Lieberman Lite: Congressman Engel's alliance to Rev. Hagee's Armageddon Group

On Monday, LEFT of the HUDSON guest blogger, AmeriGus, posted a laundry list of Rep. Eliot Engel's (NY-17) not so progressive stances:

He reminded us of Engel's passive-aggressive snubbing of Net Neutrality, his active role in creating corporate media mergers and monopolies, his blind saber rattling that lead us into a war with Iraq, his unflinching stance against impeachment, and his cheerleading for a Columbian Free Trade Agreement. Even worse, Engel wants to write George W. Bush a blank check to invade Iran, even going so far as to chastise Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for trying to insert language in a House appropriations package to keep the President from using funding for our current wars to subsidize military action against Iran.

Ms. Pelosi removed the clause after a group of conservative and pro-Israel Democrats threatened to vote against the appropriations package if it included the provision tying the president's hands.


One of those members, Rep. Eliot Engel, a Democrat from New York, said yesterday he counted between 20 and 27 members who would have voted against the funding measure if it included the Iran language. Rep. Gary Ackerman, another Democrat of New York, said he thinks the dissenters had even more votes.

But what's most unforgivable is Engel's past and continuing support of Rev. John Hagee and his minions, people who want to bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran because it plays to their cult-like, fatalistic, Armageddon/end-of-the-world scenario.

While it became widely reported yesterday that Democratic turncoat Joe Lieberman will have Hagee's back at the Christians United for Israel Conference, very few know that Engel, along with Lieberman will be sharing the stage in late July with the abusively anti-Catholic, abolition mocking, gay bashing, Hitler apologist.

We're going to take Rep. Engel behind the woodshed below the fold.

It's bad enough when Democrats don't vote or act like Democrats, and we've come to expect a bit of that (although we might whisper "DINO" behind their backs). However, I find it quite unforgivable when a member of my party breaks bread and appeases those that are the sworn and bitter enemies of everything the party stands for. I also find it shocking that any Democrat would give the time of day to a group of dangerous dominionists and theocrats.

Even John McCain's campaign now understands that Rev. Hagee and his acolytes make up a good part of the right-wing maniacal fringe. And now, after wrongfully kissing Hagee's ring and soliciting his endorsement earlier this year, McCain has now washed his hands of him.

I've heard many people argue that CUFI, Hagee's group, has been a staunch ally of the nation of Israel, but I argue that there are some friends that you just don't want to have. If you went to the CUFI conference last year, as video blogger Max Blumenthal did, you'd find that the Hageeites are not so much supporters of Israel, but fatalists that believe there must be a State of Israel in order for them to be ready for The Rapture.

To my knowledge, Rep. Engel, who is a member of the Democratic Leadership Council, has attended these CUFI conferences before, in 2006 and 2007, and he is scheduled to take the stage before Rev. Hagee at the conference this July.

I can accept that Joe Lieberman now feels free to turn his back on his former party, but what of Engel? Will the Congressman turn his back on his core constituency from the liberal Rockland and Bronx counties and the moderate Westchester County? Are we going to let him?

It's important that Democrats everywhere to remind Rep. Engel that the enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend. And in the future, he has to choose his friends more carefully.

Please call, visit, fax or e-mail Congressman Engel's offices.

Here are the addresses and phone numbers of his offices:

Washington, DC
2161 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone : (202) 225-2464
Fax: (202) 225-5513

Bronx
3655 Johnson Avenue
Bronx, NY 10463
Phone : (718) 796-9700

Rockland
261 West Nyack Road
West Nyack, NY 10994
Phone : (845) 735-1000

Westchester
6 Gramatan Avenue; Suite 205
Mt. Vernon, NY 10550
Phone : (914) 699-4100

You can e-mail Engel's office using this form.
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Watching Congress: Rep. Eliot Engel's Questionable Priorities

Guest blogged by AmeriGus

As we tune in more seriously to Congressional races, it's surprising how little we know about our Congressional reps. Turn up the radar now! I found out my Rep. barely represents my Democratic NY district. I knew he was pro-business and pro-war but I never knew he was speaking at Rev. Hagee's religio-political conferences, or that he was moonlighting for Israel's most extreme right wing hawks! Vigilance...

