DaBrinker Report

Boardman to Head Amtrak

Really?!?  Does anyone else find it amusing that Boardman was named President and CEO of Amtrak?  May as well get a job in a field your name fits.  From Albany TU:

Former New York State Transportation Commissioner Joseph Boardman, most recently the adminstrator in charge at the Federal Railroad Administration, has been named president and chief executive officer of Amtrak.

Boardman, a native of Oneida County, succeeds Alex Kummant, who resigned as Amtrak president earlier this month. Boardman’s appointment is effective for one year while the railroad’s board seeks a permanent CEO, but an Amtrak spokesman also described Boardman as a potential candidate for the permanent appointment.

 

Suozzi Ups the Ante

Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi upped the ante for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton’s move to Secretary of State post in the Obama Administration. How so? A letter on Politico.com, as reported on Newsday's Spin Cycle, includes a fairly detailed plan that calls for the Federal government to step in and help States and local governments weather the economic crisis.

States, localities can't fix economy alone
"I’m cutting jobs, eliminating programs, and in the case of Nassau County, reducing capital spending and raising property taxes for the first time in five years. We have to.

"Because unlike the federal government, states and localities must, by law, balance our budgets every year, leaving us no choice but to make difficult decisions. These efforts are necessary in the short term, but we are undoing any national efforts to stimulate the economy.

"In the war to save America’s economy, the local, state, and federal governments are all on the same side but pulling in opposite directions."

While Suozzi’s name has been circulated as a potential Senate replacement since the Obama-Clinton meeting two weeks ago, this move—whether intentional or not—separates him from the rest of the pack.

This article is not Suozzi’s only chip. He has statewide campaign experience, which will be a necessity because the person chosen will have to run twice in the next four years. He has an unparalleled handle of one of New York’s most pressing issues—property taxes. He serves as the chair of the Governor’s Commission on Property Tax—aptly named the Tax Cap Commission. He is young, dynamic and he runs one of the State’s largest counties, larger than most States.

Pedro Espada

This really shouldn’t come as a big surprise that one of the “Gang of Three” received large contributions to their campaign from GOP members and supporters. From Runnin' Scared:

 

The Daily News looks at contributions to "Espada for the People" -- the campaign finance arm of newly-elected rogue Democratic state senator Pedro Espada -- and finds heavier donations to it from Republicans than from Democrats: for example, GOP Majority Leader Dean Skelos' committee gave Espada $5000 this year, while his prospective successor Malcolm Smith's pitched in only $500.

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Espada, who has been accused of improperly using funds from his Soundview Health Center for campaign purposes, also received sizable donations from medical suppliers such as Ovations Inc. of Minneapolis and Precision Ultrasound Imaging of Staten Island.

Espada and Kruger have too much on the line with the Republicans to side with a Democrat for Majority Leader.  I think you may see Skelos as Majority Leader come January.

Palin's Pardon

The Daily News has Palin video just in time for Thanksgiving.  Check it out here.

This is too funny.  The thing about Palin is I don’t think the Republican’s can ever polish her up enough to make her presentable to the whole country again. 

BTW, where are her staffers?  They should have stopped the filming and changed backgrounds.  Unbelievable.

Senator-elect Espada

 

 

From the Daily News:

 

An incoming Bronx state senator failed to register a campaign committee with the state as required by law, the Daily News has learned.

The News recently reported that Senator-elect Pedro Espada Jr. had missed all five required financial disclosures for his campaign this year.

Yesterday, state Board of Elections spokesman Robert Brehm said Espada hasn't even bothered to register his campaign committee.

By not registering and making the proper filings, it's impossible to tell who financed his campaign and how the money was spent.

Making things more confusing is that the senator-elect has a registered political action committee called "Espada for the People" that can receive and make donations, but is prohibited from making direct expenditures for a campaign, Brehm said.

 

 

Oops.  That doesn’t seem good. 

Economic Charts

Here are some rather bleak graphs from Calculated Risk. 

Comparing Stock Market Crashes

by CalculatedRisk on 11/19/2008 02:15:00 PM
This is an update to a graph that Will sent me comparing four stock market crashes.

Note: updated with intra-day prices with S&P 500 at 828.

This is an epic crash, and I'll add the Great Depression soon.

Here is the other one…

Four Bad Bears

by CalculatedRisk on 11/19/2008 06:41:00 PM

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

Doug Short of dshort.com (financial planner) sent me this graph of "Four Bad Bears".

Note that the Great Depression crash is based on the DOW; the three others are for the S&P 500.

Interesting times ...

Gang of Three

Kruger’s back is against the wall.  After removing himself from the Democratic caucus two years ago, he’s has to feel like a man without out a home.  I don’t think he is going to side with the democrats for the Majority Leader vote.  From Liz:

Sen. Carl Kruger, perhaps best known these days as the the ringleader of the Gang of Three, will be in Albany for tomorrow's special legislative session, but, unlike his renegade-in-arms, Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr., he won't be caucusing with his fellow Democrats.

