Working Families Party

Although he's only 29 years old, Jimmy Dahroug has reason to be improbably jaded.

The former State Senate candidate recently had to abandon his third bid to unseat longtime incumbent Caesar Trunzo, more or less because it had become logistically impossible for him to win.  read more »

A reader emailed this photo of a poster that's up in midtown Manhattan, urging people to call City Councilwoman Jessica Lappin to push her to vote against changing the city’s term-limits law.

It's part of the Working Families Party's campaign to block the Bloomberg-backed bill.  read more »

This ad is from the Working Families Party, which says it will air tonight during the presidential debate on NY1, MSNBC, CNN, News 12 and Fox News.

Two things stand out about the Working Families Party's announcement that they oppose changing the term-limits law, which the party formally announced at a press conference on the City Hall steps a few minutes ago.

The first is that they will not withhold an endorsement from any City Council member who votes in favor changing the law. W.F.P. executive director Dan Cantor said, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Second, Cantor was unable to say whether all of the group's affiliated unions are in agreement on this issue.

But he did have this line: “Even Hugo Chavez had a referendum and abided by the results. Mayor Bloomberg should do the same.”

Dan Cantor, executive director of the labor-backed Working Families Party, makes the case in an email to supporters:

Sometimes the candidate who'll fight for working families is a challenger, sometimes it's an incumbent who's been doing it for years. Think about Teddy Kennedy if you want the best example of such a person at the national level.

Time after time, on the crucial fights of the day - Silver has been the most important leader standing up to right-wing corporate power. He beat back Republican attempts to end rent regulation, slash public schools, and reduce access to healthcare coverage. He actually believes that the government has a role to play in making sure everyone has a decent shot in life.

 read more »

The executive director of the labor-backed Working Families party just released a statement reiterating his opposition to the property tax cap that was passed in the State Senate today, saying it was wrong for those senators to "side" with Governor David Paterson on the plan.

Dan Cantor, Executive Director of the Working Families Party said: "The Senate made the wrong choice today in siding with Governor Paterson on his tax cap plan that will badly hurt school children without cutting taxes.
Thankfully a majority of Senate and Assembly Democrats and leaders like Speaker Sheldon Silver are standing up for our public schools and for real property tax relief. The Assembly's supports full funding for our schools and providing real relief to middle class families and seniors who need it most."

The Working Families Party endorsed Democratic City Council candidate Elizabeth Crowley for the special election in Queens on June 3. It’s not an entirely surprising move, considering Crowley is the leading Democratic candidate, and a united Democratic front will be needed to claim that seat, which has been held by Republicans for years.  read more »

Sheldon Silver today told a luncheon for the newly formed Center for Working Families (an offshoot of the Working Families Party) that the upcoming budget season might not be all that cheery.

“Historically, economic downturns are the impetus for major policy disagreements—we expect some hard fights ahead next year,” he told the crowd of more than 100, which included a handful of Democratic electeds.

He also opened the door for raising taxes on the wealthy, and in the process, seemed to take a jab at Governor Spitzer’s vow to never raise taxes while he is in office.

More after the jump.

   read more »

This doesn't bode well for an on-time budget in Albany.

Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco has the answer:

"There's a strike going on here at the capitol," he said at a Republican-led budget hearing right now in Albany that is being boycotted by Democrats like the governor, Assembly Speaker and others.

"Speaker Silver is on strike against openness and transparency," said Tedisco.

Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, who is leading the meeting, said his conference was willing to work through the weekend to settle the budget.

In other budget news, the labor-backed Working Families Party is bucking the governor's proposals to reduce Medicaid spending.

-- Azi Paybarah

Alex Navarro, the communication director of the Working Families Party, is returning to Team Edwards, where he worked in 2004. This time around, Navarro will be doing policy, communications and voter contact. (More info here. [pdf])

Edwards also hired a former aide to City Councilman Jim Gennaro, Brittany Mariotti. Starting April 2, she'll be the Iowa Advance Director for Edwards.

UPDATE: No more comments on this thread. -- Azi Paybarah

Here's a map showing where Democrat Craig Johnson got his votes from in his election to the state Senate from Nassau County, courtesy of number-crunchers at the Working Families Party. The darker the area on the map, the more heavily it went for Johnson.

Port Washington, apparently, is Johnson Country.

-- Azi Paybarah

On my voice mail this morning was a message from none other than Eliot Spitzer.