If you are like me, you are dissatisfied with your government because you feel no connection to it. Nationally, the Bush regime has eaten out the heart of the process by which Americans are supposed to elect leaders, administer public services, and represent the values of the majority while respecting the liberty of the individual. This has awakened and energized a great "backlash" which is becoming more involved and aware of the entrenched powers exploiting our resources and good name.

As detached as we may feel, we should recognize that we do have some power, not just as voters, but as donors, consumers and activists. We may get only one vote in the Presidential election, but contributing to causes amplifies our influence. The things we buy or invest in also can signal endorsement. Volunteering, blogging or participating in e-democracy allows us to organize and aggregate strength, as MoveOn and others have demonstrated by the millions.

Our voice becomes even more powerful in local politics. The distractive media complex has us so focused on the presidential races and dumb news, we ignore terribly our own backyards. Bush's unpopular, ham-handed war would have been de-funded in early 2007 if not for the Democrats in Congress who promised change to get elected and later caved. With a derelict media it's up to the people to shine a light on the current Congress in advance of the November elections.

If we each were to adopt our Member of Congress to report on their positions, votes and activities, we could have this information organized and accessible in one place. This would inform voters searching online during the election season. This Congress has shown we need strong anti-war candidates who will fight for election reform and advocate for the middle class. In doing this myself, I have been just appalled to learn how my Representative, Congressman Eliot Engel has been representing NY's 17th, a Democratic stronghold:


Net Neutrality not a deal killer?
I contacted Rep. Engel shortly after moving to the district because I learned he was willing to allow corporations to create web access tiers, essentially packaging the internet for profit and introducing editorial control over what has been a free and open information superhighway for a decade. But Engel knows how to negotiate controversy after ten terms - he cleverly supported a specific "net neutrality" amendment (which failed) but he supported the larger COPE bill (Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006) which passed. This way he could feign defense of net neutrality to outraged constituents while okaying giveaways to big cable and telecom who in turn contributed generously to Engel's reelection fund.

His Congressional Priorities
As a member of the "pro-business" New Democrat Coalition, Engel pro-actively cheered on the mega-merger between the satellite radio titans XM and Sirius on taxpayer time. I wrote Rep. Engel when Congressional support for impeachment hearings was still building. He replied Bush has had the country headed in the wrong direction, but, he said, impeachment hearings would be too divisive - he put off my inquiry by stating "the fabric of the nation was torn" when President Clinton was impeached. This contradictory in-eloquence led me to really mistrust Engel so I dug further:

After voting to allow Bush/Cheney to invade Iraq, he changed this position for re-election, yet has voted to continue funding Bush. Engel is extremely hawkish in defense of Israel, active in AIPAC and has used his various committee seats to advocate for sanctions against Syria and Lebanon for opposing Israeli aggression.

Joining Reverend Hagee?!
Surprisingly, Engel is a scheduled speaker at a conference held by controversial Reverend John Hagee's organization CUFI (Christians United for Israel), described as an "influential Christian Zionist organization with close ties to the Bush administration and key members of Congress, former members of Congress, and policymakers." Also scheduled to speak at CUFI's upcoming July summit in Washington are William Kristol, Senator Joseph Lieberman and former Senator Rick Santorum who was exposed for herding right-wing lobbyists into policy positions in exchange for performance.

Engel spoke at a previous CUFI rally in response to the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon, joining Hagee and Reverend Jerry Falwell, Senator Sam Brownback, Rod Parsley and over 3,500 "energized" Evangelicals spreading the message that the conflict in the Middle East is a "war of good versus evil".

Moonlighting for Israel?
Last month, in advance of Bush's trip to Israel, Engel invited pro-war Israeli lobbyists to DC to address the House Foreign Affairs Committee to theorize that "a future Palestinian state will be firmly allied with North Korea, Syria, Cuba, Iran, Chavez's Venezuela, and Hezbollah, the forces that are seen as threats to the US and which are linked to world terror...precisely because these states publicly challenge and express loathing for the US".

