Tasini For Senate, Part Deux

While the potential candidates to primary State Senators Monserrate and Espada are sorted out, it looks like we have a definite primary challenge to the recently appointed Senator Gillibrand. Jonathon Tasini has jumped in the race to be, as he claims, the progressive candidate. The press release, or shall I say diary is strong and to the point.

From DailyKos:

I believe New York voters deserve a choice. We live in a democracy, and elections should be about addressing the issues, not about party insiders "clearing the field" for a favored candidate. If party insiders had "cleared the field" in 2008, Barack Obama would not be president today.

New York--and the nation--are at a critical point. We are living through the most unprecedented financial crisis in our lifetime--and, at the same time, I see a great opportunity to change the country.

There are great choices to be made--whether and how we will unburden Americans and businesses from the crushing costs of obscene health care costs (I have been an unwavering supporter of single-payer, "Medicare for All"), whether workers will truly share in the great productivity they have created over the past three decades, whether workers will have the right to join a union, and whether we will live up to the promise of "equal justice under the law" by granting marriage equality throughout the land.

I am the only progressive in the race. And I believe, as do my supporters, that we have a chance to move the Democratic Party in a progressive direction. New Yorkers will have a very clear choice in 2010--a choice of values and principles.

Of course that all sounds great, but can a guy that won 17% of the Democratic primary vote take on another establishment candidate? The answer is probably not. Of course anything can happen, and as Tasini notes, Obama did overtake Clinton about a year ago today. Yet Tasini is no Obama and as much as his ideas warm the hearts of progressives everywhere (or not), what anti-Gillibrand forces need is a strong challenger and at this point, the consensus is for Carolyn Maloney to spearhead the effort.

Gillibrand Not Such A Blue Dog After All

I remember shortly after Kristen Gillibrand beat out John Sweeney and entered Congress, she also joined the conservatively-identified Blue Dog Democratic Caucus. It could have been a sign of her political leanings, or just the make-up of her district dictating that she lean more to the center. Now that she is being sworn in as the Junior Senator of New York today, critics on the left have labeled her as too far to the right, particularly on gun rights and immigration. Though that does not give us the full picture.

Here is some more:

The National Taxpayers Union rates members of Congress on “all votes that could significantly affect the amounts of federal taxes, spending, debt, or regulatory impact” — 427 House votes in 2007. In that session of Congress, the only one that Gillibrand served in for which scores have been calculated, Gillibrand voted with the taxpayers 7 percent of the time. That’s right, 7 percent. That makes her just as fiscally conservative as Rep. Barney Frank, Rep. Maxine Waters, and Rep. Henry Waxman. (Though, to be sure, it makes her just slightly more fiscally conservative than Rep. Rahm Emanuel, whom the newspapers have told us is a centrist.)

The ratings from Citizens Against Government Waste, on spending, earmark, and porkbarrel bills, tell the same story: Rep. Gillibrand voted against wasteful spending 8 percent of the time.

And similarly at the Club for Growth ratings: Gillibrand got a rating of 12. On the Club’s ratings, she never once voted in the interests of taxpayers, but she did vote for the U.S.-Peru free trade agreement. She also voted against reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine. Combined with her 90 percent rating from the ACLU and her A rating from the NRA, maybe she is indeed a free-trader and a civil libertarian.

The "interests of taxpayers" is a relative term, since there are many more taxpayers than there are members of the NTU and the CfG. Yet the ratings are the ratings and do show that there is more to Senator Gillibrand than just immigration and gun rights. Those are important issues, and we can definitely push her to make smart decisions during this interim but I have a feeling she'll be voting for the interests of the majority of the state more often than not.

Of course if she doesn't, we all have the right to primary her out of office next year...and she knows that very well.

