Here’s a clip from Matt Stoler’s interview of Democratic Congressional candidate Kevin Powell (who is trying to unseat Representative Ed Towns of Brooklyn), where the two discuss the FISA bill that recently passed both houses on Congress, and which many on the left opposed. (Barack Obama faced criticism from progressives over the bill, which he voted for.)

About halfway through, Powell says, “We’ve lost our backbone.” He adds later, “A lot of us have become spineless Democrats.”

Towns voted against FISA.

In case you’re wondering, Democratic members of Congress from New York who supported FISA include Tim Bishop and Carolyn McCarthy of Long Island; Gary Ackerman, Greg Meeks and Joe Crowley of Queens; Eliot Engel of the Bronx; Nita Lowey of Westchester; Kirsten Gillibrand of Albany; and upstate's Mike Arcuri and Brian Higgins.  read more »

Citizens Against Government Waste published its annual list of congressional earmarks (they actually call it the Congressional Pig Book list).

Of course, what one person calls wasteful spending, another person calls bringing home the bacon, and now that Democrats are in the majority, New York was supposed to be getting more federal money.

The state made out with a good portion, particularly in the Catskills, where Maurice Hinchey brought in $43.7 million.

Here is a list of what some members from New York, and a few from elsewhere, brought their districts, according to the list. (It's in numbers of millions):  read more »

Freshman Democratic Reprentative Kirsten Gillibrand is among those featured on the cover of the newest issue of the National Journal.

The magazine says she is one of the "new players in the ideological middle of the House."

Gillibrand was elected in the Republican-leaning Congressional district that includes Albany, and notably parted ways with Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer on the issue of granting undocumented residents driver's licenses.  read more »

Michael Bloomberg’s former aide Rich Wager, who was looking to unseat freshman Democratic Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand, is out of the race.

Still in the primary race for the nomination to run against Gillibrand--in this Republican-leaning district upstate--are former state party chairman Sandy Treadwell, real estate broker John Wallace, and retired Army officer Mike Roque.

Wager's full statement is after the jump.  read more »

The top two fund-raisers in Congress right now are Charlie Rangel and Kirsten Gillibrand, according to Congressional Quarterly.

Rangel has generated $2.7 million over the first three quarters of this year, and Gillibrand raised $2 million over the same period.

The rest of the list is here.

More after the jump.  read more »

Kirsten Gillibrand, the upstate freshman Democrat who has more money than the Republican National Campaign Committee, is still chugging along.

Here's an invitation to another one of her fund-raisers, for November 5 at the Mandarin Oritental Hotel. To be an "Event Chair," the asking price is $28,500.

Representative John Hall, a Democrat whose district is in the Hudson Valley, told me last night he is concerned that illegal immigrants who obtain a driver's license under Eliot Spitzer's plan could use it as a "breeder document to secure more documentation."

Hall, who was in town for the Empire State Pride Agenda fund-raiser at the Hilton, told me:

"I'm concerned with what kind of security measures will be in place to ensure that people receiving licenses are who they say they are and that it won't be used as a breeder document to secure more documentation. My wife was assistant state attorney general in Tennessee when they did the same thing and their experience in Tennessee was that more undocumented immigrants came to the state specifically because they knew they could receive a driver's license where they couldn't in other states. So, it does increase the traffic in the states that choose to do this. I haven't made up my mind yet but I'm concerned that the procedures to protect our security."

Hall did say that he's undecided about Spitzer's plan, but the concerns he raised are among the most critical and detailed yet from a Democrat in New York's delegation.

Hall is one of the three freshman Democratic congressman in the state that Spitzer, as head of the party here, has to help re-elect. (The others are Kirsten Gillibrand, who opposes the plan, and Michael Arcuri, whose office hasn't returned several messages about the issue.)

Representative Anthony Weiner, a likely mayoral candidate, has also been critical of the plan, saying in a statement that it raised "legitimate problems."

"Under Governor Spitzer's plan, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could have skipped out on his visa and gotten a New York license."

That's what Republican congressional candidate Richard Wager of upstate New York said in a public statement just now. His goal is to get the freshman Democrat in the area, Kirsten Gillibrand, to comment on Eliot Spitzer's proposal, which may not be so popular in Republican-heavy areas like Gillibrand's district.

I emailed Gillibrand's spokeswoman for a response and got a phone call half a second later. "The congress woman is not for illegal immigrants getting New York State licenses," Gillibrand spokeswoman Rachel McEneny said.

UPDATE: Wager's press release is after the jump.  read more »

Here are a couple of events that got left off our list yesterday.

A new political club in Assemblyman Rory Lancman’s district - which used to be represented by Brian McLaughlin before he was implicated in a contract-rigging scandal - is having its first meeting tonight in Fresh Meadows, featuring as guest speaker Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

Another event happening tonight, unrelated, is the first in a series of planned New York City fund-raisers for Democratic Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, who defeated incumbent John Sweeney in a Republican-leaning district upstate and has been the target of Republican challenges ever since.

If you've got any others, feel free send them in or plug them in the comments section. Details for the Gillibrand fund-raiser are after the jump.  read more »

In January, New York sent four freshmen to congress. So far, they have authored a total of 23 bills.

Nine came from Michael Arcuri upstate. Another nine came from John Hall in the Hudson Valley. And the last five came from Kirsten Gillibrand from Glens Falls.

Yvette Clarke of Brooklyn, so far, has not authored any. (After a reader pointed this out to me, I checked it on Library of Congress web site.) I emailed Clarke's office to ask if that was accurate. A spokesperson from Clarke's office, Vanessa Milara, emailed to say, “Yes that site is accurate. She has not introduced legislation, however she has co-sponsored a variety of legislation."