Just last week Engel hosted a meeting of pro-Israel lawmakers from the EU, South Africa, Switzerland, Japan, Philippines, Brazil, Uruguay and Canada in a congressional office building in DC to denounce the two-state solution long favored by the US, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, instead touting the plan of Benny Elon, chairman of Israel's National Union Party (and the Knesset's Christian Allies Caucus), which would give the West Bank to Israel while making its Palestinian citizens of Jordan (Jordan opposes this idea).

Is Engel joining the dark side?
In January, Engel and a delegation of Congressional Democrats joined Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on a junket to Medellin, Colombia. Just days later, Bush announced a trade deal with Columbia in the State of the Union address (Engel was one of the first to shake Bush's hand as he headed for the podium). By far, most Democrats in Congress oppose the deal. The Teamsters recently began running radio spots in opposition of the bill, pointing out how Columbia leads the world in the murder of labor leaders.

In July 2007, I blogged about published reports of US corporations backing Columbian deathsquads to silence union organizers, as well as a desperate call for help coming from an American human rights group whose Bogota office was ransacked, compromising years of sensitive evidence compiled against participants of paramilitary operations. The group, Fellowship of Reconciliation, headquartered in Engel's district, also opposed the trade deal as well as military aid to Columbia due to "documented collaboration between Colombian military and civilian officials at the highest levels - and paramilitaries". Engel is one of few Democrats who support Bush's trade deal, while most oppose it as a tactic used by Bush solely to defy Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez via buying favor in the region.

Ponderously, Engel also fought for Bush's right to invade Iran without Congressional approval, demanding that Speaker Pelosi remove language from the March 2007 war appropriation freeing Bush to okay military operations in Iran on his own.

No One Else In Sight?
Rep. Engel has little opposition currently in sight for his 2008 reelection. He was challenged in the 2004 Democratic primary by Jessica Flagg, an anti-war candidate in the Dennis Kucinich mold who received 11% of the vote after being vastly outspent by Engel. Flagg ran again in 2006, receiving 18% of the vote but is not expected to run this year, suggesting the need for a serious Progressive candidate to run against Engel in NY's 17th.

What choice do we have?
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The river is dying

I'm a few days late in my reading of the New York Times, but an editorial about the Hudson River from a few days back caught my eye:

On the surface, the Hudson River is looking good. The sun on a spring morning glints off the water, off bridges and boats, off river bluffs groaning with new condominiums. The blue crabs are big, and the striped bass are bigger. If it weren’t for the PCB’s in the river mud, which General Electric might get around to dredging someday, you would think the Hudson was about as healthy as it has been since Indian times.

Sadly, it isn’t. A study by the environmental group Riverkeeper examined an important indicator of the life of any river — fish — and found discouraging, even dire, news. Ten of 13 species it examined are in decline, and one — the great and delicious shad — is at historic lows.

The report blames the usual suspects and a few new ones. The river is getting warmer, and the heat helps starve the water of oxygen. Power plants kill untold millions of fish and roe when they suck up river water to cool their machinery. Invasive species, sewage and fertilizer runoff and overfishing in the ocean, where species like shad spend much of their lives, all take their toll.

Before I finished the editorial, my knee-jerk reaction was to blame Indian Point, but it's not only the nuclear power plant that's to blame in the loss of shad and other creatures of the estuary. Riverkeeper says that even the older, conventional power plants have to adapt as their cooling systems aren't up to snuff and they're also contributing to the marked increase in water temperature that's starving its wildlife.

You can read Riverkeeper's full report here.

Riverkeeper’s report shows how little we understand the biology of one of the country’s most historic and important estuaries. It is a sobering reminder that even the hardest-fought conservation victories may look, in retrospect, like the easy ones, and that complacency can be the death of environmental progress.

Again, I'm guilty of falling behind. I've let my Riverkeeper membership lapse. I'll fix that today.

Read about Riverkeeper's good work below the fold.


Many of us who live in the river villages enjoy the river. I can often be seen kayaking between South Nyack and Upper Nyack (I'm the guy in the bright yellow sit-on-top that looks like a banana). But if it wasn't for Riverkeeper, the Hudson would be nothing much more than a large sewage ditch today.