Paterson Needs To Get Behind Feingold's 28th Amendment

David Paterson is feeling quite a bit of heat from his bungled Senate appointment across the board, save for Schumer and his new Senator Gillibrand. Whether or not Gillibrand was the right choice or not, Paterson must agree that the whole appointment process did not go so well and that his popularity suffered for it and more importantly his chances of getting a primary appointment next year have increased. If he wants a little saving grace, the Governor might want to get behind Senator Russ Feingold's plan to introduce a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

From Senator Feingold:

Over the past several months, our country has witnessed controversies surrounding appointments to vacant Senate seats by governors. The vacancies in Illinois and New York have made for riveting political theater, but lost in the seemingly endless string of press conferences and surprise revelations is the basic fact that the citizens of these states have had no say in who should represent them in the Senate. The same is true of the recent selections in Delaware and Colorado. That is why I will introduce a constitutional amendment this week to end gubernatorial appointments to the U.S. Senate and require special elections to fill these vacancies, as is currently required for House vacancies. As Chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee, I plan to hold a hearing on this amendment soon.

I do not make this proposal lightly. In fact, I have opposed dozens of constitutional amendments during my time in the Senate, particularly those that would have interfered with the Bill of Rights. The Constitution should not be treated like a rough draft. Constitutional amendments should be considered only when a statutory remedy to a problem is not available, and when the impact of the issue at hand on the structure of our government, the safety, welfare, or freedoms of our citizens, or the survival of our democratic republic is so significant that an amendment is warranted. This is such a case.

The entire post is worth a read and makes for a worthy case to end the system of Senate appointments once and for all. The seventeenth amendment made direct elections of Senators possible and the 28th shall finish the job. While this is Senator Feingold's initiative, that should not stop all of the prinicipal actors of the last few months (Gov. Paterson, Sen. Gillibrand, Gov. Ritter, Sen. Bennet, whoever replaces Blagojevich and Sen. Burris) from taking bold positions and standing with Russ on this. Not only will it have to pass the Congress, but three-quarters of the State Legislatures as well. Paterson should redeem himself for the circus he helped create by doing away with the gubernatorial selection of Senators.

Not Congresswoman Gillibrand, But Senator Gillibrand

So much for waiting till Saturday, or even Friday for that matter. Sources are confirming that Congresswoman Kristen Gillibrand will be appointed to fill the Junior Senator position for New York. She had been a top choice of the Governor lately and in the running for quite some time. The Empire State will now have a Senator from both upstate and downstate, unless you considered Chappaqua upstate.

From WPIX:

PIX NEWS is being told that Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand is the reported choice of Governor David Paterson to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Hillary Clinton. Two Congressional sources say members of the New York delegation have been invited to join Governor Paterson for the announcement in Albany at noon tomorrow.

Two members of that delegation, agreeing to speak without attribution, confirmed to reporter Marvin Scott that the Governor has telephoned New York's Democratic members of Congress for their views after Caroline Kennedy withdrew herself from consideration. One of the contenders, longterm Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney canceled a scheduled appearance on "PIX News Closeup" tomorrow because of a "conflict," which she did not disclose. She too will be in Albany. According to the sources, Gillibrand, now in her second congressional term, was favored by Secretary of State Clinton herself. Paterson has been under pressure to select a woman.

Now this second-term upstate and not-so-liberal Democratic Congresswoman will be representing all of New York. It does not matter that she is a woman, nor that her current district stretches north of Albany. What matters is...will she represent all of New York. Many on the left are worried about her positions on gun rights and whatnot. Yet from what the initial research shows, meaning a quick look at Progressive Punch, is not that shabby, with an 87.56 score. Sure, 165 members do better than her there, but she is still coming from an upstate NY district, one that was held by John Sweeney, yes, that John Sweeney.

Of course, this doesn't change my view that Paterson should have gone with a caretaker. And due to that bad decision, his appointee is already looking at primary challenges, even before being formally announced as the newest Senator. So if Gillibrand continues to be a blue dog in the Senate, as my Senator, she can rest assure that I will help in anyway possible to put a better Democrat in that seat next year.

Paterson Knows NY's Next Senator, But Isn't Telling

Governor David Paterson thinks playing coy about who he's chosen to be the next Senator from New York is cute for everyone. He's wrong. This whole episode of Senate drama has been ridiculous, from the sniping of the hopeful candidates to the Governor that is about to pick the lucky duck. Now with the decision made, the fracas continues.

