NY's only statewide political program
Congress
Reed Supports Offsets For Disaster Aid
Sep 1st - 5:16 pm
Add Rep. Tom Reed to the list of New York Republicans who support House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s call for offsetting additional disaster aid in the wake of Irene with spending cuts elsewhere in the federal budget.
Reed (NY-29) told YNN today that he supports federal spending on post-storm clean-up, but added: “We’re going to have to offset it, because there’s just no money left in the till.”
“I will tell you, you know, as we face these natural disasters such as Hurricane Irene, we’re going to make sure in Congress, we’re going to take care of that funding,” the congressman said at an event in Brighton, just outside of Rochester. “That’s one of the fundamental things that Congress should be doing – is disaster relief.
“But it’s a commentary on the financial situation in which we find ourselves in America. And it should send an alarm to every American, that when we have to have a conversation about covering disaster costs by finding offset budget lines to cover those expenses, you know, that’s an alarm that every American should sense to say: We truly are in a fiscal crisis.”
The Democrats have been pressuring their GOP colleague to publicly declare whether they back Cantor’s call. Rep. Nan Hayworth (NY-19) has already said she’s on board, even as she called for the counties in her district to be added to President Obama’s disaster declaration list.
It’s Magic! (Updatedx2)
Sep 1st - 4:41 pm
A few rules of campaigning:
1) When you’re slipping, go negative.
2) When you’re really desperate, rely on props and/or gimmicks in hopes of humiliating your opponent and generating press.
Remember the guy in a duck suit sent last year by GOP gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino to harass frontrunner Andrew Cuomo for his supposed unwillingness to address “vital policy questions” like Obamacare?
I rest my case.
On the heels of a GOP-commissioned poll that shows the NY-9 special election a dead heat, with Bob Turner and David Weprin tied at 42 percent in a district that has an overwhelming Democratic enrollment edge, the Weprin campaign has decided to send a “Queens magician named Wendy Wizard” to “endorse” Turner outside his Belle Harbour Yacht Club fundraiser tonight. From the Weprin press release:
“Tea Party Turner’s smoke and mirror budget tricks require a level of magical ability that only the greatest illusionists have mastered,” Wizard said from her underground lair in an undisclosed part of Queens while stroking a black cat named Oolong.
“I’m proud to support my fellow magician’s candidacy because I know that Tea Party Turner will pull the money we need to save Medicare right out of thin air.”
This a riff off a line in yesterday’s New York Times editorial endorsing Weprin, in which the Gray Lady’s ed board opined:
“Mr. Turner argues that the federal budget needs to be cut by as much as a third. He also wants to lower taxes, especially on capital gains. He insists that that would not mean reducing benefits for those on Medicare and Social Security. That would take a magician, not a businessman.”
UPDATE: A reader notes the Turner campaign is not above gimmicks, either. A Turner supporter broke out the old duck suit to heckle Weprin at his fundraiser last night with US Sen. Joe Lieberman and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. The issue: Weprin’s abrupt decision to pull out of Monday night’s debate, citing Irene.
UPDATE2: Turner campaign spokesman Bill O’Reilly sends this gem: “”The Weprin Campaign has become increasingly bizarre. I suggest they head back to Hogwarts and regroup.”
I would be remiss if I didn’t note that props have been employed by even some of our best-known politicians.
Remember back in 2000 when then-former First Lady Hillary Clinton was first running for the US Senate in New York? Well, none other than Howard Wolfson (now a deputy mayor in the Bloomberg administration) showed up along with a Democratic State Committee member dressed as Uncle Sam at an event held by her GOP opponent, Rick Lazio, to taunt him with her property tax returns and demand that he follow her lead.
Christie: ‘Our People Are Suffering Now’
Sep 1st - 1:56 pm
NJ Gov. Chris Christie just Tweeted a video of himself taking D.C. Republicans to task for saying federal disaster aid for Irene-ravaged states should be offset by spending cuts elsewhere in the budget.
“We don’t have time to wait for folks in Congress to figure out how they want to offset this stuff,” Christie said. “…Our people are suffering now, and they need support now. And they can all go down there and get back to work and figure out the budget cuts later.”