"Progressive values. This is Eliot Spitzer and that's what the Working Families Party is all about - progressive values."

Spitzer's robo call for himself, on the Working Parties line, emphasizes his usual reform messge.

"The party knows what it stands for and fights for what it believes," Spitzer continues. "This passion and commitment can help change the direction of our state. Please consider voting for me, Eliot Spitzer, on the Working Families line this Tuesday. "

--Jason Horowitz

A video of Bill Clinton's appearance on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart is here. In discussing Hillary, Bill said, "If she ran and won, it'd be good for America."

The Working Families Party sent word that "Like Jonathan Tasini, the Working Families Party opposes the war in Iraq...[but] The WFP also enthusiastically supports Hillary Clinton for U.S. Senate."

Liz Benjamin interviewed Jonathan Tasini, who said he is not endorsing the Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate.

Martin Sheen, the television president, will raise money for Eliot Spitzer.

Jeanine Pirro had a press conference today on, what else?, sex offenders.

Tom Robbins writes the obituary of Mark Green's career. "Of all the offices Mark Green sought during his political career, the one he lost last week was probably the one he was born to hold."

Jerry Skurnik digs up results in below-the-radar primary races.

Joe Lieberman leads Ned Lamont 45% to 43%, according to a new poll, thanks in part to a 47% to 34% edge Lieberman has with unaffiliated voters.

The Hotline notes John McCain and Mitt Romney are going after each other with less subtlety than they used to.

In the New York Times's new weekly political column, Political Action, Adam Nagourney says there's an upside to the Republican infighting over how to interrogate terrorism suspects.

It has knocked Iraq out of the news and kept the campaign story line precisely where President Bush and Karl Rove want it.

Rupert Murdoch will launch a Christian film production company called FoxFaith.

TNR covered "the first-ever press conference of the super-low-key commission on what to do in Iraq, chaired by James Baker and Lee Hamilton." News: Baker said the panel will likely meet with "a representative at a high level of the Iranian government" during this week's big UN meeting.

Panelists Errol Louis, Chris Owens, and others discussed corporate welfare at a forum hosted by the Drum Major Institute. One novel idea already underway in Minnesota is a new law that says "business that receives state or local government assistance for economic development or job growth purposes must create a net increase in jobs in Minnesota within two years..."  read more »

And pictured above is part of the New York Times 24-page supplement about their reporters.

-- Azi Paybarah

The Brooklyn chapter of the Working Families Party voted last night to "send an expression of support" to Yvette Clarke, a spokesman for the state party, Alex Navaro, confirmed.

Which is weird since the WFP already has a candidate in that race.

Anyway, Navaro explained it wasn't a formal endorsement because "that can only be made at the party's state committee or executive committee."

In one sense, it shows Clarke reaching outside her base of Caribbean women. But critics could see this as contingency plan.

-- Azi Paybarah

Using a third party line to get into the general election after losing a primary may be effective, but it does annoy party activists (as Joe Lieberman can tell you).

How would voters in Brooklyn's 11th congressional district react? We may soon find out.

At the CBS debate this morning (airing in a few weeks), Yvette Clarke said she would run in the general election on another party's line if she lost the four-way Democratic Primary.

A spokeswoman for Carl Andrews, who missed the debate, said they're focusing on the primary, but left open the possibility.

Chris Owens, through his spokeswoman, said if offered another party's line, he would consider it.

The only candidate to rule it out was David Yassky.

One line that could open up is the Working Families Party. They endorsed their own candidate in the race, but as the mayor's race proved, WFP candidates have a knack for leaving the line at convenient times.

-- Azi Paybarah

While we're waiting for the verdict in the Connor v. Diamondstone case -- and in the interests of making the most of this spirited Senate primary contest while we're still sure that there are two candidates -- here are some highlights from their campaign filings:

Ken Diamondstone has loaned his committee $233,550 and contributed $52,742.35 (reimbursements are not distinguished). Individual contributions total $76,575.35 and expenses were $102,691.23. Some of his expenditures include printing, postage office supplies and consulting fees for a number of different people.

Marty Connor's filing shows the senator with an opening balance of negative $22,833.42 -- an amount he disputes -- with $39,000 contributed and $20,554.15 in expenses. He also lent his campaign $2,050 in January and February. Connor's expenditures include car insurance and maintenance, contributions to Democratic clubs including the county committee and to the Working Families Party, office expenses in Brea, CA, and consulting from the Parkside Group.

