeping a close eye on the Republican primary in Kentucky.

"Uncommitted" has nowbeat Obama in the KY primary in 14 counties.

—
Joe Pounder (@PounderFile) May 22, 2012

The goings on in Kentucky reminded Slate's Dave Weigel of federal inmate Keith Judd's improbable victory in West Virginia.

Judd/Uncommitted 2012

—
  (@daveweigel) May 22, 2012

Mitt Romney is currently on a fundraising swing through New York City and Democrats like Congressman Jerry Nadler and state party chairman Jay Jacobs used the occasion  to blast, as Mr. Nadler framed it, Mr. Romney's economic "wizardry."

Of course, neither Mr. Nadler or Mr. Jacobs would attack the financial industry with the same rhetoric as officials in other parts of the country -- Mr. Nadler's district contains many people who work in Wall Street and Mr. Jacobs undoubtedly raises plenty of money from that constituency as well.

"I don't think the campaign is attacking private equity per se. Private equity is  a great business that very often rescues companies, restructures them and saves jobs," Mr. Nadler said in response to our question about Democrats feeling skittish about the president's rhetoric. "What the campaign is saying is that private equity can also be used by people with very little conscience to destroy companies, to take value out of those companies, to make profits for a few people and destroy lots of jobs. Mitt Romney -- as head of Bain -- did that."

"Most private equity people do a fine job and help the economy and take fair profits," he said later. "What the campaign is saying is not that there's anything against private equity when done right, it's against some people who do it wrong. Like Mitt Romney."

Mr. Nadler's argument was echoed by Mr. Jacobs. People who work in Mitt Romney's field aren't bad, but he the candidate still needs to be judged by his "ruthless" practices, especially as he has stressed his own business record in the campaign.

"He needed to practice a very ruthless form of business, and I'm not characterizing it as good or bad, but it's just a very different type of business that needs to be done if you want to be President of the United States," Mr. Jacobs said. "As president, you don't have that luxury. You don't have the luxury to be ruthless. Your constituency is everybody in America: the rich and the poor; the succeeding and the failing; the businessmen and the worker; and the strong and the weak."

Shelly Silver spiked the football with President Obama’s Albany visit.

Liz Benjamin’s got the low-down on the guest list.

Barack Obama’s tech team are putting together a fundraiser in Brooklyn tonight.

Russians in New York still lean Republican, but Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny, the only native of the Soviet Union to hold office in New York, thinks this will change as the younger generation grows more educated: “The more you know, the more liberal you become.”

The Fidler/Storobin debacle has inspired a bill in Albany.

The UFC had shirts printed to celebrate the now-shelved legalization of Mixed Martial Arts.

A record number of women and minorities applied to be firefighters.

The Senate called on the Assembly to pass an auto insurance fraud law.

What to look for in elections tonight in North Carolina, Indiana and Wisconsin.

Mitt Romney attempted to claim the Clinton mantle.

Chris Christie remains popular in the Garden State.

Here’s the full text of Obama’s speech.

Oof. The RNC’s Director of Hispanic Outreach said that Mitt Romney was “still deciding what his position on immigration is.”

With a gay marriage vote on the ballot tonight, Barack Obama cancelled a planned trip to North Carolina.

Ed Rendell said that Obama should “man up” already and come out in favor of gay marriage.

Republicans voted to block a bill that would have frozen student loan rates.

Mitt Romney is spending tomorrow having a fundraiser at the home of an Oklahoma oil billionaire.

Scott Brown attacked Elizabeth Warren directly for the first time for her claims of Native American ancestry.

Nancy Pelosi poached the editor-in-chief of Think Progress.

The Obama campaign was warned about John Edwards.