From The Daily Politics:

Speaking at a post-swearing-in brunch hosted by the New York Society, the governor said he came to his decision yesterday afternoon and stressed that he's focused on making a "reasonable" choice, not necessarily the "right" choice.

When asked who he has settled on, he joked: "Why Michelle Obama, of course. She can move to New York." (This is his latest quip response; he has cycled through a number of them now).

When reporters pointed out he has used that one before, Paterson responded: "It shows that I'm maintaining my position."

Maintaining his position doesn't make it a right decision. All he is doing is keeping his face in the spotlight and nothing much for the rest of us. A smart idea would have looked like this, but it is anything but. I guess we'll all have to wait till Saturday. Until then, the speculative eyes have focused on this Congresswoman, not Cuomo or Kennedy.

Congrats To The Gillibrands On Their New Baby Boy!

Political news can be pretty depressing these days with all of the scandal, corruption and Bush Administration decisions. However once in a while we get some happy news and I'm glad to say it is coming from New York today.

From The Daily Politics:

Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand give birth earlier today to a baby boy, a second for Gillibrand and her husband, Jonathan.

Henry Nelson Gillibrand weighs in at 7 lbs., 14 ozs. and 20 inches long. Spokeswoman Rachel McEneny reports that mother and son are resting comfortably at Bethesda Naval Medical Center outside Washington.

The happy event temporarily sidelines Gillibrand, who is the Republicans' top target in congressional elections this fall.

McEneny noted that the congresswoman worked a 13-hour day yesterday, including successfully introducing an amendment to the farm bill.

Now that is what I call a working mom! Congratulations to the proud Democra...I mean parents.

Congresswoman Gillibrand Attacked For Being Pregnant

See, it is when I hear stories like these that proves upstate NY can be a scary place. The city is a much more comforting and secure environment. Apparently some of Congresswoman Gillibrand's constituents (or at least one) does not approve of her first term because of her being a woman and the fact that she can conceive a child. So much for debating policy positions and her ability to represent her district.

From Group News Blog:

First term Congresswoman Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY20), in a highly-vulnerable district in New York's Hudson Valley, is being attacked, not for her politics, not for her stand against the Iraq war, not for the earmarks she's bringing home including money for rural broadband development.

Nope...

She's being attacked because she and her husband have conceived a child.

The Glenn Falls Post Star (Letters to the Editor)

There are many occupations suitable for women and their physical attributes. Carrying a weapon while serving in the Armed Forces and firefighting are not suitable lines of work for women to prove that they are physically equal to men. How many male police officers feel comfortable with a 100 pound female backup?

And now, I have to add serving in the U.S. House and Senate as an occupation that may not be suitable for women.

Ms. Gillibrand's current pregnancy makes a strong case for my opinion. Ms. Gillibrand was elected to serve her constituency, and while she is away from her elected office she cannot perform those duties. The taxpayers who were duped into voting for her will have to pay for her medical benefits. Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer, Ms. Gillibrand receives excellent health benefits, courtesy of her constituents. We will be without representation in Congress for a time leading up to and following the child's birth. There will be times when she and the new baby will visit doctors. You can add those days to the total that she will not be serving her constituents.

The current base salary (2006) for members of the House and Senate is $165,200 per year. I wonder if Ms. Gillibrand will do the right thing and reimburse the U.S. Treasury in the amount of $452.60, her daily salary, for each day that she is unable to perform her elected duties. For some reason, I doubt it.

RON BLACHUT
Queensbury

This just goes to show that the reason why Republicans are failing so miserably now is that not only are they out of touch with most of America, they aren't even living in the Information Age, this is more of a Stone Age mentality than anything else. Perhaps Mr. Blachut would prefer that Kristen be in the kitchen cooking him dinner. Too bad for him she is representing New York's 20th District with a progressive agenda that the majority of people are getting behind.