Politics

7 a.m. Adolfo Carrion hosts a bike ride and breakfast for bicyclists in the borough, at Kingsbridge Road and Grand Concourse.

8:30 a.m. David Weprin and others speak at the Water Board meeting about the proposed rate hike, at Room 123 at 101 Murray Street.

10 a.m. The City Council will hold committee hearings on the executive budget, in the City Council chambers at City Hall.  read more »

Ed Rendell and Bob Casey write a joint fund-raising letter for the D.N.C.

The argument for a Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama ticket "overstates the benefits" and "understates the costs," writes the Economist. 

The Tennessee Republican Party did what everyone said someone from the G.O.P. would do with comments Michelle Obama made earlier this year.

PolitickerNJ notes how infrequently Senators lose primaries.

Obama gets three influential superdelegates. 

David Paterson signed legislation making it a crime to display a noose.

Eliot Brown reports on Paterson's search for a statewide development czar. 

Spin Cycle remembers a moment from a past primary.

Dean Skelos thinks that legislators are being unfairly blamed for the delay on legislative pay raises.

Dominican politicians are campaigning in New York. 

It's not every day you hear a senior Senator say "kick his ass." 

The City Council announced they will not be funding any initiative in fiscal year '09 that is not already slated to get funded under this year’s city budget.

In a public statement, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said, “As we enter more uncertain economic times, we need to set fiscal priorities in the budget,” and added, “Putting a moratorium on new initiatives will allow us to cut back on city spending and to focus on restoring funds to essential services that New Yorker’s already depend on everyday.”

According to a spokesperson, Quinn told reporters at City Hall that this step would save the city tens of millions of dollars.

Politically, it’s the kind of announcement that may also help repair Quinn’s image as a manager of the council's finances, although it already seems to be on the mend.

Democracy for New York City, the progressive group related to Howard Dean's Democracy for America, is holding a forum on Sunday, May 18 for the candidates in two upcoming elections: the one for Sheldon Silver's Assembly seat, and the challenge to State Senator Marty Connor.

And they are asking you (yes, you!) to submit questions online.

Paul Newell and Luke Henry, who are both competing in the Democratic primary against Silver, have confirmed to DFNYC they will attend, although Silver himself won’t be there, as Crain’s reported this morning. According to his campaign spokesman, Jonathan Rosen, Silver “looks forward to getting out on the campaign trail after the legislative session and once we know who all the candidates will be.”

Marty Connor's spokesman told me "he probably will" attend, but they still have questions about how it's being organized. His challenger, former Chuck Schumer aide Dan Squadron, told DFNYC he'll be there.

The event will be held at 127 Norfolk Street from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Juniper Park Civic Association, a (surprisingly?) large and organized community group in western Queens, is hosting a debate for candidates in the June 3 special election to fill Dennis Gallagher’s City Council seat, and it will be followed the next day by a forum for candidates in the same race.

JPCA’s influence was best demonstrated when their quixotic campaign against the Cross Harbor Tunnel led to a billboard, and, since it was an election year, resulted in Michael Bloomberg forcefully denouncing the plan. (After the election, Bloomberg shifted his position.)

Also, it's led by Robert Holden, a colorful character who has been a major force in Queens politics for some time.

That debate is taking place Tuesday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Hope, 61-21 71st Street in Middle Village.

Then, on Wednesday, May 21, there’s a candidates forum sponsored by the League of Preservation Voters and the Historic Districts Council. It's at 7 p.m. at P.S. 49, 79-15 Penelope Avenue.

I'll be going to at least one if not both events, and to blatantly copy DFNYC, I'm wondering: What would you ask the candidates?

To refresh your memory, they are: Elizabeth Crowley, Anthony Como, Charles Ober, Tom Ognibene and Joseph Suraci.

Here's a little more evidence of how frenzied things are getting in Staten Island, now that Representative Vito Fossella's seat might be up for grabs in the fall.

Yesterday I reported that, according to Independence Party state executive committee member Frank Morano, the I.P. is interviewing candidates for Fossella's seat on May 25.

That isn't the whole story. Due to a long (and somewhat complicated) internal fight, two factions have developed that want a voice in how the Independence Party deals with that race: Morano and state party chair Frank MacKay are on one side, with Independence Party Staten Island County Committee chair Sarah Lyons, and others, on the other side.

(I don't want to overstate the role of the I.P. here, but they do deliver votes.)

Lyons called me this morning to say that the county committee has already interviewed four candidates for upcoming races: Democratic Assemblyman Mike Cusick of Staten Island, his Republican challenger David Pascarella Democratic State Senator Diane Savino of Staten Island and Brooklyn, and Democratic attorney Steve Harrison of Brooklyn.

Lyons said the screening committee will make a recommendation to the county committee’s nine-member executive committee, who will vote on endorsement before petitioning begins next month.

In a follow-up conversation, Lyons said the county committee discussed "the possibility of running for the congressional seat," with Cusick and Savino, but that they were there seeking support for their own re-elections.

UPDATE: Frank Morano called to say that only state executive committee has the authority to issue Wilson Pakula forms -- which allows candidates from one party to run on the ballot line of a different party line -- and they can do so for every office in New York City, except for the three citywide offices (mayor, public advocate and comptroller).

Sarah Lyons and her supporters within the Independence Party have appealed the state supreme court ruling that gave this power to the state executive committee, but no ruling has been made.

