Arnold Lindhardt

As part of his crusade to reform the state's finances, Governor David Paterson outlined a proposal yesterday to cut an additional $1 billion from this year’s budget, plus $1.6 billion next year. Doing so put him at odds with fellow Democrats, and it's unlikely to turn into a legislative coup for the governor. How it will play politically, however, is a different story.

The governor's first dramatic warnings about the state budget, which included a rare televised speech and a trip to Washington, were met with some skepticism from state Democrats, and a series of proposals for reducing the budget by $1.  read more »

Eliot Engel's endorsement of Anthony means bad news for Virginia, who has as one of her advisors Arnold Lindhardt, Engel's former chief of staff. One Politicker-obsessed reader notes that Virginia has made a move for liberal Jewish voters and officials in the Bronx and Manhattan that don't want to back Freddy. Although they like the idea of backing a candidate of color, they don't seem to be heading to camp Virginia.  read more »