And now back to our verdict vigil.

—Nicole Brydson

Here's a funny thing: two most prominent insurgent candidates for state office this year, Grace Meng and Ken Diamondstone were both endorsed by the Working Families Party and have both faced residency challenges.

Last week, Meng withdrew her candidacy from the race to replace her father, Jimmy Meng, in a Queens Assembly district -- supposedly in anticipation of a residency related challenge. Diamondstone, currently facing his own challenge in court today, will soon learn if he will fall prey to the same technicality.

We asked WFP spokesperson Alex Navarro about this curious phenomenon:

Politicians without a strong reservoir of support in their communities will go to extremes to keep off other candidates that have a base. As a longtime activist, Ken Diamondstone has a strong progressive base in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. Of course Marty Connor is going to pull every trick out his Election Lawyer's hat to keep Ken off the ballot.

We're counting on the courts taking a realistic approach and leaning in the direction of the First Amendment interest in the lively debate this race promises on the best way to deliver affordable housing, better-funded schools, universal health care and more transparent, open and democratic government.

Doesn't exactly answer the question, but at least it sounds good.

—Nicole Brydson

Here's a question to consider about yesterday's appeals court decision to allow parties to spend money to affect primaries. (Story here.)

On the Daily Gotham, Daniel Millstone notes that what was claimed as a great victory by the Working Families Party - they were originally sued for spending $130,000 to defeat a sitting district attorney in a Democratic primary in 2004 - could actually hurt them by allowing, say, the Republican Party to spend money in WFP primaries.

Here's a related, wilder theory someone mentioned to me this morning: The ruling could provide the Senate Republicans with a means of remaining in power by electing... Democrats.

The idea is that in Democratic-majority districts where it might be impossible to elect a traditional Republican, the Senate majority could use its considerable cash advantage to back Democrats who, once they win, would vote for Joe Bruno for Majority Leader.

Imagine how this could have affected the primary between Stephen Kaufman and Jeffrey Klein two years ago. Or whether the Republicans might consider spending some cash to support Noach Dear, who is famously friendly with the Senate Republicans, in his primary challenge against Kevin Parker.

Most of the Republican pick-ups in recent years, it's worth noting, have come about when incumbent Democratic Senators switched party loyalties.

Just a thought.

-- Josh Benson

When is a club's endorsement not really an endorsement?

On June 7, Ken Diamondstone's campaign put out a press release announcing his endorsement by CoDA, a Lower East Side Democratic club, over his incumbent opponent, Martin Connor, for the 25th State Senate district. (Soon after, Diamondstone received the backing of the Working Families Party.)

Then, it seems, something changed. CoDA was no longer endorsing Diamondstone.

The scenario we heard was that Rosie Mendez, the former 74th A.D. District Leader and now Council Member, pushed for a re-vote on behalf of Connor, an ally of Mendez and of her mentor, Margarita Lopez.

According to the Diamondstone campaign, the club rescinded its endorsement only after Mendez forced through a change in the bylaws that suddenly required endorsees to receieve 55 percent of members' votes instead of a simple majority.

"That is not correct, no," said Mendez. "Originally we had an endorsement meeting and Ken Diamondstone won by like 50, he won by a couple of votes, I think it was 51, 52 percent of the vote. We didn't have our bylaws there, and when we checked the bylaws it turned out that he needed 55 percent of the vote so there was a re-vote and then there was no endorsement on the re-vote."

"Just last week they had a regular monthly meeting to vote on the bylaw change to allow for the 55 percent so it obviously wasn't in effect when they said it was," said a Diamondstone spokesman.

Coincidentally, perhaps, Connor almost lost the endorsement of the Brooklyn-based Independent Neighborhood Democrats in April before something similar (pdf) happened.

"I endorsed months and months ago, and I endorsed Marty Connor," Mendez said. "If I was stacking the club in favor of Connor, he would have gotten the endorsement."  read more »

—Nicole Brydson

It seems odd to think that a Republican would ever some to rely on the support of the Working Families Party.

Yet it must be considered bad news for Nick Spano that the WFP has apparently ruled him out this year. Party members are now deciding between remaining neutral in his State Senate re-election battle and endorsing his Democratic opponent, Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

Spano won by a narrow margin over Stewart-Cousins two years ago, thanks in part to a Working Families Endorsement after he pushed a minimum wage increase through Albany.

