Republican Congressman Bob Turner rarely has nice things to say about the current administration, but today, he released a statement commending President Obama for leaving room for the possibility of taking military action against Iran if they obtain a nuclear weapons. Read More
The new Resorts World casino—as operated by robots in compliance with New York State law, after a very long ordeal to bring more gambling revenue to Aqueduct—had its grand opening this afternoon. Look who it brought in: Democratic assemblyman David Weprin is testing his hand at the games of fortune! Read More
The most recent polling numbers for the NY-9 special election over Anthony Weiner’s departed congressional seat were released this morning, and many saw them as a shocker: Republican candidate Bob Turner is showing a six point lead over Democratic candidate David Weperin. Between that, and the recent stumble of an advertisement-turned-PR-fiasco, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee could likely use the $483,500 of advertising buys before the September 13th election they took out yesterday. Read More
Bob Turner is knocking David Weprin for not knowing the size of the federal deficit during an interview with The Daily News’ editorial board.
According to a Sunday editorial in the DN:
[Weprin] touted “a unique background and something to contribute, having a 20-year private-sector career in public finance as well as being the City Council chairman of the Finance Committee for eight years.”
Soon after, the following exchange took place:
Daily News: “Right now, how big is the debt?”
Weprin: (Pause) “Trillions.”
News: “But how many?”
Weprin: (Deer in headlights look.) “I got caught up on this once before,” referring to his inability while running unsuccessfully for city controller in 2009 to state that office’s budget.
News: “This is central to what is going on in Washington.”
Weprin: “About 4 trillion.”
News: “Four trillion is the debt?”
Weprin: “Right.”
Well, he was off only by a $10 trillion order of magnitude. As has been reported far, wide and ad nauseam, the U.S. is burdened by a debt of roughly $14 trillion. Read More
2012: “[H]e’s simply not relevant anymore, and really hasn’t been for a while.” [Steve Kornacki / Salon]
2012: Pataki not endorsing Perry Saturday. [Andrew Rafferty / NBC]
2012: Pataki’s leaked website “embarrassing.” [Glittarazzi]
2012: “The population of reporters who never say mean things about people is smaller than a George Pataki 2012 house party.” [David Weigel / Slate]
NY-9: Weprin robos off Turner’s refusal to back Zadroga bill for Ground Zero volunteers. [Celeste Katz / Daily News]
NY-9: Turner said same-sex marriage “should not be an issue in this campaign.” [Anna Gustafson / Queens Chronicle]
NY-9: NARAL for Weprin. [Rick Karlin / Times Union]
NY-9: Turner keeps calling Weprin a “career politician.” [Courtney Gross/ NY1]
NY-9: Weprin and Turner tried saying something nice about each other. [Howard Koplowitz / Queens Campaigner]
NY-9: “[O]ne can only imagine how former Congressman Weiner will cast his vote. I suspect he will vote for Weprin.” [Henry Stern / Huffington Post]
Teacher Evaluations: Teacher reports can be released, court rules. [NY1]
Teacher Evaluations: UFT vows an appeal. [Sharon Otterman / New York Times]
Mortgage Probe: Americans for Financial Reform make the case for Schneiderman’s resistance. [Jimmy Vielkind / Times Union]
Mortage Probe: Buffett will dump $5 billion into Bank of America. [Ben Protess and Susanne Craig / Deal Book]
Fund-Raising: Rep. Ackerman mocks a Republican for alligator-hunting. [Celeste Katz / Daily News]
Executive Pay: Cuomo task force seeks info from Medicaid and social service providers first. [Michael Johnson / Capital Tonight]
Executive Pay: The move could yield “unprecedented analysis that could shine a light on executives who take home an outsize share of their organization’s revenue.” [Russ Buettner / New York Times]
The hosts of next week’s debate for the NY-9 race are crowd-sourcing for suggested questions to ask Democrat David Weprin and Republican Bob Turner.
#AskWeprin and #AskTurner are the hashtags I’m hoping people will use. #NY9debate is good too.