In the 1960s a journalist and ex-Marine named Robert H. Boyle was disgusted by the conditions of the River and the rampant and flagrant pollution by the municipalities and businesses in the area. Joined by other area fishermen, he decided to go after the polluters using two rarely enforced federal laws, the Federal Refuse Act of 1899 and the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1888. Using these laws, Boyle and the other locals became whistleblowers, pointing out polluters to the government. Soon, they were joined by scientists and environmentalists and Riverkeeper was born.

And they scored some major victories for the Hudson River since. They include:

* Stopping Consolidated Edison from building a hydroelectric facility near Storm King Mountain that would have destroyed a major striped bass spawning area.

* In the early 1980s, they launched a watchboat on the Hudson and soon discovered that oil tankers were regularly discharging large amounts of petrochemicals from their holds. To add insult to injury, these ships also tanked up with clean Hudson River water to sell to the Caribbean island of Aruba.

* In the 1990s, Riverkeeper took on developers and the government to protect the reservoirs and streams that constitute the water supply for nine million New York City and Westchester County residents.

* Over the years, Riverkeeper has challenged, with a great deal of success, our area's most notorious polluters, including Exxon/Mobil, General Electric, Consolidated Edison, the MTA, New York City, and the NYSDOT.

Today, they continue their good work in protecting the river and other bodies of water that affect the greater New York water supply. Its lawyers, lead by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., are continuously litigating on behalf of the Hudson. They also provide environmental reviews and opinions on ongoing development projects, such as the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement. And last, Riverkeeper provides educational and empowerment tools for the public.

Join me in donating to Riverkeeper today.
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1968: Assassinations, Chaos, and Bitterness

There's a lot of outrage concerning Hillary Clinton's comments where she brings up the specter of assassination. The New York Times, New York Post, and New York Daily News ran with it as their top story in this morning's papers. Not to be outdone, the Drudge Report is running it as a huge banner with links to several articles about it.

Political commentators are incensed. My very favorite commentator, Keith Olbermann, reserved a rare Special Comment on his MSNBC show, "Countdown" to address Senator Clinton's comments.

Those words, Senator?
You actually invoked the nightmare of political assassination.
You actually invoked the specter of an inspirational leader, at the seeming moment of triumph, for himself and a battered nation yearning to breathe free, silenced forever.
You actually used the word "assassination" in the middle of a campaign with a loud undertone of racial hatred -- and gender hatred -- and political hatred.
You actually used the word "assassination" in a time when there is a fear, unspoken but vivid and terrible, that our again-troubled land and fractured political landscape might target a black man running for president.
Or a white man.
Or a white woman!
You actually used those words, in this America, Senator while running against an African-American against whom the death threats started the moment he declared his campaign?
You actually used those words, in this America, Senator, while running to break your "greatest glass ceiling" and claiming there are people who would do anything to stop you?
You!
Senator -- never mind the implications of using the word "assassination" in any connection to Senator Obama...
What about you?
You cannot say this!

I'm not going to defend Senator Clinton's remarks. They were wrong. She had made these comments several times before, once even before the editorial board of TIME magazine in March. She apologized for them, yesterday.

I've heard some pretty terrible things coming out of the Clinton Camp. Hillary has thrown out some damaging and disparaging remarks at Barack Obama. This is not one of them. This was Senator Clinton honestly rationalizing her never-ending run. As dark and morose as her reasoning may be, her comments are not meant to be hurtful.

There's more below the fold...

Anyone can have his or her remarks twisted, taken out of context, or perverted. While he was heavily criticized—even damned—for his remarks about small-town American voters becoming bitter and clinging to guns and religion, Senator Obama's remarks a few months back made perfect sense to me.

My late father was a Democrat. He was an often unemployed contract laborer. Our family grew up relatively poor in a town near Detroit and he felt let down by our government. But he was a gun owner and a Roman Catholic. As my mother recalls, my father cried only three times during their marriage: when his mother died, when President Kennedy was killed in Dallas, and when his brother Robert was assassinated in Los Angeles. After RFK's assassination, the riots at the Democratic Convention later that summer, and social unrest, he felt that the country was descending into chaos. The summer before, he broke a man's arm with a pipe trying to flee the infamous Detroit riots.

