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Archive for July, 2011
The Weekend That Was
Jul 31st - 7:19 pm
We may (finally!) have a debt deal in the works.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is on board with a debt-reduction deal, but defense cuts remain up in the air.
The WSJ is live-blogging the details as they trickle out.
Polls show neither the right or the left will be thrilled by the potential deal.
Obama reached out to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to try to get a deal.
NYC’s House Democrats were deeply involved in the call for Obama to invoke his 14th Amendment powers and unilaterally raise the debt ceiling.
Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch, who wrote “Giuliani: Nasty Man,” said he would consider crossing party lines yet again and endorsing “modern Republican” Giuliani over Obama in 2012.
Koch’s comments came during an interview on AM 970, The Apple Saturday morning.
Todd Clausen laments about the lack of young professionals on Cuomo’s Rochester-area economic development council: “(I)t’s missing a youthful voice and someone who hasn’t been boxed in by years of traditional thinking, politics or dinosaur concepts.”
The Poughkeepsie Journal reminds Mid-Hudson council members that there’s “no solution for overnight success here.” More >
King Hopes For Debt Deal ‘By Monday At The Latest’
Jul 30th - 3:21 pm
Rep. Pete King sent out this video just afternoon today. In it, the Long Island Republican says he’s hoping for a debt deal tomorrow or Monday “at the latest.”
“Hopefully this will resolve in the next 48 hours,” said the congressman, who pledged to stay in touch with his constituents via YouTube.
The deadline is Tuesday, as you know. So, it seems like this could come down to the wire. Veteran Albany watchers are used to this sort of thing.
Perhaps that’s why Gov. Andrew Cuomo was so thoroughly convinced Congress and the White House won’t let the country default for the first time in its history – so convinced, in fact, that he’s not bothering to make contingency plans for the state in case his gut is wrong on this one.
Other governors are not nearly as confident in the deal-making abilities of our nation’s leaders. Massachusetts, for example, is making plans – just in case.
Obama Again Urges Compromise To Clean Up ‘Mess’
Jul 30th - 3:10 pm
President Obama used his weekly address to again call for a debt ceiling deal as the deadlock continues down in D.C. and the Tuesday deadline looms ever closer.
“Democrats in Congress and some Senate Republicans have been listening and have shown themselves willing to make compromises to solve this crisis,” Obama said.
“Now all of us – including Republicans in the House of Representatives – need to demonstrate the same kind of responsibility.”
Obama scolded House Republicans for spending “precious days” hammering out the deal the Tea Party freshmen could support. The proposal retooled by House Speaker John Boehner was rejected by the White House and the Senate Democrats long before it passed last night along party lines – 218-210.
The House Republicans are planning to return the favor to the Senate Democrats by rejecting Majority Leader Harry Reid’s plan – the one Obama likes – in a symbolic vote today.
The president said Boehner’s plan would hold the economy “captive to Washington politics” because it requires another vote in just a few months – one that would be tied to a balanced budget amendment.
Obama didn’t specifically call out the Tea Party, but did allude it, saying members of Congress have a responsibility to come up with a bipartisan plan that everyone can live with, “not just one faction of one party.”
He insisted there are “multiple ways” to break the logjam, noting the two sides aren’t terribly far apart on the dollar amount in spending they want to cut.
The Republican response was delivered by Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, who said the GOP has tried its best to come up with a deal everyone can live with, adding that the Democrats “need to work with us.”
Kyl also noted the financial troubles that have beset several EU counties and accused Obama of being interested in a “European” style of big government that the US can’t afford.
Weekend Open Thread
Jul 30th - 8:42 am
The debt deadline is Tuesday. Still no deal (as of this morning). Enough said.
Be well.
Rep. Hochul Discusses Debt Ceiling
Jul 29th - 9:11 pm
Congresswoman Kathy Hochul criticized Speaker Boehner’s plan for not compromising enough.
The Sippy Cup Controversy
Jul 29th - 9:00 pm
Dr. Mark Feldman, Executive Director for the New York State Dental Association, explains the need for legislation that would put warning labels on packaging for sippy cups and baby bottles, which say allowing children to use them overnight could tooth decay and other major dental problems.
County Execs. Learning More About Tax Cap
Jul 29th - 8:53 pm
County executives say the newly-passed property tax cap will limit their revenue increases to about $90 million. But the cost of mandatory Medicaid payments and social service programs is going up by about $279 million. Stephen Acquario, the executive director of the state Association of Counties, explains.
Sen. Griffo Talks Economics, Prisons
Jul 29th - 8:23 pm
Senator Joe Griffo discusses the new economic regional councils. For his district and the rest of the Mohawk Valley, one of the concerns will be finding new employers to replace the prisons that are slated to close.
Extras
Jul 29th - 4:06 pm
President Obama’s approval rating has hit 40 percent for the first time ever in a Gallup poll.
Obama hasn’t slept in recent nights due to the looming debt crisis, according to a senior administration official.
Potential electoral fallout from the debtpocaplypse.
NYC Comptroller John Liu released an advisory outlining default impacts on NYC, estimates $1.1 billion a month in Social Security benefits would be denied city residents.
Westchester County is the only government in NY whose Aaa bond rating is at risk of a downgrade by Moody’s if the Aug. 2 deadline isn’t met.
A White House list of local elected officials nationwide calling for a debt ceiling compromise includes Bloomberg and state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, but not Cuomo.
Rep. Bill Owens anticipates this stalemate will continue through the weekend. “I think if it’s going to break, it’s going to break Sunday night.”
Rep. Pete King is in House Speaker John Boehner’s corner.
NARAL deems all the would-be 2012 GOP presidential contenders unacceptable. (Surprise).
Mayor Bloomberg announced plans for commemorating the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11. President Obama and former President Bush will both participate, as will former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Gov. George Pataki.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed land bank legislation into law.
He also signed bills extending a slew of county sales taxes.
Sen. Greg Ball, who obviously missed the “Senate GOP loves Cuomo” memo, deemed the governor’s economic development councils a “power play.”
Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano has hired two former Senate GOP staffers – Abe Lackman and John McArdle – to advise him on budgetary matters.
Rasmussen: House Speaker John Boehner’s favorables are up slightly, but his unfavorables are at their highest level so far this year.
Maybe losing that CNN show was the best thing for Eliot Spitzer?
Scerets of First Ladies past and present.
Bloomberg teams up with the Sierra Club’s executive director to take on coal.
A blogger who wrote about Senate Minority Leader John Sampson declined to say he was paid by John Sampson’s campaign committee.
AG Eric Schneiderman is crusading to restore Americans’ faith in mortgages.
The way the state calculates sick leave credits would change under the contract Cuomo negotiated with PEF.
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