“But we need the support now in New Jersey, and that’s not a Republican or a Democratic issue. So, I would urge all my colleagues in the new Jersey delegation, no matter which party you’re in, and all the rest of the folks in Congress, that nobody was asking about offsetting budget cuts in Joplin, and I don’t want to hear about the fact that offsetting budget cuts have to come first before New Jersey citizens are taken care of.”
President Obama is scheduled to travel to New Jersey Sunday to view storm damage there.
Christie, a Republican who is often mentioned as a potential presidential contender (he says he doesn’t want to run in 2012), pledged to “fight” to make sure that his constituents struggling to recover from the tropical storm get taken care of.
Funding the post-Irene clean-up is fast becoming a political football along the same lines as the debat ceiling debate. That’s thanks largely to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who was the first to suggest additional disaster aid – remember that FEMA only has about $800 million on hand, which is less than even New York’s estimated storm bill of $1 billion – be offset by other budget cuts.
National Democrats are now pressuring Cantor’s GOP colleagues to declare whether they support his call, which is actually reminiscent of how the Rep. Paul Ryan Medicare reform plan fight played out during the NY-26 special election. So far in New York, Rep. Nan Hayworth (NY-19) has voiced support for Cantor’s plan. No word on the six other GOP members yet.
Hayworth’s Dual Ask: More Aid + More Cuts
Aug 31st - 4:03 pm
Rep. Nan Hayworth sent a letter to President Obama today, asking for Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties to be included in the disaster declaration issued earlier today.
At the same time, the NY-19 Republican voiced support for the call by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor that any additional disaster funding be offset by spending cuts elsewhere in the federal budgt.
So, to recap: The congresswoman is seeking more spending by the federal government here in New York to help with the post-Irene recovery – a move that would, if she and Cantor had their way, require additional cuts at a time when Washington is already polarized over reductions mandated by the debt ceiling deal passed early this month.
Hayworth’s letter comes the same day FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate visited the storm-ravaged Catskill town of Prattsville with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and acknowledged his cash-strapped agency (with just $800 million in its coffers) won’t be able to foot the entire clean-up bill for the multi-state disaster.
And for the first time today, Gov. Andrew Cuomo put a pricetag on the New York recovery effort: At least $1 billion.
Cuomo had asked for expedited federal disaster designation for 26 counties, and Obama this morning heeded that call for eight of them: Albany, Essex, Greene, Schoharie, Schenectady, Delaware, Dutchess and Ulster.
The counties left out so far (although Fugate intimated today it would likely not be long before at least some of them are added to the list) include: Bronx, Clinton, Columbia, Kings, Montgomery, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Rensselaer, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, Sullivan, Warren, Washington and Westchester.
Times Goes For Weprin; Dings Turner, Koch
Aug 31st - 5:30 am
The New York Times has given a full-throated endorsement to David Weprin in the upcoming Sept. 13 special election to replace disgraced ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner, saying the Democratic assemblyman would “represent the district with far more expertise, sensitivity and fiscal rationality.”
The Gray Lady is particularly pleased Weprin agrees with its stance that taxes on the wealthy should increase, while it panned Republican Bob Turner’s claim that cutting the federal budget by as much as a third would not require reducing Medicare and Social Security benefits, saying: ” That would take a magician, not a businessman.”
Expect to see this line repeated in Weprin mailers and/or a TV ad coming to mailboxes and sets near you soon:
“If Mr. Turner gets his way, it would be impossible to spare anybody who relies on the government for benefits or to keep the air clean or their food safe.”
The Times also takes a shot at former NYC Mayor Ed Koch, who crossed party lines (again) to endorse Turner, saying the NY-9 special should be a referendum on President Obama’s statement that Israel’s pre-1967 borders should be the basis for negotiating a peace agreement – with mutually agreed land swaps.
The paper’s editorial board called Koch’s nod the “least helpful contribution to this race,” noting that while both Weprin and Turner have been equally critical of Obama, Weprin has a “proven record in support of Israel.”
There has been much debate over the waning power of newspaper endorsements, and the Times has a mixed track record when it comes to picking candidates who actually win on Election Day.
The paper’s nod generally is considered to carry slightly more weight in a Democratic primary, but this is going to be a low-turnout special election at a time when anti-Obama sentiment is running high.
While Weprin is the favorite in this Brooklyn/Queens Democrat-dominated district, the GOP insists it has a shot. Of course, why anyone would want the NY-9 job is another story, since it’s widely expected to be redistricted out of existence between now and 2012.