Beneath a stoic facade, my father often felt threatened, and when he did, he turned to his Bible. And on one hot summer night in 1968, one of those threats became an imminent danger to our family, and he relied on his shotgun to protect us. And when the presidential election came about that November, my father, a good Democrat, voted for the candidate he believed would be the lesser threat to his religion and his perceived Second Amendment rights. My father voted for Richard Nixon.

He always regretted his vote. But had the country, and the especially Democratic Party, not been so sharply divided, his vote may have different. My father was looking for security, and untimely assassinations, a party split over the Vietnam War and civil rights did not offer him much assurance.

We're again at the point now where this party has begun to implode. It is not entirely the fault of Hillary Clinton's Quixotic run. But we're beginning to fight among ourselves. We're at the point where Obama supporters are accusing Clinton of trying to destroy the party and Clinton supporters are threatening to support John McCain (the same mistake my father made 40 years ago).

On both sides, this campaign has been tough and the media has taken great delight in picking apart comments, removing them from context, and creating nuance where there is none. It is egging on a fight. It is providing a soap box for party agitators like Cynthia Ruccia who are threatening protests at this summer's Democratic Convention in Denver. We, as members of the Democratic Party, are being duped by the corporate media into creating the same type of chaos that my father found so distasteful back in 1968.

If we don't learn from our history, I fear that we're destined to repeat it. We must end this bitter family feud before it destroys the family. Hillary's comments were unfortunate, but mean absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things.

For the sake of the party and for the country, let's stop the bickering and move on.
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Ellen has company

Many Democrats in Orangetown believe Ellen Jaffee's first term has been a mixed bag at best. The Assembly member, and retired school teacher, from the 95th District has been a real voice for education in Albany. However, some of us fear that she's just becoming part of the machine.

First, despite the objections from her constituents, party leaders, a state-appointed panel made up of former state and municipal comptrollers, pensioners, and unions, Jaffee stood with Sheldon Silver as the Legislature bulldozed the appointment of an woefully underqualified legislator, Thomas DiNapoli, to replace Alan Hevesi as state comptroller. I made several phone calls and sent an e-mail to Jaffee's office during the process and never received a response. In fact, I don't think Jaffee has bothered explaining her actions at all.

And then there's the little question about member items. While many of my fellow Democrats argue that this money is going to good use back in Rockland County, I contend that it invites corruption, is used as "imcumbency insurance," and that an ethical legislature would find a way to properly fund our communities, schools, charities, and infrastructure.

But I guess the promise of reform only goes so far once you're sent to Albany. From my perspective Jaffee immersed herself in a political culture that is unresponsive to the electorate and has political machinations that are obscure, byzantine, and unforthcoming. She became part of the "old boy's network" in Albany right quick.

I'll still support Jaffee in a general election if she gets there, but I'd like to see her own up to her legislative faults before I get too enthusiastic. In the meantime, don't mind me if decide to kick the tires of her primary challengers.

Read my reasons below the fold....

I know and like Vince Monte, the Chair of the Rockland Democratic Party, but I think his faith in Jaffee bborders on knee-jerk cheerleading.

Rockland Democratic Committee Chairman Vincent Monte said yesterday that no matter how crowded this race gets, he's supporting Jaffee, a former county legislator who is finishing her first term in the Assembly.

"I don't like to discourage primaries, but I don't think this is a good one," he said, calling Jaffee "Rockland's answer to Hillary (Rodham Clinton)."

Well, I'm not even sure if the comparison to Clinton is a ringing endorsement or the kiss of death. Still, I wish that Chairman Monte would at least acknowledge that our Democratic politicians—and this one in particular—are flawed. And rather than rubber-stamping a campaign, I think Monte and other Democrats should really look into what the other candidates have to say.

As far as I know, only Ramapo Town Clerk Christian G. Sampson has thrown his hat in the ring. There's still a chance that other Rockland County candidates may jump in. I really need to know much more about Sampson before I throw Jaffee under the proverbial bus. Campaign finance reform, a comprehensive and enforced statewide energy plan, proper State funding of educational mandates, and the abolishment of these slush accounts are my big four issues. I'd like to see where Sampson stands on them.