As Colby Hamilton noted, Weprin has been somewhat vague on policy specifics, namely, Hamilton argues, because he probably won’t be in a position to do much. And Turner’s policies — protecting entitlement programs while somehow shrinking the deficit — aren’t really based in anything actionable.
Each have obvious vulnerabilities that could make for an interesting debate. Read More
2012: Opening line of story about Pataki’s presidential bid is “Here we go again…” [Jimmy Vielkind / Times Union]
NY-25: “What I have to do, and it is a challenge, is to be a passionate advocate for a middle and pragmatic ground,’ said Maffei. [Mark Weiner / Post-Standard]
NY-9: Headline: “Zadroga 9/11 health law shouldn’t cover volunteers sickened at Ground Zero, GOP hopeful Turner says.” [Alison Gendar / Daily News]
NY-9: “New York State Democratic Committee will spend well into the six figures” to help Weprin. [S.A. Miller and Carl Campanile / NY Post]
9/11: Former Giuliani aide said “I feel like America has lost its way,” because Bloomberg didn’t invite clergy to anniversary. [Michael Howard Saul / WSJ]
Sandra Lee: Racy outtakes could make her appear more likable. [Glenn Blain / Daily News]
Sandra Lee: Video removed from YouTube “due to a copyright claim by Diageo North America, Inc.” [YouTube]
Mortgage Probe: Schneiderman “abruptly” removed from 50-state team negotiating with bank; could lower size of settlement. [Brady Dennis / Washington Post]
Mortgage Probe: Schneiderman spokesman said they are seeking justice. [Reuters]
Mortgage Probe: Editors encourage Schneiderman to hold firm. [Times Union]
DSK: Accuser should be deported because “she fraudulently got a green card,” say editors. [NY Post]
Red Light Cameras: Bloomberg ally Marty Golden doesn’t want them everywhere. [Erin Einhorn and Ken Lovett / Daily News]
Schools: Bronx borough president wants investigation into toxins at P.S. 51. [Rachel Monahan / Daily News]
Schools: Layoffs “unavoidable without union givebacks.” [Yoav Gonen / NY Post]
Schools: “A spokesman for Mr. Bloomberg, Marc La Vorgna, placed the blame for the layoffs squarely on District Council 37 and the other six unions whose members will also be let go.” [Fernanda Santos / New York Times]
Traffic: $80,000 to install, then remove, islands from Fort Hamilton Parkway. [Jennifer Fermino / NY Post]
And Scott Stringer’s spokeswoman is back from vacation.
NY-9: “He’s starting to lose races in which he’s not even a candidate,” Comedy Central says of Barack Obama and his impact on the race. [Dennis DiClaudio / IndecisionForever.com]
NY-9: “The protest announced yesterday drew just three attendees.” [Colby Hamilton / WNYC]
NY-9: Turner gets endorsed by a newspaper that no longer publishes; “[W]hat we can imagine being the start of a revival of the Republican Party.” [NY Sun]
NY-9: “In a grand tradition that dates back to 2009, every special House election has become a referendum on the president and national politics.” [Noah Rothman / Ology]
NY-9: “Weprin has been going after Turner with the same game plan employed by national Democrats, pinning the Republican to the Tea Party movement and claiming that he intends to cut Medicare and Social Security.” [Caitlin Huey-Burns / Real Clear Politics]
NY-23: NRCC ties Rep. Owens to Obama. [Liz Benjamin / Capital Tonight]
Same-Sex Marriage: Alesi, O’Donnell lead October 13 discussion in Albany. [Nick Reisman / Capital Tonight]
Red Lights Cameras: “I think we should have them on every corner,” Bloomberg. said. [Rich Lamb / CBS]
Vacancy: Upstate Assembly Republican leaves for job at a Goldman Sachs-owned firm. [Casey Seiler / Times Union]
DSK: A history of bombshells. [Adam Martin / Atlantic]
DSK: Investigate leaks, urges Perkins. Dropping charges may deter future victims from coming forward. [Celeste Katz / Daily News]
DSK: “No one with half a brain would ever put her on the stand” lawyer in Vance’s office reportedly said of accuser. [John Eligon / New York Times]
Defamation: Spitzer sued for $60 million over his Slate column. [NY Post]
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee quietly met in New York City last weekend with Mark Murphy, a Democrat likely to challenge New York City’s only Republican congressman in next year’s elections, according to a source.