The difference this time, a party source explained, isn't that Spano has stopped being an loyal ally. It's just that, in the wake of the collapse of a Wal-Mart "Fair Share" bill -- which Spano supported, as this piece from yesterday's Times-Union explained -- he's no longer viewed as an effective one.

-- Josh Benson

There's an interesting back-and-forth over the meaning of Eliot Spitzer for Democrats and liberals at the Daily Gotham, where Daniel Millstone asked whether Spitzer "spits at Working Families Party bills," and Bouldin responded by calling the analysis "jaw-droppingly obtuse."

Bouldin's reasoning:

This guy is a game-changer and paradigm-shifter. When he gets elected, if we assume present trends continue, he's going to have the largest mandate and consequently the greatest power of any governor of this state since, perhaps, Rockefeller. I hesitate to say Lehman, since he had the Senate as well for a time, but our friends at the NY-DSCC are on the beach until 2008. Whatever the proper comparison, Spitzer is going to be a very powerful governor, that much is clear. His prior record as Attorney General does not suggest acquiescence to the status quo; it does suggest that the man grasps what power is, and how to use it.

Eliot Spitzer says he is going to change this state from Day One. I see no reason not to take him at his word.

Millstone responds with a comment entitled "We Can Support Spitzer Without Having a Crush on Him":

As I see it,

1) Spitzer has a good record as AG

2) 12 Years of Pataki as Gov. have not been wonderful.

3) We should support Spitzer; he seems on record and program to be a better candidate than his opponents.

4) Spitzer's a politician. We should not "take him at his word" or expect paradigm-shifts from elected officals.

It's not a stretch to imagine Spitzer winning with a mandate, although -- as this exchange suggests -- the more pertinent question for his supporters is what he plans to do with it.

Thoughts?

-- Josh Benson

Ben predicted a while back that the primary for Sylvia Friedman's Assembly seat could be one of the hardest-fought races of the year.

That's because of Brian Kavanagh, the who finished second in a crowded City Council race last year, and who is now challenging Friedman. He'll be formidable, with a considerable warchest and the Knickerbocker SKD consulting firm working on his campaign.

But Kavanagh's candidacy apparently had something of a hiccup recently when he showed up late for an endorsement interview with a Working Families Party steering committee, blamed a staffer for the mix-up and then told the stunned room of labor-lefties that the worker in question was no longer with the campaign.

The committee of about 15 promptly endorsed Friedman. Kavanagh got no votes.

"He should have taken the blame himself," said WFP member Michael Hirsch, who related the story. "I guess he didn't know his audience."

Micah Lasher, responding for Kavanagh, took issue with the account and said, "Brian's proud to have the support of many progressive labor unions and looks forward to winning the primary of Democratic voters in Sept. 12."

After Liz Benjamin's exhaustive coverage of the Independence Party and Working Families Party conventions this weekend, we knew something had to give.

We're pulling for you, Liz.

While we're awaiting the results of today's (seriously) exciting vote at the Republican convention between Bill Weld and John Faso, the following:

It wouldn't be convention season without the Working Families Party, which will have its say on the statewide candidates this Saturday at the Desmond Hotel in Albany.

The party will formally endorse Spitzer-Paterson and Alan Hevesi and -- given the way the state's most political influential unions have lined up in the attorney general's race - the rank-and-file seems pretty likely to give their backing to Andrew Cuomo for attorney general.

The most interesting storyline will be the efforts of Jonathan Tasini, the anti-war protest candidate in the U.S. Senate race, to force Hillary Clinton into a potentially uncomfortable primary election that will focus almost exclusively on Iraq.

It's doubtful whether Tasini can actually get the 25 percent of delegates necessary to get on the ballot, but he should at least receive a somewhat more sympathetic hearing from the WFP's left-leaning members than he did from the Democrats in Buffalo.

(No word yet on whether he's planning to show up on a bike.)

The other interesting sub-plot, which won't be resolved until November, will be the party's efforts to leapfrog the Conservative Party into fourth place on the ballot. The WFP drew 167,000 votes on its line for Chuck Schumer two years ago, and is aiming to get 200,000 this year for Spitzer.

Can it be done? Predictions, please.