Tonko: There Will Be A Post-Storm Review
Aug 30th - 2:48 pm
Everyone from DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano to Gov. Andrew Cuomo has insisted there was no way of knowing Irene would have such a significant impact on upstate while leaving far less of an imprint on downstate areas like Long Island.
This not, of course, to minimize the damage that did occur in Nassau and Suffolk counties and in NYC – particularly on Staten Island. But it turned out that the bulk of the resources deployed from the Capital Region south would potentially have been put to better use right here at home.
While it’s true officials had no way of knowing Irene would dump so much rain in such a short period of time on the already water-logged upstate region.
However, as Rep. Paul Tonko noted during a CapTon interview last night, people who pay attention to such things were well aware that creeks, rivers and streams were running high and probably wouldn’t be able to handle much additional water.
Tonko praised the Irene response during our discussion, singling out the Cuomo administration in particular. But he also said there would likely be a complete post-storm review at some point down the road – after the powers-that-be address the more immediate issue of getting resources to hard-hit communities to help them recover and rebuild.
“A number of people have said, you know, the tributarious were at a tremendous flow, historic largest flow, and, you know that does impact,” Tonko told me. “It was Mother nature pounding away.”
“We will review all of the efforts made by various groups….I was told that they drained the resevoirs as associated with the DEP for the Gilboa Dam, the Department of Environmental Protection…and we will, you know, go through all of this in the aftermath to make sure that what happened in fact did happen and if there are lessons to be learned.”
Minus One Vote For Weprin (Updatedx2)
Aug 29th - 12:09 pm
Juniper Park Civic Association President Bob Holden slammed Democratic Assemblyman David Weprin this morning for calling off a scheduled debate in NY-9 tonight, accusing the candidate of using Irene as a scapegoat to get out of an event he never really wanted to attend in the first place.
According to Holden, the Weprin campaign officially backed out of the debate last night by calling the newspaper co-sponsor, the Times Newsweekly, but failed to make a courtesy call to him.
When he finally did speak to a camapign representative this morning, Holden said, he was told the storm had complicated “logistics” for the candidate, making it difficult for staffers to get into work.
When he requested more specifics about Weprin’s schedule, Holden said, he was informed the campaign aide was “not at liberty to tell you where the candidate is going to be tonight.”
“I’m just beside myself,” Holden said during a brief telephone interview. “…I’m going to tell my membership the candidate had something more important to do tonight, or some other place to go that’s more important than us.”
“…I’ve seen shenanigans before, but nothing like this. They’re using the storm, but our power is all back on. There’s a few downed trees being cleared away, but everything is fine. I suspected they were going to do this, I just can’t believe they actually did. I feel like I just got kicked in the head. This is no way to run a campaign.”
Holden, a Democrat, admitted that the association’s territory is “more conservative” (and used to be represented by a Republican in the NYC Council, until Councilwoman Liz Crowley came along). But he insisted Juniper Park is not biased in favor of Republicans, noting both he and his first vice president are Democrats.
“I was really undecided as to who I’d vote for,” Holden told me. “Not anymore.”
Republican Bob Turner’s campaign is, of course, seeking to capitalize on the Weprin camp’s decision. Turner spokesman Bill O’Reilly provided reporters with Holden’s contact information. He also released the following statement:
“Career politician David Weprin is in hiding. After demonstrating a stunning lack of knowledge about the size of the federal debt – he was off by $10 trillion the last time he was asked – maybe he’s home studying up. But still, it was rude to cancel at this late notice.”
O’Reilly is referring to this DN editorial yesterday that took both NY-9 candidates to task – Weprin for not knowing the national debt, and Turner for saying the Zadroga Act shouldn’t apply to volunteers. The field, according to the DN, makes voters “yearn for Anthony Weiner.”
UPDATE: A response from Weprin’s campaign, which chalked the candidate’s debt stumble up to a “slip of the tongue.”
“Obviously David knows that the national debt is $14 trillion. David’s slip of the tongue is not going to harm Brooklyn and Queens working class families and seniors like Bob Turner’s plan to end Medicare and Social Security as we know it. Nor will it take away health care for our brave volunteer first responders, which is what Bob Turner wants to do.”
And on the debate cancellation, there’s this from Team Weprin:
“The hurricane caused major logistical and scheduling problems for the campaign and thus David is not able to make the debate this evening.”
