Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, sent out a press release this evening slamming President Barack Obama for describing today’s jobs report as “good news.”
“Today’s anemic jobs report may be ‘good news’ in President Obama’s view, but it’s not good enough for America,” Ms. Saul said. Read More
After his ouster from Current TV last Friday, Keith Olbermann spent much of the ensuing three days bickering with Twitter users who mocked his firing. Mr. Olbermann also got into an extended discussion with The Politicker about why he thinks Twitter feuds are worth his time and energy. Mr. Olbermann told us Twitter is a way for him to have “batting practice” with detractors and to say thanks to
his “viewer/friends.”
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On Fred Dicker’s radio show this morning, Governor Andrew Cuomo was asked if the reportedly frosty relationship between Mayor Michael Bloomberg and himself has warmed with the recent budget deal cheered by Mr. Bloomberg.
“Those stories of the mayor and I being at odds were grossly overblown. I understand the sensational value of them, but it just wasn’t true,” Mr. Cuomo responded. “It is true, institutionally, a governor and a mayor sometimes advocate for their own causes and sometime advocate for different causes, because of their institutional roles.”
Mr. Cuomo went on to stress his personal friendliness with New York City’s mayor. Read More
Mitt Romney’s campaign manager, sent an enraged email to supporters tonight accusing “President Obama’s re-election team” of trying to get Democrats to vote for Rick Santorum in tomorrow’s influential Michigan primary and vowing to take revenge.
“This is politics at its worst. It doesn’t get much more pathetic,” Mr. Rhoades wrote. Read More
Bronx State Senator Ruben Diaz is offended by the plan to keep Congressman Charlie Rangel in Washington by dramatically changing the contours of his district to include parts of The Bronx and Westchester.
“What a joke! What a farce! What a lack of respect to Sheldon Silver, to the rest of the Assembly members and to the people of the Bronx!” Mr. Diaz said in a statement sent out today. “We do not need Charles Rangel to come to the Bronx.”
The Politicker first reported the proposal to change Rangel’s district after Veteran Assemblyman and Harlem powerbroker Herman “Denny” Farrell revealed it at a town hall meeting last Friday. Mr. Farrell said the plan would give Mr. Rangel “a district that can be won” because his longtime stronghold in Harlem is “no longer black.” Read More
Deputy Mayor for Government Affairs Howard Wolfson and New York Times Metro Editor Carolyn Ryan battled on Twitter this afternoon over an article that pointed out a city ad warning oversize portions of sugary drinks can lead to diabetes and potentially lost limbs used photoshopped pictures rather than real amputees. Mr. Wolfson sent out four tweets over a four hour period defending the ad and asking whether the Times uses real subscribers or actors in its ads. Read More
Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents the people who operate the city’s subways and buses, has pulled out of contract talks with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. In a statement released today about their departure from the bargaining table, Local 100 accused the MTA of “negotiating in the press” in “a shocking violation of good faith negotiation tactics.”
“Negotiations were to resume on Thursday, January 19. That morning, an article appeared in the NY Daily News presenting givebacks that the MTA would be asking for at the meeting. This was a shocking violation of good faith negotiating practices and of a specific agreement with management to refrain from negotiating in the press,” the statement said. “This move, the second time in three days that management had seeded the press with its claims, poisoned the atmosphere for negotiations. Local 100 presented its protest and then cancelled the remainder of the bargaining session in order to clear the air before negotiations continued.”
TWU’s statement didn’t just accuse the MTA of planting the story. It also said the information contained in the story was inaccurate. Read More
The race for former State Senator Carl Kruger’s seat is really getting nasty. In an appearance at Brooklyn Young Democrats meeting at a bar in Sheepshead Bay last night, Councilman Lew Fidler was filmed by the Sheepshead Bites blog blasting his opponent, David Storobin, for having ties to extremist groups.
“David Storobin, a guy who can’t even fess up to what he writes on his web pages anymore and is busy scrubbing what little history he has, because he’s embarrassed about his ties to skinheads, and neo-Nazi groups and white supremacist groups,” Mr. Fidler said.
Councilman Fidler’s comments referenced controversy over Tweets by the @Storobin4Senate account implying President Obama is a Muslim and a blog written by Mr. Storobin that was linked to on white supremacist sites. Read More
Carl Paladino, the Republican gubernatorial candidate who ran against Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2010, is not happy with the rave reviews his former opponent has received for his first year in office. Governor Cuomo has gladly taken credit for solving a $10 billion budget deficit and ushering in a new era of bipartisan cooperation in Albany.
Mr Paladino, who spoke to The Politicker while campaigning for Newt Gingrich in New Hampshire, argued the governor’s supposed budget accomplishments are “an illusion” based on “contrived” numbers. He also blasted the media for failing to question the governor and Republican leaders in Albany for “selling out their constituency to Andrew Cuomo” and distracting voters from “salient issues” with “the nonsense about gay marriage.” Read More
Earlier today, Rich Becker, a Democrat hoping to unseat Congresswoman Nan Hayworth in the 19th District next year, blasted her rejection of the payroll tax bill passed by the Senate as “extremism at its ugliest.” Now, Matt Alexander, Mr. Becker’s challenger in the Democratic primary, is joining in on the pileup. In an email sent to supporters, Mr. Alexander accused Congresswoman Hayworth of looking out for the interests of businesses rather than middle class families.
“You might have heard that the Senate passed a bipartisan deal to extend the payroll tax cut for middle class workers. This is a smart move, designed to help working families in a struggling economy. But the Tea Party members in the House, including Nan Hayworth, moved to block this sensible tax cut over the weekend,” Mr. Alexander wrote. “Even some of her Republican colleagues called the Boehner-Hayworth move ‘irresponsible,’ ‘wrong,’ and ‘jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of Americans.’” Read More