David Sirota has an interesting op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle, pushing for expanding the "fusion" rules that allow third parties in New York to cross-endorse, and heaping praise on the Working Families Party.

Azi, liberated (at the moment) from New York Press and writing at a new blog of his own, reports that Hillary's rival on the left, Jonathan Tasini, is claiming to have won a Working Families Party straw poll.

If, by "straw poll," you mean "stopping random people in a hotel lobby," says a WFP spokesman.

Crains Insider (subscription required) reported this morning that Charles Barron will take a run at the Brooklyn congressional seat held by Ed Towns, who raised the ire of the left by backing the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

The question: Will the laborite groups that want to take Towns out, like the Working Families Party, have the stomach for Barron, his racial nationism, and his admiration for Robert Mugabe? Or will they take a pass on the primary?

Azi spoke to Barron today, and notes that Amsterdam News had the story last month.

The Daily Gotham reprints a missive from a Working Families Party organizer about the Bay Ridge City Council race:

"This race is the only truly contested seat in Brooklyn and is a major priority for the WFP. That's why we are mobilizing phonebanks in downtown Brooklyn and lower Manhattan as well as sending people to help with activities in the district...

"This race is awfully close. It could come down to a handful of votes. We are very worried because of the major Republican and Conservative resources being mobilized against Vinnie. In order to keep this ally in City Hall and to stop the Republicans in their tracks, WE NEED YOUR HELP!"

That doesn't sound good for Gentile. But the rallying cry seems a bit of a stretch: "The way I see it, losing this seat would have a negative impact on national politics. It would aid the re-election efforts of Republican Congressman Vito Fossella, since Vito's congressional district encompasses a large part of Vinnie's council district. Defeating Republican members of Congress is extremely important to all of us next year."  read more »

Also in the post, Freddy plans a Flatbush motorcade.

Over on his blog, Micah Sifry, a former Nation editor who thinks a lot about technology in politics and who worked on Andrew Rasiej's campaign for public advocate, has a long post-mortem of that campaign.

It's worth reading through, though a some of it seemed fairly obvious from the launch of Andrew's campaign. The question is only partly "What went wrong?"; as interesting is "How could they have thought it would work?" and Sifry, to his credit, asks both.

Anyway, he has a lot of sharp observations, and open disappointments. Sifry regrets that -- as it was looking hopeless -- Rasiej didn't take his advice to turn the campaign "open-source," letting supporters and small donors in on the decision-making process.

Instead, "We were to be a top-down campaign using some nifty online tools that made fundraising easier and communications cheaper."

He also has some complaints about other players, notably the Working Families Party and Acorn, whose tendency toward ends over means and principles apparently came as a surprise, as did the fact that nobody cares about the Public Advocate's office.

But Sifry's best on the stuff he knows well: technology and politcs. One central conclusion is that the "tech community" is something like a fiction.

"One of the unconventional premises of our campaign was the idea that young, 'wired' individuals who work and play in the new technology economy would rally to support one of their own.... Indeed, we started with lots of support and good will from key Internet organizers from the Dean, Clark, Kerry and Kucinich 2004 presidential campaigns along with "A-list" technology opinion-shapers...

"But the fabled tech community turned out to be mostly a fable when it came to actually embracing Andrew's campaign and setting aside time to spread its message..."  read more »

I'm beginning to think, in general, that all this talk about Web-based politics is really premature. It's a bubble that has to burst, as it did with Rasiej, and be remade into something real, just as the Internet economy was after its bubble burst.

Politicker Intern David Greenhouse rode out to Bay Ridge last night for a debate between City Councilman Vinnie Gentile and his challenger, Pat Russo.

He writes:

If there's one thing Vinny Gentile and Pat Russo can agree on, it's that New York's cross-endorsement system opens up great lines of attack. Russo took a beating for being on the Republican/Liberal, Conservative, and Independence lines simultaneously.

"It makes no sense how [Russo] is running," Gentile said. "A militant activist, a hardcore conservative, and a Republican liberal. ... [He] will say anything or do anything to get his name on the ballot as many times as possible."

But when the very next question asked Gentile about his own cross-endorsement by the Working Families Party, his tone changed abruptly.

"I don't agree with every position, and I will stand up when I don't agree with a position.... I don't have a problem taking the WFP's designation."  read more »

Russo said essentially the same thing, that he had "agree[d] to disagree" with Mike on taxes and senior services, among other issues, and he equated Gentile's WFP support with illegal immigration and non-citizen voting, neither of which plays well in southwest Brooklyn.