That's not to say that the Brooklyn lawmaker, who is the only Democrat to chair a committee (Social Services) in the GOP-controlled house, will be taking part is closed-door Senate GOP meetings, either.

"I'm caucusing with myself," Kruger said. "I have not been in a Democratic caucus for the better part of two years. I try to deal with a better class of people, I guess."

"I might have popped in one or two times over the course of a couple of years," he continued. "If anybody had ever sat in on the Democratic caucuses, they would probably understand why not...But I have never, ever, ever attended a Republican conference."

You don’t have to caucus with the Republicans to vote for a Republican Majority Leader and keep your chairmanship as a reward.  The best the Democrats can do is win back two of the “Gang of Three” to tie up the house at 31-31.

Dissecting a TAP Conversation - Part III

I must admit, I am jumping around the conversational string.  But all these comments that I have been posting are from one story.  I find this particular comment by Roatti enjoyable for a feel reasons.  First, I like how he refers to me as the “brinkers”.  Roatti seems to be in denial that more than one person could be disagreeing with him and calling him on ridicules statements.  Second, he still doesn’t get it about googlebombing.  I never said it was violent. My problem is that it’s childish, obnoxious, and can create real problems for companies and networks.  But than again most of what Roatti and Bouldin do are childish and obnoxious so I shouldn’t be surprised they like googlebombing.  Anyway, here’s the post:

I think the anger is because (0.00 / 0)

you read brinkers and echo his rediculous talking points here.  Like when you got on my case for advocating for a "googlebomb," like it's some sort of violent act- only brinkers is idiotic enough to see a googlebomb as a form of violence, and you're reiterating his poison isn't going to make you many friends here.  

Also, I'm still waiting on your response to my comment above- I have admitted when Shelly does good things, so can you admit anyting less-than perfect about his leadership?

by: Roatti @ Sat Oct 18, 2008 at 11:19:13 AM CDT

Over the top and exaggerated, just like Roatti.

 

You can read other posts about these guys here, here and here.

 

Senate Leadership – Thanks Senator Wright

Like everyone else who watches NY politics, I’ve been thinking a lot about the current struggles for control of the Senate.  Over the weekend I was running through how we got to this point, when I recalled the retirement of Senator Jim Wright. 

As of today the Senate stands at what looks like 30-29-3.

 

            30 Republicans including Padavan

            29 Democrats

            3 Democrats that are holding out for the highest bidder.

 

If Senator Wright did not retire the Senate would be 31-28-3. The best the democrats could do was tie.  Senator Kruger has been sitting with the Republican conference for years so the more likely scenario would be 32-28-2.  Even if those two holdouts went with the Dems, the Republicans still have the Majority. 

 

So after thinking about this I did some searching and came across an amusing, disturbing and gut wrenching post by Political IV.  In this post Political IV compares Senator Wright to Brett Favre:

Anyone who observes politics saw a Senator who had the skills and style similar to that of a quarterback in football. Similar to a quarterback hitting a receiver down field, he saw problems or an organization in distress and with laser concentration, like a passer, he methodically worked through the issues for resolutions.

---------

If Darrel Aubertine is re-elected to the Senate and remains in the minority, representation of the North Country will be Favre less than it was; if he wins this next election and the Democrats happen to be in the majority, he has big cleats to fill.

You can read the whole ridiculous post yourself if you like.  But my feeling is, Brett Favre would never desert his team when they needed him most.  Brett Favre would never walk away for the money.  Favre is a loyal leader who would never leave his team when they needed him most.  I think it would be more accurate to compare Aubertine to Favre.  Either way, it’s a ridiculous ass-kissing post. 

Senate Republicans - Budget Holdouts

Big surprise.  Dean Skelos and the Senate Republicans won’t be acting on the Governor’s proposed budget cuts – yet.  From the Albany Times Union:

"Before the Legislature acts, we need to see what the governor is proposing for next year," Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos said in a written statement. "These important decisions about New York's future cannot be made in a vacuum. ... We must not simply pass costs down to school districts and local governments and force them to raise taxes."

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"When this (special) session occurs, the Republicans will have just six weeks left in the majority," said E.J. McMahon, director of the fiscally conservative Center for New York State Policy. "And when those six weeks are up, that budget crisis becomes -- in Albany terms -- the Democrats' problem. Therefore, there is a big risk that they will leave it simply for Democrats to solve."

Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith called Paterson's approach to budget cuts "prudent" and said he supports the governor's efforts.

"I disagree with my colleagues in the current Senate majority who suggest that the crisis is exaggerated," said Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in a written statement. "If anything, the crisis is even greater than the governor projects and it will get worse before it gets better."

As DaBrinker said before, there is very little incentive for the Senate Republicans to act.   They are going to holdout until they are forced to do something or they loose the Majority.