Murphy is an aide to Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, and is looking to run against freshman Rep. Michael Grimm. So far, Grimm has more than $400,000 on hand in his campaign account, making him a formidable target to unseat.
Grimm is a former FBI agent and military veteran who ran an insurgent campaign, relying on a mix of support from Tea Party activists and high-profile endorsements from Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin. After a contentious primary, Grimm went on to knock off freshman Rep. Mike McMahon in 2010. Read More
2012: Perry appointees make a lot of Perry donations. [Nicholas Confessore and Michael Luo / New York Times]
2012: Jeb Bush keeping Florida GOP neutral, for now. [William March / Tampa Tribune]
Detroit: Former Mayor Kilpatrick — released from jail but facing 38 counts of corruption next year — said he could win mayor’s race. “I’m serious.” [Andrew Goldman / New York Times]
Alternate History: If Hillary won, would there be a Tea Party? [Rebecca Traister / New York Times]
NY-9: Turner and wife ID themselves as couple who adopted child at center of high-profile AIDS case later made into a movie. [Mark Morales / Daily News]
NY-9: “The State Democratic Committee declined comment on how much it spent on the anti-Turner mailings.” [Erik Kriss / NY Post]
9/11: Christie suggested Bloomberg “get over his stubbornness.” [Josh Margolin / NY Post]
Ballot Access: Former Democratic elections commissioner kicked off ballot for failing to meet residency requirement for local council seat. [Patrick Lakamp / Buffalo News]
Redistricting: Long-time California congressmen drawn into the same district. [Ben Goad / Press-Enterprise]
DSK: Source says Manhattan DA will seek to drop charges. [Laura Italiano / NY Post]
DSK: Vance’s re-election likely impacted, but not necessary derailed, from this case. [John Eligon / New York Times]
Probe: Manhattan DA investigating whether St. Vincent’s operators drove hospital to bankruptcy so they could sell to a developer. [Brad Hamilton / NY Post]
Investigations: “[T]hreat of a lengthy sentence could give the feds leverage to question [Edul] Ahmad about [Rep. Gregory] Meeks and other Queens pols.” [Isabel Vincent / NY Post]
Compensation: Six battalion chiefs earn thousands more than fire chief, in Niagara Falls. [Charlie Specht / Buffalo News]
Payouts: “Last year alone, the city shelled out $520.6 million in claims.” [Haddon, Buiso and Vincent / NY Post]
Food Stamps: “[T]oo large and complex” Obama officials say in rejecting Bloomberg for preventing recipients from using food stamps to buy soda and sugary drinks. [Michael Saul / WSJ]
Reputations: Fred Siegel says take another look at Paterson.[Candice Giove / NY Post]
Fracking: Local bans may not stand up in court. [Glenn Coin / Post-Standard]
Military: Rep. Slaughter concerned about body armor quality. [Jerry Zremski / Buffalo News]
Vigilante: Journo helps Sliwa’s Guardian Angels disrupt brawl in Coney Island. [Mark Morales / Daily News]
Bikes: ” ‘What’re you doing in the pedestrian path?’ the jogger called out, dodging aside. The biker responded with his middle finger.” [Daily News]
Bikes: “Many cyclists are confused about their rights, which is where the new breed of bike lawyers comes in.” [J. David Goodman / New York Times]
Animals: State officials didn’t alert locals of “wild mountain lion” presence. [Brian Nearing / Times Union]
Surgery: Bloomberg’s daughter Georgina hopes to be “pain-free for the first time in my life” after surgery. [Page Six / NY Post]