I do know that Sampson is running on a platform of changing the way we fund education in New York. I would like to hear the details and I will post them here when I know more. I've learned over the years, however, that education funding is a Rubik's Cube in this state. Possibly, the only fix is throwing out the current system and rebooting entirely. However, I worry about the motives of any candidate that wants to make funding more equitable. I always get the feeling that its not equity that they're seeking, its advantage.

Next week, Democratic Committee members in Orangetown must endorse a candidate. It's assumed by many that this candidate will be Jaffee. I am one of those Committee members and I say, "not so fast." First, Ms. Jaffee has a lot of explaining to do and she needs to reaffirm her commitment to progressive values. And second, I want to hear Mr. Sampson speak before I make my decision.

I will be contacting Mr. Sampson today and I'll reserve a space on my blog for him to talk about what makes his candidacy different from Jaffee's. I'll also extend this invitation to Jaffee.
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Clean Elections for NY? It works in Maine!

Common cause posted this video on YouTube, featuring Beth Edmonds, president of the Maine State Senate. In it, she talks about the benefits of "Clean Elections" or the public financing of elections to even the political playing field.



We should listen to carefully to Edmonds. If we're ever going to clear the logjam in Albany, if we have any hope of removing corruption from our governmental system, and if we want to make New York a shining example of the democratic process. We must press our politicians to support publicly-funded Clean Elections.

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NRC claims Indian Point is properly handling radiation leaks

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission told the public last night that Entergy followed procedures and protected residents after a 2005 leak, even though strontium 90 and tritium are likely still reaching the Hudson River. But advocates, such as Riverkeeper, disagree and vow to fight on for a rapid and thorough clean up at the troubled nuclear plant.

read more | digg story Read More......

Morahan tops in pork

The Journal News has crowned NY State Senator Thomas P. Morahan as one of the state's top pork rustlers. Morahan has a yearly slush fund at his disposal of more than $2 million in what are euphemistically called "member items."

This practice of using pork to fund community projects reeks of corruption. Just to show that I'm not just jabbing my finger in the eye of local Republicans, State Assembly member Ellen C. Jaffee, a Democrat (and my Assembly member) has not been able to resist the temptation of securing her incumbency using member items.

This money earmarked for "member items," is the money given to members of the party in charge of either house of the New York State Legislature. For example, if your State Senator were a Democrat, he/she wouldn't have this discretionary account. The same is true if your Assembly member were a Republican. That's because the Republicans have a majority in the Senate and the Dems have the Assembly.

Don't stop reading yet...

My town of Orangetown and Rockland County, however, has a Democratic Assembly member and a Republican State Senator. You might say, "Well that's good for you!" However, it's not. These member items, this pork, turns voters into greedy pigs willing to vote against their best interests and the best interests of the community to keep the gravy train rolling into town.

What ends up happening is that this money is used to curry political favors and to cement incumbencies. So, what we have in the end is not Senate and Assembly districts, we have fiefdoms. And politicians like Morahan, and quite unfortunately, Jaffee, use this money to pick and choose which village, which hospital, which town will get these funds.

The whole process has become a travesty of the political process. One of the worst examples I've ever seen was a flyer that my two children brought home with them from school nearly two years ago. It was a few days before Halloween and about a week before the 2006 elections. The flyer was from State Senator Thomas P. Morahan. (I think the "P" stands for pork.) It was tips for trick-or-treating safety, written in very small, almost agate-sized type. But Count Morahan's name was in 42 pt type, and it was the only thing that stood out on the flyer. I paid close attention last year and there was no such similar flyer in my children's backpacks.... Of course, it wasn't an election year. This fall, I'm going to camp out at a few Nyack School Board meetings to insure that they don't fall for this crass, unethical electioneering.

If you think I'm way out there in my belief that member items are a flagrant misuse of taxpayer money, I'm not alone. Just 15 miles south in New York City, some city politicians have gotten themselves into hot water by abusing similar "member item" slush funds.

So far, two council aides have been indicted, charged with pocketing so-called "member-item" cash - money set aside for council members and other insiders.

