You will be redirected in 15 seconds, or continue now.
COLONIE—Rick Lazio walked into the state Conservative Party's annual Political Action Conference yesterday just as the previous speaker was finishing up. As Lazio was introduced by James Malone, an old friend from Long Island, the room began to fill, until there were no more empty seats and some attendees were left standing in the... READ MORE»
ALBANY—The budget-related narrative since David Paterson released his draft spending plan earlier this month has been dominated by new taxes and fees, funding cuts, and t... READ MORE»
ALBANY—Now, David Paterson seems very much like a man looking to reach an accommodation with his liberal critics over the budget. In a conference call with reporters, Paterson said, "If you listen to the opponents of this deficit, and you ask them, what's your proposal, they may talk about personal income... READ MORE»
ALBANY—Oh, now he's done it. This was supposed to be a budget battle, over technical minutiae on Medicaid reimbursement streams and Wick's Law, to make all but the biggest government geek's eyes glaze... READ MORE»
A quick trip into the counterfactual: Let’s say Mayor Michael Bloomberg meets Governor Eliot S... READ MORE»
E.J. McMahon's Empire Center for New York State Policy just tossed up on its Web site a lovely gift to political reporters and junkies: A complete list, obtained via FOIL request, of legislative pork, known in Albany as "member items." The list, the release notes, includes 83 Little League grants in 2005 alone. (And you know what those Little Leaguers do with the money!) More to come when I'm off deadline and have a chance... READ MORE»
The Manhattan Institute released a pair of studies today, which illustrate a central weirdness about this election: the most coherent attacks on Mike come from the right, but conservatives don't really have a candidate. One piece, by Nicole Gelinas, takes on "The Limits of Pragmatism" and basically argues that New York needs a revolution, not just competent management. Crunching the numbers, she says that Mike has actually kept spending growth below inflation for most what... READ MORE»
The folks over at the liberal Drum Major Institute seem to have enjoyed the Times's story today on the Manhattan Institute's waning local influence, and add their own slap: "Certainly the Manhattan Institute has sensed a political opportunity to stir up xenophobia in the absence of contributing to a meaningful conversation about immigration policy in this country in this country. Maybe that's why Mayor Bloomberg doesn't listen to them. The scarier question for thoughtful Americans... READ MORE»
We're honestly not sure if Adriano Espaillat is joking here, but E.J. McMahon has turned up a bill from the Manhattan Assemblyman and Beep candidate that would set a minimum wage for stand-up comics. From the sponsor's memo: "Often comedians in the New York City area are paid approximately $20,000 per year. Often times these comedians work in various parts of the City within a short time frame making the use of a taxi service a... READ MORE»
Freddy's stock transfer tax plan is sort of lying in tatters at the moment, the general sense being that it's a totally unnecessary item with the side-effect of triggering the apocalypse. We were always a bit confused by Freddy's court order bit, but there's a basic honesty to his plan: as the Sun has been saying forever, a multi-billion dollar schools settlement will require a huge tax hike of some kind, and city taxpayers pay... READ MORE»