At the end of this afternoon's press conference, Freddy parted ways with Howard Dean, who'd just endorsed him as "the education candidate." Freddy hopped into a black sedan; Howard descended the stairs at 86th and Broadway to catch a downtown 1 train.

After a brief scuffle with a disagreeable MetroCard machine and a cranky turnstile, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee made it out to the platform just as the train's doors bing-bong'ed shut. The next train was full of rush hour commuters, most too exhausted to notice him. "This is my corporate jet!" Dean jibed, responding to a barb from Bloomberg earlier today.

So what came out of the actual presser? Freddy and Howard tried to maintain a tight focus on education, taking shots along the way at Mike's limitless campaign fund and his support for Bush. But everyone else wanted to talk about the flap over Freddy's blog. Finally, an exasperated Dean intervened: "What is this obsession with blogs? Does anybody care about education in this city?"

Piping up from behind, Senator Schneiderman joked: "You started it!"

Freddy was asked if he feels slighted by the Working Families Party, which will endorse him but won't bestow the coveted ballot line. "An endorsement by the Working Families Party is an endorsement," he insisted. "And as you all know, the Bloomberg forces very heavily contested this, so I'm very proud to have the endorsement of the Working Families Party."

Finally, Freddy and Howard wandered to Broadway where, along with a beaming Scott Stringer, they greeted straphangers coming out of the subway station.

"Weclome home West Siders!" Stringer hollered. His constituents looked bewildered as they surfaced into the media fray. "We've been waiting for you," he yelled. "This is the welcoming committee!"

From the edge of the crowd, an intrepid Columbia J-School student managed to shout a question: "Freddy, what do you say to Democrats for Bloomberg?"  read more »

Before the candidate could speak, Dean fired back. "What Democrats for Bloomberg?"

The Post's scoop that health-care workers' Local 1199 was in backroom negotiations with Mike to sell him their endorsement only slightly tarnishes their reportedly forthcoming announcement that they'll be backing Freddy. (Out of pure principle, of course.)

But Mike's facing some friction on another front as well: When the Working Families Party's laborite leadership met this weekend, they couldn't agree on an endorsement, and had planned not to endorse at all, The Politicker is told.  read more »

But Teachers' Union chief Randi Weingarten -- who at one point appeared very close to a deal with Bloomberg for a contract and, presumably, an endorsement or neutrality agreement -- convinced the party to defer its decision by a couple weeks.

The Politicker is told she wanted additional "leverage" against the Mayor.

The Working Families Party is continuing to hedge at the top of the ticket, running one Kevin Finnegan as the party's Mayoral candidate. But while they're holding out on the Mayor's race, they have endorsed Scott Stringer for Borough President, joining a number of labor groups that seem to be spending more time and energy on that race than on the Mayoral.  read more »

Gifford Miller and Carolyn Maloney will endorse Dan Garodnick later today, bringing to two the number of entrants in the 4th District primary to receive backing from mayoral candidates. Jack Lester, the longtime Upper East Side land use lawyer, is supported by Virginia Fields. Garodnick already has support from a bunch of local elected officials and Democratic clubs, and Lester has the Working Families Party. It's hard to tell which of these endorsements means anything, especially given the fact that these two candidates - and a third, Meryl Brodsky - are already pretty well-known commodities to East Side Democrats. But it's interesting that Miller is following Fields in dispensing with the conventional political wisdom that aspirants for higher office shouldn't choose sides in potentially divisive primaries. Then again, if you're polling in the low teens, there's probably something to be said for throwing caution to the wind.  read more »

We can see why the Working Families Party is displeased with Joe Crowley after reading this piece in The Hill about his work in the House on behalf of the bankruptcy bill: "Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) summoned Democratic lobbyists to the Capitol for a meeting last week and then dispatched them to solidify pro-business Democratic support for the bankruptcy reform bill, adopting a practice regularly used by the Republican majority and its business allies on K Street."  read more »

New York voters sharply rejected Mayor Bloomberg's plan to overhaul the way the city elects its lead  read more »

Just a few days after the Boss of Brooklyn, Clarence Norman, put on a three-piece suit and surrender  read more »

In the days since Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled his plan to cut services to help plug a $4.7 bill  read more »