Council Speaker Christine Quinn has hired a powerhouse criminal lawyer, and there's a move afoot to use tax dollars to pay legal bills arising from the mess.

Yes, I know that this is the NYC City Council, but this problem exists in this state on almost every level. If it inspires corruption in New York City, why wouldn't it inspire the same behavior here.

Essentially, city and state lawmakers get to dole out tax dollars to favored groups - many of them beyond reproach, but most of them well-positioned to help their patrons politically and (sometimes) personally.

Take Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Among the appropriations tucked into the new state budget is $290,000 for the enormously influential Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty - which happens to be run by the husband of Silver's Assembly chief of staff.

Nobody doubts that the group does good work. That's not the point.

On the other hand, why should Silver have the discretion to dole out almost $300,000 to an organization with such close personal ties to his office?

And which is well-positioned to help Silver and his hand-picked allies politically?

Okay, there again, it's demonstrated that this is as much of a problem for Democrats as is it Republicans. However, I believe it's incumbent on us true Democrats to wipe this unethical stain from our political process. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has put us in the right direction, but it's not enough.

Cuomo last year began to require groups receiving discretionary grant money to sign affidavits revealing potential conflicts of interest with elected officials or staffs - and swearing that the funds will only be used for their requested purpose.

Guess who'll be watching this in Rockland County. Me.




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Is the tax cap is election year pandering?

Property owners could get a noticeable and significant break in their taxes should a bipartisan proposal get state Legislature approval.

The so-called "circuit breaker" bill gives property owners tax credits based on their income levels.

I've heard this story before. I hear it every two years. While it sounds like a great idea, I'd like to see this get past Joe Bruno.

"We want to hear from the people, how they feel about this," state Sen. Thomas Morahan, R-New City, said.

The forum is jointly sponsored by Rockland's state legislators, including Morahan and Assembly members Kenneth P. Zebrowski, D-New City, Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern, Annie Rabbitt, R-Greenwood Lake, and Nancy Calhoun, R-Blooming Grove.

Every one of these politicians is up for election this fall, so of course they've got to look like heroes. I've grown wary of politicians and their election year promises and pandering.

If you want real tax reform, let's start with curbing the abusive discretionary spending by our legislators and state senators. The incumbents mentioned in the article should promise to freeze their salaries through 2010 and stop the rampant abuse of members items, which are large, discretionary accounts that they dip into to curry favor among critical demographic groups in their districts.

Read on below the fold...


Member items are nothing but "incumbent insurance" to insure that these politicians get reelected. And who pays to insure their incumbencies? We taxpayers. We unwittingly insure that these politicians remain incumbents and they in turn treat their districts as their own personal baronies, doling out millions at their own, unbridled discretion. We taxpayers have little choice in how these funds are used. Count Morahan is often cited as the biggest abuser of member-item pork.

If you want tax relief, go to that meeting and demand that these politicians vote down member items. Not one of them will make that promise, because then they'd have to raise their own funds and campaign for reelection, and they won't have none of that.

Again, just a few months before an election and Albany is talking tax relief.

So far, this just sounds like populist pandering. Again, I'll believe their dedication to a "circuit breaker" tax cap when I actually see it come to a vote. Read More......

My Question to Nyack School Board Candidates

I asked a question at the PTA's “Meet the Candidates Night” at Nyack High School. My question concerned the epidemic of children being diagnosed with disorders on the Autism spectrum.

First of all, I'm upset that not one candidate mentioned special education in their opening statements and did not broach the subject in the dozen questions that preceded mine. It's obvious that special education comes in last place in their hearts and minds, so when you read below, temper your enthusiasm for any of them with that thought.

It has been my experience, and the experience of other parents with Autistic children, that the school district is slow to identify, slow to react, and not always capable of making thoughtful decisions regarding such children. I believe that the Nyack District’s Committee on Special Education has been arbitrary, capricious, and possibly neglectful at all stages of assisting my child and we were forced to fight against the district to get proper educational supports for him.