Morano also said that even if he and his supporters lose the court fight, they still have the upper hand. That’s because, Morano said, Fossella’s seat is a bicounty seat. And for those seats, the authority to issue Wilson Pakula’s rests with the state executive committee, which is aligned with Morano’s faction.

Here’s an invitation for a Sex and the City-inspired fund-raiser on May 29 for Democratic City Council candidate Alfonso Quiroz of Jackson Heights.

Suggested contributions range from $50, which they put in the Carrie category, all the way up to $250, which means the contribution is categorized as Mr. Big! (This all sort of writes itself.)

An earlier version of this item referenced a state lawmaker and a member of the host committee for the event. It's not the same person.

Last year I wrote a piece about “Hillary Haters,” a prime specimen of which was a group called StopHerNow.

So it was interesting to see an advertisement across the top of the Drudge Report today for StopHimNow, a Web site, from the same people, dedicated to portraying Barack Obama as naïve and unintelligent.

An example: A cartoon depicts an imagined meeting in the Oval Office between Obama and his "spiritual adviser," the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

"Is love black and white?" Obama asks.

"No, it is black," Wright screams.

"Really?" asks Obama.

"God damned right it is," screams Wright.

"That's what I'd thought you'd say," answers Obama, assured.

It’s an indication that what Clinton once called the "vast right-wing conspiracy" has already begun to shift its energies to Obama. (The fact that the URL is still stophernow seems to show just how much Obama's likely nomination caught them by surprise.)

The main man behind the Web site is Dick Collins, who I spent some time with in Texas and who was certain then, as most everyone was, that Clinton was going to be the nominee. When I had asked him at lunch why he was concentrating on Clinton, he said, "Because she is going to be the leader."  read more »

David Brock's group Progressive Media has scaled back its planned $40 million effort because the Obama campaign disapproves of 527s. [The Fix]

Obama said George W. Bush's comments about appeasement were a false attack. [AP]

Kirsten Gillibrand had a boy. [Capitol Confidential]

One of Sheldon Silver’s Democratic opponents, Paul Newell, opened a campaign office at 26 Bowery Street. (Suggestions on where Silver and his other opponent, Luke Henry, should open offices?) [Google Maps]

A lot of citywide officials have a long trip tonight to attend both the Queens County Democratic Organization’s spring fund-raiser at Antun’s in Queens Village (right near the L.I.R.R. station) and the Stonewall Democratic Club’s annual fund-raiser, on West 13th Street. [link added]

Anthony Weiner redid his legislative website to include a host of new features, including, Weiner TV. [Weiner TV]

Mayors Against Illegal Guns is running ads in Kentucky. [Liz]

Good enough that it's almost unfunny again.

David Paterson invoked Hurricane Katrina while reiterating his opposition to the gas-tax holiday, a proposal that was supported by Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail, and which recently passed the State Senate with Joe Bruno's backing.

At a press conference about a personnel matter in his midtown office, Paterson told reporters to go to the oil companies and “ask them why, the week after Katrina—the Katrina Hurricane—August 29, 2005, ask them why the gas prices went up in that week.

"It couldn’t have had anything to do with the gas," Paterson charged. "Because gas delivery took place three weeks before then. They sold you the same gas that was in their tank the week before at—at some points—10 to 15 percent higher.”

Paterson added, “We can diminish the tax on them, but there’s no guarantee they’re going to pass that along to the consumer.” He went on to say that if there was such an assurance from oil companies and distributors, he would sign the bill. (In either case, its support in the Assembly is not firm).

The governor called the press conference to announce that he is hiring his “great friend and old opponent,” Galen Kirkland, to head the state's Division of Human Rights. Kirkland and Paterson ran for the State Senate against each other four times.

When asked if the civil rights of Sean Bell had been violated, Kirkland said, “That’s something we’ll have to look at.”

The Steelworkers Union endorsed Barack Obama. [CNN] 

Betsy Gotbaum rubs elbows with Wes Clark. [Liz]

Rudy Giuliani will keynote the state Republican Party dinner. [Politics on the Hudson] 

Jay Newton-Small takes a cyncical approach to Obama's flag pin habits. [Time] 

Here's John McCain's vision of what the world would look like after four years of his presidency. [Politico]

Fearmongering over the Second Avenue subway? [Second Avenue Sagas] 

Representative Anthony Weiner’s call to get rid of earmarks may work out well for him in next year's mayoral race, but it isn’t gaining much traction with his colleagues in Congress.

After Weiner proposed the idea in a television interview, I spoke with Greg Meeks of Queens.

“Well, I’m not for getting rid of earmarks; I believe in transparency,” Meeks said. “But I think what some people are calling earmarks is [money] critical to some important projects in the district. And nobody knows my district better than I.”

It would be "almost impossible" to fund "vital" projects if the district were dependent on the president or a federal agency to decide where money should go, Meeks said.

“If you look at trying to rebuild downtown Jamaica, that’s where you’ll find earmarks,” he said. “We had flooding, for example, in Springfield Gardens, and it was an earmark that helped the city repair some of the sewer system problems.”

If there were no such things as earmarks, Meeks thinks his district would be “substantially” affected.

Steve Kornacki thinks John Edwards missed the chance to make his endorsement matter.

Jennifer Rubin reviews what John McCain can learn from the Clinton campaign about running against Barack Obama. 

When Michael Bloomberg disclosed that his administration has its own slush fund, it was the first time many people had heard of it.  read more »