King Robos In Defense Of Turner (Updated)
Aug 25th - 5:41 pm
Dueling Zadroga robocalls is the storyline in the NY-9 race today.
First Democratic Assemblyman David Weprin launched a call recorded for him by John Feal, founder of the FealGood Foundation, who played a key role in getting the 9/11 health care bill passed by Congress.
In that call, Feal slammed Weprin’s GOP opponent, Bob Turner, for telling the DN editorial board that the Zadroga Act is too “broad” and perhaps should not apply to volunteers.
Democrats swiftly seized on that gaffe – a particularly egregious error, considering the special election comes two days after the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11. And Turner’s campaign was forced to do damage control, insisting the Queens businessman has always been a Zadroga supporter and has 9/11 firefighters and volunteers in his family.
Now comes the coup de grace of the Turner pushback in the form of a robocall from Rep. Pete King, the Long Island Republican who co-authored Zadroga. The call is hitting tonight, according to Turner campaign spokesman Bill O’Reilly, which means people coming home from work will receive them back-to-back.
The script and audio appear below.
“Hi, this is Congressman Pete King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. I helped write the law to give health coverage to firefighters, cops, and 9-11 volunteers – and I can tell you point blank that Bob Turner supports that legislation.”
“It’s one reason I’m supporting Bob Turner for Congress.”
“So don’t believe anyone who tries to tell you that Bob Turner doesn’t stand with all the brave men and women who worked and volunteered at Ground Zero.”
So please join Mayor Ed Koch, Rudy Giuliani, firefighters, police officers, first responders, and me, Pete King, throughout Brooklyn and Queens in supporting Bob Turner for Congress. He will never let you down.”
UPDATE: A response from the Weprin campaign appears after the jump.
Buerkle Tops NY Reps In Heritage ScoreCard
Aug 25th - 11:24 am
The conservative DC-based group Heritage Action for America has released it’s scorecards for all members of Congress – and the top scoring member from New York is CNY Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle.
The House score is determined by 30 specific votes taken by members of Congress. They also looked at whether the member co-sponsored one of 5 bills. According to the press release, Heritage Action says the “votes cover the full spectrum of conservatism, and include legislative action on issues both large and small.”
“With each vote cast in Congress, freedom either advances or recedes,” Heritage Action’s CEO Michael A. Needham said. “Heritage Action’s scorecard will empower Americans to hold their Members of Congress accountable to conservative principles.”
Here is the list of how GOP House members from NY fared: (No Democrat scored better than 17%)
- Rep. Buerkle – 80%
- Rep. Hayworth – 61%
- Rep. Reed – 60%
- Rep. Gibson – 48%
- Rep. Grimm – 44%
- Rep. King – 44%
Dems Use Zadroga Comment Against Turner (Updated)
Aug 24th - 4:03 pm
The Democrats are gleefully pouncing on GOP NY-9 candidate Bob Turner’s ill-timed comment to the DN editorial board that the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act is “too broad” and shouldn’t cover volunteers.
Turner was no doubt trying to come off as fiscally responsible, but you’ve got to wonder what he was thinking – particularly since the Sept. 13 special election comes just two days after the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Two of the Zadroga bill’s authors, Rep. Carolyn Maloney and Jerry Nadler, issued the following statement through Assemblyman David Weprin’s campaign:
“Bob Turner’s blatant disregard for the sacrifices made by volunteers in the aftermath of 9/11 is outrageous and offensive.”
“These brave men and women put themselves at risk to help their fellow New Yorkers and the very least we can do is to support them in their efforts to combat the injuries and illnesses sustained during their rescue efforts. Bob Turner has proven once and for all that he has no business representing New Yorkers in Congress.”
As you’ll recall, the former occupant of this seat, ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner, memorably ripped apart his GOP colleagues on the House floor when they voted against the Zadroga bill after attaching controverisal amendments to it that the Democrats opposed.
Weiner then sparred on national TV with Rep. Pete King, a Long Island Republican who also happened to be a Zadroga sponsor.
King endorsed Turner not long ago…wonder what he thinks of the candidate’s comments on this act?
Take Capital Tonight and the State of Politics blog with you everywhere you go with our iPhone app! The mobile application features our blog posts, interviews, and a report news tool to send us your political news tips.