The district’s programs available for my child were mostly mainstreaming programs that don't properly meet his needs. Originally, they didn’t even know what to do with my son and the Principal sent him home from Upper Nyack Elementary and asked that he not to return to his class. He was home a month before they supplied, at our request, a tutor and it was three months until they placed him in a BOCES program, where he stayed for a little more than two years.

But things didn’t go well at all when the choice of a middle school arose. The center-based programs used by the district, mostly BOCES programs, try to shoehorn children with various disabilities together. For example, a program that includes both children that "act out" and fragile children with high levels of anxiety are not acceptable. Other programs mix children that are unclassified, or don't necessarily have a disorder on the autistic spectrum, with autistic children. In other words, the programs offered end up being snake pits where autistic children, and other children that don’t fit in a regular classroom, are dumped.

I had to fight with the CSE to get my son a proper placement in an alternative center-based program that was safe and appropriate for my son. Proving our case cost my family thousands of dollars, lost income, and countless hours of lost sleep—hardships that we could not afford at the time. In all ways, I feel the CSE acted in the best interest of the district and not of my child; some of the actions of administrators were beyond contempt, slipshod, and negligent. Only with the real threat of legal action, and outsmarting them at every turn, brought them to consider our needs.

But after a long battle, my son now has the education he needs (at least for two more school years), but I felt compelled to ask my question to help families like us going forward. These are families that will need the aid of the Nyack School District; they don't need to battle it.

My question was to all the candidates, asking them what they would do that would insure the district would help these families.

I wasn't entirely impressed with all of the answers, but I do understand that they only had 90 seconds. All of them seemed sympathetic, but my family doesn’t need sympathy. The families of children with autism need real change.

Here’s my assessment of the individual answers:

Tannenbaum's answer was lawyerly and he suggested that we take the legal route if necessary. The whole idea is that I don’t think that parents should be forced to take legal action against the district.

LaColla, Hindin and Jimerson’s answers were basically: “I don’t know.” I know that they’re not incumbents and haven’t had to wrestle much with this issue, so I won’t criticize them for their honesty. All said that this is something that they would be interested in looking into, which I appreciate. Jimerson was the only person who said that special education is always a priority and the district should never cut or skimp in providing these services.

Marrraccino mentioned that there was a child with autism in her extended family, so she has an idea of what I’m going through. She did mention the idea of creating a task force or a panel to look into this problem. While I wasn’t impressed with most of her answers during the evening, I appreciated her desire to act on this issue.

Dr. Fletcher Johnson was the board member that could really answer my question in detail. He’s Nyack’s representative to the Rockland BOCES school board. He would know exactly how to address these frustrations, I would think. Unfortunately, Dr. Johnson did not attend this very important night; I think this will affect my vote.

I would have to say that I was not impressed by Czajkowski's willingness to pass the buck "to the correct people [administrators] that can help you" and that this was something board members did not handle. My question was prefaced that there were problems with the system. I would assume that Czajkowski either did not understand my question correctly or doesn’t really think there’s a problem that the school board could help with. I was hoping for a better answer from such a long-term incumbent who says he’s on the school board because he loves children.

Burrell admitted that there have been problems and that the district was trying to adapt. He cited his work on other boards and that this was something that many districts are trying to come to terms with. He also said that he had much more to say than in the 1-½ minutes that he was allotted. Burrell backed this up by calling me back the next morning to talk more with me about my concerns. I do think that Burrell really cares and he has acknowledged that there are problems. However, I think that he needed to acknowledge that surrounding school districts—South Orangetown and Clarkstown Central are being much more progressive and creative in dealing with this issue than Nyack has been. Nonetheless, Mr. Burrell is very open, very well spoken on the matter, and I believe he really cares. I will be supporting Burrell in this election.

My feeling is that this district is going through a crisis in regards to Special Education. I think that school board members must reevaluate the districts efforts in the regards to children with Autistic spectrum disorders. They may have to go as far as inspect the practices of the administrators and possibly look into reassigning assets and personnel.

My feelings about my school district are as follows: Before this extracurricular activity or that athletic field becomes priority one, we as a community have got to insure that all of our children are provided with an appropriate education, and that includes special needs children. As I always say, you can't have a party until you fix your house.

I hope this helps some people make their decisions when voting on May 20. Read More......